《In Another World With The Crafting System》


 Chapter 1 - Death

    A young man about the age of 20, fairly tall, has a noticeable acne problem on his face but mostly on his neck.


    He was in his parent''s basement doing what any other man would do, doing Minecraft videos in vr and uploading it to Youtube. There was a computer set up not too far away from him, which let him record his gameplay in Minecraft vr.


    "Oh god, why am I doing this to myself. This challenge is torture."


    Will is currently doing a challenge that he thought would net him some views, playing Minecraft for 24 hours straight while in hardcore mode in vr.


    He had tried to play vr with mods, but playing regular Minecraft in vr is proving to be a nuisance alone.


    His only goal right now is to become a famous Minecraft Youtuber.


    "I have been playing for 23 hours and 10 minutes. Just 50 minutes left. I am going to attempt to kill the Ender Dragon right now in hardcore mode. Everyone watching, wish me luck." He downloaded something on the vr to tell him how much time he has been playing since the beginning of the challenge.


    Will''s voice was devoid of life, not a hint of emotion could be heard in his words. He sounded boring to listen to and he wasn''t a creative person to begin with. Like listening to a boring english professor.


    His house in Minecraft was made up of wooden planks and some dirt on the walls. That is how Will built it in the beginning of the challenge, and hasn''t made the slightest effort to change any of it. It was a 10x10 house with 2 floors filled with many ?h?sts, a crafting table and some torches. There were only 2 furnaces and so on.


    It wasn''t just his house that was plain, his other buildings were also plain too. Will thought that since he only had 24 hours to complete this challenge he shouldn''t worry too much about the design, as long as it had a bed and could protect him, he didn''t need anything else.


    And also he sounded like a boring professor at a high school, who was giving a boring lecture that nobody wanted to hear.


    The reason he sounded boring, is because that is how he is. As much as Will wanted to be a famous youtuber, he failed to have the charm to do it.


    So far, he only had 35 subscribers, and most of his videos only have less than 1k views in them, his most viewed video having 1.4k.


    This video is not live streamed as many people would expect, that is because even Will didn''t believe that he would have survived that long. Which is why he wanted to edit the video or try again and avoid the embarrassment of failing a challenge in front of a live audience.


    "Now we are here, at the End." Will was decked out in full enchanted diamond gear with a trident and a bow, and also had golden apples with him and 2 god apples, and a water bucket. This is before the nether update.


    "Brother¡­ are you seriously still doing that stupid challenge?"


    A young voice of a kid spooked out Will. That kid is his 15 year old brother, Nathan.


    "Nathan, not now. I am so close to finishing the challenge, now please go away." Will could not afford any distractions, imagine dying when he was so close to being done.


    "I can see you are in the End in hardcore mode VR. Wow, that is actually pretty good." Nathan could not help but praise his brother for reaching the End in 24 hours in hardcore while in VR, not something many people could accomplish that.


    It wasn''t because Will was good. Only God knows how many times he had to repeat this challenge.


    Nathan could see Will playing on the computer screen that was connected to the vr headset.


    Most people in Hardcore would just dig a hole under them and not come out. Anyone who plays Minecraft would know that if you die in Hardcore once, it''s over.


    "Thanks, but please go. I have to kill the Ender Dragon."


    "You couldn''t have done this challenge with the rl craft mod? That would give you more recognition."


    "Do you think I am God? No one can defeat the entire game in rl craft in less than 24 hours while in vr. Now go!" Will raised his voice higher as he was pissed and angry. He was getting a bit cranky due to lack of sleep.


    Will had not slept during the entire 24 challenge. Wasting even a minute could hinder his character''s progress, or so he thought. He wanted nothing more than to gain fame by doing Minecraft videos. And also because he couldn''t sleep.


    "When was the last time you slept?"


    "The same time I had my last shower¡­ which is like 3 or 4 days ago?"


    "Did you not take your sleeping pills?"


    "No, Mom." Will said in a sassy tone.


    "Um¡­ is this challenge like a warm-up or something? For the real thing? " Nathan asked after he took a good look at the computer screen, he didn''t mind Will''s attitude.


    "What do you mean- OH GOD!!!" Will was flung up high by the Ender Dragon, so he quickly placed water underneath him with a bucket just before he hit the ground, thus saving his life. His reflexes are good despite playing in vr.


    "Are you supposed to be recording?"


    "Yeah. Why do you ask?"


    "Because¡­ the recording screen... You are not recording anything."


    "..." when he heard those words come out of his mouth, Will felt his limbs were numb, his mind was blank, and something struck him hard on the inside.


    There is nothing more upsetting and infuriating than a youtuber to have done something and not being able to record it. Will could not even see it because the VR headset impeded his vision.


    It''s like when a author wants to write his book, only for something to come by and delete his entire hard work.


    "What did you say?"


    "The computer screen says ''not enough space available. It stopped recording on the first hour of your challenge.''"


    At that point, the Ender Dragon flung Will off but this time he flung him so far back that he fell into the void and died.


    Will did not react, because if what his brother said was true, then all of this pain and suffering he went through the last 24 hours had been for nothing.


    "Sorry, Bro." Nathan did not feel anything for Will, not because he was glad that he did all that work for nothing, but because Nathan felt that Will''s future as a youtuber will not go well, he''s 15 years old and he already knows better than Will.


    Not many people who want to be a youtuber will make it to become famous and rich. Some do make it, but what are the odds?


    Nathan left Will alone to his own devices.


    Will sat down on a swivel chair that was behind him. He was silent for a moment. He flung his controllers angrily at the floor, which didn''t crack but were indeed damaged. Indeed what Nathan said was true, his computer stopped recording in the first hour of his 24 hour challenge.


    "Dammit." Will began to cry a bit. He felt that even the Gods were against him being a youtuber, not really because it was his fault for not checking if his computer had enough space available.


    He knew from the bottom of his heart that he is not a good youtuber, but many other youtubers had inspired him to be one, like MrBeast, Pewdiepie, CaptainSparklez, Smosh, Dream, and so on.


    With Minecraft rising from the grave like a Phoenix, Will knew that being a Minecraft youtuber would make him popular.


    He never had friends, so he couldn''t play with anybody. His brother knew how to play, but he was too young and preferred Fortnite over Minecraft. Someday Jonathan would regret making that mistake.


    He did have a girlfriend, but she broke up with him recently. It wasn''t because she preferred a rich man. It was entirely Will''s fault that she broke up with him.


    And he knew that his appearance would not help him gain views. In a world where looks only matter, Will knew that his appearance would only push people away. He also judged people before he got to know them.


    Trying anything else would not be any good, because Will had no other skills but to play video games, and his skills are only so-so compared to actual pros in youtube.


    He had tried many other games like Terraria, but his videos were not as popular as the ones he had uploaded about Minecraft.


    "What was the point¡­ even if I did complete that challenge, at most I would probably only get like 2000 views¡­"


    "Maybe what Jonathan said was right. Doing the challenge in rl craft would be better, but it is so hard¡­ but that is the greatest thing I have ever played in a long time."


    Will thought about it. Despite only playing like 60 hours of rl craft, he had fallen in love with it. But that still didn''t mean that it wasn''t tough to play. And some keyboards and mouses were smashed in the process.


    Feeling tired of this, he was about to take off the vr headset, take a shower and keep playing games despite showing obvious signs of tiredness.


    Then, all of a sudden, there appeared big bold letters in front of his screen. They were not only red as blood but the words were literally dripping blood. The entire screen was black and nothing could be seen, except those letters.


    Will scratched his head, was that a mod or something?


    "Nathan, not this crap again."


    Will had many reasons to believe that his brother was up to this. One time Nathan downloaded a Herobrine mod on his server, and it actually scared the shit out of him, only to find out Nathan did it sneakily. If it weren''t because Nathan failed to control his laughter, Will would still believe that Herobrine actually did come to haunt his computer.


    It wasn''t only a one time thing, Nathan had downloaded more creepy things into his other video games, sometimes even sabotaging his character and the items he worked so hard for.


    Of course, Will also had his revenge by dressing up as Pennywise and hiding in his room. Clowns are feared by most children, and Will can completely agree with that.


    And also, he blamed himself for Nathan being so mischievous. He too had his fair share of pulling pranks not only on his brother, but also his classmates and such.


    The big, bold, red letters read:


    {YES. }


    {OR.}


    {NO.}


    "I swear, if something pops out of nowhere, Nathan, I will do worse than to scare you with a clown costume."


    Will hesitantly clicked no, afraid that it might be a trap.


    {FOR A PRICE, HAVE THE CHANCE TO PLAY THE GAME LIKE NEVER BEFORE AND BE REBORN}


    {YES.}


    {OR.}


    {NO.}


    Will clicked ''no'' again but nothing happened. He kept on clicking ''no'' repeatedly but nothing happened as well.


    Then, he clicked yes.


    {WHAT PRICE WILL YOU OFFER?}


    {________________________}


    "This is getting stupid¡­ but I wonder what Nathan downloaded this time." In order to counter Nathan''s pranks, Will had studied and memorized most of the mods in Minecraft, at least the ones that Nathan was most likely to use against him.


    Since he had never heard of this weird mod before, he at least wanted to see what was gonna happen.


    "Price¡­ price¡­ let''s try this¡­ 1$ hehehe." Will smiled as he typed his offering, he is cheap to begin with. He had at least 60$ in his bank account. Besides, he did not believe that it could actually deduct a dollar from his account.


    {THANK YOU!}


    "Okay¡­ I did not expect this." Will was too tired to continue with whatever crap he thought Nathan was pulling.


    He massaged his eyelids gently. Wearing a vr headset for almost an entire day can be painful and annoying.


    The area around his eyes was almost black from lack of sleep. His eyes were read from staring at a screen for 24 hours. Will grabbed a coke and drank it to keep himself awake. The coke had been there for many hours and tasted flat. There were also various other drinks lying around in his room but were all empty.


    He then walked towards his computer and continued to play video games to get rid of the anger that was in him.


    Whenever he got pissed at Minecraft, he played Terraria instead, or whenever he was bored he would play RL craft. For some reason, he loved sandbox games more than others. He just lacked the creativity to create amazing structures. Not that playing those games required building techniques. As long as one finds a game fun and entertaining, then nothing else matters. He got some tips from Mumbo Jumbo, and his building techniques improved a bit.


    *Yawn* He stretched his arms in a lazy manner. He was extremely tired but he still didn''t go to bed.


    *ding*


    He received a message from his phone. It came from his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra.


    {Are you okay?}


    Even though they stopped seeing each other, they were still friends in a way.


    Will hesitated to reply as he still had feelings for her. But now that she knew he read her message, he had to reply back.


    {I''m good. Why do you ask?}


    {Did you not read the news? Dozens of students have disappeared since last night. They are all gone from the face of the Earth}


    {You mean like kidnapped?} Will replied.


    {No... it''s unnatural. I''ll send you a link. I just wanted to make sure you were okay}


    {...}


    Will clicked the link and it led him to another website.


    It was the news website. While during quarantine, kids would literally disappear out of thin air only to never be seen again. There were over 90 cases. Police officials believe that it''s the work of a large criminal organization, but without any proof or leads, they were not too sure where the children were, or how they were taken, or the motive behind it all.


    It seems at least 90 young people between the ages of 13-18 were being abducted.


    There was a single mother who cried in front of the cameras and begged for her two children to come back to her alive. As if she believed that the kidnappers would be listening to her, she offered them money for her children''s safe return.


    The only thing that the police and even FBI could connect about these children, is that they all went to the same school.


    There was also another strange connection. It has been discovered, exactly 100 years ago, several teenagers had disappeared without a trace, same as this time. The same thing happened 200 years ago, and also 300 years ago. It seemed like something or someone took a massive amount of people every hundred years.


    "That''s freaky." Will recognized those students, because they were his own classmates. He did not know all of them, as it was a big school. It was so freaky.


    ''Will I also be kidnapped?'' He thought, but dismissed it as impossible, but was still afraid of the possibility


    He put his phone down and continued playing games. The year 2020 is not a good year for humanity.


    "Man... I''m so tired. Maybe I should just take a nap." Will could not even focus on his game anymore.


    The sleeping pills were in a drawer beside his bed. He got up to get it, but his entire vision turned white. A very bright light illuminated the entire room. It was a light that appeared from the ground in a large circle, it looked like a summoning circle from many other isekai novels.


    "What the fu?k?" The bright light blinded him completely so he didn''t want what it was, all he knew was that it was very bright. His room was dark and his eyes were not accustomed to light.


    But since Will was blinded he did not see where he was stepping. He accidentally stepped on a can of coke, and rolled over. He hit his head so hard on the corner of the desk, which was made out of solid wood. There was a noticeable blood stain on the desk.


    The bright circle disappeared


    At that time, Nathan came downstairs with a tray full of food.


    "Hey, Mom says it''s time to eat¡­ Will? Bro?" Nathan saw Will on the ground. At first he thought he was asleep or something, as it isn''t the first time Will had fallen asleep on the cold, hard ground.


    Will''s body was facing down, so Nathan did not see the bloodstain on his head. Since it was dark and the blood blended well with the desk, Nathan did not see it.


    "Come on, Mom is going to get angry if you pull another prank on me." Nathan pushed Will''s body but no signs of movement could be seen.


    "Will? This isn''t funny." Nathan thought that Will was pulling off a terrible joke on him by playing dead.


    Nathan used his puny strength to nudge Will''s body. And he saw a bloody pool on Will''s head.


    "MOM!!!" Nathan felt scared and ran upstairs to his Mother.


    In another place, Will got up. The sunlight hit his face which made his eyes ache.


    "Did I pass out again?" This wasn''t the first time Will had passed out.


    "God, my head hurts." Will felt a great amount of pain from his head, like a terrible headache. After a while the pain subsided.


    Will got accustomed to the bright light¡­ then he remembered something.


    His parent''s basement b?r?ly had any lighting, his room was only lit up by a small lamp. He actually preferred it that way. It is supposed to be dark, so it wouldn''t make sense that his room was bright.


    And there was also a light breeze of fresh air, he hadn''t been outside much because he is on quarantine.


    After getting used to the light, he saw something that wasn''t there before, a thick forest surrounding him.


    There were only thick trees, leaves, and the sound of birds chirping happily.


    "The hell?"


    Will somehow thought that he was still wearing the vr headset and grabbed his face, only to feel nothing on it. There was no headset or anything. This was real.


    "I am¡­ having a lucid dream. Makes sense." Will had a good reason to believe that. Will has trouble sleeping and would have illusions and see things that aren''t real, as if he had taken illegal drugs.


    Will would have trouble falling asleep and would prefer to play video games all night. Most times, he would hallucinate and it is becoming a problem for him. It is not because he didn''t want to sleep, but because he actually couldn''t for some reason.


    In fact, Will has such strong hallucinations, that he literally thought at times he had reincarnated in other anime worlds and became the hero of such worlds. He had even written several fanfictions about his experiences. They were not that great compared to the works of the legendary ''DemonGodHiatus.''


    He has been to the hospitals before and has taken some medicine to sleep. But he would drink that with either tapped water, coke, or beer. (Not recommended at all. Drink clean water with your pills and nothing else)


    That worked a bit, but that didn''t stop his parents from trying everything else, like soothing music, massages, therapists, drugs, and so on.


    His condition is called ''insomnia'' and it is a very common thing that most people experience. However in Will''s case, his condition was worse than most people.


    Will acted as if this was something normal. He had accepted the fact that he had been having these illusions that he had accepted it as part of himself. His insomnia started when he was 17-18 years old. Ever since then, he did not have a good night''s sleep. And when he did sleep, it would only last for a maximum of 2-3 hours.


    It is said that those who don''t sleep for more than 2-4 days straight can have strong hallucinations. Will had indeed slept several days ago, but it was only a short 3 hour nap. And even before that, Will could not sleep well.


    The average sleep that a human needs is at least 8-9 hours. Any more or less than that could result in health problems.


    Sometimes he would forget to take his sleeping pills. Those pills sort of worked, but they at most let him sleep for a few hours.


    After his hallucinations are over, he will find himself either awake on a hospital bed, or wake up in his own filthy room. But mostly his room especially in times like these.


    His parents already saw him as a lost cause, and no one blamed them, not even Will. Will was already over 20 years old, and his life is that of a pig. Were it not because his parents loved him and cared for him, he would be on the streets long ago.


    And also, Will only did the challenge in the first place because of 2 things, fame and money.


    Others call it hallucinations, but Will calls them ''lucid dreams'' because he could literally do anything he wants to in his world.


    Bang a hot anime girl?


    Become insanely OP?


    Have infinite wealth?


    Kill humans and gods God of War style?


    He could have all of those in his illusions as if he were dreaming.


    Will examined what world he is ''dreaming'' of now. Sometimes controlling your dreams is difficult and you just have to go with the flow.


    He noticed that there were words and numbers floating on top of him.


    {HP: 50/50}


    "Okay, that is new."


    Will treated it as another lucid dream and didn''t think much of it. It is like a dream and everything just seems normal to you no matter how weird it may be.


    And there was also a brown book on his hand. He doesn''t remember picking it up. Was it there on his hand the whole time, and he didn''t notice it? Back at school he would never touch a book and would rather secretly play games


    Just as he was about to open it, a sound disturbed him.


    *Flap* *Flap*


    Multiple noises of birds flapping their wings were flying away from him. Loudly chirping as if they were running from something.


    *Snore*


    Will felt a warm gust of air hitting his back. He also heard a low and loud vibrating noise that he could feel all over his body.


    Fear struck his heart. It was like having a bad nightmare.


    Hoping that it is nothing, he turned around expecting there to be nothing, but he was dead wrong.


    Behind him, was a red dragon. It had a large horn on it''s nose and several, smaller, red spikes on its head going all the way down to it''s back and tail. It''s wings were so big that it could be mistaken to be moving mountains, and it wasn''t an exaggeration.


    It''s entire body was covered in red scales, with it''s stomach covered in greenish scales.


    Will had never seen such a lifelike Dragon. It couldn''t even compare to the Dragon from the Hobbit movie, well maybe a little bit.


    Even though he believed it was a dream, fear still struck his heart. It was like having a terrible nightmare. He couldn''t even move his arms or legs. It was like he were a statue.


    Then, the red Dragon spoke in a loud voice.


    "Ukay Shro Meno?"


    "Wh-wha-what?" Will had no idea what it said. Heck, he wasn''t sure if it was even speaking to him at all, like a Dragon from Skyrim.


    Instead of a response, the Dragon opened up it''s mouth, which was full of thousands of sharp teeth, it was a foul smell, like a thousand corpses were decaying on his teeth.


    "AAAAHHHH!!!"


    And it ate Will completely, killing him almost instantly.


    For a moment, Will could see nothing but complete darkness. He felt the pain of those teeth impaling his body. Like being crushed by giant spears.


    This is the first time he felt so much pain ever since he started hallucinating. Sometimes he would trip or hit something and it would, but it was nothing compared to what he is feeling right now.


    Then, the bright light of the sun completely blinded him. It was as if someone had turned on the lights in a dark room. It is unexpected and blinding at the same time.


    Will found himself lying down on something wet. He looked at his arms and was covered in sand and saltwater.


    He got up, still scarred by that red-Dragon experience. He looked at his body and there were no wounds at all, but the brown book was on the ground beside him. He could still feel that red-dragon crushing his bones with its teeth.


    Will sighed in relief as he looked around. There was no sight of a Dragon nearby.


    "Those damned dragons. It''s just like RL Craft all over again."


    He touched the water and sand and rubbed them together on his fingers. It felt so realistic, as if it was real. No illusion he ever had was it so lifelike.


    "Something tells me I am not hallucinating."


    He looked at the vast ocean. Will has never been on a beach before. He looked at the other side, and it was filled with sand and nothing else but sand.


    He noticed that he was not on a beach, but on an island, a very, very small island. There was nothing on the island but sand, seaweed, crabs, starfish and the vast ocean.


    "Why am I here? I would much rather be at-"


    *SPLASH*


    A giant sea serpent came out of nowhere and ate Will whole, killing him instantly. Will didn''t even know how he died. It was so sudden that he could not even identify the one who killed him.


    Once again, he found himself lying on the ground but this time in a different place. He was now in some tall mountains covered by trees and snow.


    His body trembled because of the intense cold. As someone who has never lived in cold areas, his body was not used to it.


    Will hugged his arms to warm himself a bit. All he had was a pair of blue jeans and a thin shirt with short sleeves. What was weird is that the clothes he was wearing weren''t his the last he was at his home.


    He thought about going down and moving out of that area, but he saw several monsters down below. They were monsters that he had never seen before. Not only that, but he could only see snow everywhere with no sight of green anywhere.


    Not wanting to take the risk of dying a third time, he looked around to hide somewhere that could help him escape the cold.


    And wouldn''t you know it, he found a cave. He ran inside the cave, and sat down near the entrance.


    He didn''t want to venture too deeply because he couldn''t see how deep the cave went, and only God knew if there were monsters lurking in the cave he was in. The light coming from the entrance of the cave could only go so far.


    If it weren''t because of the cold or because of the monsters that were down, he would not have taken his chances in the cave.


    Right now his teeth were cluttering on it''s own, and he could see his own breath.


    "It-it-it-it''s c-k-col-cold¡­ w-why a-am I-he-here?"


    He did not know who he was talking to. Right now he hoped that he would wake up at any moment and find himself in the comfort of his home.


    Most MC''s at this point would feel ecstatic to find themselves in another world. They would be summoned in front of the King and asked to save the kingdom from a threat and blah, blah, blah you know how it goes. But, Will was a different case.


    Apart from already dying twice to two huge monsters, and possibly going to die from hypothermia, Will would never want to teleport to another world, despite what many other people think.


    Think about it, back in his home, Will had all the games he could play, all the movies he could watch, all the food he could eat. Why would he give up that live of luxury for something as dumb as having to transport to another world?


    Will has seen one or 2 mangas about people reincarnating into different worlds. He would never understand why he would want that. He''s not much of an anime fan, manga fan or anything like that. He would much rather control the character in video games, instead of watching other people''s lives on a screen.


    He felt shocks on pain on his body, like a jolt.


    Looking up, his HP started to decline.


    {HP 45/50}


    {status: Hypothermia, slowness}


    The jolts were from him taking damage.


    "Pl-plea-please¡­ m-mom, d-dad, hel-help me." Will just had no idea what to do at this point.


    *Squish*


    He heard a weird splashing noise beside him. The source of the noise came from a slime, not just an ordinary slime, but an ''ice slime.''


    Will''s attention was instead focused on the words and numbers on top of the ice slime.


    {Ice Slime}


    {HP 50/50}


    Then all of a sudden, the book was on the ground, it glowed a bright green for only a second. That book has been with him since the beginning.


    The slime was very cute. It''s size could be measured as the size of one''s palm. It even had small, dark eyes that reflected the light coming from the entrance of the cave.


    Will found it so cute. It even had the exact same amount of HP as him.


    "H- hey t-t-there, B-b-buddy."


    However, the slime jumped on top of his legs, and his entire body froze. He literally couldn''t even move a muscle due to being frozen like an ice statue.


    Only the Ice Slime was unharmed.


    {HP 20/50}


    {status: Slowness, hypothermia, frozen}


    That little slime did more than half the damage of his full HP and even gave him a frozen debuff.


    {HP 15/50}


    {HP 10/50}


    Due to being frozen solid, his body started taking more damage from the cold than before.


    {HP 5/50}


    {HP 0/50}


    And just like that, he died again.


    Will now found himself in a grassland. The pain of dying all those times were still on his head. He started to get angry, like a kid who was about to rage quit.


    "STOP IT WITH THIS SHIT!!!" Will could not take it anymore. He lost his mind and shouted at whatever was there.


    Will hoped that the one who brought him here would hear him.


    "WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE TO YOU?!?! I JUST WANT TO BE AT HOME! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK?!"


    "I WAS JUST ENJOYING MY LIFE AND YOU DRAG ME HERE FOR NO REASON! TAKE ME BACK HOME NOW!!!"


    He didn''t even know if anyone could hear him. He was just doing a Minecraft challenge before all this happened. Will hoped that this is all just a nightmare and he would wake up at any moment.


    Dying 3 times already, Will could not take it anymore. What was worse is that he could still feel the bite from the Dragon, the other time from the sea monster, and the coldness from the ice slime.


    He could no longer tolerate any more deaths. It was just too much for an ordinary person.


    After ranting for an hour he got sweaty and tired. Will is what one would call a ''couch potato''


    Then he noticed the brown book on his hand.


    After taking some deep breaths, he calmed down.


    He opened up the first page of the brown book. This is what he read:


    [Greetings, chosen one. I am not here to answer any questions you might have. However, I did write out some answers you might want to know]


    [Yes, you are in a different world. This is a fictional world surrounded by Dragons, Sea monsters, slimes, everything you would like]


    Will felt that the book was trying to make him angry. Never again are Dragons gonna amaze him, and never again will he ever underestimate a slime by it''s cute appearance. As for Sea monsters, they had always scared him. There was something about the ocean that made him fear it.


    {And fortunately, you cannot return home. You will now forever live in this world for the rest of your natural life}


    "HOW IS THAT ''FORTUNATE!'' I JUST WANT TO GO HOME! NOT ONLY THAT BUT YOU DIDN''T GIVE ME A CHOICE!"


    Before he died, he saw the bold letters in his vr set. Even after pressing no several times before, it did not let him make that choice. He had to press ''yes.''


    {The reason you were chosen was by chance. You died because you tripped and hit your head on your desk. Even if I did not teleport you here, you would have still died and your soul would have either been in hell or heaven by now}


    {In short, your time was up}


    Reading that piece of news, Will sat down. Was that true? Was he bound to die at the young age of 20 because of an accident?


    Then he remembered something before dying. A bright light that came out of nowhere and blinded him, which caused him to die.


    "But, it''s not even my fault. Someone or something blinded me and made me trip and die."


    There was no answer.


    "This, this is fu?k?n? bullshit!'' Once again raged by anger he threw the book and started vending his frustration.


    After a while, only then did he start to relax.


    Looking back, Will felt that he had wasted his entire life. His last remaining years were just him locked up in his room, playing games, watching movies, lazing around.


    The last time he saw his parents, he didn''t say anything to them. At that point in time they felt like total strangers instead of family.


    He had distanced himself from his family because he would much rather play games in his basement, rather than to spend time with them. And this was before the world was quarantined.


    "Mom, Dad, Nathan¡­" Will let out some tears. How he wished that he could turn back time and spend one minute with them. He didn''t even say bye to them.


    Will spent a solid 5 minutes crying.


    He wiped off the snot and tears from his eyes using his hand. He continued reading the brown book.


    [Do not feel bad, chosen one. Think of this life as a second chance in life]


    {Now to explain the rules of who I am and what you are}


    {First and foremost, I am the ''Crafting'' system. The only system in the multiverse who creates, crafts, builds, and also destroys}


    {You are the chosen system user}


    {The powers you get are simple}


    {You can die indeed, but you will respawn an infinite number of time. But still do take care of yourself. You might have infinite lives, but do not abuse it. Dying is not pretty. And also, if for some weird reason you happen to come across a weapon that can destroy souls, do not engage because you will not be able to respawn, and then I will have to find myself another sucker}


    "..." Will.


    {Secondly, I know you have played some sandbox games, so this should be easy for you to understand¡­ Minecraft + Terraria = You}


    {In short, imagine that Minecraft and Terraria had a baby, and you are that baby}


    {Although some mechanics and things are different, you will get the hang of it}


    {Third: the handbook you have with you will always be with you. Only you can see the book and summon it on your hand at will. To everyone else, it will appear to be invisible and they cannot even touch it. You can throw it away if you want, but it will always be with you}


    {There is also a pen and an eraser that you can write with. You can write whatever you want in there. However, you cannot erase nor change what''s inside the book already, as all of it is useful information}


    {The brown handbook contains all the knowledge about crafting recipes, like weapons, potions, and many other things}


    {Like Minecraft, it will tell you how to craft an item, and it will tell you anything about it}


    {It will tell a weapon''s damage output, durability. An armor''s protection and if it has any special effects or such. It will also list out what an item does and so on}


    {And also, there are many other recipes that you have yet to discover. After you have discovered those new ingredients, just by merely touching it, you will be able to craft it, only if you have the right materials to do it}


    {The handbook has one other important detail, Bestiary. It will detail everything about every single monster you have ever encountered, including people and bosses and such}


    {However, if you only encounter a monster, only half of the relevant information will be added to the book. In order to fully understand the monster, you have to either kill it or tame it. in some cases, the book will not write about monsters you''ve encountered, because you either need to kill it or tame it, but in other cases just by merely looking at a monster will the book write everything there is to know about its species}


    {You do not need to use this method, as there are other ways. You can also get the details of a monster from a book or another person and the handbook will write it down for you. But if the information is wrong, the handbook will not write it down}


    {And that is all}


    {I will not be able to talk to you, as I am busy. If you have questions regarding the system, unfortunately you will have to find out by yourself. My schedule is tight. Be grateful that I have wasted all this time writing all of this information down for you}


    That was all there was. Will put the book down and sighed.


    "Today is a bad day for me."


    First he dies by a dragon, sea monster, ice slime, and finds out he actually died back in his home. He can only imagine the pain his family must go through right now.


    Most of his entire life was wasted. He always took the value of life for granted. It only took him this long to realize how life should be cherished.


    Despite only spending less than an hour in this world, he had already missed his old life.


    "Mom, Dad, Nathan¡­ I love you all. I know you won''t hear me, but thank you for all you have done for me. Such a useless son I was." Will began to get teary eyed again. He loved his family so much and took them for granted.


    One truly doesn''t appreciate what they have until it''s gone.


    "I may have wasted my entire life. But no longer will that happen. As from here on out, I will not waste my life."


    He will never forgive himself for the stupid mistakes he did in the past. He will never forget about the kind parents he had, or the annoying but tolerable brother he lived with.


    Will noticed from the corner of his eye, a tall building not too far away from where he was. Looking at it more carefully, it appeared to be a kingdom.


    It looked so grand despite being a bit far from him.


    Now he knew where he was going, straight to that kingdom with a goal in mind.


    "After I become stronger, I will reign down death upon every dragon I come across. Slay every sea monster I see. And squish every slime I can find. And then, I will AAAAAHHHHH!!!"


    Out of nowhere, he felt 2 huge claws carrying him off the ground by gripping on his arms. It was a giant eagle and he didn''t notice it until now.


    {Giant Eagle}


    {HP 300/300}


    "HOW CAN I GET LIVE MY LIFE IF EVERYTHING HERE IS TRYING TO Kill meee...!"


    His voice faded as he flew away from the kingdom he wanted to go to. He tried to set himself free from the Eagle''s claws, but found that he had no strength to free himself.


    *SCREECH* The Eagle yelled.


    He had no weapon on his body. And he couldn''t even reach high enough to punch or kick the eagle.


    After 5-10 minutes of flying, Will still struggled to get out of its grip.


    Until, he had an idea.


    He stretched his neck out and bit on one of the Eagle''s enormous claws.


    *SCREECH* The Eagle didn''t expect a human to bite it, and it released Will from it''s grip.


    "Haha! I win! Oh crap!" Will forgot about the height the eagle had dragged him, they were about thousands of feet high up in the sky.


    His only goal was to get out of the Eagle''s grip. Somehow he forgot to take fall damage in account.


    "SSSSHIIIIIIITTTTTT!!!!"


    Will had never taken any skydiving lessons. But now he knew what it felt like to be a skydiver, without a parachute.


    "EVEN IF I CANNOT DIE, I DO NOT WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS!"


    He was going down so fast, due to the air it could not let him see clearly.


    "PLEASE LET FALL DAMAGE BE DISABLED!"


    *SPLASH*


    Will did not die. Actually, he somehow managed to fall in a small body of water.


    Will swam up until he could feel the air on his face. He swam until he was on land.


    "Thank God, I''m alive. Finally, some good luck¡­"


    *Chomp*


    As if lady luck was jinxing him, a giant crocodile bit his arm off.


    {Will}


    {HP 20/50}


    {status: Mining fatigue, arm loss, bleeding}


    {Crocodile}


    {HP 170/170}


    "OOWWW!!!"


    Will instinctively got up and ran away, not before he saw how the crocodile was happily chewing on his arm.


    "THIS WORLD IS A NIGHTMARE!!!" Will kept running and running and never looked back. The pain of his arm being chewed off was unbearable, but fear and adrenaline made him run to wherever he could.


    As so much stuff has happened to him, he wondered something, what the hell was actually going on here?


    Shouldn''t he have a powerful weapon by now that would make him OP? Or better yet, be born with a skill that would have helped him in other situations?


    Shouldn''t he have been summoned in a circle in front of a King or something? Shouldn''t he have an actual system instead of a lame handbook guiding him? And it didn''t even properly guide him.


    He had no idea what to expect from this word, aside from the monsters that had already killed and kidnapped him.


    He knows that he has the crafting system, but good does that do when wherever he goes, everything wants to kill him or eat him?


    And also, he has no practice with it. How exactly was he going to use it?


    This was the perfect definition of ''learning on the job.

 Chapter 2 - Clement

    Will kept on running and running nonstop for days. He cannot remember the last time he ran at all. But the fear and adrenaline coursing through his body made him unable to stop running. Everywhere he went there was always something out to kill him, whether it be crocodiles, swamp monsters, ogres, snakes, poisonous frogs and so on.


    {HP 1/50}


    {status: Mining fatigue, poison, bleeding, weakness, blurred vision}


    After receiving the poison debuff from something, his HP started to dwindle a lot faster than before. Maybe even a slap would be enough to kill him. The weakness and blurred was from his thirst and hunger bar effect. He hasn''t eaten or drank anything in days.


    Both his thirst and hunger were dangerously low. He could feel his stomach trying to eat him, and his throat was dry. It only got worse by the second. There was no hunger or thirst bar like in Minecraft or Rlcraft. It is like real life when a person feels hunger or thirst.


    Something inside told him he wanted to die rather than to continue suffering like this, but at the same time he didn''t want to die again.


    The fact that his HP did not reach 0 despite still being poisoned and bleeding told him that the guy who created this system is a sadistic bastard.


    His body reached a point where he could no longer go on.


    The swamp was devoid of any life, except for some small insects, and some small animals like poisonous frogs and such. The swamp was large and spread out for miles.


    In any fantasy swamp there lived crocodiles, alligators, snakes, ogres, and so on. But in this particular area, no such monster could be seen.


    Will felt his eyes were closing by himself. He fell unconscious, b?r?ly alive with only 1 HP left.


    Had he known, he would have rather killed himself right now than to continue suffering. He hoped that someone or something would put him out of his misery, so he can respawn and start all over. He didn''t even have the strength to kill himself.


    And there he was, all alone.


    *Whistle*


    A beautiful whistling noise could be heard echoing across the swamp. Followed by the noises of a horse trotting, a guitar being played rhythmically along with the whistling, and a carriage being pulled.


    It was a middle aged man, with a long, black beard, with his hair also long, dark and braided. He sat comfortably on his carriage, which was being pulled by a dark horse. He played his red guitar as he sat on the top of his carriage.


    The horse was all black, except it''s hooves which were white. But from stepping on the mud, his white hooves were covered in mud.


    It seemed luxurious and expensive, but if one looked closely, it had been damaged by weapons recently, scratched by monster claws, slashed by swords, and pierced by arrows.


    And since it was a carriage and they were going through a swamp, the carriage hit some obstacles which only further damaged it.


    The middle aged man stopped playing his guitar, sat up, stretched out his arms and legs. He observed the area around him.


    "Don''t you just love this, Esmeralda? The swamps are beautiful, the sounds of poisonous frogs echoing, and not a monster in sight, and a dead body of a young man is lying there¡­"


    The middle aged man continued to observe Will''s body just lying there on the ground. He scratched his beard.


    "Hold it."


    The horse stopped and so did the carriage.


    The middle aged man took out a modified handgun from his hip, which had an unusually long barrel. He aimed it around him. After confirming no one was there, only did he jump down his carriage,


    He kept his guard up. While pointing the gun at Will''s head, he walked slowly towards him and kicked him softly a couple of times.


    "Are you dead, son?" His voice was low and gave anyone the impression that he was a powerful, domineering man.


    The man then kicked Will''s body again which made Will fall on his back.


    The man searched Will''s body for anything dangerous, or anything at all. Noticing that he was losing blood, and also several traces of poison bites on his legs and arms, it was a miracle that the young man before him was alive.


    "You''re alive, but b?r?ly¡­ god. How are you still alive?"


    He looked at his carriage. Should he or should he not put him inside the carriage? It was not that he didn''t trust Will, it was merely for other reasons that he did not want Will to see what was inside the carriage.


    Not wanting to let someone die or taking any chances that Will is possibly a trap set up by his enemies, he grabbed Will with both his arms, and dragged him all the way to his horse, and put him on top of Esmeralda.


    "You okay, Girl?"


    "Neigh."


    "Thatta girl. Come on, keep walking. Before anybody sees us, especially ''them.'' And we better get out of this swamp before this kid gets a disease or something. After all, he could be useful." He smirked as an idea popped on his head.


    Were it not because he found a shortcut, he would have not taken the risk of travelling through this swamp.


    Will did manage to open his eyes just a little. The only thing he saw was the ground moving. After that, he fell unconscious once more.


    ¡­


    *Splash*


    Will was woken up when water splashed down on his face.


    "Cough, cough, cough."


    Some of the water entered his nose and it choked him.


    "Good, you''re awake."


    It was the middle aged man. He purposefully grabbed a bottle made out of leather, and splashed some water on Will''s face. It was the only thing he could think of that could wake him up, kicking and screaming did not seem to work.


    "What, cough, the hell?, cough. Where am, cough, I?"


    Will did not know what to expect again. What cruel things were to befall on him this time? He just hoped that it wasn''t another sea monster or dragon.


    "Before you say anything, look at your body." The middle aged man said as he took sips from the leather bottled water.


    Will instinctively looked down, and he couldn''t see anything due to how blurry his vision was. Rubbing his eyes did nothing. It was as if he was legally blind.


    "Water, so *cough* thirsty!" Will''s throat felt like dry cement.


    "Here, take whatever''s left." The man offered Will the same leather bottled water he used to wake Will up.


    Will could b?r?ly see his blurry figure, left without much of a choice, Will yanked the bottle from his hand and drank it all. Only a little bit more than half of water remained, but it was enough. Will gulped down the water while some of it spilled off his lips.


    Will got his vision back the moment he finished drinking. This is what happens in RL Craft as well. When a player doesn''t drink enough water their vision gets blurry. It didn''t make much sense but that''s how it is.


    Looking down his body was covered in bandages.


    He looked up and saw his HP bar.


    {HP 50/50}


    Even his hand, that was chewed by a crocodile, was back to normal.


    "Eat and drink. This should help you."


    The middle aged man gave Will some cooked meat, and another drink.


    Once the scent of the delicious meat entered through his nostrils, Will became like a hungry beast and almost ate the entire piece of meat in a few bites. He was just so damn hungry and he almost chewed off his own arm.


    *Gulp*


    The piece of meat was lodged on his throat. Will took the drink from the old man''s hand and drank it all down.


    "Sigh¡­ oh thank you so much."


    {status: None}


    As soon as he finished eating, his ''weakness'' debuff was gone.


    Will looked around. He was in the middle of nowhere. Only a plain field of grass could be seen, and also a dirt road that led to god knows where.


    "Your old clothes, I threw them away. They were torn and covered in blood."


    The middle aged man grabbed a pair of clothes and threw it at Will. Will caught it. The clothes were blue, looked very fancy and expensive, but also very weird looking.


    Without thinking too much about it, Will put on the clothes. They were tight for him.


    But that didn''t bother him. Compared to the other crap he had to put up with, this was heaven.


    "Thank yo-"


    "If you want to thank me," The middle aged man interrupted Will, "then tell me what the hell you were doing in the middle of Lea''s Swamp"


    "Lea''s Swamp?"


    "That''s the name of the swamp where I found you. Are you going to tell me?"


    The middle aged man sat down with his legs crossed. He started playing on his guitar.


    "I was¡­ I was dropped off in that place."


    "... what?"


    "A freaking bird snatched me and I managed to escape. That is how I got here."


    "Ah bird? Oh, was it an Eagle? Yeah those ones are annoying. Especially the females, they always want to feed their babies using live prey."


    "..." Will had no idea how to respond to that.


    "What''s your name?" Asked the middle aged man.


    "Will."


    "Will what?"


    "Will Connor!"


    "Well, Mr. Connor, you have 2 choices, 1 I leave you here stranded in the middle of nowhere, and hope to god that you don''t get picked up by another eagle or something worse¡­ or you can tell me the truth and live!"


    The middle aged man got his gun and pointed it at Will''s head.


    "Woah. wait, what, stop!" Will was frightened. One second the man helped him, the next second he''s aiming a gun to his head.


    "Connor, that''s the name of a ''Hero'' and your old clothes are not of this world either. Tell me, which kingdom summoned you?"


    The middle aged man put the gun close to Will''s head.


    "Kingdom? What? I don''t know what you''re saying?" Will was only a normal man in his life, so it is not weird that he is scared when someone is pointing a gun to his head. Were it not because he already experienced multiple deaths and saw a terrifying dragon, he would have already pissed his pants and would not be able to speak at all.


    The middle aged man pulled the hammer of his gun as he pushed his gun further on Will''s head.


    "Who summoned you? Was it the Phobia King? The Fat Empress? The Great Sage?"


    "Wait, wait, wait, I don''t know what you''re saying."


    "Wrong answer."


    *Boom*


    The middle-aged man pulled the trigger and the gun went off. Will''s body went limp on the ground in an ''X'' position.


    The man then placed his gun on a holster and continued playing his guitar as if nothing happened.


    "GASP!"


    Will woke up still in shock. He was sure he was dead, unless he reincarnated again for the 20th time.


    "Oh, good, you''re alive." He chuckled as he continued to play his guitar.


    "What? I''m alive¡­ again."


    Will touched his forehead where he was shot at, but there was nothing there, only a small bruise that he couldn''t see.


    "The fact that you''re still alive means that you didn''t lie to me."


    "The, what, huh?" Will was just plain confused.


    "My gun has the ability to kill anyone who lies to me."


    "..." Alex thought how useless that gun is. If it only kills people who lie to him, then it won''t be able to kill many people. An ordinary gun would work better.


    "My name''s Clement. How did you get to this world?"


    "I¡­ I don''t know either."


    "Hm..." Clement kept playing the guitar as he went into deep thought.


    It was an awkward silence between them. Should Will thank him or not? Is what he thought. He did save his life, but at the same time he did try to kill him now.


    "Anyways¡­ can you point me to the nearest safe place?" Will just wanted to get away from it all, he had suffered enough pain and just wanted to feel safe.


    Seeing that there was nothing useful that Will knew, Clement decided to let Will go.


    "Follow this dirt path. By foot you should be able to get to a small village in 2 days."


    "Two days? I won''t make it in the first hour without being attacked!"


    "Then you better run. It''s best you get there before the sun sets. Or else powerful beasts will eat you whole."


    Seeing as how Clement wasn''t going to even offer him a weapon or a ride, Will got up and started walking the dirt path.


    Clement saw Will walking away. Shaking his head he put his guitar down.


    "By god I hope he doesn''t die soon. But now I have more important things to attend to. Isn''t that right?"


    He banged the chariot twice in a fit of anger.


    *rumble*


    The ground beneath him started shaking. By the second it started to get louder and stronger.


    "They found us faster than I expected¡­ Esmeralda! Go!" Clement places the guitar on his back, gets on top of his horse and starts running hastily on the dirt path.


    "Goddammit. I took that shortcut for nothing. How did they find us already?"


    Will started to run. He took Clement''s advice and started to jog. As someone who has never done exercise, he started to get tired pretty fast.


    "Note to self: do some damn cardio." Will was never going to get far when his stamina is on par with a fat kid with asthma.


    "Kid!"


    A familiar voice rang behind Will''s voice.


    Will looked to see Clement riding on his horse while dragging a damaged chariot.


    Without even asking a question, Clement took Will''s arm and pulled him up while still driving a horse.


    "What the hell?!" Will did not expect this.


    "Do you know how to shoot a gun?" Clement asked in an exasperated manner.


    "Uh¡­ only in games."


    "Good enough. Hold this. If you drop it, I will kill you. Shoot anyone or anything standing in our way!" Clement handed Will one of his handguns. He is very serious about killing Will should he ever drop his gun.


    Will has never held a gun before. It felt lighter than expected. But, how was he going to aim a gun while he''s on top of a horse, moving at a great speed, with no prior training at all?


    Clement climbed on top of the carriage with ease. Despite still moving, his feet were firm on the carriage as if they were nailed.


    Clement saw from far away 30 men on horses coming closely behind them, an ordinary person would not be able to see them because they were too far.


    He did not use any kind of spell, it was just that he had very good eyesight.


    Out of all the 30 men riding on horses one stood out in particular. A handsome, blonde man led the other 29 soldiers directly towards Clement. His body build was very fit, with a square jaw, short nose, and short hair. There was also a black tattoo on his forehead, that looked like the face of an owl. He also wore shiny armor with weird symbols on it.


    "Clement!" The young man yelled in great anger as he saw someone standing on top of the carriage. He could see him because of a special spell he was using.


    "Shaun Quincy." Clement recognized one of them.


    Clement knew that Shaun and his men were going to catch up to him. He grabbed his second gun and shot at Clement.


    Before the bullet could reach Shaun, it was blocked by an invisible force field that protected them.


    "Tch! Cheap trick."


    Clement turned the cylinder of his gun two times, then shot the dirt path in front of Shaun.


    *BOOM*


    *BOOM*


    *BOOM*


    Each time that Clement shot the ground it exploded, it was obvious he was using explosive rounds instead. It covered the area behind the carriage in dirt. The reason he did not shoot them with the explosion rounds instead, it was because he knew that it would also have no effects at all. Shooting the forcefield would only be a waste of bullets.


    *Clank*


    *Clink*


    Two giant metal arrows, that looked like harpoons, impaled the backside of the carriage. One of the giant arrows penetrated the door, while the other one was so close to taking out the wheel.


    Out of the smoke appeared Shaun and his men totally unfazed and closer than before. There were only 4 horsemen missing. Some of them tripped when Clement created those giant holes in the ground, while the others accidentally hit a tree because of the smokescreen,


    "Clement! I will liberate your head from the rest of your body!" Shaun aimed a gun directly at Clement and shot, but Clement tilted his head slightly and dodged the bullet.


    Clement merely smiled. He then ran back to where Will was.


    "..." Shaun. He expected a response of some sort, but Clement just ran back.


    "Kid, when I say ''shoot the carriage'' I want you to shoot the carriage." Clement said to Will.


    Will is literally lost. All this time he is just wondering what was going on. He hears some talking, then explosions, gunshots, and now this.


    Clement kicked the front side of the carriage which created a hole big enough for him to fit. Clement entered the carriage to get something.


    "Sir, your orders?!" One of the horsemen following Shaun said loudly.


    "Pull the door!" Shaun commanded.


    One of the men dropped the giant gun on the ground which was connected to the backdoor of the carriage. It tore off the backdoor forcefully, as if the weapon that was dropped weighed a ton when it looked so light.


    The pieces of the door flew at the horsemen, but were repelled with the forcefield.


    There they saw inside the carriage was Clement, and on his shoulder, was a young girl with blindfolded eyes, bound with chain and rope, she has long pink straight hair, and wore clothing that looked similar to Shaun''s, it even had the same symbols engraved on their clothings.


    "Clement! You hand back the Princess!" Shaun roared with anger. The thought of shooting him crossed his mind, but there was a slight chance that he could shoot the woman instead. It was a risk he wasn''t willing to take.


    Clement tipped his hat to Shaun and jumped towards his horse.


    "Shoot the carriage!" Clement said as he somehow landed behind Will.


    Will stretched his arm back and aimed carefully, so he would not miss the carriage or hit Clement. There was no way he could miss with such a large and close target, that is what was going through his mind.


    And sure enough, he squeezed the trigger and missed. He missed the entire carriage.


    "... you suck, kid." Clement said. How could anyone miss such an easy target?


    *Boom*


    As if lady luck was by his side, instead of hitting the carriage, he hit a large tree. There was a giant hole on the bottom, it''s weight tipped over and blocked the path of the horsemen.


    But Shaun reacted quickly by grabbing a small spear that was on his horse, it grew in size, and shot a blue laser from its tip right at the tree, which destroyed most of it, but not entirely.


    A huge chunk of the tree managed to hit one of his horsemen and tripped him, along with some of his other men like dominoes. The forcefield could stop small objects from going through, but not huge chunks. It is mostly used to stop projectile weapons from hurting them.


    And what started with 30 men, 20 were left.


    "That damn Clement! First you kidnap the Princess, and now you dare injure my men!" Shaun was furious, as he was about to reach for his pocket, there was another explosion.


    *Boom*


    That explosion blew up the carriage, which turned into millions of pieces.


    Shaun and the rest saw in fear as what was before their eyes. They saw Clement sitting on his horse, facing at them, with his guitar on his shoulder as if he were holding a rocket.


    "You recognize this, right?" Clement asked as if Shaun could hear him.


    "SPREAD OUT!!!" Shaun loudly commanded his voice contained fear in it. It was clear that he knew that they were in trouble.


    But Clement pressed the body of the guitar, there was a secret bu??on that was well hidden.


    *BOOM*


    The explosion connected with the 20 horsemen and broke the forcefield like a fragile piece of glass.


    All the horsemen were gone. No one was chasing after Clement anymore.


    "Hmhmhm." Clement chuckled as he patted gently on his guitar.


    "You couldn''t have just shot them with that from the beginning?" Asked Will.


    "I could, but I wouldn''t have been able to kill them all at once."


    "Who is this?" Will pointed to the girl he was carrying. It is not the first time he has ever held a girl, but it was weird because she was bound with rope, and she was a stranger.


    Before Clement blew up the horsemen, he handed the girl over to Will without explaining at all.


    "She''s a daughter of a King who I have some troubles with."


    ''A Princess?'' Will thought.


    "If we keep going at this rate, we should be able to arrive at the village in a few hours. I''ll give you a ride for now."


    And just like that they just kept going. Will had many questions to ask, like who were those men chasing them, and who was the Princess. But Clement stopped answering his questions and only focused on tuning his guitar.


    Shaun, who was gravely injured, stood up. He saw that 17 of his men were dead, and the rest were injured.


    The injuries on his face healed at an abnormal rate. A minute later he stopped bleeding and got up.


    "Dammit! I should have used ''it'' when I had the fu?k?n? chance. If only I had reacted sooner, if only I had better men, if only Clement didn''t kidnap the Princess!"


    Shaun looked at his dead men. Whether he wants to admit it or not, not taking actions quickly enough put his men in danger and it cost their lives. Everything will be blamed on him because he is the leader of the group.


    "Don''t stop, girl, unless I say so." Clement patted the back of his horse.


    Will realized that he still had the gun with him. Instead of giving it back to Clement, he slowly hid it under his clothes.


    After hours of riding, Will felt his ?ss become numb. This is the first time he had ever rode on a horse, it wasn''t as hard as he thought, but it was very uncomfortable to sit on.


    "Here we are."


    They finally stopped right near a small village. It was small that there were less than 10 buildings, but there were many people living in it.


    Clement pushed Will off the horse, which made Will fall on his face.


    "So long." Clement placed the Princess on the horse and they sped off, leaving Will behind.


    "..." Will.


    At first Will thought that he should have returned the gun back to him, but now he is glad he stole his gun.


    "I just want a hot bath, food, and sleep. Huh, that''s weird. Why am I sleepy? Is my insomnia gone? Is it because this is a new body, or because I spend the last few days in hell. Either way, I''m sleeping good tonight¡­ and I''m talking to myself. Great, just great."


    So much has happened that he did not have the time to think things over. Heck, he didn''t even have time to check out what his system could actually do.


    Will made his way to the village. Not long did he hear a loud rumbling noise. Looking behind him, several horsemen, about hundreds of them, ran right to where Clement was headed. They all had the same armor and symbols as the horsemen from before.


    Out of instinct, Will took cover behind one of the trees before the horsemen saw him. The other men who Clement injured and killed might not have seen his face, but they could very well recognize the clothing he wore, which also had symbols as the ones that the Princess wore.


    Shaun was also there among the 100 horsemen. Will didn''t recognize him because he never saw his face before.


    Will heaved a sigh of relief. After making sure there were no more horsemen within his sights, he went into the village.


    Clement ran at full speed thanks to his horse, Esmeralda.


    "Go, girl, we''re almost home." Clement reached for his holster to reload his gun, only to find that it wasn''t there.


    "Stop!"


    At his command, Esmeralda stopped.


    Clement searched his whole body and even Esmeralda. He had the Princess, his guitar, his gun, but he did not have his other favorite gun.


    "Where did, how did? The Kid! He took my favorite gun!" As he was about to make his way back to where Will was, he saw hundreds of horsemen gaining on him.


    "Goddammit! How are they this quick?! They''re never this good." He had no choice but to leave Will for the time being and proceeded to run away.


    Clement''s plan was to use Will as a simple decoy to give him some more time. He purposefully gave Will the clothes that had the symbols of the kingdom that was sent to rescue the Princess.


    If the horsemen noticed Will, they could have questioned him, waste their time on him, as he made his quick get-away. Not only did they not notice Will, but he had also lost his favorite gun.


    He finally noticed something on the Princess''s wrist, it was a crystal bracelet. It was glowing a very dim colour that was hard to see.


    Clement took the bracelet from her wrist and threw it away. It was a tracking device. That is how they kept finding him so quickly.


    He had the perfect plan to get away, but it was ruined because of a simple miscalculation on his part.


    "I''ll be back, Kid! And get my gun back!" He swore to himself as he kept running away with the Princess in tow.

 Chapter 3 - Wood

    Will made his way on one of the buildings. The reason he went into this building is because it had an ''inn'' sign on the outside.


    It was a simple wooden building. A bit worn down inside and out. There was a fat lady on the counter, with smooth skin and ragged clothes. She smoked heavily, there were even several cigarettes on an ashtray near her.


    She was currently reading a small book. Her eyes focused on Will for only a second, but shifted back on her book.


    "20 coppers a night." She said grumpily. Will didn''t even ask anything. Her voice was raspy due to smoking a lot.


    "20¡­ what?"


    "20 copper coins to stay in a room for a night."


    "Um..." Will had realized something, he had no money on him. He didn''t even know what type of currency this world used.


    "You don''t have any money with you?" She raised one eyebrow.


    "I¡­ I don''t."


    "Then strip."


    "... what?"


    "Strip and I''ll let you stay." She said without shame.


    "I am not a stripper." Will then realized that maybe it was a small price to pay. He would much rather strip, than to be eaten alive by whatever monsters crawled in the world


    "Ugh! I have no interest in your skinny body. I am willing to give you 40 silver coins, and some comfortable clothes for your fancy clothes."


    "Silver¡­"


    According to his video game knowledge, 100 copper coins = 1 silver coin. So 40 silver coins = a lot of copper coins. He''s not very good at math.


    If that was the case, then it should be a great deal on his part. Not only were these clothing uncomfortable and flashy, but also dangerous because it could lead him to some dangers with certain horsemen.


    "Okay¡­" Without thinking twice, Will fully stripped of his clothes and handed him to the fat lady, he also kept the gun by his side. After she inspected the clothes twice, she dumped it on a closet without much care. She grabbed some green clothes from her closet and gave it to Will. She noticed the gun but did not think too much about it, because she too was armed in case anyone tried to rob her.


    "And here''s 39 silver coins and 80 copper. I deducted 20 copper coins because I presume that you''re going to stay here at least one more night. Here''s your key, your room is on the back of the building."


    "Uh, sure."


    As Will was about to make his way to his room, someone slammed the door open.


    "Mom!" A woman about her 20''s barged into the room angrily. Her looks were okay, but she had a m?tur? aura.


    "What?" The fat woman annoyingly asked.


    "What the hell is this?" The young woman practically rubbed a sheet of paper on the fat woman''s face.


    Her appearance was normal. She was tall, large br??st, king black hair in a ponytail. Her face, hands, and clothes were covered in some sort of black dust.


    "I know what it is. I spread them around the village, and other nearby villages as well." the fat woman did not seem to care in the slightest.


    The sheet of paper had a picture of the young woman on one side, on the back side of the paper were several words describing herself.


    "Why the hell did you send these papers everywhere? I am not looking to get married!


    "Well, you should! Any man is better than the one you have right now! Have you no shame!"


    "I want you to take these posters off as soon as possible!"


    "Not happening."


    "Why can''t you just accept that I am in love with someone else already. He and I are going to get married in 3 years."


    Will now understood. The mother does not like the woman''s love partner, so she will take matters into her own hands. Probably because the guy is either a leech, useless, or simply because she doesn''t like him.


    "THAT''S BECAUSE HE''S YOUR BIOLOGICAL SON AND MY GRANDSON!!!"


    "PFFTT!"


    Will did not expect this.


    ''Did I reincarnate into fantasy Alabama?'' He thought. Since he knew that it wasn''t any of his business, he ran inside his room.


    "I STILL LOVE HIM! HE IS STILL HALF OF HIS FATHER!!!"


    The room was crappy. There was only a bed, a bathroom, and a table for eating. It was small but he had to make do with it.


    Surprisingly, the bathroom had a fully functioning bathroom, with a sink, toilet, shower, and so on.


    After taking the best shower and dump of his life, he could finally rest on the bed, which was hard but better than the ground.


    It did not take long for Will to fall asleep. How long was it since he had a decent sleep? He had a lot of trouble in his past life because of his insomnia. But now it was gone for good.


    Will woke up in the middle of the night. It was quiet and dark unlike in the morning.


    A voice echoed through his mind.


    ''Spawn point set''


    It was the voice of a man. His gentle voice was smooth to hear, like hearing Morgan Freeman''s voice echo in a tunnel.


    Will was spooked at first, but realized that it was the system talking. Which is a first because this is the first time he had ever heard it speak to him.


    Thinking about the ''brown book'' it appeared on his hand.


    The book cannot be seen nor touched by others. Will re-read the note that was left by the one who brought him into this world. It contained vital information.


    Opening the book, he also saw some other stuff included, some crafting recipes, it even included the Ice Slime he encountered before and the horse he rode on. Humans were also included in the bestiary book for some reason. But there was no dragon or sea serpent in the bestiary.


    There was also a recipe to craft the very same handgun that he stole from Clement. Only that he lacked materials like ''iron, metal, magic bars, runes,'' and a ''iron handle''


    {Handgun(magical): A special gun made using magic. Able to shoot 6 different kinds of bullets depending on which mode the user sets it}


    {Requires: 20x iron bars, 1x-low tier mana ore, 10 steel bars}


    {Gun station required to craft}


    Will was ecstatic. Maybe this will be easy.


    "So whatever I touch it goes in the crafting recipes. Okay, that makes sense."


    "I''m doomed. I am so dead."


    After an hour of testing things, Will has not been able to figure out how to use his powers.


    "It''s like Terraria and Minecraft they said. Screw that! This is nothing like Terraria or Minecraft!"


    This was not a simple ''right click, left click, spacebar and you mastered the game'' it is real life, and it is DIFFERENT from video games.


    He tried punching the ground, bed, shelves, but it only injured his hand instead. He thought since the system is like Minecraft, then by simply punching stuff he should be able to collect it, but no.


    He didn''t even know how to craft anything. Does he need a table, crafting bench, what?


    "I don''t even have a goddamn inventory."


    Will tried stuffing the gun in an inventory, but there was one problem, he had absolutely no idea how to summon his inventory. In fact, he wasn''t even sure if he had an inventory space.


    For now he had to travel light.


    "Okay, Will, if this is like Terraria and Minecraft, then the first thing I would need is¡­ wood. Yes! That''s right!"


    Wood is extremely vital in those two games.


    Seeing the sun rising, Will finally got the courage to go outside. It would be a dumb idea to go outside in the night especially when he is weak.


    "Okay, I need wood, but how much?" Will checked the book for any recipe, but there was nothing in there that could use wood. The only thing he could craft was a bed, a gun, some clothes, and that was it.


    Since he knew that touching items would go inside his crafting recipes, then maybe by touching wood it would unlock more recipes, possibly even a crafting station of some kind.


    Exiting his room the fat lady was still there smoking.


    "Are you going to pay me another 20 copper or are you going to leave?" Her manner was worse than it was a day ago.


    "I''ll stay." Will had no d?s?r? to venture outside. It took so much time and suffering to b?r?ly get to this village. Now that he was here, he planned to live in it, even if it costed him a bit of money. Anyhow it didn''t matter because he had enough to stay for many days.


    "Then you better pay up within the next 4 hours or I will kick you out."


    "Fine, here." Will threw the 20 copper coins at the counter.


    "Do you know where I can cut down some trees?" Asked Will.


    The fat lady merely looked at him and ?ssessed his body.


    "You gonna work as a lumberjack?" She did not believe that Will had the strength to be able to handle an axe and cut down a tree.


    "Something like that." He couldn''t just tell her the truth because she wouldn''t understand it. It was better to let her think that he was becoming a lumberjack for the time being.


    "Go to the right of this building and head outside the wooden walls. Some men are currently working there collecting wood so they can construct a brothel to attract more people."


    "Oh¡­" Will did not think of anything dirty. He was just excited to be able to collect some wood so he ran at full speed.


    Seeing Will leave in a hurry, she shook her head.


    "Men will be men."


    Obviously she misunderstood Will''s intentions. He could care less about a brothel... for now.


    Will observed the area. There were many things he did not notice the first time he entered the village.


    There were several large wooden walls surrounding the village. There are two ways to exit and enter the village, that was by walking through wooden gates that were located at the back and front of the village.


    There''s also a small restaurant, a weapon shop, a stone building that stood out from the rest of the buildings, and there was a wooden board with job requests like in the Witcher 3. Will got curious and wanted to see what kind of jobs there were.


    Only to be faced with a minor problem, 1/4 of the entire quest board was written in strange languages he has never seen before. It looks like something from the Lord of the Rings.


    However the rest he could read perfectly. There were some weird jobs like cleaning, hunting, waiting tables, sewing, herb gathering, gathering materials and so on.


    There was one other job he saw that was perfect for him.


    "Lumberjacks needed. Help us collect wood to build a brothel to make this place better. You will be paid 7 copper coins an hour and meals will be provided."


    Will was just going to gather some wood for himself. But getting paid for it seemed like a bonus as well.


    He ripped the poster off the wall and proceeded to run to the job site.


    Upon arriving, there were only 4 men cutting down trees. Most of the trees were thick and larger, and some were thinner than others. Depending on the tree''s size also depends how long it takes to chop it down.


    They only used axes and their brute strength. The four men that were cutting down trees were pretty fit.


    One of the lumberjacks noticed Will getting closer. He was chubby but had arms like Dwayne Johnson. He also had a long brown beard, and a whole lot of hair. He reeked of wood, sweet and blood. It was clear that he hadn''t taken a shower in weeks.


    "Run along, son. It''s too dangerous to be near this area." he waved his hand at Will to make him go away.


    "I''m here for the lumberjack job." Will handed the smelly man the job poster. He looked at the numbers and words floating above him.


    {Human}


    {HP 70/70}


    {Status: fatigue]


    Everybody has this floating above them. Clement also had one, but Will was too tired to notice how much HP he had.


    "...you aren''t supposed to yank this out from the board."


    "Oh, I am sorry. I did not know that.''


    "It''s okay. Since you''re here for the job, take this." The man handed Will an axe. They were desperate for more lumberjacks and were willing to hire anybody.


    Will grabbed the axe and thought how heavy it was.


    Then he thought of something. While grabbing the axe with one hand, he also summoned his brown book and checked the crafting recipes.


    As he thought, a new crafting recipe was added.


    [Stone axe: meant for cutting down trees and wood}


    {Required: 10x wood, 15x stone}


    {Basic crafting station required to craft}


    It even showed how to craft it. All it required was some stone, and wood.


    The only problem was that he had no idea how to craft it, which is why he''s here to collect wood to possibly unlock a crafting station.


    "Start chopping kid." The smelly man went back to cutting down trees.


    Will was going to do that anyway. He started with one of the smaller trees he could find. A hint of worry could be seen on his face. If this theory doesn''t work, then who knows how long it will take him to fully understand his system powers.


    The only chance he has in surviving this world is through the system. If it weren''t for it, then he wouldn''t still be alive. He would still be inside of a dragon''s stomach for a few hours until nature calls.


    With all his might, he swung at the tree. It only cut 2-3 centimeters. He swung once again, again, and again until the tree fell down.


    He inspected the tree carefully. Shouldn''t it transform into wooden planks or something? At this point he had no idea what to expect.


    But nothing happened. The tree was still on the ground intact. He touched it, but nothing appeared in his book.


    "What am I missing here?" Will asked himself.


    "That''s good kid. Now chop it just small enough so you can carry it to the sawmill." the smelly man thought that he should help WIll by offering him guidance.


    Feeling frustrated that his theory did not work, Will swung his axe angrily at the tree and chopped it into large pieces.


    "This has been a waste of time." Will grabbed one of the large pieces, and as soon as he touched it, it shrunk in size. The large wooden log, that was at least a meter long shrunk down to a few inches on his hand.


    "The hell?" Will was confused at first, then he remembered something.


    In the Minecraft game, Steve is able to carry large things on a single hand, like a bed for example, there is no way that any normal man can carry an entire bed with one hand. But it was possible for Steve because it looked like it had shrunk its size when it was in his hand.


    "It makes sense now. So I can shrink stuff in my hand to make it easier to carry around?"


    He then checked his brown book, and he smiled, because his theory was correct.


    There were a whole bunch of new recipes in his book that required wood. However, it seemed that it only added materials that can be crafted by using wood only.


    For example, a stone pick required stone and wood. But in his crafting recipes there did not seem to be any other stone materials like stone sword, pickaxes, and so one. There were only materials exclusive for using wood only.


    Meaning that if he wanted to unlock more crafting recipes then he needed more materials.


    "But still this is good enough. Oh god, and I was this close to giving up hope."


    Along in his crafting recipes were wooden armor, wooden weapons, wooden ?h?st, some wooden decorations which were useless at the moment, and most importantly, a crafting station


    {Basic crafting station: A station to craft the most basic of equipment}


    {Materials required: 20x wood}


    {Able to craft with your hands alone}


    "How much wood did I get from that tree?" Will looked at his hand, and it seemed like he only got 1x wood.


    "I wonder." Will touched the other large pieces of wood that he had cut up, and sure enough, they stacked on his hand. There was a number on top of the wood on his hand ''5x'' it told him how many pieces of wood he had right now. The other lumberjacks were too busy doing their jobs that they did not even bother looking at Will.


    "Obviously cutting down bigger trees will net me more wood. But it took me a while to cut down that small tree. It will take too long for me to cut down a huge one and chop it into large pieces."


    After weighing his options, he thought that cutting smaller trees would be faster.


    And so Will cut down 4 more small trees and he got 27x wood in total. It was more than he needed but he thought that it wouldn''t hurt to have more just in case.


    The worst part is that Will could not carry his wood and chop down trees at the same time. So he had to throw it in a pile. Once the wood left his hand it grew back to its original size once more. Will made another note to create something to help him carry more stuff.


    "You''re doing great. This is a good amount. We''ll help you out." The smelly man and his other lumberjack friends took Will''s wood and carried it to the sawmill.


    "No, wait, no, stop, dammit!"


    Will could not even say anything as he saw them leaving with his wood. He worked so hard to collect that wood. It would be weird to say anything to stop him, mostly because it is his job to collect wood.


    But the point of this was to see if by collecting wood would it help him unlock more crafting recipes, and he was right. At least he made some progress and knew what to do next.


    He was only left with 4 pieces of wood. Each of those men collected at least 5 logs each. Their strength was something else.


    "Dammit¡­" instead of pondering about it, Will continued chopping down wood. This time he made sure to hide it from plain sight.


    After hours of chopping down wood Will sat down. His arms were aching and his fingers hurt. This is the first time in a while that he has done something as hard as chopping wood. It might look easy, but it required a lot of physical labour.


    "There has to be an easier and quicker way."


    After all this, he had collected 60x wood. As Will was about to craft his crafting station, someone called out to him from behind which scared him.


    "There you are. Why are you so far away?" The smelly man asked.


    "I don''t know." Will lied.


    ''So you won''t steal my wood.''


    "Whatever. It''s lunchtime already. Come."


    Will massaged his eyes in frustration. Will he ever get a chance to craft his crafting station? It seemed like there''s always something ???kblocking his progress.


    "Ah!"


    *thumb*


    He heard the man yell in pain then fell on the ground. There were 3 arrows that had pierced his back, it was coated in poison.


    Will saw how someone died in front of him just like that. But what scared him most is ''who'' killed the smelly man.


    *laughter*


    He heard laughter behind him. It seemed like there were more than 2 people laughing. The only thing was it did not sound like a man, but something else.


    Turning back, he saw little green men, almost n?k?d b?r?ly covering their private parts with leather, pointy ears, jagged teeth, and big eyes. Will could see about 4 of them, but he suspected there were more hiding behind the trees.


    "Goblins!" He recognized them obviously. Goblins are one of the most common enemies in video games, Dnd, and in Goblin Slayer. That last one isn''t a game:


    The goblins aimed their bows and arrows at Will and shot at him. But Will ran and moved just before the poison-tipped arrows could pierce his body.


    "Nonononono!" Will could not afford to die, not when he had so much stuff with him. That''s when he thought of something;


    ''If I die, do I lose my stuff or do I respawn with it?''


    As much as he would like the answer to his question, he did not want to die again. Dying is very unpleasant and painful.


    "OW!"


    One of the arrows hit his back and did some damage to him.


    {HP 15/50}


    {Status: poisoned}


    Just one arrow was able to do 35 damage to him. Not only that, thanks to the poison effect, every minute he will lose 1 HP until it reaches 1/50.


    "Fuck!" Will hid behind a large tree. He did not expect a single arrow to deal so much damage.


    One of the goblins signalled to the others to walk forward and kill Will. They put away their bows and drew out their knives instead.


    "Looks like it''s all up to me." Will took out the gun from under his shirt. Knowing that he will die if he doesn''t do something, he quickly jumped out from the tree and aimed the gun at the goblins.


    The group of goblins did not expect Will to come out of his hiding spot. They had killed humans for many years, and they were all weak and fragile. And not only that, they thought that Will would be too weak to move after taking on a poison tipped arrow. But since the poison had not spread out throughout his whole body yet, it was only natural that Will was still able to move.


    Will pulled the trigger;


    *Boom*


    He blew away all of those goblins into tiny little pieces.


    "HAHAHA! TAKE THAT YOU LITTLE PIECES OF SHIT!"


    As he was rejoicing, he forgot to take note of something, when there is an explosion fire is sure to follow. And since Will shot an explosive round in the middle of a forest, some of the trees caught on fire and it started to spread.


    Will noticed that the fire was not diminishing. If anything it was growing rapidly.


    "Oh, shit, oh shit, oh god no."


    Will had no idea how to stop the fire from spreading. If he were to let it spread, then it would burn the entire village to the ground. And this is the only safe place he knew.


    "Does this gun have anything to turn off the fire!" Will began playing with the handgun. But there was nothing he could do to calm the fires.


    "Fuck! What do I do! *cough*" he accidentally inhaled the smoke of the fire and started coughing. He covered his mouth with his sleeve.


    Will had two options right now; Warn the people in the village about the fire, but also face possible jail time and possibly get killed by an angry group of villagers.


    Or he could run away into the deep forest, avoid any troubles with the villagers, but face the possibility of fighting powerful monsters, and there was also the chance that he could not find another village before midnight.


    "I guess, in the end, humans are more understanding than monsters." As Will was about to run towards the village, he heard a young man yelling repeatedly.


    "FIRE! FIRE!"


    It did not take long for the people to notice and do whatever they could to protect their village from the fire.


    "Nevermind." Now that the villagers knew about the fire before it could cause casualties, Will decided to sneak towards the other side of the village where the second gate was.


    Will thought that if he were to warn the village in time it won''t burn to the ground. But now that they knew, he did not need to tell them that it was him who caused the fire. Which is why he thought it was better to sneak inside the village without telling anyone.


    The villagers brought buckets of water from a nearby river and splashed it over the fire. They all did a great job in putting out the fire.


    As they did that, Will successfully made it back to his hotel room without anyone else noticing. But as time passed by he started to feel weaker.


    {HP 9/10}


    {Status: poisoned}


    As his HP gradually goes down, he will start to feel weak. After having his HP go down many times, he noticed that after it reached 10 or lower will he feel significantly weaker.


    And the bad thing about having a poisoned status effect, is that it is permanent. Unless it can be treated with an antidote, then his poisoned status will remain with him forever. When he got poisoned in the swamp, even after a whole day had gone by, the poison did not go away.


    Will pulled out the arrow from his back and threw it on the ground.


    "Damn, I should have gone to the hospital. God I am too weak to move." Will laid on his bed. He didn''t even have the will to move away from his bed. Then he closed his eyes and went to sleep. The sound of the villagers putting out the fire could still be heard.


    And the one who caused it all was sleeping soundly on his bed. But Will did not see it that way. He thought that he stopped a possible goblin raid on the village, and a goblin raid is much harder to handle then a forest fire, and the villagers should be thanking him, right? Well he''s not wrong.


    In the end, the village was spared from the fire that threatened them. No one knew who actually caused the fire.


    After investigating, they saw one of the lumberjack''s dead body with three goblin arrows pierced on his back. Many stories spread throughout the village about the lumberjack who saved the village from a goblin raid.


    The fire was pinned on the goblins.. And after that, no one ever suspected Will.

 Chapter 4 - Crafting

    "Gasp."


    Will woke up in a panic. After collecting his thoughts did he calm down.


    "Was that just a dream?"


    He noticed a small arrow on the ground covered in blood and poison. It proved that what happened wasn''t a dream.


    "God¡­"


    Will sat on the edge of his bed. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline, but he didn''t think much when someone died in front of him. It wasn''t anyone he was too familiar with, heck he didn''t even know his name.


    But still, the thought of someone dying like that made him shiver in fear. In the end Will has also had his fair share with death. He''s never seen anyone die especially in front of his eyes.


    Not only that, but he also had something to do with the lumberjacks death. If Will did not go too far off into the forest to collect wood, then perhaps the guy wouldn''t have checked on him and would still be alive.


    He didn''t blame himself entirely, as no one could have foreseen a goblin attack. The lumberjack was just unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.


    After pondering about it, Will took a shower. He forgot to change his clothes last night, so the blood that covered his back dried up, and his shirt was now stuck to his body. But the death of the lumberjack was still stuck in his mind.


    ''I saw someone die. And yet I don''t feel remorse or guilt for the man.''


    Having played violent video games for years like God of War and such, Will has become a bit used to brutal deaths. Scientists have proved this fact. It isn''t just Will, many people who play violent video do become used to witnessing violent murders.


    Will decided that it wasn''t worth pondering too much about it.


    "Wait, how am I able to move?" Will was sure that he was still poisoned, meaning that he should be too weak to even move.


    {HP 50/50}


    {Status: -5% slow: 54 minutes remaining}


    His poisoned status was gone. This confused Will. Before the poison lasted longer than a day and it did not disappear. And yet after a good night''s sleep his poisoned status was gone.


    But the -5% speed was still there.


    "Was it because I slept on a bed?" ignoring the -5% reduction in speed, in some video games the character is healed after sleeping on the bed. It was a possibility but it hasn''t been confirmed yet. Either way he was grateful that he wasn''t poisoned anymore.


    He did not think that anyone helped him because there were no signs of anyone helping him.


    "Okay¡­ what do I have here."


    Will did not forget to bring his wood with him, as well as the stone axe before he sneaked in the inn.


    Currently he has a gun, some ammo, a stone axe, 60x wood, and that was it. Even with such little stuff it felt like he was carrying too much. What he needed right now was a place to safely store his items, or even some sort of space inventory.


    Will tried to inspect the gun which is without a doubt his strongest weapon to date. But maybe playing with it while in his room might be too dangerous. He decided it was best if he experimented with it outside.


    "How do I craft this crafting station?"


    Will looked at his book. He had the ingredients required to craft a basic crafting station, but he did not know how to craft it. It''s not like he could press ''e'' on a keyboard and a small crafting table will appear.


    And the book did not explain it either.


    But funny enough it did in fact record the goblins after his encounter with them last night.


    {Goblin}


    {a race that brings chaos to mankind. They steal, pillage, ****, and kill. They are weaker than humans. But their numbers and weapons give them an upper hand}


    It recorded more information due to the fact that Will had killed several of them last night. But right now his only concern was how to craft a crafting station.


    "Maybe voice command? Craft basic crafting station."


    Nothing happened.


    He tried placing the wood on the ground hoping to get some sort of reaction, but nothing.


    "How do I craft stuff?"


    Will looked through the brown book thinking that he had missed something. How he wished it came with an instruction manual or a guide.


    But there was nothing that could help him.


    He put the book away and examined the shrunken wood on his hand.


    "What am I doing wrong?"


    Floating words and numbers appeared on top of his bed. It was similar to the numbers that floated on his head.


    "What?"


    Will examined it carefully.


    {Wooden bed}


    {owned by the hotel. It is hard to sleep on and is not very comfy}


    {durability: 60/70}


    {spawn point set}


    {Terrible: -5% speed for 1 hour to whoever sleeps on this bed}


    {unable to craft due to lack of materials and also needs a basic crafting station}


    "Oh! So this is why I got that -5% decrease in speed." Will did not think a terrible bed could do that to him.


    After a minute had gone by the words disappeared as if it was never there.


    "What did I do?" Will retraced his steps carefully.


    Then once again the words reappeared on his bed.


    "I wonder¡­" Will took out his handgun and touched it with the tip of his finger.


    {Handgun(magical)}


    {Damage: 100(30+) per shot}


    {Superior: +10% damage, +10% knock back, +5% critical hit}


    {owned by Clement. Given to him by his lost son. It has been altered many times making it a one-of-a-kind weapon. But it was damaged many years ago and it cannot show its full potential}


    {second setting: destruction, shoots explosive rounds}


    {third setting: liar, kills those when the target lies}


    {fourth setting: net, shoots a metal net that is designed to trap people and/or beasts}


    {fifth setting: unavailable}


    {sixth setting: unavailable}


    {durability: 60/300}


    Will was smiling. He did not know about this setting at all. Whatever he touched with his finger it showed all of the information.


    But maybe this is the one thing he needs to craft a crafting station.


    "Please let this work."


    He grabbed his wood and poked it. And just like last time something appeared on top of the wood.


    {wood}


    {list of crafting ingredient available: basic crafting table}


    This time it showed a picture of a crafting table as if there was a screen in front of him. He touched the crafting table, and it appeared on his hand.


    "Finally!" Will cried out in joy. He could finally craft a bunch of stuff.


    He set the table in the middle of his room which grew in size. It was as big as a school desk.


    He touched the crafting table, and pictures of many ingredients showed before his eyes.


    The list went from armor, weapons, and whatever he could craft at the moment. Most of them were very colorful and full of life.


    There were also some pictures that were gray and dark. It was the ingredient that Will could not craft at the moment because he did it meet the requirements to craft it.


    "Wooden armor, wooden weapons, shovels, decorations¡­ and even building materials."


    The building materials are something that Will was looking forward to. Like it''s name suggests, he can now craft building materials and actually build a safe base, just like Minecraft and Terraria. This would literally let him build his own house.


    There was more to building materials than people think. Will could take a material like wood, and he can transform it into a different shape.


    The wood on his hands were misshaped, some were round and long, and others were short and different.


    But with the building materials he can make the wood into a perfect cube, rectangle, round ball, pyramids and others. Imagine what a professional builder could do if he/she were to be able to have this.


    Right now Will wasn''t going to worry about this function yet. First he needed to find a way to protect himself by crafting good armour and weapons. After that only then will build a safe base.


    Although he did feel safe in this village, thinking about that dragon made him shiver, and made him realize that this village could not protect him from all the dangers in the world. And who knows what other monsters lurked out there.


    "What should I craft? Some clothes would be nice." Will noticed that his only set of clothes was ruined and he needed to buy some more.


    "Should I craft some armor or some wooden tools and then get better stuff¡­"


    Will was in deep thought. If he did craft the full wooden armor set then he would not have enough wood to craft a Pickaxe and a shovel. He would have to spend hours to gather wood.


    "But if I craft all this I won''t be able to carry it all at once. Gah! Why is this so difficult."


    Will could not carry a shovel, a Pickaxe, a handgun, and wood with him all at once. Even an ordinary man cannot carry so many things at once or it''ll create many problems. An inventory space would be very helpful right now.


    Among the number of pictures it displayed on top of the crafting table, Will saw something that might help him.


    "Then¡­ how about this."


    Will touched the wooden ?h?st picture. And it appeared on his hand. Now he had 30x wood left.


    The crafting station required 20 wood, and the wooden ?h?st required 10 wood to craft. Out of the 60 pieces of wood he had with him half of it was now gone.


    He placed it on the ground and it grew in size. It was a meter long and it looked basic.


    The inside of the ?h?st was small. It seemed like not even his axe alone would be able to fit.


    "I hope this works."


    Will placed 20x wood inside the ?h?st. And surprisingly the wood was still in its shrunken size despite it having left his hand.


    "Great." This meant that Will could fit a lot of materials in this ?h?st alone. He was worried for a second that he would not be able to fit much into this tiny ?h?st. But if it keeps the materials small then he could fit a lot more stuff.


    "How do I pick it up?"


    Will tried shrinking the ?h?st again, but couldn''t. It''s because he doesn''t know how to shrink materials once they have been placed on the ground.


    "Maybe¡­"


    Will got his axe and gently touched the basic crafting table. As he did that, it shrunk and it was in his arm.


    "Yes! It worked."


    It seemed that whenever he touched a placed item with a weapon it could shrink it down to size. He tried doing this by punching the bed earlier but it didn''t work. It was his instinct that told him it would work.


    Will tried it on the bed and it too shrunk in size.


    "I can steal whatever I want with this." An evil thought crept up in his mind. But it was dismissed as nothing more than a joke, for now.


    "Okay, the moment of truth."


    Will touched the ?h?st with his axe. If it shrunk in size with all of his wood inside, then he wouldn''t need to worry about carrying too much with him. But if it doesn''t work then it will prove to be harder.


    And as if the gods were on his side, the ?h?st did shrunk.


    Will then replaced it on the ground again, and sure enough, all of his wood was in there.


    "Yes!"


    Will experimented with this new discovery. He could not place nor take things out of his ?h?st when it had shrunk. It will only let him take stuff out when the ?h?st is at full size.


    After placing all of his stuff inside the ?h?st, except the handgun, he left his room. He held onto his ?h?st firmly to avoid losing it.


    Before he left his room, he crafted two pieces of wooden armor, a wooden torso and wooden leggings.


    {Wooden torso}


    {Defense 1+}


    {Agile: +10% speed, +5% agility}


    {Durability: 25/25}


    {Wooden leggings}


    {Defence +1}


    {Damaged: +5% chance of breaking when hit}


    {Durability: 20/20}


    Will did not feel uncomfortable wearing it, which is weird because it was made out of wood. But it felt like wearing cotton clothing instead.


    The only downside to it is that it looked weird. How often does one dress with wooden armor?


    The fat lady noticed Will leaving his room.


    "20 copper co-"


    "I know, I know." Will placed 20 copper coins on the counter and left.


    The fat lady raised an eyebrow but took the money anyway.


    Many of the villagers looked at Will weirdly. They had never seen someone wear wooden armor before, and it didn''t look like it was made out of wood because Will could move so easily.


    They did not pay much attention to it.


    Will first went to a restaurant. He had not eaten today or yesterday. In fact he did not even get paid for doing lumberjack work. But he thought that he should leave it for now, because maybe the other lumberjacks would have realized that the reason that other lumberjack died was because of him. It was better not to say anything at the moment.


    After having some decent food, he paid for it, then he went to the gate. But something caught his eye. It was a shop with the sign ''July and Son''s shop'' it was blacksmith shop. They sold many things in there, and that included weapons and tools that were better than wood.


    Will would have gone in, but there was another sign outside that read ''closed'' meaning that he could not buy anything from the shop for now. Once he has the chance he will go to that weapon shop and buy the tools he needs.


    He could not go near the same place he went to gather wood because a bunch of people were there having a memorial service for the lumberjack who died, and who ''supposedly'' sacrificed his life to protect the village from a goblin attack.


    Feeling bad that the lumberjack died, Will cupped his hands together and did a little prayer for the man. Will then went to the other side of the village and started chopping wood once again.


    After 2 hours of chopping wood he was taking a rest.


    "There has to be an easier way than this."


    Will only managed to collect 43 pieces of wood. At this rate it''ll take forever to craft building blocks and create his own base.


    "Hold on¡­" Will forgot to check the axe''s condition.


    {Stone axe}


    {Damage: 3-4}


    {Horrible: -30% agility, -25% wood production, -30% haste}


    {Durability: 1/40}


    "God I am so stupid." Will threw the axe away. It had the worst status he had ever seen. Not only that but it was so close to breaking. And shortly after throwing the axe it broke into 3 pieces.


    There was nothing he could do at the moment to fix this situation. He could rob the weapon shop, but he did not believe he could get away with it.


    This was not a Bethesda game where he could place buckets over people''s heads and get away with theft. As much as he wants better tools at the moment, he did not dare to overestimate himself. Even if he does not go to jail, if he gets caught, he will be kicked out of this village and left wondering the outside world. It was not something he was willing to face at the moment.


    And if he were to die, then all of his progress would probably be lost. He still has yet to confirm that theory.


    Just as he was about to craft a wooden axe, he heard something.


    *Clank* It was the sound of metal hitting each other.


    Will quickly got up and pointed his gun towards the sound. He was not going to let goblins or anything else attack him.


    "Woah, stop! Don''t shoot!"


    It was the voice of a young kid. He looked at least 13 years old. He''s riding on top of a mule who was pulling a carriage filled with items. He had short blonde hair, blue eyes and freckles. His body was slim and he looked healthy and full of life.


    "Sorry, I didn''t hear you." Will put the gun away. He was too occupied that he didn''t even notice the kid until now.


    "It''s okay." The kid sighed in relief. He thought that Will was here to rob him.


    "What do you have in there?" Asked Will.


    "Just some weapons, iron, copper, armor and such." The kid noticed Will threw his axe on the ground. His eyes shined as he saw a business opportunity.


    "Do you need a new axe?"


    "Yeah."


    "Then would you like to buy one? I happen to have one in my carriage." The kid went to his carriage and got 1 Axe. It looked like he was struggling a bit but Will did not bother helping. The axe looked like it was in better condition than his old axe, but Will wanted to be sure it did not have any terrible debuffs like the stone axe.


    "Here. It''s only 7 silver pieces." The kid turned red as he had trouble carrying the axe.


    "Can I inspect it first?"


    "Sure."


    Will took the axe from his hand and the kid felt relieved. Will had many questions as to why a kid was travelling alone, on a mule, with no one protecting him. It was a wonder how bandits did not steal from him.


    {Iron axe}


    {Damage: 5-7}


    {Good: +5% increase wood production}


    {Durability: 80/80}


    "It is better. I''ll take it." Will gave the kid 7 silver coins for him. it was worth every penny.


    "Thanks. Would you like to check what else I have?"


    "Sure."


    The kid showed Will what else he had brought with him.


    He has swords, battle axes, hammers, armor, shields, spears. Most of them were either made from copper or iron.


    With the kid''s permission, Will inspected all of them.


    They were all either in terrible or good condition, it was random, but there was one problem, they were too expensive. Will only had less than 40 silver coins, and most of the things the kid carried were worth 7 silver to 50 silver.


    He touched everything to record it in his brown book. Many new crafting recipes were added to his book,


    In the end, Will thought it would be better if he crafted it himself. But there was something that caught his attention.


    "What is that?" Will pointed at something that was in the corner of the room. It was lumpy and shiny as well.


    "That''s iron and copper ore. My uncle and mom are professional smiths. I just came back from my uncle''s village after he gifted me all of this."


    "Can I touch it?"


    "Uh¡­ sure." The kid thought it was weird for Will to touch the ore, but he didn''t mind just as long as he didn''t steal it.


    Will entered the carriage and touched the ore, but nothing fascinating happened. It was added to his list of crafting recipes.


    {Iron ore}


    {Blacksmiths use this ore to smelt and make it into fine tools that are used to make everyone''s life easier. It is much better than copper}


    {Copper ore}


    {a decent ore used to make tools that''s better than wood}


    As it turns out, he needs to find out how to smelt the ore before being able to craft anything. Even if he were to buy it right now, it would prove to be useless.


    ''Yeah I should have expected this.'' He thought.


    Shaking his head, he left the carriage.


    "Thanks, Kid," Will said.


    "Ah no problem. A happy customer is a loyal customer. How come I haven''t seen you around?"


    "I just got here. I am staying at a hotel."


    "Oh! Then you must have met my grandma at the counter."


    "Your grandma? Oh¡­" Will finally realized who this kid is. The reason they both knew they were talking about the same hotel is because it was the only hotel in the village.


    "Yup. Bye." The kid pulled the mule with him and entered the village.


    "So that''s the kid¡­ huh."


    The kid was the one who''s mother claimed that they were going to get married in three years. It wasn''t his problem so he didn''t say anything else. Although he found ?n??st weird, he did not want to voice his opinion about it.


    "Time for more wood."


    Will used his new axe and swung the tree with it. To his surprise, he managed to penetrate it deeper than he could before. In only 2 short swings, he was able to bring a tree down.


    "Oh yeah, this is so much easier."


    After a single hour of cutting down trees, he now had 100 pieces of wood.


    "Alright!"


    Will then crafted more wooden armor.


    {Wooden helmet}


    {Defense +1}


    {Feather: -20% weight}


    {Durability 20/20}


    {Wooden boots}


    {Defense +1}


    {meh: +2% damage taken increased}


    Although some of his armor had minor debuffs he didn''t mind. He now had a complete set of wooden armor.


    Now that he had enough wood, he crafted a shovel and a pickaxe.


    "Now this is starting to feel like a video game." Will said to himself.


    After that he started digging and mining before the sun went down....

 Chapter 5 - Zombie

    "This is good." Will was satisfied with today.


    For many hours now he had grinded endlessly for enough stone. Once he had stone in his hand new recipes appeared in his book.


    Just like the same situation when he touched wood the first time, stone related recipes were added to the book. But that''s not all. As it turns out, it also added new stuff related to wood as well. New recipes that were a mix of wood and stone were added. Now he could make stone tools, with the right amount of materials.


    Will did not mine deep down, because that would be too much work and possibly dangerous. Instead he found a giant boulder and mined part of it.


    It was tough at first, especially when using wooden tools. But after collecting enough stone he created a stone pickaxe and shovel.


    For some strange reason he found it easier to mine stone over wood.


    Then he used his shovel to dig up dirt, and to his surprise dirt recipes appeared in his book, but only building recipes were added. Meaning that he could build a dirt house if he wanted to. Anybody who has ever played Minecraft at one point built a 4x4x4 or 3x3x3 dirt house.


    Today was a success. But now he faced another problem, being able to smelt ore.


    When he mined the giant boulder, he unexpectedly found 13 copper ore. But now he needed to smelt the ore to be able to craft better armor and tools.


    "In order to smelt ore I need a furnace. But I do not know how to craft one¡­ crap."


    Will did not unlock the recipe to be able to craft furnaces yet. He thought that he either needed coal or torches to be able to craft it. But he did not know where to get torches. And it was getting late and he would not have time to collect coal before the sun sets.


    "Wait, the kid said that his mom was a blacksmith. Does that mean that the shop belongs to them? And if his mom is a blacksmith, then that means that they have a furnace." Will had an idea. Instead of wasting time trying to figure out what a furnace needs, he simply needed to touch the furnace inside the weapon shop and he would be able to craft it. And then he would be able to craft furnaces


    *Growl*


    A low growl was heard coming from behind him.


    "Ugh, what now." Will started to get annoyed.


    Looking at the monster behind him, he knew exactly what it was, a zombie.


    {Zombie}


    {HP 20/20}


    Zombies are by far one of the most common monsters in most video games, and also one of the easiest to kill.


    "This should be easy." Will took out his stone pickaxe and jammed it straight into the Zombies head, blood splattered violently and it made Will sick. It was easy to aim his pickaxe after getting used to swinging it. He did not bother shooting the zombie in order to preserve his bullets.


    {Zombie}


    A single swing to the head was all it took to kill it. As everyone who has ever played a zombie game, or watched a zombie movie, knows that destroying a zombie''s brain is the most well known method to destroying a zombie completely.


    The zombie dropped to the ground dead¡­ well deader than before.


    "What? That doesn''t make se- oh¡­ right¡­ I understand."


    Will forgot something important. He thought that he would need to swing his pickaxe more than once to kill it, but then he remembered that this wasn''t a game he was playing, it was real life.


    Everyone in the world knows this, if someone were to impale a pickaxe on a person''s head, most likely the target will be dead. But not in video games. Sometimes hitting people on the head would count as a critical hit which would deal at least double the damage.


    But since this is real life, a single swing of his pickaxe was all it took to kill a weak zombie.


    "Will I die with a single shot if someone were to aim at my head?" Will wanted to know that question, but he wasn''t willing to find out now.


    He checked the zombie for any loot, like an experienced gamer. After finding nothing he left with all his stuff in his ?h?st. He left before any more monsters appeared.


    "Maybe by tomorrow or in two days I will be able to leave this village¡­ but would that be a good decision? This village has food, supplies, people¡­ I''ll think about it later."


    Will took out the book and read about the Zombie to collect information.


    {Zombie}


    {It is by far the weakest monster, but also the most feared in the world. It is a monster made by a vile necromancer 300 years ago. When it was born, the world had been infected with the virus that spread like wildfire. It brought back many of the dead back to life, and feasted on the flesh of those who were alive. The world has never been more faced a tougher time}


    {Destroy their brains and they will die instantly. Burning them will work as well. And most importantly, double-tap. They are very slow but are stronger than the average male. Do not face them in hand-to-hand combat}


    {It is a highly contagious monster that should not be fought by common people}


    "Okay...." Will was fascinated by this fact. But after a while he stopped reading.


    Will visited the weapon shop for a quick look not expecting the shop to be open. But to his surprise, he found the kid inside the shop waiting on the counter. He was asleep with his chin resting on his arm.


    "Looks like I will be able to smelt that ore faster than expected."


    Opening the door it made a ringing bell.


    "Huh? What?" The kid woke up and stretched his arms like a lazy cat.


    "Hello." Said Will.


    "Oh, it''s you. Wait, what time is it?" He noticed that it got dark outside.


    "I don''t know. I don''t have the time."


    "Oh crap, it''s closing time. Sorry, but you can''t be here."


    "Wait, can I see your furnace?"


    "My what?" The kid was confused by his request. It''s not everyday that someone asks you ''can I see your furnace.''


    "Can I see what blacksmiths use to smelt ore?"


    "Why? Do you want to be a blacksmith?"


    "I guess you could say that."


    "Are you looking for a job here? We are looking for someone to work the night shift."


    Then Will got a great idea.


    ''If I take a job here, then I won''t need to craft a furnace. I could just come here and craft all I want.''


    "If I say ''yes'' then will I be able to craft¡­ er I mean smelt stuff in the back?"


    "Of course!"


    "I''ll take the job."


    "Great. How long have you been a blacksmith?"


    "Um¡­"


    Before Will knew it, he was taking a job and this was the interview. Having never applied for a job before, he started to get nervous.


    Due to his insomnia he could never get a job.


    Welding, smelting, hammering, forging, it requires years of training and studying to become a blacksmith. If Will did not have the crafting system, then he would have never been able to craft the wooden armor or stone tools.


    "I gotta be honest, I am not a blacksmith."


    "Is that true?"


    "Sigh¡­ yes." Will could not lie about it. There was so much about blacksmiths that he did not know the first thing about it. It would be better if he didn''t lie.


    "Yeah, I knew it from the beginning. You didn''t have your smith badge. And also your hands are clean and soft, which means that you are not a blacksmith" The kid was smiling coily at Will. He pointed to his hip and showed a black badge shaped like a hammer.


    "You knew?"


    "Of course. I wanted to see if you were a liar. Usually liars tend to steal from others. If you had lied just now I would have kicked you out."


    "..." Will just got tested by a kid.


    "I could teach you, if you want. Provided if you pay for the lessons."


    "Um¡­ I guess." Will''s plan was to just use the furnace and possibly even craft one for his own. Regardless he was only going to do this job temporarily.


    "Alright. You can go in the back, but just don''t touch anything. And don''t you dare make weapons or tools or anything, because you will get us in big trouble. And also there''s the price tags on these weapons so you will know how much they''re worth¡­"


    After giving Will some guidance on what to do, the kid left to go to sleep.


    "What''s your name?" Asked Will.


    "Jack. Yours?"


    "Will Connor."


    "Nice to meet you, Will. I guess this means that you''re my apprentice. Bye."


    The kid left the store in Will''s hands. Not long did Will hear Jack shout in glee.


    "YAHOO! GRANDMA, I GOT A STUDENT!"


    "... what did I get myself into?"


    All Will wanted to do was touch the furnace, but he somehow became an apprentice of a 15 year old boy.


    "I did give my word to that kid, and now I have to take the night shift¡­"


    Then Will realized something. Who was going to buy weapons in the middle of the night? Everyone is probably asleep in the comfort of their own homes.


    Regardless of that at least he succeeded in getting access to the shop. The store was filled with weapons like guns, bows, crossbows, shields, and all the cliche weapons one would find in a fantasy world.


    "Wait, since when do Blacksmiths make guns? And since when do they craft bows, arrows and crossbows?" Will found this fact weird. The ones who make guns are called ''gunsmiths'' and blacksmiths only make swords, hammers, axes, and so on. Whereas those who create arrows are called ''fletchers'' and those who create bows are called ''bowyer'' and the ones who make crossbows are called ''crossbow makers'' or ''crossbowmen.''


    "I am confused. This is supposed to be a smithy and man I should stop talking to myself."


    Due to never having friends, and being a loner, and since he had been a third rate youtuber for a few years, he made it a habit to talk to himself.


    He also touched every single weapon and tool on display, from arrows, bullets, leather armor. Now he had more stuff to craft.


    "Hmm¡­ I remember that Cassandra found it cute that I talked to myself." He smiled as he remembered his girlfriend. He did love her, but they were not meant to be together.


    "No, I am not going to think about the past anymore. This is a new life for me. So therefore the past is irrelevant now."


    He went to the back of the store. And there it was, a furnace.


    "There it is! But Jack said I should not touch¡­ ah what the heck."


    Will touched the furnace, and a new crafting recipe was added to his book.


    {Basic furnace}


    {Able to smelt most of the ore in the world. It is a must have for those who want to make armor, weapons and tools}


    {Required: 20x stone, 10x wood, 1x flint, 5x coal}


    "Flint? So that''s what I needed, not torches." Will was glad he thought of this plan, otherwise he would have wasted valuable time trying to find the ingredients to craft a furnace.


    And another thing, he did not know where to get flint.


    "Should I go look for gravel? Is that even where I can find flint in real life?" Will was totally clueless as to where to look for flint.


    Will looked at the rest of the room. His only focus was on the furnace, but there were many other things inside the store.


    "Wow." Will was amazed.


    It was a large room that contained many other blacksmithing stations. He touched every single one of them and recorded them inside his book.


    {Anvil}


    {A station used to repair and craft tools, weapons, and armor that are better than stone}


    {Required: 50x iron}


    {gunsmith table}


    {A station used to craft and repair firearms}


    {Required: 50x metal}


    {Bowman''s table}


    {A station used to craft and repair bows, arrows, and crossbows}


    {Required: 50x wood}


    {Reforging station}


    {A station used to make any weapon a higher or lower tier, this includes firearms, bows, and crossbows}


    {Required: 10x refined mana ore, 30x stone}


    "To think that this shop had so many different stations."


    This was a jackpot for Will. Now he knew how to craft all of these stations for himself. And the best part is that he could actually use them right now.


    Since he could not make anything else at the moment, he headed for the furnace.


    In front of him appeared two boxes.


    {insert smelting material}


    {insert fuel}


    "Now this is just like Minecraft." Will said.


    He placed the ore he had on his ?h?st. But he lacked coal for fuel. He actually found some lying around in the room.


    "I''m sure Jack wouldn''t mind if I took a little bit of coal for myself."


    He grabbed two pieces of coal and inserted it in the ''insert fuel'' box. The second he did the ore started smelting.


    {2:10 minutes remaining}


    Will sat down and just watched the fire smelt his ore.


    When he touched the coal it added more crafting recipes in his book. Now he can make multiple light sources with ease.


    2 minutes later all of his ore was smelted.


    Now he had 13 copper bars. Upon touching the copper bars he unlocked even more crafting recipes.


    But Will wasn''t satisfied just yet. He might have unlocked crafting materials for copper, but now he wanted to have enough to craft copper tools. 13 copper bars is just not enough.


    Checking the room, he found an abundance of iron ore, copper ore, and another type of metal he has never seen. Of course he touched the unknown metal


    {steel bar}


    {Better material than iron}


    {Ingredients: 2x iron bars, 1 copper bar}


    {Anvil is needed}


    This surprised Will. He is able to actually craft steel, a metal that is much stronger than iron. He already had 13 copper with him, meaning that he could in fact make 13 steel bars, but he lacked the iron to make it.


    Will checked how much money he had at the moment. He also checked the price tags for iron ore and steel, but there weren''t any. As it turns out blacksmiths did not sell their ore.


    Not wanting to steal from someone who gave him this job and opportunity, he decided that it was not worth stealing anything. Although the temptation was great, he managed to walk away. In his years of gaming experience, he has learned that rash movements will often lead to his downfall.


    And also he got another list of crafting ingredients that required steel.


    "I cannot steal from Jack. He does not deserve it." After placing his 13 copper bars away in his ?h?st, Will stood in front of the counter and waited patiently.


    *Ring*


    The doorbell rang.


    "Sup." Will said lazily. It was a strange person who covered his entire body with a black cloak, not even his face or hands could be seen.


    "I''d like to buy all your arrows." It was the gentle voice of a woman,


    "..."


    Will did not respond because he was preoccupied by what he saw on top of the individual''s head.


    {HP 300/300}


    {Elf}


    Elves are also one of the most well known beings on Earth, either from DnD campaigns, Animes, or lord of the Rings. They''re mostly known for having long pointy ears, living in the forests, great in using bows and, and in other cases even adept in magic.


    Will wished he could see her face. Like any man, they wish to be able to see a real live elf.


    "I said I would like to buy all your arrows."


    "Oh, um, they''re right over there." Will pointed to the side of the room.


    "I know. I am asking if you also have some more in the back."


    "I''ll check.''


    Will went back to the room to check for more arrows, but there weren''t any.


    "Sorry, it seems that there aren''t any¡­"


    Will noticed that the elf was gone, and so were the arrows.


    "...That bitch."


    His view of elves had decreased greatly. If there is anything that he hates more in life, is when they steal from him, although technically they stole from the shop and not from him.


    Will ran outside of the shop, and sure enough he did not see where that elf ran. She had a coat which meant she blended will in the night. Will could probably still see her by looking at the words on top of her, but she was gone.


    He had no idea where she ran off to.


    "...I''m going to get fired." first day on the job and he had already messed up.


    Dejected, Will walked back to the counter. This time he wasn''t going to let anyone steal from him.


    *Ring*


    The doorbell rang again. The individual who entered ran inside like a bullet, and basically pounced on WIll. He almost thought that he was going to be attacked, but then he noticed who it was that entered the building.


    "Wait, what was your name again?"


    It was none other than Jack. His eyes were large that could pop out of their sockets. He also gripped Will''s wooden armor, but he got splinters on his hands, but it did not seem to bother him in the slightest.


    "What?" Will was visibly confused.


    "Did you say that your name is ''Will Connor''?"


    "Yeah? Why?"


    "Are you sure that you aren''t messing with me? You actually have a last name?"


    "Yes, I do."


    "Then does that mean that you''re a hero?" As Jack continued to ask more and more questions, his eyes got bigger and brighter.


    "Am I what now?"


    "No really, are you a hero or not?"


    "I have no idea what you are talking about."


    Jack let go of Will and inspected him closely from all sides.


    "Tell me, what is the name of the ''Great sage.''"


    "..." Will did not know the answer.


    "Do you know who the ''Fat Empress'' is? Or the ''Phobia King''?"


    Will shook his head.


    "Do you at least know what this world is called?"


    "..." Will.


    "Oh my god, you are a hero." Jack realized and his eyes grew brighter like stars.


    "Once again, I have no idea what you are talking about."


    "Well I do. I didn''t notice it at first, but your clothing is made out of wood, right?"


    "Uh, yeah.''


    "Usually when heroes are summoned they have weird clothing, and they also have a last name. So that must mean that you are a hero¡­ but what are you doing here? Aren''t you supposed to be at the center of the Kingdom Reyes?"


    "Jack, let me tell you something, I have no idea what the hell you are saying."


    "Are you serious? You have no idea?"


    Will shook his head.


    "But, you are a hero¡­ I mean, you were summoned here, right? A couple of days ago I believe?"


    ''More like dragged against my own will.''


    "I guess you could say that."


    "Oh my god. An actual hero in my house."


    "This is your house?"


    "But, seriously, why are you in this poor village? Better yet, tell me everything that happened."


    Jack grabbed a chair and sat Will down. Jack then sat on the ground and rested his chin on his hands.


    Will was weirded out at this point.


    "I''m going back to my apartment now."


    "No, please wait."


    "I am grateful that you gave me this chance to be here, but now you are creeping me out." Will got up and was about to leave.


    "Wait, wait, wait, I''ll give you anything you want, just please stay here."


    Hearing that Will stopped in his tracks.


    "Anything?" He asked.


    "Yes."


    "Well¡­ okay."


    This was a good chance to get some ore and steel bars. The sooner he is able to craft better items, the sooner it will guarantee his success of survival.


    "I am sorry if I weirded you out. I am just so excited to finally meet a hero."


    "Before I tell you anything, tell me what this hero bogus is all about."


    Will knew what a hero meant, but he wasn''t sure if the kid was thinking about the same thing as him. Was there a Justice league in this world or what?


    "Okay¡­ um, one second." Jack went upstairs and came back with a small book in his hands.


    "This is a short and simple story about heroes. I always read this before I go to bed. Want me to read it to you?" He said with a blush.


    "..." Will.


    "Okay: 300 years ago, the humans faced extinction. This world was a world that seemed to spawn the most vilest, and horrendous creatures from the darkest places. From giant mountain-like centipedes with the face of a human skull, from giants who ate humans as if they were nothing but a snack, to 9-headed dragons who breathed fire and poison gas."


    "Humans were never born to have the strength, speed, and abilities that those monsters have. It was like trying to kill an evil God. That is until one day, an ordinary man named ''Kleo'' changed the entire world. He discovered a method to summon beings from another world. These beings were later referred to as ''heroes.''"


    "Kleo had found an item from a dungeon that was older and more ancient than anything. Inside, he found the ''summoning spell'' that would later be used to summon the heroes. But, it came at a price, human sacrifices. The spell required the lives of 10 willing people for a single summon."


    "This method gave hope to the few remaining humans, who''d spent their whole lives living on mountains in fear, where there were almost no monsters. Out of all the remaining people, 30 were willing to sacrifice their lives to give a chance to their families, friends, and humanity. Kleo was also one of the 30 who sacrificed himself.''


    "3 heroes were summoned. 2 men and 1 woman, their names were Bell Dyer, Roy Morgan, Samuel Brophy. Each of them had special skills and abilities that no other human possessed. They were the original 3 heroes that have been summoned to this world. Humanity put their faith into these 3 strangers. They thought that their lives of cowering in fear would be over and they were right. Those three had saved humanity from extinction. We had finally been set free. But it wasn''t over."


    "Once a hero is summoned they each possess powerful abilities. A hero has super strength, speed, and super regeneration. Not only that, but they each have unique powers of their own."


    "Roy Morgan, also known as the great sage, is the first sorcerer to have ever lived, and the strongest hero even after 300 years. He could control the mana around him, conjure fireballs and lightning, tame the seas, command animals, create powerful illusions. He is the one who has also spread his power to humanity, and we have all benefited from this."


    "Samuel Brophy, no one exactly knows what his powers were exactly. But we do that his contribution to mankind is the reason why humanity isn''t extinct."


    "And finally, Bell Dyer, also known as the ''witch'' and ''the fallen hero.'' Her powers were crude and evil. She could revive the dead, no matter who or what it was, and command the dead to do her biddings. Then a demon possessed her body, and she spread a terrible plague around the world. This plague would make the dead come back to live, and then eat the remaining humans, they were called ''zombies.'' Those who were bitten or scratched by a zombie, would come back as an undead to continue spreading the disease. No cure has ever been found."


    "In the end, the two heroes Roy Morgan and Samuel Brophy managed to take down the witch. But at the cost of Samuel Brophy''s life. Roy Morgan ultimately led the humans to exterminate any and all zombies roaming the world."


    "Any attempts to find the ancient cave that Kleo found has ended in complete failure. Now that he was gone no one knew where this cave was, but that still hasn''t stopped curious people from finding it. It is said that there could be even stronger enchanted items in this cave, items that could rival a hero''s power."


    "..." Will.


    Will thought if that was really a short and simple story. It was pretty long. But either way, he more or less understood the story.


    "So this is the story about the first 3 heroes. What do you think?" Jack asked with a smile.


    "I have a few questions: When you said something about heroes having a last name, what was that about?"


    "Oh. 300 years when the first king was born, he made a law stating that only heroes should have a last and first name. This is because even before 300 years ago, people didn''t have names. And now normal people have only one name, but heroes have 2, this is because people believe that heroes are powerful enough to have a second name. Anyone who has a second name will be sent to 50 years to jail. It is a law that has been here since the first 3 heroes were summoned."


    "That''s pretty stupid¡­ so your name is only Jack?"


    "Yup."


    Will thought how gullible this kid was. Just because Will had weird clothing and a last name does not mean that he''s a hero. Anyone could create weird clothing, and also give themselves another name to trick others.


    It was like impersonating a police officer. It''s illegal and people still do it.


    "I see. Another question: This summoning spell that the book mentioned, was it also used to summon me?"


    "Well, yeah, but the summoning spell is supposed to bring you to the kingdom of the Phobia King. It shouldn''t make any sense that you''re here right now."


    "So right now there are 2 other heroes that have been summoned, besides me?"


    "No. The summoning spell is able to summon 100 heroes every 100 hundred years. Every single hundred years 1000 willing people are sacrificed to summon these heroes. Meaning that right now there should be 99 other heroes right now."


    Will scratched his chin. 100 heroes? Wasn''t that too much? Or was it not enough?


    ''Wait, he also mentioned a zombie.''


    "About the zombies, is there a chance that one could be roaming around the world?" Asked WIll.


    "No, that''s impossible. The great sage personally destroyed every single remaining zombie created by the witch. The last zombie to have existed was about 250 years ago."


    "Oh¡­ and what were to happen should a zombie be roaming around the world?"


    "That''s a strange question to ask. But there would probably be a mass hysteria and chaos around the world. After all, now that there are about 2 billion people in this world compared to 300 years ago, then it should be easy for the plague to spread. And probably over 50% of the human population would be easily infected. Since this disease is incurable, we would all suffer."


    ''It''s probably better if I don''t say anything about the zombie I killed outside the village¡­ where I left the bloody corpse, for anyone to see¡­ shit.''


    "I''ll be right back!"


    Will dashed out the store and went straight to the place where he killed the zombie.


    "Wait, I want to ask you a couple of questions!" Jack yelled loudly but it didn''t reach Will''s ears.


    Will could not let anyone see that zombie. It will bring a lot of attention to him, and that''s the one thing he wants to avoid. Now that he knows that he''s a hero he wanted to keep it a secret as well.


    Should people ever find out his powers to be able to craft anything, and to reincarnate, then there would be a chance that people would want to utilize this power for their own purposes, and would treat him as a slave until he dies from exhaustion.


    Will knows that he''s weak right now. Which is why he wants to lay low, and it''s also the reason he hasn''t told anyone of his powers. The reason people knew about his ''hero'' status is because of his carelessness.


    "How was I supposed to know that only heroes have a last and first name? That doesn''t make sense. And how was I supposed to know that zombies could bring such a disaster to this world?"


    Will has obviously forgotten that this world wasn''t a game, but real life. And just like in the Walking Dead, and basically any other zombie movie, zombies will always bring chaos to the world.


    "Where- where is the body?"


    To his surprise, the corpse of the zombie was no longer there where he left it.


    "Did it disappear in a puff of smoke?" Will checked for any signs, and found a new pair of tracks that weren''t his own, but another animal. There were six legs and the tracks were too big to be a horse.


    "What happened to the body?"


    Either an animal ate the corpse, or someone was riding an animal and dragged the zombie corpse. Their tracks went deep into the woods, where monsters were residing.


    "This is not good, not good at all."


    Will ran back to the village to warn them about a zombie, but then he stopped in his tracks.


    Jack said that there wasn''t another zombie sighting since 250 years ago. And if Will were to tell them about a zombie appearing right now, then they would just laugh at him and call him crazy.


    He knows this due to watching many movies when people would say something, and people wouldn''t believe him and laugh at him, only to find out he was telling the truth until the very end before they die.


    Without any evidence, his words were basically nothing.


    Will went back inside the weapon shop. Jack was still there.


    "What happened?"


    "There''s¡­ nothing happened. Hopefully."


    Even if Will told Jack, even if he believed him, nobody else would believe them. Will hoped that somebody properly disposed of the Zombie''s corpse.


    ''If I destroyed his brain then the zombie shouldn''t be able to move, right? Yeah, there''s no way.''


    Will reassured himself that the zombie wouldn''t infect anyone.


    "Can I ask a question now?" Asked Jack.


    "Sure."


    Will promised Jack to answer his questions, but any questions about his powers he will try to avoid answering it. 2 days later...


    The same elf woman who stole the arrows from the weapon shop was riding a large six legged beast, it resembles that of a horned sheep, but with six legs, and light and dark grass replacing its fur.


    It had been many hours since she had left the village. It was already 12:00 by the time she left the village the sun had yet to rise.


    The elf also carried a brown sack in front of her the size of a human.


    She arrived at a giant tree that was like the home tree from the movie Avatar. It was just as big as it was in the movies. Many flying beasts flew in and out of the tree, some looked like birds, or dinosaurs, and some were made out of leaves and other types of organic matter.


    Most notably, many elves also lived in this area, women, children and men. They wore clothes made completely out of leaves and grass. Each carried a bow or a sword or were riding huge tamed beasts, and even children carried small knives made out of wood. They all seemed happy and chatting with one another.


    They noticed the elf in robe and got out of her way.


    She stopped as soon as she made it inside the giant tree.


    "Stand still, Sten." She patted her beast and dragged the sack into the tree. She saw a beautiful elf woman chatting along with her peers. That same woman saw the robed elf and went to talk to her.


    "Grace, you''re back. How was your adventure to the human world?" Her voice was sweet and gentle, it also carried a hint of love and care.


    "Mom, where''s father? I need to speak with him." Grace said hastily.


    "He''s outside on the training area."


    Without saying anything else, Grace ran to a specific area.


    "She''s gone for 2 years and she doesn''t even greet me properly." She shook her head but there was a smile on her face. She went back to talking with the other elves.


    Outside the back of the tree was an elf man, he was fighting 10 other elves while blindfolded. He only had a wooden sword, while the others had either bows and arrows or steel weapons.


    The blindfolded elf parried and evaded each of their attacks without fail, and even hit them with his wooden sword once he found an opening in their attacks, which is weird because he was blindfolded.


    The ten other elves were tired and could b?r?ly move at all. While the blindfolded elf was as cool as a cucumber.


    "What are the ten of you doing? Can''t even touch a blindfolded old man?"


    "You''re a monster, your highness." A male elf said with praise, everyone was in awe of his skills.


    "You all need to work better together. Your sync and rhythm are not only predictable, but also weak."


    He took off his blindfold and smiled at the 10 elves in front of him. He was much older looking than the other elfs.


    "Now, all of you, 50 ??ps around the tree."


    "But, your highness."


    "You know we made a deal. If you fail to touch me then you will run. If you had at least grazed me then I would have given you all the weekend off. Now go!"


    "Yes." dejectedly, they started running around the tree.


    The elf saw the rest of the elves running, he smiled.


    "Even though they are only kids, they were not bad. They''re only 80 years old, but they still need a lot of work before they can venture out¡­ I wonder how my Grace is doing."


    "Father!"


    "Grace? You''ve returned!"


    Hearing his daughter''s voice for the first time in two years made him feel happy. But, his mood changed when he noticed that his daughter was feeling afraid.


    "What''s the matter?" He asked.


    Grace looked around to see if any other elf was nearby. After confirming that there was no one, she threw the sack on the ground and opened it.


    "Look."


    "It¡­ can''t be."


    It was the zombie that Will killed.


    "That''s not possible."


    "I found him like this. Someone used a long pointed weapon to pierce his head with it."


    "Did it bite you or scratch you?"


    "No, I''m fine."


    "Don''t move."


    He grabbed Grace''s arms, and a green light enveloped her entire body.


    "Doesn''t look like you''ve been injured or infected. Thank you, Lea." He heaved a sigh of relief. Should his daughter become infected, then he would have no choice but to make a decision that would kill him from the inside.


    "Where did you find it?"


    "I found it near a human village right after I stole from them¡­ er I mean."


    "Near a human village? Oh no.." He realized something horrible.

 Chapter 6 - Elf

    Will has been busy for the last 2 days with his new job at the weapon shop and with his system.


    As it turns out, Will could not craft any sort of metal tools and sell them, not because he can''t, but because there was a law in this world that prohibits him from selling any of his crafted tools, because he''s not a registered blacksmith.


    Just like on Earth, one cannot become a doctor, electrician, engineer, or anything without first getting a license of some kind.


    Since Will is not a licensed blacksmith he could not sell any sort of tools that he''s made, or else he''ll be fined and/or sent to jail.


    But like that one saying goes ''it''s not a crime if you don''t get caught.''


    Will secretly crafted steel tools inside the shop and got some pretty good items out of it.


    {Steel ?h?stplate}


    {Defense 10+}


    {Strength: +20% strength}


    {Tank: +20% defense}


    {Durability 120/120}


    {Steel helmet}


    {Feather: -30% weight}


    {Durability: 90/90}


    {Steel boots}


    {Defense 7+}


    {Strong defense: +25% defense}


    {Resistant: +50 durability permanent}


    {Durability: 130/130}


    {Steel leggings}


    {Defense: 9+}


    {Marksmanship expert: 2x damage to enemies when using projectile weapons}


    {-30% stamina cost}


    {-100% in weight}


    {Durability: 150/150}


    {Steel gauntlet}


    {Defense 7+}


    {Agile: +15% agility}


    {Durability: 70/70}


    This is Will''s strongest armor to date. Of course as a thank you for letting Will craft steel tools, he decided to give Jack most of the items he had crafted. If it weren''t for Jack he would have never been able to craft steel tools. He never kept stuff like swords and such, because he finds it easier to just shoot the enemy rather than using a sword or spear and such. And Will also got his share of coins because Jack insisted. And that way Will made some money.


    Will wasn''t lucky at first. The first few times he had crafted his steel armor it had terrible debuffs. Then once he crafted armor with good buffs, he kept it for himself.


    Jack at first was a bit against the idea of Will crafting and selling weapons illegally. Student blacksmiths could make tools and such, but they couldn''t be sold.


    But after seeing his skill, Jack had changed his mind. Not only could Will craft at an insanely fast rate, but Will actually used less materials than him and his family. Humans are not perfect, they tend to make mistakes in their line of work.


    Will''s crafting system could make anything perfectly without wasting unnecessary materials. Sometimes his crafted tools would have debuffs, but that''s life.


    Jack was a good friend to Will. Not just because he''s a ''hero'' but because Jack was a naturally good person. His mind was that of an innocent child that has yet to be tainted.


    Will also crafted a new set of steel helmet and boots that had good buffs. When he wore the steel armor it did not feel like metal at all, but cotton instead. He could even sleep with the armor and not feel uncomfortable in the slightest. But when someone else touches his armor, it will feel like metal instead of cotton.


    Right now, Will was making tools and selling them illegally, Jack also helped him out. The shop has never done better.


    "Jack?"


    "Yes, Hero Will Connor?"


    Will tried to get Jack to stop adding ''hero'' and ''Connor'' every time he spoke to him, but Jack held an enormous amount of respect to all heroes, and Will wasn''t an exception.


    Only when they were in public Jack only called Will ''Will'' because Will had told him that it is better to keep it a secret that he was a hero. Even up till now, he wasn''t sure if he was a hero or not.


    Jack wholeheartedly agreed to keep his hero status a secret. Why wouldn''t he when he sees all heroes as his idols? Keeping a secret with his idol is the equivalent of a fangirl who goes out with her famous idol on a date, but keeps it a secret from her fangirl friends.


    "How do I become a licensed blacksmith?" Will wanted to become a blacksmith for 3 reasons, 1 so he doesn''t have to hide and face jail time; 2 because it could provide him with more and better crafting ingredients; 3 profit.


    The best blacksmiths are sought out by the richest people and most powerful kingdoms. They would even bring rare materials to those blacksmiths, materials that are better than most metals out there. It would save Will so much time and deaths, and it would unlock more crafting recipes. It was similar to the Witcher game.


    "Hero, in my uncle''s village, there''s a building for people who want to become blacksmiths. It''s a lengthy process but I am sure that Hero Will can do it. In fact, the first time we met it was also the day I became a recognized blacksmith." Jack waved his blacksmith badge around full of pride.


    "How long does it take to reach your uncle''s village?"


    "By foot, 2 weeks. By horse or other means of transportation, 3-4 days. But there are things you must know about before becoming a blacksmith."


    "Like what?"


    "For example, right now you are not a blacksmith, but a student. You can only register to become a blacksmith only if your teacher, which is me, gives you permission. To graduate from being a student, you need to know how to make any weapons and tools that require steel, and also bows, arrows, and guns."


    "Sounds like a lot of work."


    ''But not to me. I already know how to craft all of those.'' Will thought.


    "It is. Once you graduate you become an apprentice Blacksmith. Only after becoming an apprentice blacksmith can you sell your stuff legally. After becoming an apprentice, you can become an expert, and lastly a Master blacksmith. But I''ve seen your skills and I believe that you can become a master blacksmith in a few years."


    "So why are you telling me this now and not 2 days ago?"


    "I didn''t know that you wanted to become a blacksmith until you asked."


    "...fair enough."


    "We can go right now. I can close up the shop for a few days if it means that the hero can get his apprentice blacksmith status."


    This touched Will''s heart.


    "Jack¡­"


    "Yes, Hero Will Connor?"


    "You''re a good friend."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah."


    These past few days Will has learned a bit about Jack, he loves his mother, his grandmother, idolises all heroes, he loves his blacksmith career, and treats the shop as if it were his own baby.


    The fact that Jack was willing to close the shop just to escort Will to become a blacksmith showed how much he valued Will. It was like putting your lover first and your child second.


    "Thanks. And besides, mom should be here any day now."


    "Oh yeah, you never said why your mom has been gone these past few days."


    "I don''t know. She left me a note that said that she had something important to do and left me in charge of the shop until she returns."


    "I see¡­"


    They then started packing.


    Will was feeling a bit conflicted right now.


    His plan was to become a legal blacksmith to avoid any problems, gather materials, and ultimately move out of this village.


    Will has been doing a lot of thinking the past 2 days. And he thought that staying in this village would hinder his progress. He wanted to explore and see what this world had to offer.


    Not only that, but he thought of something else, what was his purpose here? In Terraria and Minecraft, they both had a goal of defeating a final boss. So, did that mean that this world had a final boss, or was there something else?


    Unfortunately Will did not know the answer because there was no one to tell him.


    Will also wanted to explore the full capabilities of the system, and one of its major capabilities is to build. He wanted to build castles, kingdoms, underground cities. He has never done that in any of his video games because he got bored easily, but now seems like a good time to learn, and it also depended on his life.


    Will could not simply ask Jack to follow him and leave his life behind. There was a good chance that Jack would say yes, but Will did not want to bring him, because even he cannot guarantee his own safety. And if he cannot guarantee his own safety, then how is he supposed to protect others?


    *Ring*


    The doorbell rang obviously.


    "Jack, you here?" It was the voice of a woman, but it was raspy as if she had been smoking since she was born.


    "Grandma."


    Jack ran up to his grandma and gave her a big hug.


    Will obviously recognized the old woman, it was the same one from the counter in the inn. She''s Jack''s grandmother.


    She has no idea that Will is a hero.


    "Happy birthday. This is from me and your uncle."


    She handed him a basic red gift box.


    "You remembered!"


    Will was shocked. He did not know that today was his birthday. Did that mean that Jack was willing to waste his birthday so Will could get his blacksmith license?


    Jack opened the box gently, not destroying the wrapping or the box.


    "OH MY GOD!!!" Jack yelled in pure shock.


    Inside, was a fancy shirt. The shirt glowed a magical, flamelike, indigo, like a fancy enchanted version of Minecraft. Sort of like the awesome weapons from a Minecraft youtube animation called ''Songs of war'' by Black Plasma Studios. (Check it out right now)


    "IT''S AN ENCHANTED SHIRT! THANKS SO MUCH!" Jack gave his grandma one more tight hug.


    "I never got a chance to give you something for becoming an apprentice blacksmith. So I thought I''d make up for it on your birthday."


    "It''s the best gift in the world!"


    Will was fascinated by Jack''s shirt. It was very badass. He had never seen anything like it before, even the best cgi in movies paled in comparison.


    Another thing Will noticed is that the material was similar to that of the shirt he sold to her. Everything else had been changed drastically that he almost didn''t recognize it.


    This is the reason she wanted to buy the shirt from Will, it was for her grandson.


    "Where''s your mother at?"


    "I don''t know. She should be here any day now."


    "Ah¡­ then it''s my fault she isn''t here." She pulled out another cigarette and started smoking.


    The reason it was her fault is because she posted flyers of Jack''s mother for men to court her. Incest is legal in this world, but there are those who don''t agree with that, and she was one of them. Jack''s mother is right now tearing down all the posters that she had set up which is why Will hasn''t seen her since then.


    "Grandma, I love you and I love your gift, but no smoking is allowed in here."


    "Then I guess I''ll leave. Once again, Happy birthday." She left the store.


    "Hero Will Connor, do you want to see this shirt?" Jack handed Will his shirt.


    Will would be lying if he said he wasn''t interested in the shirt.


    He touched it, and he was shocked by what he saw.


    {Fancy shirt(enchanted)}


    {This shirt was made after several modifications had been added}


    {Enchantment: Projectile protection II}


    {Enchantment: Strength II}


    {great: +2% in all stats}


    {Durability: 100/100}


    But the enchantment did not go into his crafting ingredients, only the shirt but that was it. Which meant that Will did not learn to enchant items.


    Regardless, this now changed his view on the world. It was actually possible to enchant items? He honestly didn''t think that this world could do it.


    It even had roman numerals just like in Minecraft.


    "How was she able to enchant the shirt?" Asked Will. He needed to know.


    "Well, blacksmiths are able to enchant their items as well. But to do so, you one needs to be at least an expert to do it."


    "Does that mean your grandma is an expert blacksmith?"


    "No, my uncle is an expert. She probably contacted him or something."


    "Hm¡­ if an expert can enchant items, what can a master blacksmith do?"


    "Master blacksmiths can create magical items. It can make a simple sword do impossible things, like extend its reach, make it unbreakable, shoot freaking lasers. Combined that with an enchantment one can make it a national treasure. Though it is extremely hard and requires a lot of materials to make it. Even so there is a chance that it could break due to having so much power. In fact, only the Great sage, and the Fat Empress have magical and enchanted tools. They''re without a doubt the strongest in existence."


    Will remembered that he had a ''magical'' gun. It can shoot explosive rounds and other things, something that a normal gun shouldn''t be able to do.


    If his gun also had an enchantment, then could his power increase by many fold.


    ''I have to become a master blacksmith.''


    He had a new goal in mind, it was out of his reach for now but he believed that he could do it.


    "Do you still want to go to my Uncle''s village to get your apprentice status?" Asked Jack.


    "Not today. It''s your birthday. We''ll do it tomorrow."


    "If that''s what Hero Will Connor wants."


    ...


    After confirming that it was late, Will left the store and was headed straight for his home to sleep. Now that he had a new goal of becoming a blacksmith, he had to pack his bags for tomorrow. His goal for now is to figure out how to enchant and craft magical items.


    Meanwhile¡­


    In an enchanted forest, there were 12 elves in a room arguing with each other. It was a loud mess. In the middle of the room, was the corpse of the zombie.


    There were 2 more elves that stood above the rest. One was sitting on a throne carved from wood. And the other was protecting the corpse of the zombie.


    "That''s a lot of crap. This thing shouldn''t even exist anymore. I refuse to believe it."


    "We need to eradicate the village where Grace had found the zombie. It''s the only way to ensure that the plague doesn''t spread out again like 300 years ago."


    "We don''t need to kill the villagers. We aren''t sure if they''re even infected."


    "That''s not a risk I''m willing to take. I am expecting children and I do not want to put their lives at risk."


    "How about if we let it spread and let the humans destroy each other. They all deserve to die anyway after how they''ve treated us these past few centuries."


    "That''s a dumb idea. If the humans turn into these things, then that would affect us gravely as well."


    They continued throwing around their ideas and beliefs.


    Then Grace''s father, who is named Arbor, raised a wooden staff that was enchanted.


    As soon as the 12 other elves saw the enchanted staff raised, they quiet down and sat down on a round table.


    "We have heard your ideas. Some of you don''t want to eradicate the humans, and some do, while others want to know if they''re infected and cure them."


    One of the female elves raised her hand.


    "Yes, Rias?"


    "I believe that the best course of action is to know if the humans are infected. This will allow us to experiment on it, and possibly find a cure for this disease. If the possibility of another plague were to spread once again, then we would be prepared for it."


    "I don''t believe that''s wise," Said one of the male elves, "don''t you remember how the elves suffered 300 years ago due to this virus? Many of our friends, families were infected. We had to watch them die and kill each other like hungry, ravenous beasts. I will not take the risk of it ending the entire elf race. Do you really want to risk our lives so you can play doctor?"


    "I don''t want to risk it, but if we don''t understand how to counter this virus properly by finding a cure, then we can never be truly safe from the virus. Knowledge is key to our survival, and ignorance will only bring us harm."


    "Why bother even finding a cure when we can just destroy it? It''s the humans fault for summoning those blasted heroes anyways. And yet they blame us because we didn''t help them clean up their own mess. So even if we find a cure, those humans are sure to screw up once again."


    "I also heard that a few days ago, the kingdom of Reyes summoned 100 heroes again. When will the humans ever learn?"


    "Actually, I know a human friend that works there, and he says that only 99 heroes have been summoned. Any details of the 100th hero haven''t been confirmed yet."


    "Oh good, one less hero to worry about."


    "Heroes aren''t so tough. They might have super strength, speed, reflexes, and regeneration, but they can still die as easily as an ordinary human would."


    "We''re getting sidetracked here." Arbor added. "Since we all can''t seem to come to an agreement and we''re wasting valuable time, I say we let his majesty decide. Does anyone here oppose that we let his majesty decide?"


    The rest of the elves shook their heads.


    "My king, what do you want us to do with the humans, who have possibly been infected with the virus?"


    *Snore*


    The elf that had long white hair and was sitting on the wooden carved throne. There was an obvious snot bubble forming on his nose. He''s the wisest and strongest of the elves.


    The king of the elves had been asleep for quite some time now.


    "Silvas!" Arbor loudly said.


    "Oh, what? I was just resting my eyes. So you guys finally decided to stop barking at each other like wolves." Silvas woke up and stretched his arms and legs in a lazy manner.


    "We need your guidance in a very important manner."


    "Okay, but first, can someone be kind enough to bring me some tea, please? Lipton tea would be nice."


    "Sigh¡­ yes grandfather." Grace, who was also in the room, left to get him some tea.


    "Silvas, we really shouldn''t waste time and we need to come up with a decision."


    "Arbor, we cannot make rash decisions. Even if we do come up with a decision today, it''ll take us 2 days straight to arrive at this village. And besides, according to Grace, it has already been 2 days since she left the village."


    "That''s exactly what I mean. If some humans were to be infected then the longer we take the more humans will be infected, and if that happens then we too will suffer."


    "Are you suggesting we exterminate the people living in the village?"


    "No-"


    "Yes!" One of the elves interrupted.


    "My king, I am sorry for interrupting, but we need to properly dispose of all of their bodies and burn them and destroy the virus. We cannot afford to take any risks."


    "Not everything can be solved with violence. Violence is like a double edged sword. But I do agree with the one who mentioned curing this disease, Rias?"


    "Yes, my king?" the woman named Rias stood up.


    "I''m sending you, Grace, and two other guards to go to this human village and monitor them. Should anything happen I want you to report back. But whatever you do, do not come in contact with the humans."


    "My king, I am opposed to this. Even if these humans aren''t infected, there is a good chance that our people will be killed or kidnapped by these humans. We aren''t exactly at peace with them."


    "Which is why I am sending my strongest and most trusted men with them, which is Arbor and you, Radix."


    "Us two?"


    Radix is the one elf who has more hate towards the humans than any other elf. Arbor doesn''t necessarily hate humans, but fears that their actions will bring unforeseen consequences to the world like 300 years ago. In his eyes, the humans were like children playing around with fire, a fire that will destroy them all.


    Radix and Arbor might have been alive for a long time, but they have never gotten well together. Their ideas and beliefs don''t always coincide with one another.


    "Yes, do you three have any objections?"


    "I just have one question: why are you sending Grace, your granddaughter? This is something dangerous."


    "The world will always be dangerous. The best we can do is learn how to survive it. And besides, she''s the only one who knows where this village is, and she just recently arrived home after two years so she has more experience with humans than any of us. Tell me something, Rias, Radix, and Arbor, when was the last time you three have been to the human world?"


    "300 years ago." All three said.


    "Come here." Silvas waved his hand at them.


    They walked a few steps closer to Silvas, and he waved his arm and them, and their appearance changed. They looked like ordinary humans, less charming, and less pointy ears.


    "Exactly my point. You 4 will monitor this human village from a distance. Whatever you do, do not kill unless it is necessary. You will leave in an hour. Dismissed."


    Every other elf left the room. Rias seemed the most ecstatic out of all of them. She has longed to be in the human world for a long time to discover what was out there. Rias is very curious about everything. Some would argue that she is the most knowledgeable of the group.


    Radix took one good at Arbor, he scoffed and he left the room.


    Once Arbor and Silvas were alone, they could finally talk.


    "Why are you sending Radix? We both know he carries a strong resentment for humans. It wouldn''t surprise me if he skins the first human he sees."


    "I know. But this is dangerous and it involves my son''s and grandaughter''s lives. Whether you like it or not, Radix is the best bowman and magic user, only second to me. Whereas you are the strongest swordsman and fighter in this village. And Rias is also very knowledgeable when it comes to stuff like this. She could very well find the cure for the undead."


    "I don''t doubt that. If she wasn''t a kid 300 years ago she could have found a cure. But we could send another elf that isn''t Radix? There are a lot of other elves that are almost as good. I just don''t want a loose cannon when we are-"


    "I want to ensure the best for my family''s sake. Now go get ready. And on your way, do tell Grace that she''ll depart with you 3." Silvas interrupted him. Nothing that Arbor could say will change his mind.


    Arbor looked at Silvas for a second, then left without uttering another word.


    "May Lea''s spirit guide you."


    Silvas grabbed the enchanted staff and touched the zombie on the ground with the tip. The zombie''s corpse disappeared in a flash of light.


    ...


    Will travelled deep into the forest. Behind him was a trail of trees that had been cut down. There even appeared several goblins that had bullet holes on their heads.


    There were even deep holes that went 10 feet deep that were created by him. At the bottom of the holes were the rotten corpses of goblins, which had been impaled with long stone spears. Will purposefully made a deadly trap for goblins and killed them all Vlad the Impaler style.


    As it turns out, Goblins were a real nuisance around these parts of the forest. So Will took it upon himself to eradicate whichever Goblins came his way. They provided some disturbing things for him when he gathered their bodies.


    {Goblin eyes}


    {An ingredient used for crafting useful tools(potions, items, etc)}


    {Goblin teeth}


    {An ingredient used for crafting useful tools(potions, items, etc)}


    {Goblin heart}


    {An ingredient used for crafting useful tools(potions, items, etc}


    And there were many other goblin parts. Will had to cut off the parts of the Goblins by hand, because he thought that it might be useful for something. And he was right, he could use goblin parts for crafting potions. There were many games that used monster parts to craft several items.


    But any thoughts about drinking potions made him feel grossed out. Who knows what other potions actually carry inside them. It was like a hotdog.


    Weirdly enough he has only encountered goblins, it got to a point where killing goblins became easy, but their poison arrows still hurt, but his new armor could deflect it easily. He expected more monsters, but he thought it was a blessing that he didn''t need to fight stronger monsters.


    As for the trees, he planned on creating a house using wood and stone. It was possible to cut down so many trees with the help of his new steel axe.


    {Steel axe}


    {Damage: 12}


    {Efficient: 200% in speed when cutting wood}


    {Lumberjack''s luck: 10% chance of getting extra wood}


    {Durability; 90/100}


    The steel axe was much more efficient than his iron axe. Cutting down trees has never been easier.


    The durability of the weapon was below 10 at one point, but with the help of the anvil station, Will was able to raise it''s durability. It was rather easy fixing steel tools. All it required was one steel bar, an anvil, a damaged steel weapon and it would fix itself.


    The same applied for other types of weapons. For example; a damaged wooden sword needs wood to fix it. A stone tool fixes stone, iron fixes iron.


    Deep into the woods, Will arrived at a terrible looking cottage house that was 2 stories up. It looked as if a witch was living in this cottage. This is his own house, and he was proud of it. It''s like when a noob minecraft player constructs their very first dirt house.


    It took him a few hours to construct the whole thing, mostly because he was getting used to the building mechanism of the system. And it also did not require a lot of wood as he thought. The cottage house might look unbalanced, terribly built, but this was his first house that he created in his world.


    He even made a target area for him to practice with his guns. Will created another gun because his other one has low durability. Since his other weapon was magical he needed more than just simple materials to fix it, so he had to create another gun. These materials were out of his reach, and even Jack said that those are hard to come by for even expert blacksmiths.


    {Single shot pistol}


    {Damage: 20 per shot}


    {Instakill: 0.01% of killing a target with one shot}


    It was not as good as his other gun, but it would do for now.


    Inside the cottage there was wooden furniture, and a crafting table and a comfy bed on the second floor, that was his new spawn point.


    And hiding underneath the floorboards was an iron ?h?st.


    After unlocking all the iron crafting recipes, he got a new ?h?st to store his stuff, it could carry much more in comparison to a wooden ?h?st. Which came at a perfect time because he was running out of space in his wooden ?h?st.


    But now his iron ?h?st was running out of space as well. He can''t place a full ?h?st inside a ?h?st, but an empty ?h?st is fine. It''s kinda similar to how shulker boxes works,


    This made him realize that he needs a permanent base. Somewhere he can store his stuff and not worry about being robbed.


    "After I get my apprentice blacksmith badge, I''ll have to leave this village and say goodbye to Jack¡­"


    Will had to get his blacksmith badge to be able to earn money. Even after working with Jack in his weapon shop, he wasn''t earning fast enough. Money is very important in this world.


    He''s gonna miss the only friend he had, who had helped him a lot. He made himself a promise that in the future he will help him when he gets stronger. Will is someone who always returns favours.


    "But, what should I get Jack as a present?" Will was wondering what he should give to Jack for his birthday. After everything he had done for him these past two days, he owed him something.


    He pondered about it as he took a shower, which he installed. And then he slept on his comfy new bed. He got the materials to make a better bed from a shop that sells cotton clothes.


    {Cotton Bed}


    {Spawn point set}


    {Durability 60/60}


    {Heavenly: +5 temporary HP}

 Chapter 7 - Adaline

    1 day later¡­


    4 people were riding on top of a monster at an abnormal speed and were shaking violently. The monster is faster than any horse. With its speed and size it could easily tear down any tree on its path.


    The monster was at least 8 feet tall. It had no eyes, it ran on four legs, and it had a large beak like a bird. It relied on its sense of smell and hearing to navigate through the forest. Most of its body was made entirely out of dead leaves, dead flowers, and dried branches. Only its mouth and claws were made out of keratin, which is something made out of fingernails, hooves, bird beaks. It looked horrendous and dangerous


    "Arbor, tell your damn pet to calm the hell down!" Radix yelled as he had trouble keeping his balance.


    "I can''t control it. I just recently tamed him, and he hasn''t recognized me as its master yet."


    "Dad, what the hell?" Grace yelled.


    "The Adalis is one of the fastest creatures in the forest. Had we traveled using other methods, then we wouldn''t have arrived in the human village in one day." Rias added seemingly enjoying the ride.


    "STOP!!!" Arbor yelled and the Adalis creature stopped suddenly. The force and momentum when he stopped made the 4 elves get launched off the creature''s back.


    The four elves were groaning in pain. Most of them were just happy that the ride was over.


    "If I wasn''t an elf and if it wasn''t made out of flesh, I would have killed that thing and eaten it and make it watch as I eat its limbs." Radix said. Elves cannot eat meat.


    "If you eat meat, you''ll lose your magic powers. And besides the Adalis is made out of organic matter, not flesh." Rias added. She looked at her surroundings and was amazed, even though it was just a plain forest, it was the first time she''s been outside of her home.


    "I know. Grace, where''s the bloody village so we can kill every human in it?"


    "We''re here to scout if the humans are infected, not to kill them. If you hurt them for any other reason other than self defense, then I will hurt you."


    "Uh, guys, look." Rias pointed at a house that was crooked and looked abandoned.


    "Do you think any humans live there?" Radix took out his bow and arrow.


    "Unlikely. Look at the design of that shelter. It looks like it is about to collapse any moment now." Rias said but found it fascinating. This is the first time she has seen a human shelter that didn''t come from pictures.


    "That''s strange. There wasn''t a house there when I left." Grace went into deep thought. She was sure that there wasn''t a worn down building when she left.


    "The human village is just over there." Arbor saw the human village from a distance.


    "Adalis, stay here." Arbor said, but the Adalis didn''t listen and walked towards the worn down cottage. It sniffed something delicious coming near the cottage house.


    "Adalis is the species name, you still haven''t given it a proper name yet?" Rias asked.


    "Like I said, I just recently tamed her. I still haven''t found the time to name her."


    "Dad, where did you even find an Adalis? Aren''t they an endangered species?"


    "A couple of months after you left, I found this large egg, and an Adalis mother was beside her egg. It had multiple injuries from another creature, it was probably trying to eat the egg. But the mother fought fiercely and protected her child but died in the process. I felt bad for it and I took it with me to tame it. And just last week, it hatched."


    "It hatched last week? An Adalis can grow that fast?"


    "They sure can." Rias said, "Although there haven''t been many sightings of them and we still don''t understand most of its capabilities, Arbor had made quite the contribution to the elves for letting me study the Adalis. This was also a good day to study the Adalis'' speed and power firsthand. But I wonder how a creature that is made out of organic matter could hatch from an egg? Most organic creatures are usually sprouted from the ground like trees.."


    "I heard that an Adalis can produce exotic flowers grown from the ground. Has that happened?"


    "No. I have also heard of it, but the Adalis hasn''t been able to do anything like that. It is still too early to tell."


    "Oh¡­ but why does it look like that? I don''t think an Adalis should have dead organic material on it."


    "We believe that it''s because it''s only a newborn. We are not entirely sure yet. Although when other organic species start to have dead organic material on them, it''s usually after they''ve died."


    "Maybe it''s because you''re not giving it proper meals? What did you give it, meat, vegetables?"


    "So far it hasn''t eaten anything, despite the fact that we give him deer, fruits, vegetables, and water. It''s like it was looking at poison or something."


    "Let''s focus on the matter at hand. We''ll infiltrate the human village and inspect any human who is showing abnormal behaviors. Radix, you''ll¡­ where did Radix go?"


    Grace pointed at the human village, and there was Radix running towards it like a madman.


    "Son of a-" Arbor and the rest ran to stop Radix from doing anything unnecessary. If they could remain hidden then the better chance they have to detect a zombie.


    They failed to notice 2 people near the cottage house. One had just recently arrived with a mule and a brown bag. Whilst the other just exited the cottage house.


    "Hero Will Connor, are you ready?" Jack sat on top of a mule and waved his hand frantically at Will. He was waiting for Will outside of his horribly constructed house.


    Today is the day that Will left the village to get his blacksmith license. Jack will be his guide during the entire road trip.


    Will had everything inside his iron ?h?st. He could put his items in his pocket and bring them anywhere with him, it doesn''t need to be in his hand the whole time to stay in its shrunken size.


    "Do we have everything?" Asked Will.


    "Lemma double check. Blacksmith badge, a mule, and I think that''s all."


    "What about food? This trip takes 2-3 days."


    "I got food from grandma that will last us at least 4 days. She''s the greatest."


    "I''ll be sure to pay you back after we arrive." Will said as he got on top of the mule, then he noticed that it was too small and there wasn''t enough space. Not only that but a mule isn''t the fastest method for transportation.


    "Um, do you have anything other than a mule? Maybe a horse?" Will was still not comfortable with a horse. He still remembered how his ?ss ached when he sat on top of a horse for the first time. But a horse is still faster than a mule.


    "There aren''t any horses in the village. Most people just walk from village to village but that takes too long. And besides, mules can endure longer than horses. I''m very lucky to have him." Jack petted the mule''s head gently.


    *Break*


    They both heard a branch breaking in half.


    "Goblins." Will drew out his handgun and pointed at the source of the sound. The only other monster that has ever appeared in this area were goblins. Any human would be too scared to enter because of how dangerous it is.


    "I thought you laid out an effective goblin trap?" Jack stood behind Will. Will is geared up, but Jack was weaker in terms of everything and he didn''t have any armor on, except his enchanted shirt.


    "About 90% of the goblins die in the trap. But the other 10% I have to take care of it myself.


    "I know I''m supposed to be scared, but seeing a hero in action is gonna be so cool." Jack was feeling both fear and excitement.


    "..." Will.


    As they got closer the louder the noise got. They both did not recognize the sound, and it didn''t sound like an animal at all. It seemed like it was either struggling or fighting for its life.


    "What is it?"


    "I don''t know."


    They saw a giant creature running around in circles with its mouth on the ground. It looked funny at first, but it also looked horrifying.


    {Adalis}


    {HP 2000/2000}


    Will was shocked. A creature with 2000 HP. It has 40x more HP than him.


    "Jack, do you know what an Adalis is?" Will asked very softly. Even after watching many movies and playing hundreds of games, he has never heard of such a creature before. This showed him that this world was more than a simple fantasy world.


    "Adalis? Never heard of it. But it does look a lot like an organic creature."


    "What''s that?"


    "A creature made out of organic material. Elves use them to travel distances since they are both lovers of nature. But that''s what I heard. I''m a blacksmith, not an animal expert. At least I think that''s an animal."


    "Elves?"


    He remembered the elf that stole arrows from the weapon shop a few days ago.


    ''Does that mean that this is her mount?''


    And evil thought crept up on him. He''s gonna get his revenge one way or another.


    Will noticed that his brown book was glowing. He opened it and saw some information about the Adalis.


    {Adalis}


    {An endangered species, but still tameable. It''s speed and strength vary as they continue to grow and eat . It can grow at an extremely fast rate. It will kill anything when it feels threatened or when it is protecting its young}


    {...}


    It did not show any other information. It didn''t even tell him how to tame it, just that it could be tamed, but how?


    "Tameable¡­" Will had an idea. If he could tame the creature, then he wouldn''t need to worry about travelling the world. He had no idea how fast it could go, but it could probably go faster than a mule, right?


    "Jack, do you have any meat with you?"


    "Meat? You mean our rations?"


    "Yes."


    "I do. Why? You''re not going to tame it, right?" He said in a joking manner.


    "..." Will.


    "Oh, my god, you are. I don''t know if you noticed, but that creature looks very hostile. Look how it''s destroying your goblin traps."


    "I know. But I need food to tame it."


    "...I hope you know what you''re doing."


    Jack quietly took out half eaten beef jerky.


    "Sorry, beef jerky is my favorite snack."


    "Don''t you have anything else?"


    "Let''s see, canned beans, tuna, dried fruit, powdered milk, water. That''s all I have."


    "I''ll use the beef jerky. Most likely that creature is a carnivore?"


    "And if it attacks?"


    "That reminds me, go back to the cottage house. If it attacks I''ll live, but you''ll die and I cannot let that happen."


    "But Hero-"


    "Go!" Will said loudly but not enough to alarm the Adalis.


    Jack looked at Will one last time before hurrying to the cottage house. Jack also got out his gun and aimed it at the Adalis from a safe distance.


    If Will dies then he''ll respawn. But if Jack dies he''ll remain dead forever.


    "Oh video game gods, don''t fail me now." Will prayed to gods that don''t exist.


    Will put away his gun, raised his hands up, and walked slowly to the Adalis.


    The Adalis had his entire body covered in dirt in an attempt to grab something from the goblin trap.


    The Adalis heard Will and it hissed at him like a cat.


    Will stopped in his tracks not even moving a muscle. He would be lying if he said he wasn''t scared, mostly because of the pain he will feel should the creature in front of him ever attack him. He''s not afraid of death, but the pain.


    But he needs to take risks otherwise he''ll never amount to anything.


    "I come in peace." Will said.


    The Adalis got into a lower stance as if he was ready to pounce at Will at any moment, like a lion that was about to attack its prey.


    Will slowly flicked the half eaten beef jerky at the Adalis and it landed in front of him, but the Adalis didn''t even look at it.


    The Adalis kept staring at Will, as if it was waiting for him to make any sudden moves.


    "Crap, beef jerky didn''t work¡­ what does it want? I should have brought that dried food."


    This isn''t the first time that he''s clueless about something. He had to figure it out on his own. It''s not like video games where they''ll give you a guide for basically everything.


    Will realized something that he overlooked, the goblin traps.


    "Why did it mess up my goblin traps? It''s too big for it to fall down so it probably didn''t fall down¡­ unless."


    Will had a realization.


    He slowly reached for his pocket, the Adalis kept hissing at him and even growled at him, as if it understood that Will was about to do something.


    "Relax." Will wasn''t sure if the Adalis could understand human speech.


    He pulled out his iron ?h?st without alarming the Adalis. Once it saw what Will pulled out, it was confused.


    ''Is it intelligent?'' Will thought. Goblins also have intelligence, but only when it comes to killing and pillaging. He learned that the hard way.


    The way it reacted when it saw Will pull out the iron ?h?st showed him that the Adalis had the same reaction as another human being. Anyone would be confused if they saw Will pull out a small ?h?st.


    Will placed it on the ground and it grew in size. The Adalis backed up as if it was afraid of it. It was intelligent for showing fear, since it didn''t know what Will was fully capable of. It could very well be a weapon or something deadly.


    *Sniff* *Sniff*


    The Adalis smelled something delicious coming from Will''s iron ?h?st.


    Will opened the ?h?st and took out a goblin heart.


    "Is this what you want? Is this why you messed up my goblin trap?"


    The Adalis didn''t say anything. It just kept staring at the goblin heart despite not having any eyes.


    Will flicked the heart that it, and the Adalis ate it before it could touch the ground, like a dog playing with a frisbee with its owner.


    ''How do I know if I tamed it?'' once again, he was on his own. It''s not like there would be hearts floating above him after eating a piece of meat or bones.


    "Hiss!"


    The Adalis got into his stance again, but it seemed less angry and less wary of Will.


    "Do you want some more?"


    Will got a goblin tongue and threw it at the Adalis. And once again it ate it whole before it could hit the ground.


    Upon consuming the goblin tongue and heart, it exited his body from behind, and a glowing flower from its behind sprouted,


    "What?" Will was confused. What just happened?"


    But ignoring that glowing flower, Will got a handful of goblin parts. Instead of throwing it at the Adalis, he walked slowly towards it and handed it over to him.


    The Adalis backed up, but the temptation of eating goblin meat is too hard to pass. He then walked towards Will, still very wary of him, and gently picked the goblin parts without hurting Will''s hand.


    ''Looks like watching all those dog videos on youtube are finally starting to pay off.'' Will thought.


    As the Adalis continued to fill his stomach, Will reached the Adalis with his other hand without making sudden movements.


    He touched the head of the Adalis. The Adalis shook a bit and tensed up, but it calmed down.


    {Adalis(female)}


    {Tamed}


    {Age: 1 week}


    {HP 2000/2000}


    "My god, you''re just a baby." Will gently petted the Adalis. He had a weakness for animals, even if this one was hideous..


    As the Adalis continued to eat the more it changed. Its outer appearance was horrendous at first. But later beautiful flowers, and green grass covered his body, and the branches grew leaves on it. It looked better than before and less frightening.


    Will continued to pet it, its outer skin or whatever one might call it, it was softer and easier to pet due to it growing so many flowers and leaves.


    Then he noticed that he had unlocked a new recipe on his book and some new information on his bestiary.


    {Adalis}


    {An endangered species, but still tameable. It''s speed and strength vary as they continue to grow and eat . It can grow at an extremely fast rate. It will kill anything when it feels threatened or when it is protecting its young}


    {A lover and protector of all forests. It can produce exotic flowers after eating certain prey. It can go up to 2 weeks without food. It gathers its energy from the sun or standing on or near a forest. It can perfectly camouflage itself in the forest to hide itself from predators}


    {it''s favorite food are goblins, ogres, trolls, gremlins, gnomes, imps. It eats these species only because it believes that they destroy the forests, and therefore are its natural enemies}


    {It''s appearance will change to dead organic matter if it doesn''t eat its specific foods after a week. It will grow weak, lose its ability to camouflage, and will die after 2 weeks}


    {Animal cage}


    {A portable animal cage used to trap monsters. It does not work on monsters bigger than 10 feet}


    ''The heck. I''m not gonna put it in a cage.''


    He still inspected the animal cage, it could be made from wood, iron, and steel. The stronger the cage the better it is.


    "Poor thing. You haven''t eaten anything at all since you were born."


    Will continued to give the Adalis all the goblins parts he had. The reason he even had goblins'' parts in his ?h?st, is because he wanted to see what he could craft with it. He didn''t think it would be used to tame a creature.


    After a while, the Adalis growled in satisfaction and it became increasingly friendly with Will.


    "This is just like that animated dragon movie, only in this case it''s an Adalis instead of a dragon¡­ Jack!"


    "I''m coming!" Jack thought that Will was crying out for his help, and he ran towards him as fast as he could.


    But Jack tripped on the iron ?h?st and landed on his face.


    "Ow."


    "..." Will.


    Jack looked up, and the first thing he saw was the Adalis, its mouth filled with blood and body parts.


    Jack fainted on the spot due to fear. One second he thought that Will had been killed by the Adalis, and eaten.


    "Oh, Jack." Will shook his head.


    Then he noticed that the Adalis continued producing even more flowers.


    Although he found it gross, he yanked one of the flowers from the ground.


    {Exotic flower}


    {A rare type of flower used for potions}


    {Exotic flower seed}


    {A seed used to grow exotic flowers}


    "Making potions and planting seeds¡­ okay then."


    Will placed the flowers and seed inside his ?h?st and took it all with him. Although there were 5 exotic flowers, there was only one exotic seed. His first goal was to become a blacksmith, after that he''ll worry about crafting potions.


    Will slowly got on top of the Adalis with Jack on his shoulders, the Adalis kneeled before Will and made it easier for him to get up.


    "Good boy, er, I mean girl. What should I name you? Hmm¡­ Something unique, something different¡­ Adaline! That''s your name."


    The Adalis'' mood didn''t change a bit, but it knew that its name was now Adaline. Almost similar to Adalis.


    "Let''s see, Jack said that the village was up north so¡­ sun in the west yada-yada-yada, go over there!" Will pointed at a specific spot.


    Adaline ran at full speed to where Will pointed.


    At first Will wasn''t ready for such speed, but it got easier once Adaline used it''s branches on his back to hold Will down, like seat belts.


    It also used its branches to bind down the unconscious Jack before he fell down.


    Adaline used her head to knock down all the trees on it''s path and it didn''t even faze her.


    Once they finally made it on the road, Adaline could run faster without any obstacles in its way.


    "Man, this feels amazin- cough, cough, swallowed a bug."


    On the road, there was a familiar woman riding a mule. Her eyes were covered in bags due to not sleeping. She was tired and sore. But the thought of her child made her exceed her limits.


    "Jack, mama''s coming. I''m sorry I missed your birthday." She''s Jack''s mother. Her name is July, although it is pronounced ''Julie'' it''s not like in the calendar.


    *rumble*


    The ground started shaking violently. And it only got worse by the second.


    Over the distance, she saw a giant creature headed her way. But there were 2 men on top of it.


    "An Organic creature in the middle of the road?" July quickly got out of the way while witnessing that creature. She knew that organic creatures don''t attack unless they were provoked, which is why she wasn''t scared of it. She also knew that elves rode those creatures.


    But when it ran past her, she was shocked to see one of the two people on top of Adaline.


    Her son, Jack, was unconscious and bound as he was being dragged against his will.


    "JACK!!!" Any signs of her tired face were gone and replaced by fear instead. It did look like Jack was being kidnapped. July got off the mule and started chasing after his son, but her speed was no match for Adaline.


    "JACK!!!" her scream could be compared to a banshee''s. Any loving mother would do the same if they saw their child being kidnapped.


    "Cough, cough." Will kept choking and coughing because of the bug and thus didn''t hear her or recognized her.


    July saw how her child was being taken away. She tried to run, but her body couldn''t handle it anymore.


    "Mom, she can help!" She ran back to the village.. At this point she is willing to seek the help from anybody, even her own mother.

 Chapter 8 - Black sun

    A mad elf disguised as a human arrived at the human village with the intention to massacre them all. He started to yell at them to strike fear into their hearts.


    "HUMANS! PREPARE TO SUFFER THE WRATH THAT I HAVE KEPT INSIDE OF ME FOR 300 YEARS!!! PREPARE TO DIE!"


    One thing he forgot to take into account, is that he only knows one language, elvish tongue. Meaning that nobody knew what he was saying. It was like trying to speak in chinese in front of people who only know english.


    The villagers looked at the man who was crazy in their eyes. He was yelling and screaming in a language that they couldn''t understand.


    "Mommy, is that man sick like my uncle?" A little girl pulled on her mother''s skirt.


    "Yes, he is."


    Radix pulled out his bow, but before he could do anything, he was tackled by another man.


    "Radix! What the hell did I just say?" Arbor asked angrily.


    "Let me go. I need to send these humans to the afterlife."


    "Our job is to observe the humans from a distance, and now they have their eyes on us."


    "I don''t care as long as I kill them."


    "What if there was a zombie here and it bit you all because you couldn''t control your emotions? Do you seriously want to die as a mindless zombie, or as a proud elf?"


    "I¡­"


    Radix was so angry that he forgot that he could be bit by a zombie and turn into one.


    But their position was rather¡­ gay. Their faces were close to each other. And they looked like they were having a lovers quarrel.


    "Mommy, are those men sick like my uncle?"


    "Yes."


    "Okay, people, nothing to see here. Move it along." Grace noticed the group of people and shooed them off.


    The group of people dispersed and went back to minding their businesses.


    "Grace, since when can you speak human tongue?" Asked Arbor.


    ???After 2 years of living with them, I have come to learn the basics in speaking and reading the human tongue. I still have trouble trying to keep a long conversation though."


    "You make me proud." Arbor hugged his daughter.


    "..." Grace.


    "Where did Rias go?" Asked Radix.


    Rias wasn''t anywhere with them.


    "Oh come on." Grace asked.


    "I knew it! Those humans kidnapped Rias and are probably going to use her as a hostage and/or probably gonna sell her as a slave." Radix pulled out his enchanted bow and enchanted arrows, and pointed it at the humans, more specifically a 3 year old child.


    But Arbor kicked him in the balls before he could do anything.


    "OW¡­ why?" Radix was in so much pain that his pitch was high.


    "I was getting tired of your crap. Besides, if you actually were paying attention, you would notice that Rias is right over there."


    They saw Rias through an open window talking to a fat lady behind the counter. The building sign said ''inn.''


    "So, it''s 20 copper pieces per night in a single room?" Asked Rias.


    "Yes."


    The fat lady is Jack''s grandmother.


    "But there''s 4 of us. Can''t you lower the price a bit, like a travelers discount?"


    "Do you see anything that tells you that I am giving away discounts?"


    "No, but, would you please consider?"


    Rias'' eyes shined a bit like there was a light in her eyes.


    Jack''s grandmother''s eyes also changed, as if she was in a trance.


    "Okay, fine, the rooms are now 19 copper pieces per room."


    "No. That''s still too much." Rias wanted a bigger discount, but only got a discount of 1 copper instead of half the price as she wanted.


    "Rias? What are you doing?" Arbor asked.


    "Cough, what is that smell?" Radix could not handle the smell of cigarettes.


    "Well, Arbor, your highness, since we''re going to observe this village for a bit, and also the fact that we''re tired, I thought it was a good idea to get a room. You know, to observe the humans closer. And not only that, but I also need to spend this money." Rias showed him a green pouch full of coins. She got those coins many years ago.


    Elves do live in shelters but usually when surrounded by greens of forests.


    Rias was finding an excuse to study the village a little closer.


    "I am asking why did you use that spell? If a human sees you using that spell, then our cover will be blown."


    "Relax, there''s nobody here besides us and that fat lady. Between you and me, I don''t think she would care."


    Jack''s grandmother continued smoking while reading a book, and not giving a damn. She couldn''t understand what language they were speaking in anyway.


    "Grace, I need you to take care of Radix for me¡­ Grace?"


    His daughter was across the shop snooping around another shop. The shop was a weapon shop called ''July and son''s shop.''


    "Aw, the shop is closed." Grace pouted because she thought she could steal from the shop again.


    Arbor massaged his forehead due to the headache his people were giving him.


    "Is that your friend snooping outside my daughter''s shop?" Asked Jack''s grandmother.


    "Yes." Replied Rias.


    "You better tell her that the shop is staying closed for at least a week. My grandson is gone to help out a friend. And my daughter is busy."


    "MOM!!!"


    "Well, speak of the devil."


    It was no surprise that the one who barged into the inn was July. She slammed her hands on the counter making a loud noise. Her eyes were teary and she was panicking.


    "Jack was kidnapped!"


    "Jack was what now?"


    "I saw Jack being kidnapped by an organic monster. I need your help to find him."


    "Wait, sorry to intrude on your conversation," Rias interrupted, "But, did this organic creature have dead organic material on him, a long beak like a bird bird''s, sharp claws, is about 8 feet tall, has no eyes, and has four legs?"


    "That''s the monster! It''s the one who took my baby." July grabbed Rias'' shoulders. Although the organic creature did not have dead organic material anymore, it was very identical to the monster she saw.


    Radix was about to use his bow on July because he thought she was about to attack, but Arbor stopped him. They could not understand the conversation, but Arbor could see fear in July''s eyes, it made him think that she saw a zombie.


    "Was there like another person riding him?"


    "Yes, it was a male, short black hair, skinny, and wore steel armor. He was riding on the creature''s head commanding it."


    "Um¡­"


    Rias was surprised. Did someone else tame the Adalis in the short time when they were in this village?


    "Huh, you just perfectly described Will, a friend of Jack''s." Jack''s grandmother added.


    "You know this person?" July grabbed her mother''s shoulders.


    "Sure I do. The weirdo is always wearing armor as if it''s some sort of fashion trend. And he lives over the woods as if he''s some sort of elf. I guess that he was tired of paying me 20 copper coins a night."


    "Well he just took my baby. Did he say where he was going?"


    "Jack told me that he was going to his uncle''s village, you know, your brother''s village."


    "Why would he go there?"


    "Because Jack wanted to help his friend become an apprentice blacksmith."


    "I''M COMING BABY!!!" July ran out of the store and went straight to Jack. It was the only lead she has that could help her find her son.


    Jack''s grandmother was laughing inside. She thought that it was karma that separated Jack from her mother, as if it was telling her that ?n??st was bad.


    "Rias, did she say anything about zombies?" Asked Arbor.


    "No¡­ but I think¡­ that the Adalis was taken."


    "Taken? What do you mean?"


    "Only one way to find out."


    The 3 elves ran back to the forest where they last saw the Adalis.


    "Adalis, come here." Arbor called and whistled the Adalis to come out, but there were no signs of the Adalis anywhere.


    "Are you seriously telling me that you let the Adalis be taken from you?" Radix started laughing.


    "We''ll know soon enough. Now be quiet."


    Arbor touched a tree with his palm, a green light flowed between the tree and Arbor.


    "Who took the Adalis?" Arbor asked softly.


    He closed his eyes and concentrated. He could hear many faint whispers in his head, it ranged from women, men, children.


    Radix and Rias did not say anything, they just let Arbor do his thing.


    Finally Arbor let go of the tree, and the green light was gone.


    "What did it say?"


    "It seems like some human managed to tame the Adalis." Arbor felt shocked. They thought that it might have been an elf, but they were wrong.


    "A human tamed it? It didn''t even submit to you after grooming it for a week. Although it''s not rare for humans to tame organic creatures, this is an Adalis we''re talking about, it''s more connected with nature than other organic creatures. Therefore he should have chosen the elves instead of a human." Radix said.


    "It recognized this human as her master because we¡­ no, I was killing her." Arbor said.


    "Killing her?"


    "I was ignorant and stupid. This human basically saved her life after feeding her. That''s why it was tamed so easily by him and not me. And also, this human is unnatural."


    "What does that mean?"


    "He''s not a hero, nor a sorcerer, just¡­ a unique existence. That''s all I can say. I still don''t understand that part."


    "Still, this is not acceptable. We need to take back the Adalis."


    "I didn''t know you cared about the Adalis?" Asked Rias.


    "I don''t. But I won''t stand it if another human were to tame such a creature when it clearly belongs to the elves."


    "If the Adalis likes this human, then there''s no reason why we should separate him from the Adalis."


    "No, I agree with Radix. He''s right." Arbor said.


    "Your highness?" Rias thought that Arbor would be on her side.


    "Look, I have been taking care of the Adalis for two years when it was still inside her egg. I am not going to let someone else take her away from me."


    "But according to what you said, he''s done a better job at taking care of her in an hour than you have in 2 years."


    "..." Arbor.


    "Still, we can''t go after the Adalis. Not only do we not have a mount fast enough to chase it, we still have to stay here and continue observing the humans."


    "Looks like we need to split up then. One group stays here to observe the village, while the other group goes after the Adalis." Radix proposed.


    "Hmm¡­ if this is some scheme so you can kill-"


    "I am not going to kill humans unless they attack first."


    "Touch the tree." Arbor said.


    "You''re not seriously to make me do ''that.''"


    "I am and I will. Now do it."


    Radix grudgingly touched the tree and so did Arbor. And a green light enveloped the both of them.


    "Swear upon Lea''s spirit, and the name of the elf race, that you will not kill humans unless necessary."


    "I swear." Radix rolled his eyes.


    This is an ancient elf promise. It''s like making a solid promise to your god, and ancestors. And should he or she break such a promise, you will be shunned by Lea and be revoked of your powers.


    "Good. Now stay here with Rias. And Grace and I will go after the Adalis."


    "And where do you suppose the Adalis is? There''s at least 5-6 more villages nearby, according to Grace, and if you go by foot village to village, it''ll take you at least a month before you return."


    "I know someone who knows where the Adalis is going." Rias added.


    "Who?"


    "Wait a minute." Interrupted Radix. He looked up at the sky, the sun made his eyes ache, but he still looked at it. He noticed the moon.


    "I know it''s a month too early, but is today the day of the black sun?"


    "No that should be in about¡­ oh no, you''re right." Rias realized something when she looked up.


    "Arbor! That woman we saw in that building, she''s in danger."


    "The fat one?"


    "No, the other one. You need to save her."


    "Oh, but I am pretty sure that she knows that this is the day of the black sun."


    "She doesn''t. She believes that the Adalis kidnapped her son, and right now, she''s headed to that village. If she dies, then we''ll never figure out which village the Adalis was taken."


    "Oh¡­ that''s bad."


    ¡­


    Two men were in the middle of a road riding on top of an organic creature. The area around them was nothing but grass. One of them was semi unconscious on the creature. While the other one is riding on top of the creature going at an insane speed. It was almost unreal.


    "Woohoohoo! This is amazing!" Will stood on top of Adaline as he yelled at the top of his lungs. This was the best ride of his entire life. It was a feeling that made him think that he was the king of the world.


    But Will was starting to get worried. Jack was his guide and is the only one who knows the way. If he remains unconscious the whole time, then he might somehow miss the village and miss his opportunity to become a blacksmith.


    He looked up at the sky and noticed the moon was still up.


    "Huh, what a beautiful moon."


    *Roar*


    Will heard multiple roars, followed by explosions, loud noises and fighting.


    "I''m awake!" Jack woke up in a panic and confused.


    Will could b?r?ly make out several silhouettes from a far distance.


    "Stop."


    Adaline heeded his command and stopped but it did not fling Will or Jack from her back.


    "Hero, what''s going on?" Jack froze up when he noticed that he was sitting on an organic creature.


    "I don''t know, Jack. Adaline, stay here and protect Jack."


    Will jumped off Adaline and hurried to the spot where the fighting took place.


    "Hero, please don''t leave me alone." Jack immediately started to feel cold and afraid.


    "Hiss!" Adaline''s head turned at a perfect 180 degree angle and hissed at Jack.


    As Will got closer to the fighting the more he could make out the silhouettes.


    There were 3 figures. One was a giant 10 foot tall fat humanoid creature. It only had one eye located on the center of its forehead. There was also a large horn sticking out on his head just above his eyeball It also used a tree twice its size as a weapon. It was bald, and smelled terrible. Many people would recognize it as a cyclops from greek mythology.


    Another figure was a small human who was flying around and attacking the cyclops from a distance. This figure used an enchanted metallic staff to shoot some kind of energy beam at the cyclops, dealing significant damage to it. This figure looked feminine, but her entire body was covered in a white cloak, and there was 1 red stripe going across her cloak in her abdomen area.


    The last figure was a tall skinny man, with ragged up hair and messy clothing. He didn''t do anything aside from standing far away while observing the fight between the cyclops and the other girl. He also scratched his head furiously, as if he had a terrible rash.


    Will got closer, but stood far away so as to not attract their attention.


    {Cyclops}


    {HP 200/20000}


    "Are you kidding me? A cyclops has that much health?"


    This surprised Will. He was shocked to see Adaline''s HP which is 2k, but the cyclops has 10x more hp than her. But at least he was close to dying.


    Then he looked at the girl''s status, and it too shocked him.


    {Sorceress}


    {HP 600/1000}


    The cyclops could not reach the girl because she was flying and out of his reach. So it threw whatever it could at her, stone, trees, animals.


    "Wait, I know those two."


    "Jesus, Jack, you scared me." Will did not hear Jack sneaking up behind him. He needed to work on enhancing his sense, but he did not know how to do that.


    Jack did not want to stay with Adaline, because it scared him.


    "Sorry, Hero. But that messy guy is my uncle. And that girl is¡­ well, a friend."


    "Okay." Will continued observing the fight. It''s the first time he has seen an epic fight like this. It makes him feel excited to see such an awesome fight, it is as if he was watching a WoW game but in real life.


    The cyclops as a last attempt to save itself, it shot a red laser that penetrated the ground easily, and even split the clouds above. The girl predicted his attack and dodged it. Then she flew right at him and stabbed his eye with her staff, and then she released her final attack and blew the cyclop''s entire face without damaging it too badly.


    The cyclops first let out a screech, then fell on its back dead.


    As soon as the cyclops was dead, Jack got up and ran towards the girl and his uncle.


    Will followed him.


    "Thanks, Jasmine, for not destroying the cyclops'' entire body."


    "Meh, it was only a baby cyclops so it was easy. But it''s a rather fair trade considering that you gave me this enchanted staff for this cyclop''s body."


    Jasmine took a good look at the powerful staff in her hand. She was very satisfied.


    "This staff is nothing compared to the ones the Great Sage or the Fat Empress wields, but it''ll do for now, that is until I become a master blacksmith."


    "Uncle, Jasmine!"


    Both heard a familiar noise. It was obviously Jack that they heard. They were shocked because they didn''t expect Jack to be here.


    "Jack?" Jack''s uncle was visibly confused.


    Jasmine pulled down her hoody, and it revealed the face of a young girl, with tanned skin, short black hair, and smooth skin.


    "What are you doing back here?" Jasmine asked in an annoyed tone.


    "Sorry." Jack faced the ground as if he was being grounded.


    "Jack, why are you back so soon when it was your birthday yesterday? Not only that but you were just here when you took your apprenticeship blacksmith exam. Did something happen with mom or sis?" Jack''s uncle was worried now, but he still scratched his head.


    "No, I''m here with a friend."


    Jack pointed at Will. But all three of them were stupefied to see Will pointing a gun right at them as he walked closer to them, like a hitman.


    Jasmine quickly aimed her staff at him. She thought that Will was about to shoot them, and she was right.


    *Bang* *Bang*


    Will shot twice, but it missed them entirely.


    "Growl!"


    They heard the cyclops cry in pain and ultimately die. The cyclops wasn''t dead, it pretended to be dead so it could attack them at the right moment.


    But Will saw the Cyclop''s HP bar and realized it didn''t die, only that it was playing dead or gravely injured. So before the cyclops could make a move, Will shot at the cyclops killing it.


    It b?r?ly had enough hp remaining, so it was rather easy for Will to kill it. Not only that but it was a huge target, making it hard to miss.


    "The cyclops was still alive?" Jack and his uncle said at the same time.


    Jasmine merely stood there in place. She was just about to attack Will with her staff, but she realized that she made a grave mistake in turning her back on the cyclops, who she thought was dead.


    Cyclops are one of the strongest and most dangerous creatures in the world, due to their size, strength, and intelligence. Turning your back on one will practically seal your fate.


    Jasmine did not blame herself. She just got used to this staff and thought that it would be enough to take down a cyclops, but it seems that she overestimated the enchanted staff.


    "That was pretty close." Will made it seem like it was nothing. But if it were just him against the cyclops, then he would be dead.


    "This is Her- I mean, this is Will." Jack almost exposed Will.


    "Ah, yes, nice to meet you." Jack''s uncle kept scratching his head.


    "Will, this is my uncle, Sam. And she''s Jasmine, a friend and a sorceress."


    "I''ve never met a sorceress before."


    The word ''sorceress'' means ''female wizard/sorcerer.'' It did surprise Will that there were sorcerers in this world, but after witnessing a lot of things, this seemed pretty normal to him.


    Jasmine didn''t respond. Her eyes showed that she was somehow angry at Will. She turned around to inspect the dead cyclops carefully.


    "Did I do something wrong?" Asked Will.


    "That''s just how she is. She can seem like a mean bully, but she''s caring on the inside. She''s probably angry at herself because she failed to kill that cyclops." Jack said softly.


    "I can hear you."


    "Ah! Sorry!"


    "Jack, why did you say you were here again?" Asked Sam.


    "Oh, Will wants to become a blacksmith, so I am taking him to the blacksmith''s building to take the exam."


    "I see. So this way you are one step closer to becoming an expert as well." Sam noticed Jack''s plan.


    "What does he mean by that?" Asked Will.


    "Right now I am an apprentice blacksmith. To become an expert, one must have at least 1 student pass the apprentice exam. There are other requirements to become an expert, such as enchanting, and making weapons that are higher grade than steel."


    "I get it. So if I become an apprentice, it also helps you to become an expert."


    "Basically, yeah."


    Jack was basically killing two birds with one stone.


    "But it seems you both came at a bad time." Added Jasmine.


    "Why?"


    "Our village is currently empty right now, and all the blacksmith judges have been summoned to the Kingdom of Reyes to help make the heroes gear. Most likely they''ll be gone for a month."


    The summoning of heroes happens once every hundred years. Most of the blacksmiths, potion-makers, and important people come to greet or help the heroes.


    The reason so many blacksmiths were summoned is because they needed to make the best gear for the heroes. Making high grade weapons takes days, or even weeks. As for why they didn''t just make the gear beforehand, is because they needed to take each hero''s measurement.


    Each hero is unique, some are all, slim, fat, short, which is why they need to take measurements. Not only that, but each hero is born with a different type of power, which means that those blacksmiths have to create weapons that benefit the heroes'' own power.


    "She''s right. You two will have to go to the kingdom of Reyes in order to take the exam."


    "Are you serious? Then we need to go to the kingdom of Reyes right now." Jack''s eyes shined. He has been so busy occupied with Will that he forgot about the other heroes.


    "Hold it right there, Jack. The Kingdom of Reyes is 2 days away from here. Even if you were to fly, it would still take you about a day. You both should stay here for the night."


    "Aw¡­ wait, why are you two here? Isn''t the summoning of heroes like a once in a lifetime event?"


    "It is. But if I were to go help the heroes, it''ll take about a month before I can get back to practicing. I can feel that I am close to becoming a master. I cannot waste any minute. Which is why I paid Jasmine to hunt down this cyclops for me so I can craft a magical item."


    Sam''s eyes had nothing but determination. He was serious. But he still scratched his forehead like a madman.


    "Same here. Although I do want to see the heroes, I''ve only recently become a sorceress. I need to practice so I can become a guard for the king, or else I''ll get left behind."


    Her eyes also carried a hint of fire, a fire that will never die down until she completes her goal of becoming a king''s guard.


    "Jasmine, you''re my age. You need to become 21 before you can become a king''s guard. You still have 4 years to become one."


    Jack just turned 17 yesterday. He looked much younger than 17, and so did Jasmine.


    King''s guard is the equivalent of becoming a bodyguard for the president, but it had more benefits. It grants them a title, special privileges, fame, money, and the right to meet with the king and his family.


    Of course not everyone can become a king''s guard, there are requirements to become one. Aside from the age restriction, one also needs to become a sorcerer, be the best out of the other candidates, needs to be trustworthy, have a clean record, and so on.


    "So where is this kingdom?" Asked Will. Although this did hinder his plan to become a blacksmith, it merely changed locations. And with Adaline, he was sure to reach that place in a short amount of time.


    Just like right now, he almost arrived at the village in a few hours, whereas it would have taken somebody else 3-4 days.


    "It doesn''t matter. Just come to my place. It''s almost dark, and creatures are more aggressive at night?''


    "What?" Will looked at the sky, and the sun was right above them.


    "It''s noon. How is it almost dark?"


    "You''ll see in an hour." Sam laughed a bit then pointed at the sky.


    They all looked up, both Jack and Jasmine were shocked. But Will did not see anything. Was he blind or something?


    Jasmine used some sort of spell to levitate the cyclops and brought it with her.


    "???" Will.


    "He''s right, Will. We need to go." Jack pulled on his arm and they started walking to the village.


    "Jack, what''s wrong?" Asked Will.


    "It''s the day of the black sun."


    "Black sun?"


    Will looked up, then he noticed the moon once again. Then he realized something.


    ''Black sun. Does he mean a solar eclipse?''


    *SIREN*


    A siren could be heard from the village nearby. It was identical and as loud as a tornado siren.


    "What??s so bad about a solar eclipse?"


    "It''s the day when the world will be covered in darkness. Monsters that lurk in the shadows will cause chaos and mayhem like never before. it happens once every hundred years."


    "..."


    Will wondered what else happens once every hundred years. Do donuts rain from the sky every week? Does the dead come back to life every decade?


    ...


    July rode on her mule and made it run as fast as it could to the village where Jack supposedly was. She''s very tired right now, but right now she wanted to save her son.


    Although Jack''s grandmother stated that the one commanding it was Jack''s friend, she wasn''t too sure about that. In her eyes, Jack was drugged and taken against his will.


    She thought that Jack was gullible enough to trust him at first. And when he found out his plan, he wanted to report it to someone else, but was kidnapped and will be sold as a slave.


    As for why this man befriended Jack, and what was his plan from the beginning? She didn''t know yet, but it somehow made sense to her.


    "Stop! Wait!"


    She heard a man''s shout coming from behind her. But it was in a foreign language so she didn''t understand.


    There was Arbor and his daughter Grace catching up to her. They were panting heavily due to running just to catch up to her.


    "What?" She asked in an annoyed tone, but she didn''t stop.


    "We can help you find your son." Grace said.


    "I don''t need help. I don''t trust strangers, especially when it comes to my son."


    "We can help you, but please don''t go. It''s the day of the black sun."


    July stopped dead in her tracks. She finally noticed the moon in the sky.


    Grace and Arbor could finally catch their breaths.


    "That organic creature is also ours. After the black sun is over, we''ll help you find your son."


    July is their guide to the village. They both don''t actually know these parts of the world.


    Grace did travel a lot, but she would much rather steal from shops, or help her people escape from illegal slave traders. And she also didn''t like to stay in human places for too long because she was afraid to get caught. Which is why she rarely ever slept in the same place twice.


    July looked up at the road ahead. It would take her 3-4 days to arrive at the village. With the black sun she wasn''t sure if she was gonna make it.


    She wasn''t afraid of losing her own life, she was afraid that Jack would die, and she would be powerless to do anything.


    "Miss, the Adalis is ours, it is very strong and fast enough to run away from any situation. If this human is actually his friend, and has the Adalis by his side, then you can be certain that he will be protected."


    Grace made that part up. She has no idea what the Adalis was capable of.


    But she had to comfort the human in front of her, or she''ll be stupid enough to head to the village in the middle of the black sun. Should she go, then Grace and Arbor would have no choice but to follow.


    July noticed that a shadow was covering the whole area like a blanket.


    She suddenly had a flashback. The flashback revealed a dark place in the middle of the forest, it was raining heavily. On her hands, there was too much blood.


    July shook her head so she did not remember her tragic past.


    "Thanks for the warning. But I have to go."


    She kicked the mule and it started running again.


    "For the love of Lea." Both elves started running after her once more.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will followed the group, he thought that they would be going inside the village, but they were actually running away from the village.


    Sam opened a secret door that led to an underground basement. It was so well hidden from plain sight, someone could be near it and wouldn''t notice it.


    "In here, now." Sam signalled them.


    Jack was the first one to jump inside.


    "Sam, the cyclops is too big. It won''t fit." Jasmine said.


    Sam needed the entire body to make magical weapons. But he could not take it with him.


    So he grabbed a short sword that he kept on his back, and began cutting the cyclop''s horn.


    "Hey! You better get in here quickly." Jasmine said to Will.


    But Will didn''t go inside. Not because he didn''t want to, but because of Adaline. She''s 8 feet tall and wouldn''t fit inside the secret doorway.


    The world around them was getting darker.


    "If you don''t get inside, powerful monsters will come out and kill you." Jasmine said.


    Sam finally got the cyclops horn.


    "I got it. Are you coming or not?!" Sam signalled to Will.


    Will was thinking about it. What should he do? He can''t just leave Adaline to die, even though he met her today ago. But he tamed her, and therefore he felt responsible if she lived or died.


    Will took out his iron ?h?st from his pocket.


    "I''ll be okay. Go."


    "What are you saying? Are you mad?" Jasmine said.


    "Of course I am."


    "Is Will coming?" Jack popped his out of the door on the ground.


    "I''m not coming Jack. I can''t leave Adaline."


    "Adaline?" They all said. Jack wasn''t there when Will named the Adalis. The others have never even seen her.


    "Just go already. I promise I''ll be okay."


    Jack wanted to convince Will that this was a terrible idea. But was pushed down by his uncle.


    "Come on, Jack." Sam pulled him down before he got any weird ideas.


    "But." Jack did not get a chance to say anything before being dragged by his uncle.


    Jasmine merely looked at Will. And left.


    "Adaline!" Will said.


    Then Adaline appeared out of nowhere. It had perfectly camouflaged itself on the ground as she had crouched.


    The world started to get darker. The moon was already covering half of the sun.


    "I need you to help me with something."


    He placed his ?h?st on the ground, and pulled out a steel pickaxe and a steel shovel.

 Chapter 9 - The dead shall walk

    Part of the world was slowly being covered in complete darkness due to a solar eclipse. It looked beautiful. One cannot truly appreciate a solar eclipse unless if they had seen it in person.


    But that wasn''t the case in this world. What many would call this ''an extraordinary event'' the people of this world would call is ''a horrifying moment.''


    Many were unprepared for this. Wandering merchants were in the middle of their travels and were confused, scared, and panicking.


    Those who were in a safe location locked themselves in their homes, or in a secret room underground. It depends.


    There is one man and one organic creature digging a hole as fast as they could. Will and Adaline quickly dug a hole big enough for Adaline to fit.


    It was easy at first, but then it started to prove challenging. Aside from the fact that they had to mine stone, it got darker so therefore it got harder to see.


    *Rumble*


    There were signs on an incoming storm.


    "Almost there Adaline, just a bit more."


    "Hiss."


    Adaline used her beak to dig down. Her progress was faster than Will''s. Will naturally used his steel pickaxe, but even then Adaline had superior speed, strength, and stamina compared to him.


    The hole was 15 meters deep and 10 meters wide. It almost looked like a perfect cut out hole using machines.


    After finishing. Will collected all the stone on the ground, crafted it all into building blocks, and was about to seal themselves inside. It reminded him of when he first played Minecraft, how he hid himself underneath the ground to protect himself from mobs.


    But, he couldn''t help but be dazed by the eclipse. He has never seen one in person. The moon has almost covered the entire sun, only a part of the sun was exposed.


    Then he noticed he got a debuff.


    {Debuff: Eyesight damage I}


    "Eyesight damage? The eclipse can hurt my eyes?" Will was utterly confused. His eyes did ache a little.


    He did not know this fact because of his idiocy, but the fact that he was malinformed. His classmates from school, before quarantine, who were supposedly his ''friends'' were purposefully giving him false and horrible information.


    When they were talking about Terraria''s solar eclipse, someone mentioned how they would like to see a solar eclipse in real life. At one point, they told Will that an eclipse is harmless, and that he should look at it using a telescope.


    Those classmates were basically his first ''friends'' and he trusted him. Thank goodness that he actually never saw an eclipse or bought a telescope, otherwise he would have been blind.


    Of course at one point they stopped talking to Will and treated him like an outsider. After that Will never easily trusted people again, unless if he was sure that they were good friends, like Jack or his ex-girlfriend.


    However, he did have ONE REAL friend, but he died on February 14 2019 during a store robbery.


    Will stopped looking at the solar eclipse, but he heard something, like a buzzing noise. Sounded like thousands of flies going off at once.


    The birds began flying in groups as far away as they could.


    And then the moon finally covered the entire sun. It did look like a black sun. Usually when a solar eclipse happens a little bit of sunlight peers through the sides of the moon, but this wasn''t an ordinary eclipse.


    There was zero light coming from the sun. Only the shining stars illuminated the world.


    "Adaline! Into the hole."


    They both entered the hole. Will started placing stone on top of them to seal off the hole. Naturally he couldn''t reach the top because it was far out of his reach. So he hopped on Adaline''s back and started blocking the entrance to the hole.


    *Rumble*


    He once again heard signs of thunder, but did see any thunderclouds. The bright stars could still be seen in the sky.


    "Hiss!" Adaline started to act scared and shivered like a kid.


    "What''s wrong, girl?"


    Through the hole, Will saw lightning. It wasn''t natural at all.


    It came from the mountains far ahead. It was covered in a thick white fog. It appeared that there were many giant dark figures fighting in the fog.


    Lightning, and bright red fire appeared on the fog, and many giant silhouettes were seen. 1 looked like a dragon, the others appeared humanoid but with 3 horns sticking out their forehead.


    The humanoid figures were buffed and strong. They were also the ones who produced lightning from the palms of their hands and threw it at the dragon.


    But the dragon flew and breathed fire at those humanoid figures.


    Will was not good at math. But they were so tall that they almost looked like mini mountains. Their size was at least 80 meters tall, while the humanoid figures were 70-75 meters tall.


    (In comparison, the colossal titan from ''Attack on Titan'' is 60 meters}


    His legs turned to jelly. HIs eyes widened. His breathing became heavy. Can such titans actually exist? It''s not like the time with the Dragon, because now he knows that this is real life, not a hallucination.


    If he were Kratos he would kill them without hesitating, but last time he checked he wasn''t a God of War, just merely a normal guy who liked video games.


    *ZZZZZ*


    What sounded like a swarm of flies started to swarm the area, appearing like a dark cloud growing in size every second with no end.


    Upon closer look, he saw floating words above them.


    {Bloody locusts}


    {HP 1/1}


    They were by far the weakest creatures he has ever seen. But their numbers were astronomical.


    "ROAR!!!"


    Will heard something else. Above the skies he saw a dragon flying around spitting fire everywhere, or more specifically at the locusts.


    {Dragon}


    {HP 1,000,000}/1,000,000}


    Will could not compare that dragon with the one he saw before, as he didn''t see the other dragon''s HP. But 1 million HP seems way too much.


    The dragon roared and roared like thunder, and then screeched as it was struggling. And ultimately it was silent. The sounds of the swarm of locusts were all that he could hear.


    *shatter*


    Will heard something drop from the ground, then it sounded like bones hitting each other.


    Although he couldn''t see what it was, he was sure that what he heard was the bones of the dragon. The fact that the dragon stopped roaring and spitting fire proved that he was correct.


    Those locusts had somehow managed to eat an entire dragon, eat all of its flesh, leaving only the bones and scales. They managed to do this before the dragon plopped to the ground, which would only take seconds.


    "Hiss!" Adaline shooked Will to get him to wake up from his thoughts.


    After Will had gathered his thoughts, he quickly finished blocking the hole. The swarm of locusts could smell him and were going to eat him, just like how they did it to the dragon.


    After blocking the hole, him and Adaline were safe underneath the ground. Once the locusts couldn''t see him anymore, they gave up and continued eating whatever else they could find.


    "That was scary." Will said.


    Now that they were safe, there was only one problem, it was pitch black. Adaline wasn''t bothered because it was blind. But Will couldn''t see a thing. He could place his hand right in front of his face and he still wouldn''t be able to see it.


    He could hear the faint rumbles, one could feel the ground vibrating as the earth shooked.


    But being in the dark was still better than being outside.


    "Ah!" Will felt a snake around his h?ps, but realized that it was Adaline''s vines coiling around him, as if she were protecting him from harm.


    He could feel her shaking, she was acting like a scared kid. She laid on his ??p like a dog.


    Will placed his hands on her head and calmed her down. He too was afraid. He hasn''t been this afraid ever since he played subnautica.


    "What the hell is this place?"


    This event made him rethink everything. First dragons, cyclops, 80 meter tall giants with horns, murder locusts, sea monsters. What else roamed this world that would make anyone shit their pants?


    "Haha, we are so screwed." Will laughed at himself for his stupidity. He honestly thought that he could protect himself using the steel armor and tools he currently has.


    But this proved him that he was still too far from being able to create kingdoms, underground cities, something that he has always wanted to do in games but has never accomplished. That was basically his dream.


    "Before I can accomplish my dream, I first need to be able to protect myself. Isn''t that right? But making a well protected base will also ensure our protection, right?"


    "Hiss!"


    "You''re right, Adaline. After I become a blacksmith, I''ll build my own kingdom. But first I need to be able to craft better building materials."


    As much as he would love to build a kingdom, he needed more than just wood, stone, and dirt.


    Will kept stroking Adaline''s head. It felt like petting silk.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Back in another village, Radix and Rias were hiding in a hole that was made beforehand by humans. With them there were several humans all shivering and hugging each other.


    There were at least 200-300 people in the large hole. It might seem like a lot but this was the entire village population. It is a small village indeed.


    Radix hates humans, and there was no way that he would be so close to humans. But now he didn''t have a choice but to suck it up.


    Rias is the only one who is happy about such a situation.


    Both disguised elves were the only ones isolated in a corner away from other humans. They wanted this because there is a possibility that a human was infected. It would be much safer to keep their distance.


    Radix also carried a large enchanted bow, which made anyone near them feel threatened.


    They could all hear the buzzing and monster noises going off outside. But the monsters would soon become silent.


    In the corner of the room, was a child and her mother. They were hugging each other and shivering in fear.


    "Mommy, this is like the time when we would hide in our basement, whenever uncle would come home drunk and beat us up."


    "Yes, it is."


    "..."


    "Why are you so happy?" Asked Radix. Rias couldn''t control her smile.


    "Why shouldn''t I be happy? The black sun happens every hundred years. It''s amazing." Rias whispered.


    "What''s so amazing about man-eating locusts? I hate this day. Why did it have to come early?" Radix was displaying a hint of sadness in his eyes, like he was regretting something.


    RIas noticed his mood. She grabbed his hand to comfort him.


    "I''m sorry. I forgot that your family died on the day of the black sun. It''s wrong to be this happy on such a disastrous day."


    Radix for a moment felt sad inside of him. But once he turned to face the humans, his emotions were replaced by anger, and hatred.


    "They were the ones who killed them. Those humans took everything from me."


    "The ones who took everything from you have been dead for over 300 years." Rias said.


    "Not everyone. There is one man who is still alive, because of him my family died¡­ the Great sage."


    Radix wiped out a single tear that formed in his eye.


    Rias looked down and let go of his hand.


    The Great sage is the oldest living hero, the wisest, and the strongest in all the lands. There isn''t anyone who doesn''t know his name.


    "It is said that when the Great Sage and Samuel Brophy managed to defeat the Witch, it was that moment when the Witch cursed the world, that every hundred years humanity will be reminded of how cruel and powerful she is."


    "I''ve killed heroes before. But I don''t think any one of them has ever come close to being as strong as the original 3 heroes."


    "There is that one hero who is over a hundred years old, and yet he still looks like he is in his mid-thirties. I think his name is Shaun Quincy? I believe he''s the next successor to the throne."


    "Yeah, I''ve heard of him. He''s not that great if he lets the Princess be kidnapped right under his nose. What an idiot."


    Heroes are stronger than humans, blessed with strength, speed, regeneration, but they''re not immortal. And the average lifespan of a hero is the same as a human. They''re really not that different from humans.


    All the other previous heroes that have been summoned hundreds of years ago, have all died. Only Shaun Quincy and the Great Sage have lived over 100 years and are still powerful. Some heroes have indeed lived passed the age of 100, but by then they''re just weak, old and fragile.


    There was once a case where a hundred year old hero died from a single goblin. Not because he was attacked by the goblin, but because he had a heart attack from seeing a goblin.


    "Ah yes, the Princess, Harmony. It''s a shame, really. She''s the Princess of the strongest human kingdom, and yet she was still kidnapped by the rebel, Clement. I got to admit he is smart and bold."


    "Stupid humans." Radix laughed to himself. Whenever misfortune falls on humans, he finds p???sur? in it.


    They still kept their eye on everybody. One of them could possibly be infected with the disease. The both of them were smart enough to be near the door, just in case they needed to get out.


    "Everyone, here are your rations."


    Three soldiers dressed in chainmail started handing out food and water to the villagers. The rations contained meat, vegetable soup, crackers, and half a liter of water.


    The two elves did not take the meat, but the rest was fine. Elves could not eat meat, unless they wanted to lose their connection with the forest.


    They secretly inspected their food to see if it was poisoned. After checking, Rias began to eat.


    Radix looked at his food. It was prepared by humans, the species he hates most in the world.


    "I cannot eat this." Radix placed the food by his side.


    "Don''t be stupid. The black sun lasts at most a week. And the rations we brought will only last us 4-5 days."


    They brought more food with them, but Arbor and Grace took the other half in case they didn''t come back.


    "I am not eating something that humans prepared. You can have it for all I care."


    "Your loss." Rias began eating the food quickly.


    Radix continued observing the room.


    It wasn''t just simply an underground room. On the side of the wall was a door, that door led to more rooms. The other rooms contained beds, smooth floors, and a better design.


    The room that they were in had no beds. All they had was thin sheets that could b?r?ly cover a man, and the floors were lumpy and hard.


    The other side was the one who was in charge of the village, the village chief.


    The village chief was a slim, tall, old guy. He has a white mustache, a glass monocle, a fancy cane, and a black suit and dress pants. He was the exact copy of the monopoly guy but in real life.


    "Mr. Chief. We are done. The villagers are now fed." A soldier said.


    Ironically, the Chief''s name was also ''Chief'' it is what inspired him to become a chief of a small village. He recently created this village years ago, which explains the lack of population and poor village design.


    "Good work. Hm. Make sure to keep guard for the rest of the night. Mhm." He started to clear his throat violently.


    The Chief sweat a lot, almost as if he had taken a shower and didn''t dry himself. He was also red, and started to scratch his right hand and arm.


    "You okay, Chief?" Asked the guard.


    "I''m fine. I''ll just¡­ you know. Go." He waved his hand at the guard, it was covered in bandages.


    The guard heeded his request and continued to keep guard in case any monsters were to try and break in.


    "Cough! COUGH!"


    Chief began coughing violently. His mouth felt extremely dry and closed. His vision became blurry. On his hand that he used to cover his cough, was covered in black blood.


    He practically ran to his bathroom to grab some pills. He drank it down with some wine that he had on his sink.


    "Gah! Nonono, this can''t be."


    He refused to believe that he''s sick. Chief took the bandages off his arm. He dropped the bottle of wine once he saw the state of his arm.


    One could see his veins were bulging and in a purple and red color. His skin started to turn brown. The last time he saw the state of his arm it wasn''t that bad. He honestly thought that all he needed was some medicine, a good night''s sleep and he would be okay.


    But he was wrong. Maybe part of him didn''t want to believe that he was infected by a zombie.


    He ripped his expensive shirt, and he saw that the infection had spread to his shoulders, almost to his neck.


    There were no noticeable bite marks on his arm. In this world, the only way to be infected by a zombie, is if it bites, scratches you, or if some zombie blood were to enter your mouth, eyes, ears, and whatnot.


    3 days ago at night, he was very drunk. As the chief of the village, he was richer than most of the other villagers, but he spent most of it on drinks for himself or his buddies.


    He had this weird habit of pissing on the trees after drinking 5 bottles of wine. Drinking can lead people to make the worst decisions of their lives.


    Chief remembered that he had trouble keeping his balance. A bottle of fine wine was in his hands, b?r?ly full.


    Then he tripped on something. It felt soft and smelled like rotten eggs.


    He remembered seeing a man on the ground, with a 2 inch hole in his head. His face was rotten. This was the zombie that Will had killed that night.


    Anyone who saw this would immediately run. But not the Chief. He was too drunk to tell that this was a zombie.


    "Hay budddddyy, are ya''v sleeping on te graund?" He kicked the zombie repeatedly, but there was no reaction. His words were slurring that could b?r?ly make sense.


    After confirming that he was ''asleep'' he had an idea once he saw the bottle in his hand. He jammed the entire bottle on his mouth with great force. It even chipped off some of it''s teeth.


    "Wak up. Wak up." Chief kept jamming the bottle into the zombie''s mouth.


    The tip of the bottle was now infected with the zombie''s blood, teeth, and saliva. Part of the bottle was cracked.


    But the zombie did not wake up at all.


    "Ha! Gotcha! Ow!"


    The chief saw that a broken glass of the bottle scratched the tip of his finger, causing it to bleed. It was the same spot that he used to jam the bottle into the zombie''s mouth.


    "ThIs SuIt CoSt MuAh EiGhTeEn DoLlArS." He kicked the zombie out of anger, and went back into the village. He also threw the bottle as far as he could until it was smashed to pieces.


    The next day the Chief woke up on his bed. His finger on the other hand changed colors. It was purple and red. After confirming that it was infected with some disease, he went to the doctor to get some drugs, and bandages. Any memories from last night were fuzzy at first.


    But as time went on, his disease began to get worse. His entire hand was infected, then his arm, and it did not stop there.


    Now he realized what happened to him. He was turning into a zombie, a dark, undead creature that should not exist. This was confirmed after a doctor did some tests on him. After the doctor realized this, he intended to call the sorcerers and the kingdom, but he was shot in the back of the head by the mayor and staged it to look like an accident.


    When he remembered what happened that night, he searched for the zombie corpse, but it was gone.


    Knowing what would happen to him if he were to reveal this, he hid it very well, making people think he broke his arm which explained why he covered it up in bandages.


    Chief honestly thought that with enough medicine, and if he were to pray for his god, maybe it could make the disease go away. But praying and simple medicine are not going to cure a zombie disease.


    By the third day, which is right now, he started to crave for the flesh of human meat. Any other food that he used to like now tasted stale, gross, inedible.


    Resisting such temptations did not work. It was simply too much.


    "I don''t want to die. I don''t want to die." Chief kept mumbling to himself, tears forming in his eyes.


    "Please, god, I want to live."


    He felt weak, his vision began turning black. The disease spread to his neck, and finally his brain. Chief dropped on the ground and also all the medicine with him, and the bottle of wine. The guards heard the commotion and ran towards the bathroom.


    "Chief, did something happen?" Two of the guards waited for an answer, but all they heard was mumbling noises, and broken glass being kicked around.


    "Stand back, Chief."


    One of the soldiers kicked the bathroom door. They saw the Chief suffering seizures as white foam formed in his mouth.


    The youngest soldier aided the Chief by picking up his head and doing whatever he could think of.


    "Chief! Call the doctor!"


    "But, the doctor died in an accident yesterday."


    "Then find someone else. Hurry!"


    The other soldier left to inform the other villagers if they''re doctors, or potion-makers. Potion-makers can also cure some illnesses.


    The Chief''s eyes turned white completely, and he stopped convulsing violently.


    "Chief, are you okay?"


    "GAH!"


    The zombie bit the soldier right on his neck and tore most of it off, the neck is one of the few parts of the soldier''s body which the armor didn''t protect him.


    The soldier yelled for help, but his vocal chords were torn off. He died shortly after.


    "Chief, I brought you some- WHAT THE FUCK!" The other soldier brought him some medicine and towels, but was shocked to see what had happened.


    "NUM!"


    The Chief pounced on the other soldier like a hungry lion.. Meanwhile the other soldier began convulsing violently.

 Chapter 10 - NOOO

GUYS! KISSANIME! KISSMANGA! THEY''RE GONE! MY BOOKMARKS! ALL MY PROGRESS GONE!!!


    JUST WHEN I THOUGHT THAT 2020 COULD''NT GET ANY WORSE AND THIS HAPPENS!!! WHY?!?!?!


    Who here knows a good website(s) that is just as good as these two?

 Chapter 11 - Hiding

    I would like to say thanks to the people who mentioned great manga and anime websites. You are the best.


    *******************


    There were 3 people underneath a safe location. They had beds, clothing, food, water, weapons, everything that one will need to survive an apocalypse.


    "I''ve got to go save him! He''s still out there!"


    Jack tried to pry the iron doors open, but he was getting pinned down by Jasmine and Sam.


    Jack thought that Will was still out there, which is why he wanted to go out there and save him.


    "Don''t be stupid. He''s already gone."


    Both of them tried pinning down Jack, but for some strange reason he was very strong, not even two people were enough to take him down. But Jack was not strong enough to open the iron door, which was locked unless they used a key. What they didn''t know is that Jack is wearing an enchanted shirt underneath his clothing that gives him strength.


    "WILL! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"


    "Shut up! Those bloody locusts are still out there. If they hear you they eat their way through that door."


    But Jack kept yelling and yelling. The doors are 4 inches thick, surrounded by brick, which made it impossible for anyone from the outside to hear him. But it was still safer to just be quiet and not risk anything.


    2 other beings were not that far away, in the dark, comforting each other. It was obviously Will and Adaline.


    As Jack kept yelling and screaming, Will heard him. He unknowingly dug a hole merely centimeters away from the secret bunker where Jack and the others were.


    "Jack?"


    Will got up and put his hands on the dirt wall. It was still so dark that he couldn''t see anything, even after getting accustomed to the darkness.


    Jack nor the others could hear Will.


    "Adaline, do you know where my pickaxe is?" He remembered that he threw his pickaxe with him on the hole, but couldn''t see it.


    Adaline fetched the steel pickaxe with her beak and gently handed it to Will. She was blind so the darkness didn''t affect her.


    "Good girl. Now stand back."


    Will began swinging his pickaxe at the wall, the small bits of dirt were hitting his face. It was something he got used to, but it still wouldn''t hurt him to craft some goggles to protect his eyes, but he doesn''t know where to buy them or craft them yet.


    Jack stopped yelling when they heard something hitting the wall. They think that it''s a monster trying to break in through the wall, even though it didn''t make sense since they were underground. And not only that, the walls were made out of steel, which meant that it would take a powerful monster to take it down.


    "Jasmine." Sam drew out his sword.


    Jasmine pointed her staff directly at the wall.


    Seconds later, they saw the tip of a pointy metal poking through the wall. Then it began making a bigger hole with each swing.


    "Will?" Jack knew who it was.


    Will made a hole big enough for him to fit in. He realized he breached through the wall as soon as light pierced the side of the wall.


    Jasmine and Sam put away their weapons once they realized who it was.


    "Hello." Will waved his hand at them. The light in the room was dim, but it was bright to Will. He would need to get used to it.


    "I thought you were dead." Jack hugged Will tightly.


    "..." Will.


    "You could have just gone through the door when you had the chance. Now thanks to you, there is a hole in my wall." Sam began to complain, he spent a lot of gold building and designing this underground base.


    "But, Adaline would have been dead if I didn''t do this."


    "Who''s Adaline?" Asked Jasmine.


    Behind Will appeared a monster. The others noticed and drew out their weapons.


    "Woah, stop, she''s mine." Will used his body to protect Adaline.


    "Oh, so this is what you meant." Jack now knew her name.


    "You tamed an organic monster?" Sam asked.


    "Well, basically, yeah."


    "Huh. Okay. I''m going to sleep now." Sam put away his sword and proceeded to mind his own business now. All they needed to do now was wait for the eclipse to be over.


    After that, they just accepted this and acted like it was normal. In this world, what exactly is normal? They all soon got comfortable. But those who had family or friends outside began to get worried. Who knows if they were dead already.


    At least now Will has enough food to last the entire week, and also enough space to move around. He also now had a new bed, clothes, water, and so on. He did not bring his old bed because if he were to die, he would at least spawn on his old bed, and he would know exactly where he was.


    But if he didn''t set a spawn point, then he will be teleported somewhere random in the world.


    Jasmine and Jack thought how weird it was that Will could break through a steel wall using normal steel tools. It just didn''t make sense.


    Will did not put that much thought into it, because he knew that this was possible only because he had a steel pickaxe. Had he used a weaker pickaxe, like wood or stone or even copper, then he would have never broken through that steel wall. It''s like his body follows its own laws.


    Of course, Jack thought that it was only because Will has strength because he''s a hero.


    Meanwhile¡­


    A soldier ran towards the villagers that were huddled together.


    "Is anyone here a doctor?"


    No one answered,


    "The Chief is in grave danger. Something''s wrong with him. Help us. Our jobs are at stake."


    One of the villagers stood up, it was Rias. "Hold on, what''s wrong with this man?"


    "White foam came out of his mouth. His hand was all black and purple. And his body is jolting uncontrollably as if he''s in seizure."


    Rias and Radix looked at each other. Fear crept into their hearts. They knew what was wrong with him. This was literally the worst timing and place. They were in a very closed space, with very little movement, and with a lot of people in the room.


    Even if they wanted to escape, they can''t, unless they wanted to be eaten by millions of bloody locusts.


    At this point it was a matter of choosing either zombies, or blood-murdering-sucking locusts.


    "RUN AWAY! ZOMBIES! AHH!"


    One of the soldiers managed to run away before a zombie could catch him. He quickly ran to the door with the intention to open it. Once he opens it, bloody locusts will flood the room and kill them all.


    "NO! STOP!" The villagers tried to stop him, but they couldn''t.


    A long arrow pierced the side of his head and exited the other side. The soldier went limp and died on the spot.


    "Anyone else here want to escape?"


    Radix pulled the enchanted string on his bow and threatened to kill anybody who comes near the door. He also carried enchanted arrows, making him a powerful being.


    Radix had no choice but to kill the soldier, otherwise they would have all been dead. He could have just pinned the soldier down, but he wasn''t going to miss a chance to kill his first human in a long time.


    Radix stood in front of the door guarding it.


    "Rias, stand behind me."


    Rias hid behind Radix, she''s not that strong to begin with.


    "Rah!"


    Zombies started filling the area, and everybody else tried to escape through the door.


    "Ah, dammit." Radix could not get a clear shot because the humans were getting in the way.


    "I think you should use your magic, Radix."


    Radix closed his eyes and cupped his hands together, he was very calm.


    "Oh Lea, please lend me your power."


    Then he placed his hands on the ground. And seconds later, giant vines popped from the ground and started binding down all the zombies and humans alike. The entire room was now covered in green vines.


    Each vine had little, tiny spikes on them, and they had a type of sleep poison. One tiny spike could knock out an elephant in a manner of seconds.


    The entire room was now silent. Only the zombies kept trying to bite people. The sleep poison did not affect them in the slightest because they were dead.


    "To think I would need to use my magic on humans and zombies."


    He closed his fist and attempted to crush the zombies head using his vines. But Rias stopped him as soon as she saw him.


    "Stop! We need to keep these zombies alive¡­ or dead. Whatever it''s called. Just don''t destroy their heads, I need to experiment on them."


    Rias looked at her for a moment. He sighed and sat down grumpily.


    "Hurry it up, then. Find this cure so I can crush their heads."


    Rias placed her finger on her wooden bracelet, and so much stuff appeared out of nowhere.


    The wooden bracelet may look ordinary, but there was a small, shiny stone on top of the bracelet . It was a magical stone. This stone had the same qualities as a space inventory.


    This is why magical items are trickier, and more complicated to craft compared to enchanted items. Magical items look like ordinary items, but they''re not. No one can really tell at a glance.


    "I''ve been waiting for this moment for too long. And now it is finally here. We will be here for an entire week." She looked crazy at this moment. The opportunity to find a cure is practically on her hands.


    Radix sat down angrily, like a little kid. He couldn''t kill those humans, but at least he killed a zombie and one human today.


    But as soon as Rias finds a cure for them, they can destroy the zombies before it spreads like a plague once more.


    This made him realize something. How did the zombies get here in the first place? The last one was sighted 250 years ago. It did not make sense that it suddenly appeared out of nowhere.


    ''Either this is all just a weird coincidence, or someone else has somehow recreated those damn things. I really hope it''s not the latter.''


    Radix kept a busy eye on the zombies, keeping them all restrained. As soon as Rias finds that cure, then they won''t have to worry about another plague spreading ever again... for now.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Nothing much was going on with July, Arbor, and Grace. They all camped inside a cave before the bloody locusts could see them. It was a small cave, it could only fit 20 people in it.


    It took some work to get July on the cave. If it were up to her, she would still be headed to save her son, but she would be dead by now.


    "Jack..." July looked out the entrance, praying that her son was alright.


    Grace and Arbor kept their distance from July, because she was a human, and both of these elves aren''t exactly on friendly terms with them.


    "Lady, I am sure that your son is fine." Grace said.


    They kept torches near the entrance. The bloody locusts for some reason die as soon as sunlight touches them, like vampires. And since they were stupid they thought that lit torches is the sun, which is why July and the elves haven''t been eaten yet.


    But that also carried risks. As a different kind of monster could see the light and kill them all.


    "Maybe we should talk about something else. Like how was your day?" Grace added.


    "I don''t want to talk, Elves, I just want my son."


    Grace tensed up. Did she see through their disguise?


    "What''s wrong?" Asked Arbor. He couldn''t understand.


    "She knows."


    "I heard you guys mentioned Lea. And also I noticed that you two were speaking in elven tongue. You two are not really good at hiding your identities."


    Grace gripped her bow tightly. But Arbor touched her shoulder to comfort her.


    "Don''t worry. If she does anything suspicious, I''ll kill her." Arbor comforted her. He could kill July before she has the chance to do anything.


    Humans and elves have always hated each other, ever since the first three heroes were summoned. It has been 300 years, and this grudge between them hasn''t changed.


    "I just want to let you know that I have nothing against elves."


    "That''s what you all say. But you humans are all liars. It''s hard to believe in any of you."


    "Not all humans are the same. We are all not evil or vile as you elves say."


    "This coming from the blacksmith. Your profession involves using creatures so you can make yourselves stronger. Including using my own people for your selfish needs. And your profession also involves creating weapons that are used to kill."


    "I will not deny that. But what about you elves? You also kill humans, take our stuff. Like those arrows you are carrying right now. Don''t you think I wouldn''t have noticed that those are from my store? If I were to guess, you didn''t exactly pay for them."


    "I¡­"


    "That''s enough." Arbor said. He couldn''t understand them, but he thought that they might fight if it were to keep going.


    "Grace, why are you angry? Before you left the village, you have never shown any signs of hostility towards humans. What changed?"


    Before Grace left for her adventures, she went to accomplish one goal, living with the humans. Something about them fascinated her. Their inventions, clothes, food, history, culture, etc. She read about them in a book that she took from her elvish school.


    Elves have always remained the same, only living in the forests, using arrows and magic, eating fruits and vegetables. They literally haven''t changed in the last 300 years. She was getting bored of this.


    But, then she realized how humans really are. On the outside, they''re fun, beautiful, good. But on the inside, they''re the complete opposite.


    Greedy, ?ust, power-hungry, idiots, murderers, rapists, torturers, liars. Her reality was shattered, and replaced with an ugly one.


    At least in her mind, elves were better. They might be boring and they might be the same after hundreds of years, but at least they''re not like humans.


    Grace did a good job hiding her hatred towards humans. Even Arbor was fooled. She only acted friendly towards July because they needed to get back the Adalis, and she''s the only one who knows the way.


    Grace over the years has grown to hate humans, which isn''t surprising since the majority of the elves feel the same way, but not to the point of wanting to kill them like Radix.


    There was a long awkward silence between the three of them. None of them spoke for the whole night.


    Meanwhile...


    "How did you do it?" Asked Jasmine.


    "Pardon?"


    "How did you manage to tame a monster?"


    Right now they were in a living room. Will used Adaline as a pillow, she was very soft to begin with. He also kept feeding her goblin parts.


    "Well I happen to have some food, and she was hungry. After that she recognized me as her master, I think." Will petted Adaline''s head again, something about it just felt right. Adaline loved being petted and would cuddle with Will. Somehow their bonds grew closer in the last few hours.


    "All it requires is food to tame a monster? Is that it?"


    "Well it was like that for me. But I don''t know how to tame other monsters. I guess I was just lucky."


    "Hmm¡­" Jasmine left the room.


    "What''s her deal?"


    "Oh, Jasmine is just mad because she''s been trying to tame a monster for the past year."


    "Why?"


    "It is one of the requirements of becoming a King''s guard. A sorcerer or sorceress, needs to be able to kill 1 dragon or two-horned cyclops, and tame 1 monster as well, but the higher layer the monster is on the pyramid scale, the more chances she''ll have to become a king''s guard."


    "The pyramid who?"


    "Oh right, I didn''t mention it. So imagine this." Jack prepared for another speech.


    "Oh great, more info dumb." Will jokingly complained but still listened.


    "There are 5 layers in this world that are used to define a monster''s ranking and strength, it resembles that of a pyramid. The monsters at the lowest level are the weakest and most common. But as the monster ranking layers go higher, the more fearsome and powerful a creature is."


    "The lowest layers belong to species such as goblins, imps, deer, crocodiles, horses, mules, and such. I won''t be mentioning all the creatures in each layer, just a few examples."


    "The fourth layer lowest belongs to ogres, giant eagles, giant serpents, organic creatures."


    "Third layer belongs to elves, one-horned cyclops, hobgoblins."


    "The second layer belongs to two-horned cyclops, and 50 foot tall Dragons, and 20 meter tall giants."


    "And at the top, which we call the Apex layer, are Dragons that are taller than 100m, and three-horned cyclops, and sea serpents. Oh and mutants as well."


    "Aw." Will felt sad.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "I just thought that it would have a different ranking that''s all."


    What Will meant is that back in his home world some video games and even manga use the classic E-SSS class ranking. He just thought that this world would have one as well.


    Not only that, but this layer reminded him of something that he read in a science textbook, something about animals and stuff.


    "Wait, what''s with the ''mutants'' part?"


    "Mutants are monsters who are stronger than others on the same layer. Their appearances are different, some are made out of pure gold, some are powerful, some are fast, shiny, have an extra head or limb. It depends. But they''re really rare to encounter."


    "And these horned cyclops, can one of them produce lightning by any chance?"


    If he was correct, then those 3-horned giants that he saw at the top of the mountain are cyclops.


    "Yeah, I''m surprised you know that. 1-horned cyclops are usually weak, but still fearsome. They can shoot lasers out of their eyes, which makes them dangerous. Their favorite foods are humans."


    "Two-horned cyclops are taller than 50m, they''re smarter than most creatures and can communicate with other creatures and even command them at times. Their height and weight alone can cause small tremors. They also breath poison out of their mouths, which can melt your skin and insides. But the good thing is that they don''t eat humans, due to the difference in size. But they still kill humans for fun."


    Will shivered. He didn''t remember that when he read about them in a greek mythology book.


    "And finally, the strongest creature, after the dragon, is the three-horned cyclops. They can reach heights taller than 80 meters. They can conjure lightning from their hands. Their size and strength can rival a dragon. They can still breath gas and shoot lasers, but they prefer to shoot lightning. Their natural enemy are dragons. You do not want to mess with them, because you''ll die."


    "80 meters¡­ what a world to live in." Will was not excited in the least. If he were to encounter something like that, how can he possibly deal with it?


    Adaline noticed Will''s mood changed, so she rubbed her head on his ?h?st to comfort him.


    "Hey, Hero, can I ask a question?" Asked Jack.


    "Sure."


    "How will you feel when you''re reunited with your hero friends?"


    "My hero friends?"


    "Yeah, I mean, there are 100 heroes that were summoned from your world, including you, which means that you must at least know some of them."


    "I never had friends. I did have a best friend but he died during a store robbery. Wrong place wrong time I guess. And I also had a girlfriend, but she''s probably back in her home mourning my death."


    Will was not stupid, he had made the obvious connection between the missing kids and this world. It wouldn''t surprise him if he met some of his classmates in this world.


    But why should he bother checking if that''s true? He had other important things to worry about. And besides, he never really knew any of them.


    Any thoughts about his ex-girlfriend crossing into this world has also crossed his mind, but the chances of that happening are almost zero.


    Even if that did happen, he believed that she did not want to see him. After all, he broke her heart.


    "Did she break up with you?"


    "No, I broke up with her."


    "Why?"


    "Because I loved her. That''s why."


    "???" Jack did not understand what he meant by that.


    "Then what about your other friend, what was he like?"


    "I don''t think It''s a smart idea to talk about my dead friend. It might bring up some terrible and sad memories."


    "Sorry."


    "But if you must know, he liked anime a lot, he ran away from home after living in an abusive house. He killed his father, and never saw his mother again. He was a nice guy. He lived with me for a couple of years. But those years were short lived.


    "What was his name?"


    "His name was Alexander Anderson."

 Chapter 12 - Progress

    Every human on this planet was in their own houses too afraid to go outside, just like in 2020 on Earth, but it was much worse for the people of this world. They had to hide for over a week from flesh eating bugs, gigantic monsters, and so on.


    Usually they would prepare for this moment when the ''black sun'' comes up, but it came WAY too early, and so most of them were caught off guard.


    Most people who were travelling met their unfortunate ends, the same went for monsters. Some of them managed to find a cave or an abandoned cottage, but how could they survive in a cave over a week without food, water, or weapons?


    For the next two days, Will just chilled with his friend Jack and Adaline inside a bunker. Will was pretty much used to being inside a room for long periods of time so it didn''t bother him much.


    Will also fixed the steel wall that he broke down. It came as a surprise to Sam because how was that even possible? It would have taken machines, groups of men, time, and money to repair the damages. But Will did it in a single night, alone, and easily.


    Both Jasmine and Sam noticed that Will had strange abilities, but could not find out exactly what it was, as he nor Jack ever said anything about it. After living with him they got accustomed to his powers, but never questioned him. They at least respected Will''s privacy.


    Will on the other hand found it kinda difficult to keep a conversation going with Sam or Jasmine. Sam keeps talking about his blacksmithing abilities. He''s not being ???ky, well maybe a little bit, but he mostly talks about being able to craft a single weapon that is magical and enchanted. Something which is the dream of every blacksmith. Only 2 of them have ever been produced.


    Jasmine was the opposite. She b?r?ly ever talked to Will. She would talk to Jack or Sam normally. Will never understood why, but he attributed it to jealousy. Or it might be something else.


    This went one for an entire day.


    On the other hand, two elves were busy experimenting with zombie blood, trying to find a cure, as humans were deep asleep due to a sleeping poison.


    Rias didn''t sleep at all. Her focus was only on finding the zombie cure. She was very careful not to be infected by the disease.


    Radix did sleep the whole night. He made sure that those zombies nor humans would ever escape from his binds.


    "Rias, why didn''t you experiment with that zombie that Grace brought to the village?" Asked Radix. He was bored and wanted to find something to keep him occupied.


    "Because the body that Grace brought was dead."


    "Well duh. According to my knowledge, all zombies are dead."


    "No, I meant that the zombie has his brain destroyed. If I need to find a cure, I need to use a moving zombie in order to see if it could cure it. If it works, it''ll return that zombie back to its original state."


    "I think I get it now."


    Radix continued observing the room. They''ll be here for a long time, either until the black sun disappears or when they find a cure.


    "I think I got it." Rias said. She held a syringe with a green liquid in it.


    "That was fast."


    "Not yet. I need to be sure it works."


    She injected one of the infected zombies. She took many steps back to see what kind of effects it had on the zombie.


    They both waited in anticipation. 10 minutes later nothing happened.


    "Damn, it didn''t-"


    *BOOM*


    The zombie blew up, as if it has an explosive inside of it. It''s innards spilled across the room. Leaving nothing but its rotting flesh on the floor, walls, and roof, even some other zombies sprayed with its flesh.


    Some humans who were near, were unfortunately infected because blood entered through their noses, or mouth. Only 3 men were infected, the rest were fine.


    There was no way that he was going to take care of those humans, who will most probably die if they''re just asleep for over a week.


    In Radix''s mind, it was necessary if they just stay asleep. Just like back then, that one soldier was so freaked out, that he was going to open the door and let millions and millions of bloody locusts consume them all.


    Should Radix ever release the humans from their binds, there''s no telling how they''ll react. Probably in a panic of some sort.


    Still that did not mean that he was going to take care of them. They can die for all he cares.


    "Okay¡­ that was unexpected." Rias used her clothes to cover her face, and so did Radix. As long as a zombie''s DNA doesn''t enter their system, they won''t get the disease.


    "What the hell did you add in that so-called ''cure'' ? Can I have it?"


    "Why?"


    "Uhmmm." Radix looked at the humans. "No reason."


    "No. This failure won''t do anything for humans¡­ I think. I''m not too sure."


    "There''s only one way to find out."


    "Hey! You swore to your god, and your ancestors. You cannot kill humans."


    "I can''t, but you can."


    Rias ignored him and proceeded to continue finding a cure.


    The situation with Grace, Arbor, and July was still bad. They didn''t speak to each other. It was just complete silence.


    Will looked into his book and checked the bestiary. There were new things added.


    {One-horned cyclops}


    {Bloody locusts}


    The description of the cyclops was pretty much the same as how Jack described it last night.


    But, the bloody locusts were a completely different thing. It even shocked him.


    {Bloody locusts}


    {It is said that a powerful god banished them to another plane of existence, because these things were not only terrifying, but they are a species that can never go extinct, no matter how hard someone tries, even though they can easily die like a mosquito}


    {The god that banished them also laid a powerful curse on their species, should the sunlight ever hit them, they will be reduced to ash}


    {Not only do they love devouring everything, even their own kind, but they produce at an abnormal rate. It is believe that a million of them can reproduce in a manner of minutes}


    {Bloody locusts also have an average lifespan of one day}


    At least Will knew that these locusts have a major weakness, the sun. But with the eclipse happening, the locusts weren''t going anywhere anytime soon.


    "I guess dark souls was right, we should ''praise the sun.''"


    He closed the book and went into deep thinking. He had to plan out the things he needed to accomplish after the eclipse was over.


    Step 1: get more blacksmith recipes, and also possibly profit. Becoming stronger in the process.


    Step 2; build a temporary base where he can store his stuff safely.


    Step 4: research further on what the crafting system is capable of.


    So far the crafting system has been able to craft weapons, tools, and building blocks. He just doesn''t believe that it can''t be all there is to it.


    Will believed he could create much more than this, like some iron man suit, a moving castle, potions.


    But that will have to wait for now.


    "I wonder what system those other ''heroes'' have."


    Will also believed that the heroes who were summoned also had systems. If he had a system it would only make sense that they would have one too, right?


    He was curious, but at the same time he didn''t want to see them. It was a complicated choice for him to make.


    But that also makes him question something else, why were they summoned?


    According to his knowledge, there was absolutely NO reason why they should have been summoned. There was no evil, demon king to destroy. The human race is doing fine by themselves. So why were they summoned?


    Jack told Will it''s because the King of Reyes from 300 years ago, believes that one day there will be a day that humanity will be in trouble. Until then, they will just have to keep summoning heroes. This has been going on for hundreds of years now. And many future kings have said the same.


    If Will had to say something to those kings, he would call them ''LIARS'' because NOTHING bad has EVER happened in the last 300 years, since the Witch was murdered by the other two heroes and almost caused the end of the world..


    And if there is a problem, like a monster invasion, the guards deal with it. If there is a powerful murderer on the loose, the sorcerers/sorceress deal with them. If there''s the possibility of another fallen hero plotting to destroy the humans once again, the great sage deals with it.


    It seems that the most a hero has ever done is kill dragons, 3-horned cyclops, or sea monsters. That is what most of them do. Some die early due to being over confident. Others have useless abilities, like jumping really high, but that hero once jumped so high, that once he landed on the ground he died. Will thought that it was a joke, but Jack, Sam, and Jasmine told Will that this actually happened.


    It was rated ''the dumbest death in history'' imagine dying from jumping too high?


    But not all heroes were failures. There have been many who wanted to do good in the world. Well¡­ for some of them it didn''t go exactly the way they wanted it.


    Some hero grew all kinds of food to end world hunger, he managed to grow foods that did not originally exist in this world. Unfortunately, his food didn''t last because the monsters kept eating his crops, or the weather kept wiped it all out. They didn''t have the technology or methods to safely preserve his crops. He really tried to help the world end world hunger, but the world was too cruel to him. He died trying to protect his crops, but failed miserably.


    At least after his death, the foods that he produced were somehow kept safe, and now the world has beans, coconuts, apples, oranges, and such.


    Another hero had the ability to heal injuries, but not diseases or anything else, she was the only healer to have ever existed. But her powers were overshadowed once potion-makers were introduced. It was faster to use, cheaper, and they could use it any time anywhere they wanted.


    This hero was a little too greedy, and demanded them to pay her a huge amount in order to heal their injuries. Even a small cut would cost a single gold coin for her to heal it, where most people would only need to use a band-aid, but back then they didn''t have many methods to heal themselves. And besides, her healing powers were very effective.


    If some commoner had lost a limb, or even a finger, and they wanted her to heal it, they would have to pay off their debt for the rest of their lives.


    Funny enough, this is what actually created the potion-makers in the first place.


    One man was too poor to afford the heroes medical bills, so he ventured out to the forest, tested out some plants and herbs on himself, and succeeded in making the very first healing potions.


    He passed his knowledge onto the rest of the world. And it has saved so many lives. A normal man managed to become more of a hero than an actual hero. And best of all, all the money he made he gave to the poor, as a final, hard slap to the hero''s face.


    The healer went bankrupt after the potion business was made. She died after she failed in robbing a bank when they shot her down. It was only after they realized that the robber was a hero.


    Will had fun learning these fun facts about heroes.


    There have been other heroes that succeeded. One hero had the idea to make guns. He had the idea, but had no clue on how to make it. Would an ordinary man know how to make something like a gun? Most likely no. It''s like today, people know what an iron man suit is, but would they know how to invent it? This hero had the same problem, especially in a world where even gunpowder wasn''t a thing yet.


    Many years later, a genius man took this hero''s idea, and managed to produce the first guns the world had ever seen. It was so much easier killing monsters after that.


    Even though it was the heroes idea, all the credit went to the man.


    Another hero who was deemed as ''useless'' changed the world, but he''s not well known today. His power was being able to memorize everything in his life, every scent, sound, scenery, number, face, everything. He took all his knowledge from his previous life, and taught the world martial arts. Now today an ordinary man can mostly protect himself from another dangerous man. But this hero was long forgotten, as if he just faded in history.


    What Will realized is that these heroes made an actual difference in the world, would be painted as ''useless'' ''boring'' ''unskilled'' and such.


    But the heroes that everyone remembers, have done nothing but slay giant monsters, and murderers. all because the people were more fascinated with the idea of killing giant monsters, and having so much power. The worst part, is that these monsters would be minding their own business, only to have some hero cut off their heads for no reason other than fame.


    What Will believes is that the king summons these heroes so they could bring their knowledge, and power, and make their kingdom grow stronger and better. In the end, it was all for their personal gain, and nothing else.


    Many people realized this, but nobody would even bother listening or they would simply forget about it. Nobody cared.


    This made Will realize that he made the right call in not telling everyone that he''s a hero. Should they realize what his power is, they''ll use him to build castles, strongholds, giant cities, powerful weapons, and in the end, Will will only be deemed a ''useless, boring hero who has never contributed to society.''


    The less people know about his system, the better.


    Days passed in the blink of an eye.


    The day of the black sun had finally ended.


    "Alright, the sun is up. Those bloody locusts are gone for good. At least for another hundred years." Sam said, still scratching his head.


    "How are you so sure about that?" Asked Will.


    Sam pointed to a pair of lenses behind him. The lenses connected to the outside, which showed him the outside world without having to risk going outside.


    "How come I never noticed that?" Will touched it, and now it was in his crafting book.


    Sam was the first to exit. He stretched his arms out and let the sun touch his face.


    "Ah man, that was boring as hell."


    "..." Will wished he could tell him that his world was doing much worse. They had to stay inside for a measly week.


    Jasmine and Jack felt like they haven''t been outside in so long. They enjoyed the scenery.


    Will looked around, and noticed the skeletal remains of two giant monsters.


    One was the skeleton of the cyclops he killed. The locusts must have eaten its corpse.


    Not far away there was a dragon''s skeletal remains, at least 30 meters in length.


    "This is a dragon on the third layer. He never stood a chance against those locusts." Sam examined the remains of the dragon.


    Will was curious about something. So he touched the bones of the cyclops.


    And sure enough, a new crafting recipe was added to his book.


    {1-horned Cyclops-bones}


    {The bones of monsters can be used to craft tough armor, depending on the bones of the monster. Each monster''s skeleton has a different set of skills once the user is wearing an entire bone armor set}


    {Cyclops set bonus: laser eyes}


    {Requires anvil}


    This surprised Will. Wearing bone armor was possible? And it could even give him a set bonus?


    When he crafted an entire steel armor set, he did not get a bonus set, which made him think that set bonuses weren''t possible. But now he realized that it is possible, only that he needed better gear than steel.


    "Oh, my, god."


    He quickly touched the dragon''s bones to see what set bonus it would give him.


    {Small Dragon bones}


    {The bones of monsters can be used to craft tough armor, depending on the bones of the monster. Each monster''s skeleton has a different set of skills once the user is wearing an entire bone armor set}


    {Small Dragon set bonus: dragon roar}


    {Requires anvil}


    "Dragon roar? What does it do exactly?"


    Although he knew what it does by the name alone, he needed to know what it exactly does. Does it scare off enemies? Does it hurt enemies? Does it do both?


    Will tried looking for it in his book, but it did not tell him. He needs to craft it and test it in order to know what it does.


    As for the cyclops set bonus, it''s name was pretty self explanatory.


    "Hey, Sam, is it okay if I take the bones of this cyclops?" Asked Will.


    "The bones? I don''t mind. We usually just toss out the bones because they''re useless."


    "Thanks."


    Will placed the bones of the Dragon and Cyclops inside his ?h?st. Sam and Jasmine saw this, but didn''t think too much about it. After a while, they thought that Will was carrying a magical item that made him do these things. Magical items defy all logic, which is why they didn''t think much of it.


    Will planned on crafting the bones later. He already carried an anvil in his ?h?st, which was something he crafted after working in Jack''s shop.


    Will thought that if there were cyclops and Dragon bones lying around, then was it possible that there are other monster bones just lying around? It seemed plausible.


    He will store every single bone he sees and hope that it could be crafted into something amazing.


    Adaline crawled out of the ground, the same place where Will had dug a giant hole. Will had to take down the steel wall from the bunker again.


    "I never got to thank you, for protecting us during the black sun." Will said.


    "It''s nothing much. A friend of my nephew is a friend of mine. So what are you two going to do now?"


    "I believe we''re headed to the kingdom of Reyes. For my blacksmith badge."


    "Ah, then be careful on your way."


    After bidding their farewells, Jack and Will mounted Adaline and they left at an abnormal speed.


    Sam and Jasmine returned to their village, which was mostly destroyed by the bloody locusts during the black sun.


    "What are you going to do, Sam?" Jasmine asked.


    "I don''t know." Sam held onto a horn that was in his pocket the whole time. The horn belonged to the cyclops that they had killed before.


    "Now that I have overstayed my welcome, I must go home."


    Jasmine levitated and flew away to another location.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Rias and Radix weren''t doing so well. Rias had not slept the entire week. Her eyes were red, baggy, black. But she continued trying to find the cure.


    So far, she has had 9 failures. Each one the zombie exploded. But it improved gradually.


    By the end, the last few zombies only had their head and limbs blown off. It was an improvement from her perspective, but still a long way to go from finding an actual cure.


    This was her last zombie. Once it explodes there won''t be another chance to test on them.


    "Rias, the black sun is gone. And you''re running out of zombies to test."


    "I can feel it. I am so close."


    "That''s what you said last time. But somehow you made his nether regions explode." Radix shivered when he thought about that.


    "Just give me one more minute. I can do this."


    Rias injected her cure on the last zombie.


    10 minutes later, something happened.


    "Gah, hel- halp- meeee- pleeeeaaahhh."


    The zombie started to talk.


    "It, it''s talking! It''s working!" Rias cheered. The zombies have only been able to growl at them. They showed no signs of intelligence. The fact that they even managed to say a word is a miracle on its own.


    But, the zombie''s throat exploded, along with his head. But the rest of his body was still intact.


    "That, did you see that, it talked! It worked!"


    "..." Radix didn''t know how to feel.


    At first it felt great to see the zombies die in a brutal manner. But now it just got disturbing and gross. Even he started to feel bad for the humans.


    He used his vines to suck the blood and corpses of the zombies. Maintaining this place clean of all zombie blood was important, as there was a chance that the disease could go airborne. But even so, it started to smell terrible.


    After cleaning the zombie''s remains, Radix was ready to leave,


    "We should go now." Radix said. But he was prepared to drag Rias out. Knowing her, she will fight to stay and continue with her cure.


    "Okay. Let''s go."


    Rias started to place all her stuff inside her magical wrist in a hurry.


    "Huh?" Radix was confused. He was sure that he was going to fight it out with her. But it was that easy?


    "What? I don''t want to stay here too long. I just want to go home and lie down."


    "But, the cure."


    "Ah, it''s okay. At least now there isn''t a zombie around to spread the disease."


    "Okay¡­" Radix exited the room. The vines that kept the humans bound were starting to loosen. They kept the humans in another room so they wouldn''t become infected.


    As soon as Radix left, Rias smiled. She took a blood sample out of her pocket, it was from a zombie that she extracted earlier, and placed it in her wrist pocket along with her cure.


    "Soon, I''ll be able to find a cure."


    She exited the room and left the village with Radix.


    Hours later after they left, several dark figures were scouting the area. There was only three of them.


    "I found something." One of them said.


    They saw dried blood just outside the village.


    One of them touched the blood with a black, leather glove.


    "Yup, this blood is definitely from him. It seems that patient zero managed to make it this far. But someone destroyed its brain and fell here, but the body was taken."


    "Can you locate the body?" One of them said.


    "Hard to tell. It seems that there were many footsteps here, at least a few dozen people have crossed this area, as well as some animals. Luckily it didn''t rain, or else this blood would have washed away. But the scent is also gone. I cannot locate it."


    "Shit. You don''t think that somebody in this village has contracted the disease?"


    "I really hope not. If it did, then ''she'' won''t be able to release this disease to the whole world without anyone expecting it. If her plan fails because we didn''t recover or destroy patient zero, she''ll have our heads."


    "Let''s check the village to see if anybody has the disease. And if one of them contracted the disease, we''ll burn them all to the ground. Just to be safe."


    The men checked the village leaving no stone unturned.


    Meanwhile¡­


    July, Grace and Arbor were following July who was riding her mule.


    "Can''t you slow down? We don''t have mounts like you." Grace said. They followed her on foot.


    "If you can''t keep up it''s your fault."


    July wasn''t going to slow down. Not until she sees Jack safe and in her arms.


    "Hm."


    Grace was tired, but Arbor was as cool as a cucumber.


    "Grace, if you have to, make peace with her." Arbor added.


    "No."


    "There is nothing to gain from hating her, even though she has done nothing to you."


    "I don''t plan on doing nothing with her. We''re only doing this for the Adalis."


    "..." Arbor stared at his daughter, but continued running.


    Arbor doesn''t hate humans, because they haven''t done anything to him. There is no reason to hate them.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will and Jack collected every single bone they could find on the way. Only ogres, cyclops, and dragons.


    They only found 2 small dragons, 3 one-horned cyclops, and 4 ogres, who give him a strength set bonus.


    There were other bones, like goblins, imps, but they offered no set bonuses, but they could have their uses, so Will also stored them in his ?h?st.


    Unfortunately they could not find any stronger skeletal remains of monsters.


    Will could not wait to craft some powerful tools and armor using these monster bones.


    "Wait, why should I wait to craft the bone armor, when I can do it right now?"


    Will placed the anvil down, and crafted the bone armor.

 Chapter 13 - Kingdom

    {Dragon-bone helmet}


    {Defense 17}


    {Dragon-bone ?h?st piece}


    {Defense 20}


    {Dragon-bone shoulderguards


    {Defense 15}


    {Dragon-bone gauntlets}


    {Defense 12}


    {Dragon-bone leggings}


    {Dragon-bone boots}


    {Speed: +15%}


    {Defense 15}


    "Damn. I look good." Will said.


    Somehow most of his armor did not have any sort of buffs or debuffs except his boots. Sometimes some of the tools he makes are just like that.


    The armor looked very stunning, which is something that he didn''t expect. The helmet was basically the skull of the small dragon, but it was just small enough to fit in his head, otherwise it would have been too big and heavy for him to wear. Personally, he liked the helmet''s design more than the other armor set.


    The ?h?stplate was also unique. It looked like the dragon''s spine and ?h?st bones covered the entire body. The shoulder pads had horns sticking out. The gauntlets had claws in them, which could be used as a melee weapon. The feet looked like a small dragon''s feet, but he took off the giant claws which hindered his movement, this crafting system is able to make armor and tools any way you like it. The leggings were basically the most normal looking thing out of the entire set.


    This is the complete set. He almost didn''t have enough to make the entire set before running out of dragon bone material.


    The bone armor also had wings, but were completely useless. He took them off because they hindered his movement.


    "I didn''t know that you could make armor out of monster bones." Jack said with shining eyes. It was literally the most awesome looking armor to him. And besides, Will has a history of wearing ''weird'' clothing all the time.


    People have tried to make tools out of monster bones, but it has ended in failure and is not as sturdy as steel. It was just easier to use ores rather than bones.


    "You learn something new every day. Here, I crafted some for you, too."


    Will gave Jack the complete set armor of cyclop bones. He is doing this for two reasons, one to protect him. After they arrive at the kingdom of Reyes, they will have to depart. This armor will at least give Jack some protection other than his enchanted shirt. And also, this is his way of saying ''thank you'' for helping him all this time.


    And also, Will wanted to see if anyone else that isn''t him could also use the set armor ability. If so, then he''s got to be careful in the future, as someone else could have bad intentions and steal his tools.


    The cyclop-bone armor almost had the same design as the dragon bone armor, but there were some notable major differences.


    "Are you sure you want to give me this?" Jack did not want to reject his offer because it''ll be rude, but he just did not think that bone armor was any good.


    "I don''t mind. I have more cyclops bones, and besides it''s taking up too much space."


    "Well¡­"


    Jack took the cyclops armor set, and it grew in size as soon as it left Will''s hand.


    "How does it feel?" Asked Will.


    "It feels weird, but oddly comfortable."


    "Can you by any chance, use laser eyes or something?"


    "What do you mean?" Jack did not understand.


    "Observe."


    Will faced away from Jack and from Adaline. He''s going to show them how awesome he is.


    He took one long breath and shouted, "FUS! RO! DAH!"


    He shouted, but to his complete disappointment, it did not work. Nothing happened.


    "Um¡­" Jack didn''t know what to say.


    "...my disappointment is unmeasurable, and my day is ruined."


    Anyone who has ever played Skyrim, would one day want to use the dragon shout, Will was no exception.


    "What did I do wrong? Why did the shout not work?"


    He looked at his book again, then he noticed something. It''s spelled ''dragon roar'' not ''dragon shout'' completely different somehow. Otherwise it would have worked.


    "And here I thought I would become the next dragonborn. Then how do I use the dragon roar? DRAGON ROAR!" He shouted.


    Once again, nothing happened.


    "Gah! Not this shit again!" Will was totally clueless on how to use the skill. It was like the time when he didn''t know how to craft stuff.


    "Hero Will Connor, what''s wrong?"


    "This dragon armor is supposed to give me a cool ability. But I don''t know how to use it!"


    "Huh¡­ maybe it''s because you don''t have any mana."


    "Mana¡­ maybe, but I don''t think this is the case."


    Mana is something that only sorcerers can use, and the great sage as well, he''s basically the one who discovered mana and is the first one to use it.


    The Great Sage was born with the ability to become a wizard. After years of testing his powers, he has developed the ability to give people mana,, only 10 people every year can have the chance to awaken the mana inside of them. Jasmine managed to get her mana unlocked two months ago from the great sage.


    It is the only way to receive mana. Even if a sorcerer and a sorceress were to produce an offspring, that offspring will not have mana in them.


    He has been doing this for almost 300 years.


    Will doesn''t believe that he needs mana for the bonus set. The set armor bonus doesn''t say that it requires any sort of mana.


    A few days ago, Will managed to inspect the staff that Jasmine had.


    {Super Mana staff(enchanted}


    {Damage: 200-300}


    {Enchantment: Mana power III}


    {Mana cost: -20%}


    {Requires mana}


    Will once tried to use it, but he did not have any mana. It''s not like he needs it right now.


    "What cool ability are you trying to use?" Asked Jack.


    "A dragon roar. I don''t know how to use it. All I know is that I can."


    "Dragon roar¡­ have you tried screaming really loudly?"


    "I just tried that, it didn''t work."


    "No, just scream really loudly, like ''AAAAAHHH!'' Or something like that."


    "There is no way that it''s that simple¡­ I think."


    "Couldn''t hurt to try, right?" Jack took a couple of steps behind.


    Thinking about it, there was no reason why he shouldn''t do it. Will took a long breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "AAAAAHHH!!!"


    The first few seconds it sounded like an ordinary scream, but it was replaced by a loud roar that shook the forest.


    "Holy crap!" Will covered his mouth out of pure reflex. It sounded like a thousand lions shouted at the same time through a speaker.


    "Wow, that hurt my ears." Jack had gone deaf temporarily, all he could hear was a ringing in his ears. Adaline started to move around frantically, as if she''s lost. Since she can''t see, she has to rely on her other senses to guide her.


    Will was amazed. That came from his set bonus? What would happen if he used the remains of a stronger and bigger dragon?


    "Jack, Adaline, are you two okay? I am so sorry about that." Will said. He didn''t think his shout would be that strong or work for that matter.


    "What?" Jack asked.


    "I said that ''I am sorry''"


    "You''re what?"


    "I''M SO- oh just forget it."


    "You want me to what?"


    "..." Will waited patiently until they got their hearing back. After they do, he will have to test out the cyclop''s bonus set.


    Meanwhile¡­


    The three dark figures scouted the entire village. They were looking for traces of that zombie. One of them was short , the other had a hump on his back, and the other was very buff and very tall.


    "I found something!" The short dark figure found a secret entrance leading to a basement.


    "Look at these footprints. They''re fresh. A man and a woman, possibly 18-20 years. They left less than an hour ago." The one with the hump said, and he smelled something familiar.


    "Not only that, but do you smell that? The sweet smell of the undead. And also a smell of something, something I cannot describe."


    "I don''t smell anything."


    "Whoever just left has been in contact with the disease."


    "Then we need to exterminate them. Shorty, go inside the basement and look for anything else, like zombies or survivors. Hunch and I will follow these footprints." The tall, buffed man commanded.


    "But sir, what if there are survivors down there who haven''t been infected?"


    "If there are survivors, there better be none by the time you come back. Understand? We cannot have the disease or any news about it spread."


    "I¡­ I understand." He knew what he meant. Should there be survivors, then he has to kill them because they might have seen too much.


    The buff man and the one with the hump ran at full speed following the trail.


    The short man tried opening the door, but it was locked from the inside.


    He took off his glove. His pointer finger had a normal, iron ring.


    "The hunger, eat this door."


    The ring sprouted giant, long, pointy, white teeth, that looked to be something straight out of Lovecraft''s creations. It was only made out of large, pointy teeth. No eyes, mouth, or tongue could be seen. It was obviously a magical ring.


    It shredded the entire door in a manner of seconds. The hunger disappeared in a puff of black smoke.


    Shorty covered his nostrils as soon as he entered the room. It smelled so bad, as if there were a hundred rotten corpses in there.


    "What is that stench?" He couldn''t take it anymore. He ran outside and vomited on the ground, it was too pungent for him.


    Shorty used his robe to cover his face, and also held his breath in. He dashed right into the room, saw nothing. He continued making his way to the other rooms.


    Most of the rooms were a mess, as if many fights had taken place here. Much of the food started to grow mold.


    "Is there nobody living here?"


    He entered the last room, and he saw the villagers, all unconscious and lying on the ground.


    "Orders are orders." He was about to summon ''the hunger'' to devour them all, but he saw the kids in there. He hesitated.


    He checked the kid''s condition to see if they were infected. But no. They were all fine. However, he did find some blood on the ?du?t''s clothings. Inspecting the blood, he found out it was zombie blood.


    "Sorry about this. But I cannot let any of you live. The hunger, devour them all."


    The same teeth appeared and was about to kill everyone, but shots were fired.


    *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*


    Each shot managed to break the teeth of the hunger. It disappeared in a puff of smoke.


    "The hunger! No!"


    The iron ring on his finger broke into tiny little pieces.


    Shorty looked at the one who shot him, it was a man that Will would easily recognize, but his appearance changed drastically. When Will saw him, his hair was long, dark, and braided, but now it was short, and clean, with only a beard and a short mustache.


    This is Clement.


    "Jeez, and here I thought I was a criminal, but even I wouldn''t stoop that low enough to kill children."


    Clement pointed his gun at Shorty, which smoke still escaped from the barrel


    "Wait, I know you, you''re the Rebel Clement!" Shorty said.


    Clement looked at the survivors. He didn''t see Will anywhere.


    "What brings you here? Aren''t you too busy kidnapping Princesses?" Shorty put his hand back without Clement noticing, and summoned a short knife using another magical ring.


    "What I do is my business. But tell me, why kill the villagers? What has this pathetic place done to you?"


    "Me? I have nothing against them. What I am doing here is strictly for the sake of the empire."


    "Empire? So, you working for the Fat Empress?"


    "Yes. You see, our Empress has taken a liking to you for so long now. She has tried numerous times to invite you over the years, but you are a hard man to contact. She told us that if we ever met you, to invite you to join us."


    "Sorry, but I am not interested."


    "Shame."


    He gripped the knife tightly and the blade of the knife extended many meters, it moved so fast in a diagonal pattern, and pierced Clement through the heart. This was obviously a magical knife.


    Clement laid on the ground in a pool of his own blood.


    "Even if you are infamous, you are still just an ordinary man."


    Shorty then proceeded to stab all the humans in the head using the same knife. It is the only way to make sure a zombie doesn''t come back.


    He took Clement''s gun and ran off. But as soon as he ran outside, he was greeted by 2 of his comrades.


    "Sir? Why are you still here?" Asked Shorty. He was sure that they left to chase the 2 footprints.


    "We saw someone coming here, so we were worried about you."


    "Aw, thanks."


    "By the way, did you by any chance run into a kid with black hair, acne on his face, and a magical gun by any chance?"


    "No, sir. I haven''t seen anyone like that."


    "Oh, darn¡­ so what did you find in that secret room?


    "There were several people there, but some of them had zombie blood on their clothes. As per your orders, I killed them all. I also ran into the infamous Clement, but he was done in by my own blade. Unfortunately, I lost the hunger in the process."


    "Zombie blood? Are you sure?" The buff man asked, surprised.


    "Um, sir, this is why the Empress sent us on this mission, to dispose of patient zero who escaped from the Empire."


    "Oh, right. Tell me the details of the mission again. I just want to make sure you know."


    "Um, if that''s your order; The Empress kidnapped people and used them as experiments to recreate the zombie infestation that had plagued the world ever since the arrival of the first 3 heroes. Last week, she successfully managed to make the virus, but the zombie somehow escaped after infecting the rest of the prisoners and doctors. Since the Empress now has the formula to create the virus, she didn''t need patient zero anymore, so she sent us to track it down and destroy it before anyone else knows about it."


    "Oh, really. And what does she hope to do with the virus?"


    "She didn''t say how she''s gonna do it, but she''s gonna infect the whole world again, but her empire would remain safe from a distance, as the others suffer."


    "What would she accomplish by doing this?"


    "I don''t know, world domination? Power? She never explains her plans thoroughly. Are you okay, sir?"


    "I''m¡­ okay. But how about you?" The tall buffed man asked.


    "I''m fine. Why do you ask?"


    "Because there''s a bullet on your head."


    "What was tha-?"


    Then a bullet hole appeared on the front of his head, and he dropped on the ground. He had no idea who or what killed him.


    Everything that happened till now, was merely an illusion, except the bullet on his head.


    Clement was the one who shot him on the head. They never left the room. Shorty never killed him nor the villagers.


    At the start, Clement did fire his gun, but only once, and he did not shoot at the hunger, but Shorty instead.


    He had used a magical gun, it didn''t kill, but it was used to extract much information out of people. One shot, and it would send them into a world of illusions.


    The person who is shot by his magical gun looks like they are sleep talking. And anyone else can talk to them and communicate with them, which is what Clement did to Shorty, he was talking to him while Shorty was sleep talking.


    Clement was rather smart, and shot at Shorty from the beginning.


    Shorty never had a chance.


    Clement took out a cigarette and lit it up.


    "Zombies, and the Fat Empress, great, another thing to add to the list of ''pain in my ?ss.''"


    Clement left the room, not after taking Shorty''s magical rings and magical knife.


    Once he exited the room, there was his horse waiting for him, as well as a beautiful girl.


    "My love." She said in a happy mood.


    This girl is the Princess named ''Harmony'' who he ''kidnapped'' many would say that she did not look like she was kidnapped in the slightest.


    He sighed¡­ Why did it have to happen like this?


    The Princess was indeed kidnapped by him. Right after leaving Will and escaping once again from the guards, he hid in a secret room only known by him. He was going to have to hide for a few days until he was sure that he could leave safely.


    She woke up, and was depressed, scared, angry. He treated her like crap for the most part, but still kept her alive.


    Then out of nowhere, she started to develop some interest in him, in a romantic sort of way.


    At first he thought that she was putting on an act to escape, but nope, she was genuinely falling for him.


    This Princess was not alright in the head, she was secretly a m?s??h?st. And now she developed a case of Stockholm syndrome.


    If he treated her nice, she fell in love with him, if he treated her like trash, she would keep falling in love with him. There was no way to win.


    He didn''t expect this nor want this. And since he needed her alive and with him, he had to tolerate her. He kept ignoring her, but that only made her want to make him notice her even more.


    Clement thought about using this to his advantage, but how exactly?


    "Let''s go, Esmeralda." He kicked his horse with the side of his shoe very lightly, and the horse began running.


    "Where are we going, my love?" Harmony said in a seductive tone while her hands touched all over his ?h?st.


    ''I don''t know.'' He thought. If there was the possibility of a zombie virus spreading, then he needed to be prepared at all costs. It was unexpected, but at least he knew now before it was too late.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jack and Adaline got their hearing back. Right now, Jack was trying to use the Cyclops laser eyes ability. It looked like he was trying really hard to shit at the moment, due to the amount of stress he was putting his body in.


    They had been going on like this for almost an hour. Will was wondering if he was the only one who could use the power.


    He also wore the cyclops-bone armor and succeeded in using the cyclops laser eyes without effort. Jack wanted to try it out, but to no avail.


    "Let''s give it a rest, Jack. You tried using the dragon roar but it didn''t work either. I think I''m the only one who can use the armor''s abilities."


    This made him feel relieved and also worried. One, he doesn''t have to worry about people using the set''s ability, but this will also not give Jack that extra layer of defense he was hoping for.


    Jack sat down on the grass, and sighed.


    "I failed you, Hero Will Connor. Sorry."


    "Don''t be sorry, Jack. This was a test to see if the armor works on others that isn''t me. So in a way you helped me by understanding my powers.."


    "I guess so. So I guess you want the armor back?"


    "No, keep it, I can make more. At least this armor will provide you some protection."


    "If you say so, Hero Will Connor."


    They got on top of Adaline and headed straight to the Kingdom of Reyes. They should be there in a few hours.


    The Adalis is an insanely fast creature, and could arrive in places in hours that would normally take a few days.


    But, since they kept stopping every now and then to collect monster bones on the way, it was obvious why it took them longer than it should have.


    And finally, they arrived at the Kingdom of Reyes.


    "Wait, I recognize this place." Will said with bright eyes.


    He had actually seen this kingdom days ago. But he was captured by a giant eagle before he could enter the kingdom.. He could have been here days ago, but only just arrived due to an encounter with a giant eagle.

 Chapter 14 - Kingdom of Reyes

    Chadwick Boseman, you will forever be remembered in our hearts for many years to come. Rest in peace.


    WAKANDA FOREVER!


    ********


    "We''re here, Hero Will Connor." Jack pointed at the giant castle.


    "I can see that."


    Will made Adaline go slowly up to the giant gate, It was so detailed and so guarded. Will took note of the fine structure in case he wants to build his castle.


    "Halt!" 2 guards covered in enchanted armor stopped Will in his tracks. One was sort of chubby and short, the other was skinnier than the average person.


    "Why do you want to enter the kingdom?" The skinny one asked.


    "To get my blacksmith badge." Will said. He was more focused on their enchanted armor. How he wished he knew how to craft it.


    "Then we''d like to see some I.D., please."


    "I.D.?" Will realized he screwed up. He actually needed some sort of I.D. to enter? He thought he could waltz in there like it was nothing.


    "Is this good enough?" Jack got off of Adaline and handed the soldiers his blacksmith badge.


    "An apprentice. But I would still need to see his identification. And also some papers for the organic creature." The skinny guard pointed at Will.


    "He lost his identification and papers, so he''s here to also get a new I.D. and new papers for his organic creature."


    "How did he lose his I.D.?"


    "Well, duh! Have you been living under a rock? The black sun caught all of us off-guard so we couldn''t save his I.D. or other personal belongings. And some damn dragon burned his entire house down, and everything in it, including his I.D. Which is why he''s wearing the bones of the dragon who burned down his house."


    The guards looked at Will''s attire, and it was indeed genuine dragon bone.


    Will had to admit, Jack was a pretty good liar.


    "That seems like a logical story." The chubby guard said.


    "Does it, really?" The skinny guard asked.


    "Well, yeah. I mean, many people have lost a lot of stuff last week due to the locusts. Don''t you remember how you lost your house as well?"


    "Then, I guess you can go inside and get some new I.D. and papers and your blacksmith badge."


    The skinny guard waved his hand and the wooden gate behind him started rising.


    "Thanks."


    Will, Jack and Adaline strolled inside the kingdom.


    "You know, I like their clothes. It looks amazing, I didn''t even know you could make clothes out of bones." The chubby man said.


    "You''re right."8


    "Should we ask them where they got them as soon as they come back?"


    "I don''t see why not."


    Jack, and Will were observing the entire kingdom. It looked pretty intact despite the fact that the black sun occured not too long ago.


    "Hey, Jack, way to go making up a lie like that." Will said.


    "It was nothing. I learned from the best, thanks mom." Jack smiled. How he loved helping out his idol.


    "I didn''t know that you needed I.D. to enter the kingdom."


    "Me either. I had always wanted to come here, but mom never let me."


    "So this is your first time here as well?"


    "Pretty much. I always did want to see the spot where the heroes are summoned."


    "What does that mean?"


    "If I remember correctly, the Kingdom of Reyes summons all the heroes in the center of the kingdom, where everyone can see and cherish them."


    Will got a little curious, and so did Jack. The three of them headed straight to the middle of the kingdom, which was near a giant building that stood out from the rest, it looked like a giant tower made out of obsidian. And beside the tower, was a giant building where the king, his family, his servants, and guards lived.


    "Oh, my, goodness!" Jack screeched like a little fangirl.


    "What?"


    "It''s the black tower. This is where the Great Sage lives!" Jack right now was the literal definition of a hardcore fangirl.


    It did look like a black tower. Standing at an impressive 50 feet. It had no doors nor windows. It did not look like anyone would live there, but there are people living there.


    People around them started to look at Jack and Will even more than before. Their ''weird'' clothes were what caught their attention in the first place, and also Adaline caught their attention as well.


    "The Great Sage."


    Will has heard a lot about him. The first, strongest, oldest, and wisest hero to the ever lived.


    "Gasp! And this is the hero summoning circle. It has summoned exactly 303 heroes ever since Kleo discovered it." Jack pointed to a small stone monument, guarded by guards, and metal fences. In the middle, was a black circle with weird engraving in it, the same circle that appeared underneath Will''s feet in the first chapter.


    "I''m starting to think that you brought me here as an excuse to see these places." Will said. He did not recognize the circle, because he was blinded by the light in his dark room.


    "Nah." Jack denied it. But he couldn''t stop drooling.


    "Maybe, if I stay here long enough, I can catch a glimpse of the Great Sage." Jack looked at the black tower and the summoning circle.


    "Okay, I''m gonna go get my blacksmith badge now."


    "Take this." Jack threw his blacksmith badge at Will.


    "Show my badge to the judge, and he or she will let you take the apprentice exam."


    If Jack were a dog, he would have wet himself out of pure happiness.


    Will slowly dragged Adaline away and headed straight to the blacksmith exam, which was conveniently placed near the black tower. The blacksmith building had a giant hammer sign sticking out, to tell everybody that the building was a blacksmith building.


    He thought he could touch the summoning circle, the same one that possibly dragged him here, but it was well guarded. Any chances to be able to inspect that summoning circle had gone down to zero.


    Will also believed he would catch a glimpse of the heroes that were summoned, but it seems that today isn''t the day.


    "Adaline, stay here, do not move under any circumstances. And also, guard this with your life." Will handed Adaline his iron ?h?st, which grew in size when it left his palm. He cannot bring it inside, as he might fear that they might suspect him of cheating if the judge knew about his ?h?st.


    Everything he owned is in that iron ?h?st.


    Adaline laid down on the middle of the building, hissing at anyone that came near her.


    "What do you want?"


    It was a woman at the reception area. He smoked a long, black, skinny pipe. She was also very tall and very skinny, but not beautiful at all. Her eyes were serious, and her hair was long but was tied up in a bun.


    Will could smell something horrible coming out of that woman''s pipe.


    ''Is she smoking weed?'' He asked himself, but wasn''t quite sure, as he has never smoked weed before.


    "I am here to take my blacksmith badge."


    He looked at her eyes, they were red-ish for whatever reason.


    "Do you have your teacher''s badge or are you self-taught?"


    "Here." Will handed her Jack''s blacksmith badge.


    "Apprentice... Do you know what to do in order to pass the exam?"


    "I have to be able to craft¡­ I mean make steel armor, weapons, tools, bows, crossbows, arrows, guns and ammunition."


    Jack told Will beforehand what he needs to do to pass the exam.


    "And you will also need to pay a fee of 5 silver."


    Will took 5 silver and handed it to her. He and Jack made a little bit of profit when Will helped Jack sell gear illegally.


    "Follow me."


    They entered another room. In the middle, were several tools lined up neatly. As well as an anvil, fletcher table, furnace, and everything that one needed to make all kinds of things. On the other side of the wall, was a chair and a desk.


    "You have 3 hours to finish everything. You are also provided extra ores in case you make a mistake¡­"


    She started to lose her balance and fall asleep while in the middle of talking.


    "Excuse me?"


    "Don''t interrupt me!" She suddenly woke up.


    "..." Will.


    He''s starting to get worried that her current state might affect his exam.


    "If you miss making one single item, you fail. If you go over the time limit, you fail. If one of the items you make are broken or of bad quality by the time you are done, you fail. Any questions?"


    "Yeah, where is everyone? I was sure that there would be more blacksmiths here."


    "They''re all helping out the heroes. I had to stay behind because ''I am not that good enough to help the heroes'' or ''I am just too addicted to drugs'' what do those bastards know! Just because I''m the daughter of the one who owns the building they think I am not good enough. True I might be into drugs, but so what?"


    In a blacksmith exam, there are at least 2-3 blacksmith judges. But with the heroes'' arrival, they were all very busy. And they are all usually not high when they''re judging.


    "I don''t think I should be taking the exam right now. Maybe I should come back later or..."


    Will felt that maybe this so-called ''judge'' might not be in her best condition to judge him.


    "Start now." She said cross legged on the chair. She flipped upside down a sand timer which lasted 3 hours. Once the last grain of sand falls, it will tell Will that his time is up.


    She continued smoking her pipe and acted as if she was in heaven,


    Will took a deep breath, how he wished he didn''t take the exam, but this is the only time he will do it, who knows how long the other blacksmiths will take to return, and he already paid for it so yeah.


    And finally he started crafting everything he could easily. He has gotten used to using the crafting system. And also, all the materials he needed were in front of him. It was going to be a piece of cake.


    5 minutes later.


    "Done." Will said. He could have finished faster, but smelting the ore and combining it to make steel ore takes too long, but still faster than most blacksmiths take. But while the ore was smelting, he crafted the bows and crossbows to save time.


    But, when he looked at the judge, she was out cold due to the weed she smoked. Her face was planted on the desk


    "Um, hello?" Will said it louder, but no response.


    He looked up at the sky, but it was only the roof of the building.


    "God, all I ask is to pass the exam. Is that so much to ask?"


    "*snort* did you call me?" The stoned Judge said.


    "I guess." Will had no idea how to talk to a drugged woman.


    "Let me look. Uh-huh, uh-huh, it''s okay, but b?r?ly. Pass." She was so stoned, that she didn''t even notice that Will took only 5 minutes to complete the whole thing, where most blacksmiths would need more than 3 hours to complete it.


    "..." Will would question the woman, because his items were of great quality, not ''okay'' but since she was stoned, he didn''t care much. As long as he becomes a blacksmith, he doesn''t care.


    But he expected at least a cliche reaction, like ''oh my god you''re so fast'' ''how did you do that'' ''you''re a genius! Like one a million!'' maybe he likes it when they praise him a bit.


    She went back to her reception area, and took out a new blacksmith badge, as well as Jack''s badge, but there was a star in it that wasn''t there before.


    "Take this, and this. And there is some oath you must take, like, uh, um, ah forget it, nobody cares about the oath. Just go."


    "Uh, thanks, I guess-"


    "*Snore*"


    She fell asleep again in a manner of seconds with her face planted on the desk.


    Now that Will came for what he wanted, there was no reason to stay any longer.


    "Let''s go." Will dragged Adaline out of the store and took his iron ?h?st with him. This is by far the weirdest thing he has ever done, taking an exam with a judge who was high out of her mind.


    "Okay, that went¡­ weirder than expected."


    Will handed Jack back his blacksmith badge, but Jack was so focused on something else right now, that he didn''t notice that Will finished his blacksmith exam in a matter of minutes.


    After asking for directions, Will was able to make an I.D. for himself, but that got him thinking, was it a wise idea to use his name?


    He cannot use his full name, because only heroes can have 2 names, even though he is technically a hero, he doesn''t want anyone to know that. And also this is a new world, so there''s no reason why he shouldn''t use another name. This is a new world, so he should also have a new name as well.


    "My new name is ''Herobrine'' hehehe!" Will laughed mischievously.


    "Hah! Just kidding. I''m more original than that."


    If he did use the name ''Herobrine'' then it would be easy for the heroes to realize that he''s also a hero, because Herobrine was such a popular name in the Minecraft community in their world, and still is.


    And also, there''s also a dumb law that states that one cannot have the name ''hero'' in his name, so there goes that idea.


    "I''ll just stick to my old name."


    In the end, he went with his old name, although now it''s ''Will'' instead of ''Will Connor''.


    He also got some papers that he needed to prove that Adaline belongs to him. So they gave him a colour for Adaline to wear to show the kingdom that she is tamed. Otherwise it might cause some panic. It''s a wonder why those guards at the entrance let Will in like that. Almost makes him believe that those two were idiots, but nice people overall.


    Will sat on a stone bench counting what money he had left.


    "Let''s see, 5 silver for the blacksmith exam. 10 silver for a new identity. And 7 silver for Adaline''s papers. That''s 22 silver gone. Now I only have a little more than 25 silver left. Which is good enough."


    Will counted himself lucky to make a little bit of profit from the blacksmith store before he left.


    "What else can I do?" Will did not want to leave yet. He wanted to keep observing the area, all the buildings, structures, they''re all pretty amazing, he wanted to build something like this, especially the palace where the king lived.


    His first house was pretty bad, but there was still room for him to grow. And even then, he was proud of that crappy building.


    Looking at all the houses might give him some insight into what he could build.


    "Let''s keep exploring, girl."


    While he explored the kingdom, as if he were a tourist in a foriegn world, he came across many shops and buildings and people. What he found strange is that everyone acted normal, despite that just yesterday the locusts attacked everything. That is until he learned that the kingdom used so many light sources to keep the locusts away from the kingdom. It might have come as a surprise, but they were prepared.


    Then, he came across another wooden wall that had many papers attached to it, just like how it was back in the village when he took the lumberjack job, even though he never got paid for it.


    Reading it, he discovered many more jobs.


    {Miners required: 10 coppers an hour + meals: Requires men who are strong physically and can work for more than 8 hours minimum. Meet in fountain park on sunrise}


    {Maids required: 3 coppers an hour + meals: Requires young women who can cook, clean, and organize stuff, we don''t need a lot of maids, just 4 will do. You have to come everyday and work for at least 5 hours. Meet at the red house at noon}


    There were also jewelcrafters, people who can work on jewellery. As well as chef''s, musicians, herb gatherers, and so on.


    Not one of these jobs caught his eye. But this gave him a great idea.


    In the future, he is going to need a lot of resources in order to craft stuff, but if he were to do it all by himself, then it will take a long time to accomplish anything.


    But now, his idea is to hire people to do it for him. Now that he is an apprentice blacksmith, he can sell tools and make a good amount of profit from it.


    Out of all these labour jobs, not one of them pays anyone over 30 copper coins. There are indeed some jobs that pay with silver coins, but those jobs are for people who have a lot of skills, like an expert blacksmith, experienced potion-maker, and a monster hunter.


    But the miner and lumberjack jobs pay people less than 10 copper coins. Mostly because it requires strength rather than skill.


    He kept walking with Adaline and exploring the kingdom. And a single basic building caught his eye.


    The building had a sign that read ''potion'' not a very crafty name.


    He entered the building leaving Adaline outside.


    The inside of the building was also basic. It was made out of wood, the floors, walls, shelves, counter, everything was made out of wood. But the shelves contained many ''potions'' but the potions looked very different from what Will was used to.


    In many games, potions are described as a small glass with a colored liquid inside. For example, red liquid means health, blue means mana or something like that, and so on.


    But the potions in this world did not look like the ones he was used to. They looked more like pills, small, tiny, round sized pills, inside of a glass bottle. But each of them were different in color as well.


    Each of these ''potions'' had a label in front of it, just the name and the cost.


    Will covered his nose, as a weird, strong stench entered his nostrils. It did not smell bad, but it was so strong that it made him feel like he was suffocating.


    "Whoop. Sorry. I did not hear you come in."


    It was the voice of a young woman. As she came closer, the stench that suffocated Will got stronger.


    She was very short, her hair was grey short and messy, freckles went from her cheek bones across her nose as if it were connecting. She also wore a lab coat, but it was covered in many types of stains, even her hair and face were no exception.


    "Here. Eat this."


    Without warning, she shoved a small, white pill in Will''s mouth.


    Will felt the pill dissolve in his mouth in a sec.


    Then the strong stench suddenly didn''t bother him anymore, as if it was never there before.


    He looked up to check his stats as to what she had just shoved in his mouth.


    {HP 55/50}


    {Anosmia: 59:58 remaining}


    ''What the heck does that mean?'' Will was never one who liked to use fancy words, so he didn''t know what ''anosmia'' meant. It meant not being able to smell anything.


    "That should be good for now. Now how can I help you."


    She stood tall, as if she could match his height. Will was normal height, about 5 feet 8 inches.


    But the girl in front of him, she didn''t even reach 5 feet.


    "I want to buy your finest pills, please."


    Ignoring his status, which was only temporary, he came here to learn how to craft potions. He has no clue at all, but with his system he could learn.


    "Pills? I think you mean potions. Here, this is something I''ve been working on. Try it out."


    She handed him a pill that so happened to be in her front pocket.


    "..."


    Will inspected the pill that she handed him.


    {Hallucinogenic potion}


    {This potion will make you high out of your mind for the next hour}


    "What is it with this kingdom and their drugs? Aren''t these illegal?" Will said. He didn''t come here to buy drugs, and probably never will. This is because of how tragic his friend was because his parents were drug addicts.


    "Illegal? These potions have been in the market for 50 years. There''s nothing illegal about them." She seemed confused, as if Will came from another world.


    Now Will understood, This world did not have any laws that prohibited them from smoking weed in public without fear of getting arrested, which explained why the judge smoked as if nobody was looking.


    "And why do you call these ''potions'' they''re clearly pills."


    "What does a ''pill'' mean?"


    Will was shocked. Was she serious? She had no idea what pills are, or does this world not simply have them?


    "I thought that these potions were supposed to be liquid, that''s all."


    "Liquid? We stopped using that method years ago. But this new solid method allows us to make more, make faster and cheaper, more affordable, and easier to use and carry. Pretty cool, huh?"


    Will rubbed his eyelids.. He''s going to have to get used to this world, whom he thought he knew already, but it seemed that it wasn''t the case.

 Chapter 15 - Close and yet so far

    Two disguised elves were walking down a dirt path. They had no idea where they were headed.


    "Rias, why do you want to find a cure so badly? I know you''re curious about everything, but this is the first time I have seen you work so hard like that." Asked Radix.


    "To be fair, this is the first time we''ve hanged out. And we never talk to each other in the village. So you don''t know much about me, and I don''t know much about you either."


    "I guess you have a point. Wait."


    Radix stopped suddenly. He heard faint whispers coming from the trees.


    "What?" Asked Rias.


    "Ssh."


    Radix touched a nearby tree. He listened closely to the trees that were calling out to him. Multiple voices kept echoing in his mind.


    ''Danger'' ''danger'' ''danger''


    ''Behind you.''


    He knew what that meant. Radix grabbed his bow and aimed it behind him. In the distance, he saw 2 figures coming towards them.


    Without giving them a chance, Radix shot 3 arrows at them at once,


    2 of the arrows were going at the tall guy, but one of them headed right for the hunched man.


    But all of his arrows hit an invisible shield that surrounded those two individuals.


    "Ah, yes, I recognize this smell, those two are elves without a doubt."


    "Elves? I didn''t expect that. But it doesn''t change that fact that we have to kill them."


    The buffed man reached out to his back and pulled out a double-barreled shotgun.


    Radix kept hearing the trees calling out to him.


    ''RUN AWAY!'' they all said.


    "RUN!" Radix said, and both elves begin running at full speed. There was a reason why the forest kept telling him to run, and he absolutely believes in the forest. Rias also began running towards without asking questions.


    "Smart elves." The buffed man aimed the double-barreled shotgun at them and shot them, it shot out not a bullet, but many more bullets at once.


    Each bullet dispersed, but then they started going towards Radix and Rias at a great speed, as if they were homing bullets.


    "Lea, I ask you to lend us your power." Radix said while running.


    Thick roots sprouted from the ground and blocked each of the bullets.


    "Thank you, Lea." Radix said.


    But the roots did not stop there. More and more sprouted from the ground beneath the two cloaked individuals.


    "Elf magic. Nothing I can''t handle."


    The buffed man took out a blade from out of the air, it looked like a long scimitar with a golden handle. He cut through the roots easily as if they were made out of bu??er.


    But not only did he cut the roots, it even managed to cut down several thick trees meters away from him. It seemed as if that blade could cut down objects easily and that are far out of its range capacity.


    The roots that weren''t cut began retreating back into the ground.


    The two cloaked individuals looked at thick trees where the elves ran. They didn''t bother to give chase.


    "It seems like their goddess ''Lea'' is protecting them. It would be suicide to follow them in the forest. But still, I should at least take a shot."


    The hunched man produced a gun out of nowhere, but not just any gun, it is a sniper rifle with an exaggerated long barrel.


    Despite the size between the man and the weapon, it did not seem like he had any trouble carrying the sniper with only one hand, as if the gun weighed almost nothing.


    He looked through the scope that was enchanted, it was the only part of the weapon that was enchanted. Through the scope he saw one of the elves.


    He smiled and said, "got you."


    He squeezed the trigger and a loud bang echoed through the forest, the gun was so powerful that air was produced out of it and it flung off the hoodie from his head. It revealed the face of an old, bald, white man, with several scars on his face from who knows what.


    The sound travelled so far that even the elves thought that the noise came right behind them.


    But before they could have a chance to react, a small root sprouted from the ground and tripped the elves. The bullet merely grazed through Rias''s hair. Had the roots been half a second late, Rias would have died on the spot.


    "Stay down." Radix held Rias on the ground. They were covered by thick woods, which means it is impossible for the sniper to tell where they were. As long as they stood behind some coverage, they should be safe.


    "That¡­ that bullet¡­ it went over my-" Rias was shocked, and scared, and finally afraid for her life. She was that close to dying. Her body started to tremble from that very thought.


    Radix touched the ground with his hand, and made more roots sprout from the ground everywhere near them. It took more energy to produce more roots, but it was worth it. This is so he could confuse the enemy by making it seem that roots were sprouting in places where they were not there.


    "Tsk, they got lucky."


    They both started to step back away from the forest.


    "I hate the forest. It''s suicide if we go there, even if we had shorty with us and with the magical weapons the Empress gifted us, we will still die."


    "I know. This forest kills everyone that isn''t a part of it, especially humans. If it weren''t for the forest, then the elven race would have gone extinct a long time ago."


    "What do we tell the Empress?"


    "Well it didn''t seem like they were infected, so that''s good. But they both know about the zombies, but I believe that they don''t know much about our motives or the fact that we made the virus, so that''s good. And they probably won''t even tell any humans since they hate each other. I guess we should tell her that the mission was a success."


    "Or else it''ll be our heads."


    "Tell Shorty that we''ll meet him at the usual spot."


    "Sure, whatever." The hunched man took out a smooth, white stone from his pocket. The stone was in the shape of a rectangle, each of its sides were smooth.


    The hunched man took out a needle, poked his finger with it, and used his own blood to write words in the face of the stone.


    ''Meet us at the usual spot before sundown.'' he wrote.


    The bloody letters disappeared as if the stone had absorbed the blood.


    Clement, who was riding on the horse with the Princess, saw that something in his pocket glowed. He took it out, and it was a white stone similar to the one that Hunch had.


    He took this stone after killing Shorty. Clement knew what it was which is why he took it.


    Words in black appeared on the stone.


    "Usual place? Where is that supposed to be?" He had no idea where that place was. And if he asked where the usual place is, then the other side would most likely find out that something happened to Shorty, and it''ll cause trouble for him.


    The words from his stone disappeared without a trace.


    He kept the stone in his pocket in case he might need it again.


    "Why did you use your blood to write Shorty?" The buffed man asked.


    "I forgot to carry ink."


    "You could have just asked me. I have some."


    "You know what? That is actually a very good point."


    They began walking towards the usual spot.


    Even if Hunch had used his sniper rifle from the beginning to shoot the elves, it wouldn''t have made a difference, as the forest would have intervened and saved both of the elves'' lives.


    They decided that chasing the elves wasn''t worth the trouble. If they were anywhere else that wasn''t the forest, they would kill them without a second thought, but going through the forest would mean that they would die.


    In this world at least half of it was covered in land, and the other half was covered in water.


    30% of all land was covered in thick forests, the other 20% was being occupied by mountains, human civilizations, and so on.


    But the entire forest where the elves live is called ''Lea''s forest'' is not safe for humans or monsters to go in, it is said that it is protected by the Goddess of the planet who is named ''Lea'' she protects the world especially her children, who are the elves.


    Many who have tried venturing into the deep woods of Lea''s forest, most of them have met their ends there.


    Those who have bad intentions to venture in the forest are to be su?k?d into the earth, and will never come out again.


    Those who venture with no clue or no intentions to injure the forest or its people, will find themselves being guided by many spirits to the exit of the forest.


    It seems that the forest treats the people differently depending on their intentions, as if it could read their thoughts.


    This is the reason why those two cloaked individuals did not want to chase the elves through the forest, because their intention was to kill the elves, and that meant that the forest regarded them as an enemy. They had no weapon to guard them against the forest.


    Radix noticed that both of the cloaked individuals were now gone. He sighed in relief.


    "That was too close." Radix could finally relax.


    Rias did not talk. She was scared and trembling non-stop..


    "Is this your first time being so close to death?"


    She nodded while trembling.


    "Yeah, it sucks at first, and you never get used to it. The best you can do is not let it bother you as much."


    They both lied there on the soft grass.


    But this moment only fueled his hatred towards humans. But they were too powerful as they had magical items, where he only had 1 enchanted bow and enchanted arrows.


    Rias also has a magical item, but it is only used as an inventory meant to carry stuff easier. This item is useful, but not for combat.


    This made him think of how Arbor and Grace were doing with the Adalis problem.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Grace, Arbor, and July were still running through the dirt path. At the rate they''re going, it''ll take days before they could arrive at the village where they believe that the Adalis was taken.


    July only had one thing on her mind, and that it to get to her son as soon as possible. It didn''t matter if the elves behind her were tired, or if she was hungry. All that mattered was her son''s safety.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "I am sure that this is the potion. Give it a try."


    "That''s what you said last time!" Will was currently lying on the ground unable to move.


    The little girl kept shoving many strange pills into Will''s mouth.


    The reason why Will didn''t just avoid her or run away, is because he is currently paralyzed.


    Will was once again caught off-guard when she shoved another pill into his mouth, but what she thought she was giving him a health potion, it ended up being a pill that paralyzed humans from the neck down.


    Realizing that she made a mistake, she started to feed him several more pills in order to cure his temporary paralysis, but kept feeding him the wrong pills over and over again.


    {HP 75/50}


    {Debuff: Paralyzed 3:12}


    {Debuff: weakness 4:31}


    {Debuff: Erectile dysfunction 23:59:58}


    {Debuff:...}


    Apart from the debuffs, he got a 20+ health above his limit, which meant that it wasn''t all bad. However, that ''erectile dysfunction'' made him shiver in fear. It was 24 hours without being able to fap, not that he''s done ever since he got here, because there is no p?rn in this world, only whorehouses and brothels, but they''re expensive to enter.


    But, what if she had fed him a pill that lasted for many years? That would be terrifying yet somehow amazing at the same time.


    "Ah, I got it. It''s this green potion. This potion will cure your condition!" She said while holding a blue pill.


    "That''s not green. It''s blue."


    "Oh thank god you told me. This blue potion is very poisonous and could kill you. Is this green?" She showed him a red pill.


    "Are you colour blind?" Asked Will.


    "Yeah, I am. I can only see black, and white, and grey." She felt sad when Will mentioned her colour blindness.


    "Just please, do not feed me any more pills. I will be fine in a couple of minutes. Just don''t feed me any more pills." Will said. Whenever he tried telling her to do something, she ignored him and kept feeding him more pills.


    It wasn''t because she was ignoring him, but extremely nervous and scared because she had poisoned someone by accident. Her actions could land her in jail.


    She tried giving him some samples of the awesome effects of the potions, like a potion that makes him stronger,but she gave him the wrong one, when she was sure that she fed him a potion that would benefit him.


    Looking at his paralyzing debuff, he only needed to wait out 3 minutes before it disappeared.


    "Maybe I can find that green potion. Where is it?" She said as she rummaged through the back for pills, but she couldn''t find anything.


    "I should really start labelling these things."


    "Adaline, a little help." Will said. If he were to stay here for a while longer, then he would die by either poison or something far worse.


    He came here to learn how to craft potions, but with this crazy and irresponsible girl in the way, it seems that today isn''t the day.


    Green roots coiled around Will''s body and slowly dragged him to the exit.


    "I found it. I think this is the potion¡­ where did you go? Or was he never there? Hm..."


    Will let out a breath. Good thing Adaline was here for him.


    "Thanks, girl."


    "Hisss!" She started to rub her head on his ?h?st.


    After a few minutes had passed, he could finally move again.


    He thought that he could find another potion shop in the kingdom, it would be weird if it had only one potion shop when the kingdom was as big as Disneyland.


    And he was right, after strolling throughout the kingdom, he found another potion shop.


    Will smacked his own head. Did that mean that there was another blacksmith shop around here, where one didn''t have a drugged judge?


    But he''s not complaining. In the end he got what he came here for.


    "Now that I am here, I need to know how to make potions. Those might be very vital for me in the future."


    In order for him to craft potions, he needs to touch the potion table or whatever it''s called.


    He wanted to enter the shop, but there was a sign outside with bold words that read ''closed''


    "Dammit!"


    But he noticed another sign with smaller letters in it.


    ''Dear fu?k?n?, cheap, fat, ugly, greedy, short, boss. I am tired of putting up with your crap after all these years. While you''re in vacation with your family for the 50th fu?k?n? time, I have been working my ?ss off for the shop, but not anymore. The hours are long, the pay is low, I am in debt. I haven''t received a raise, or a vacation once. I was your best and only potion-maker and you never valued me. All your employees have left, now you have no one else to run a shop, and no one else would be stupid enough to work for you because of your reputation. I threw out all of your garbage in the goddamn trash. I hope you get r?p?d by some orcs on the way you cheap fu?k!


    Sincerely, Joe.


    P.S. I screwed your wife.


    P.S.S Your 3 year old son isn''t actually yours, and he''s not mine either. He could be anybody''s.


    P.S.S.S. You suck.''


    ",,,:


    Will had no idea how to react to that sign.


    But he noticed that there was a trash can beside the store. Upon a closer look, there were several potions, and even what looked like a potion-maker table.


    Ignoring the trash in it, which was mostly just banana peels, rotten meat, he touched the potion-maker stand.


    And sure enough, he got a new crafting recipe.


    {Metal trash can}


    {It is used to store trash in it}


    "..." Will.


    {Potion-maker stand}


    {Used to craft various potions}


    That wasn''t all that happened. On his book, a new section was added, potions.


    At the beginning, he had his crafting recipe, which held weapons, building materials, tools, and also a bestiary.


    And now, he has a potion section that is obviously used to craft and unlock new potion recipes.


    Looking at the potion section, he had already unlocked several potions.


    {Low health potion}


    {50+ health upon consuming}


    {Temporary low HP potion}


    {Temporarily raises your HP by 20 points beyond the limit. Can only be consumed once until you lose your 20 HP}


    {Erectile dysfunction potion}


    {You will have E.D. for 24 hours per consumption}


    {Paralysis potion}


    {Paralyzes you for 10 minutes per consumption}


    {Blindness potion}


    {Leaves you blind for 10 minutes per consumption}


    Apart from the HP potions, the rest were terrible to him. Who would buy these potions? Especially the one that gives you E.D. It is every man''s worst nightmare.


    "Neat."


    He also took the potion-maker stand ''cause why not? It''ll spare him the trouble of having to craft or buy one. Although this is unexpected, he not only got his blacksmith badge, but also a stand to craft potions. Now all he needs is the materials to craft said potions.


    A young woman could be seen walking by the side where Will was. She saw him going through the thrash. She reached for her purse and walked straight to Will.


    "Here, buy yourself some food. You poor thing."


    She handed him a silver coin and left. In her eyes, Will hasn''t had anything to eat so he''s scouring through the trash to get something to eat.


    "... thanks."


    He would have returned the money to her, but didn''t. It''s his money now. And he didn''t steal it, it was given to him. He was running out of coins, and he needed it. In most games, and even in real life, having enough coins is crucial to one''s survival.


    "The heroes look amazing! Don''t they?!"


    "They sure do."


    "I''m just so glad that I took this photo from the moment they were summoned."


    From across the building there were two boys chatting as they exited the building. They were both holding pictures in their hands and talking about the heroes.


    This got Will''s attention.


    "Hey, wait a minute." Will walked towards the kids.


    "Ya?"


    Two of the boys stood and looked at Will.


    "Is that a picture of the new heroes?"


    "Yes, it is."


    "Can I buy it from you?" Will handed them the silver coin that the lady gave him.


    The kids'' eyes shined. This is like a mass fortune to them.


    "Deal. Good thing I printed more before we left the building." The kid took out more photos from his pockets, and only gave one to Will.


    Will examined the photo.


    It was a picture taken more than a week ago. There was a crowd of people surrounding the area where the summoning circle was. The entire crowd was displaying different emotions towards the heroes, some were yelling to get their attention, others cried, and some were standing over people''s heads to get a better view of them. The photo that was taken was taken by standing on someone else.


    There was also a man, fairly tall, chubby, and old. His beard was thick, white, and it reached his belly bu??on area. He wore golden loose robes, and a golden crown embedded with jewels like; sapphire, ruby, diamond, emerald, silver, all the size of a thumb.


    Will''s eyes grew wide. As he expected, most of the ''heroes'' that were summoned were very familiar to him, as they were all classmates from the same school.


    In the far end, was his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra.


    Her looks were ordinary. She was average in height. Her hair was short and red. Her eyes were brown. She was slender, and has nice legs. She was usually full of life and energy, and it made everyone around her like her. But in the picture she was confused and scared, as anyone would be in her situation.


    The heroes all looked nervous, shy, unsure of what was happening. One minute they''re minding their own business, and the next they''re being praised and watched by hundreds of people.


    One of them was in the middle of showering, and he was buck n?k?d. Someone gave him some robes to cover his private areas.


    "I take a good picture, right? Mom says I can be a photographer when I grow up."


    "And I will be a slave trader. Whatever that means." the other boy added.


    "What can you two tell me about the heroes up till now?" Will took out another silver coin and placed it gently on the kid''s palm.


    "Yes, um, there were 99 heroes who were summoned. Nobody knows who the 100th hero is, as he was never summoned for some reason. The heroes are currently training right now to hone their powers inside the kingdom, they are all being trained directly from the century hero, Shaun Quincy."


    "What about her? Can you tell me anything about her?" Will pointed at his ex.


    "I don''t know much about that hero. We only know their faces. Other than that we don''t know yet."


    "When will they come out of their training?"


    "Um, hmmm¡­ I think it depends on the hero. Some of them don''t make it all the way. And there are other heroes in the past who have no trouble in their training."


    Will scratched his chin and went in deep thought.


    "Why do you think that the 100th hero didn''t show up? That has never happened before." The other kid asked.


    "I don''t know. Mom says that maybe it was meant to be, like fate, whatever that means."


    "Fate, huh? Thanks." WIll took Adaline with him and left. There was no reason to stay here. He already achieved his purpose and got more out of it than he thought.


    Now, he must leave the kingdom, and make his own base. At least this kingdom gave him some new ideas on what to build.


    Will kept looking at the picture, mostly focusing on his ex, Right now a wave of emotions were circling in his mind.


    Should he wait? Should he leave? Should he at least try to talk to her? What should he do?


    "OMG WILL! GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED!"


    Jack jumped on Will like a flying monkey.


    "I saw a hero from the window. It was only for a split second, but I saw a hero with red hair."


    "Red hair? You mean her." Will took out a picture and showed it to Jack.


    "This is her! No way! You have a picture of all the heroes in one spot!" Jack''s eyes glowed almost as white as Herobrine''s eyes.


    Will looked at the palace. She was definitely there. All he had to do was go there, introduce himself as the 100th hero, and he will be with her.


    But, that thought was immediately tossed out the window.


    "Let''s go, Adaline."


    "Where are you going?" Asked Jack.


    "I''m leaving to build my own base. Want me to give you a lift or something?"


    "But why? We just got here. And you still haven''t received your blacksmith badge yet."


    Will took out his apprentice blacksmith badge.


    "That was quick!"


    "I also gave you your badge back. You didn''t notice because you were too busy with your little sightseeing."


    Jack took out the badge from his pocket, and it had a little golden star attached to it.


    "Finally! I am one step closer to becoming an expert! Thanks, Will."


    "No problem. Do you want a ride or do you want to stay?"


    "Are you not planning on staying in this kingdom for a little while longer?"


    "No. I should have never come here. It''s too risky for me."


    "I uh¡­" Jack was feeling conflicted at the moment. He wanted to go with Will, but this is the first time that he''s in this kingdom, and there were so many heroes out there that he wanted to meet.


    But Will is not only a hero, but also his friend.


    "I don''t want to force you to come with me Jack. Here, this is enough to get you back home, or atleast to your uncle''s village." Will gave Jack 10 silver pieces.


    "No, I cannot take this. This is too much."


    "Take it. I can make more money later. Now that I have a blacksmith badge I shouldn''t worry about making money for the time being."


    What he didn''t tell Jack is that he could also make potions, but he needs to gather some ingredients to make more potions and unlock more recipes.


    "Are you sure?" Jack asked.


    "I''m sure."


    "I love you, Will." Jack hugged Will tightly.


    Someone who was nearby laughed at them and said. "HA! GAAAEEEEYYY!"


    "Okay, Jack, we''re only friends." Will nudged Jack away.


    "I know. So I guess this is goodbye."


    "See ya, Jack."


    Will took Adaline with him and left the kingdom of Reyes. This is something that was going to happen.


    Jack looked at Will''s figure leaving. As much as he wanted to go, he had to go back to his family to tell them that he was okay. After the black sun, his mother and grandmother must be worried about him.


    Will took a copy of the map while he was in the kingdom. It was a copy of the land.


    There were approximately 192 villages in this world, 1 kingdom, and one empire.


    49 of the villages were under the protection of the kingdom of Reyes, it included Jack''s and Sam''s village.


    112 of the villages were under the protection of the fat Empress. They were larger and more advanced than any of the villages that were under the protection of the Reyes kingdom.


    And 28 of the villages were neutral, or independent as some might call them. That leaves only 3 villages, and these last three caught Will''s attention.


    A few years ago, some of these villages were abandoned due to various reasons. Nobody else lived there because of constant monster attacks, it took too long to transport goods and trade with other villages, or simply because nothing would grow there, no trees, plants, crops, nothing.


    Since nobody wanted to waste their money on those lands, then it was up for grabs, and Will was going to take it. He decided that those abandoned lands were going to be his new home.


    It was pretty far away, at least 2 weeks away from the kingdom of Reyes, and 3 weeks away from Jack''s village. Even if Adaline ran non-stop, it would take days to reach those abandoned villages.


    Luckily for him, he stocked up on food while he was in the kingdom, and had enough goblin parts to feed Adaline. He is literally broke now. He gave all his money to Jack who needed it to go back to his village.


    There was a reason why Will was out here, and not in there with the other heroes. Even though he wants to see his ex, right now wasn''t the time.


    He doesn''t know what or who, but for some reason, they wanted Will to have a different path than the other heroes. He never believed in fate, or even god, but believed that things happen for a reason. It might not always turn out the way you want it, it might bring you pain, grieve, anger, but that''s life. You can only learn to live with it.


    Meanwhile¡­


    A young girl was staring outside the window. She looked at the amazing scenery, but her mind was elsewhere.


    "Sandra, what are you doing?" A young male asked. For some reason, he was shirtless but extremely ripped.


    "Nothing, Bruce. Just wondering."


    Her name is ''Cassandra'' but people call her ''Sandra'' because it is a shorter version of her name.


    "Are you still thinking about Will? He''s back in his world, probably scared because you disappeared or something. But he''s probably fine."


    "I know he is. I just¡­ nevermind." She left the area and entered her room.


    Bruce felt sad for her. He could tell that she loved Will very much, But they are both in different worlds, with no chance of contacting each other.


    Cassandra laid down on her bed and looked at the roof of her room.


    "I wish I could see you one more time, and tell you that I am okay." She reached her hand out and gripped the air.


    "I miss mom and dad¡­ but I also miss you."


    She was very worried about Will for a very good reason.


    Many years ago, Will had lost a good friend named Alexander Anderson, she also knew him but his death affected Will greatly.


    Will changed completely after that. He wouldn''t talk to anyone. He wouldn''t eat or leave his bed. Not even playing video games brought him joy.


    It was around the time that they were still dating. She went to check on him to help him in any way she could.


    But that is when she found out that the reason he was suffering is because Will was the reason why Alex died. He was the one who sent Alex to his death.


    And now that she''s gone, she believes that Will was depressed because she disappeared. After all, if something like that had happened to Will, she too would feel awfully depressed.


    She could only hope that Will was doing fine, and hoped that her sudden disappearance wouldn''t affect him too much.

 Chapter 16 - July and son

    Many days had passed in a blink of an eye ever since Will finally got his blacksmith badge.


    The people had suffered so much in the past week due to the black sun. But it seemed that things have calmed down, but not yet entirely.


    Silvas, the king of the elves, while blindfolded drew his bow and an arrow. He was far away from his village, practicing his bowmanship. He listened closely to the change in the wind, a branch breaking, anything.


    *Crack*


    Without showing the slightest sign of hesitation, Silvas pulled the string of his bow and the arrow flew at an amazing speed with amazing accuracy. He was in the middle of the forest, so it is not surprising that the area was surrounded by layers of thick trees.


    His arrow completely missed every single tree, not even hitting a single leaf.


    And from a kilometer away, 2 goblins who were scouting the area, had their heads pierced with a single, normal arrow.


    "Almost perfect. Have I gone rusty?"


    One of the goblins survived, as he had no idea how an arrow pierced his head. He tried to cling on to his life, but died soon after. The reason why it wasn''t a perfect shot is because both goblins didn''t die instantly. According to his logic, that was nowhere near a perfect shot.


    Both of their corpses were su?k?d slowly into the ground with some roots, never to be seen again.


    "Hm?"


    He heard something else and drew another arrow, but he stopped when he recognized those footprints.


    "Radix, Rias!" Silvas asked. He took off his blindfold.


    Each thing has a distinct sound. Silvas was born with an amazing hearing ability. This ability of his helps him hear things clearly, almost as if he could see everything as far as hearing could go.


    "My king." Rias said cheerfully.


    "How was your progress? Were you able to find anything?"


    "We did indeed find zombies in the village where Grace took us. Some of them were infected. But we took care of them." Radix added.


    "I almost found a cure, but it seems I need to do more experiments. I have it written down so I wouldn''t forget if there is a next time."


    "Good, that''s good. You two ran into some serious trouble with some thugs, but at least you two are okay. And I think that Arbor and Grace should be fine after they retrieve the Adalis back. They''re strong, so I have no doubts that they will return safely."


    "How did you know- oh, right, the trees must have told you." Radix said.


    Silvas knew those things before they could them him. The trees in the forest are all linked to one another, they all communicate with each other faster than wildfire can travel.


    And Silvas being the king of the elves, they naturally told him about what happened. But the forest doesn''t know everything, only what happens within the forest. Which explains why Silvas had no idea if Radix and Rias found anything about the zombies.


    "Pardon me, your majesty. But I better head back home." Rias excused herself and ran back to her village at full speed. The village was nearby.


    "Your majesty, something doesn''t feel right about this." Radix added as he expressed some concerns.


    "About what?"


    "Like that zombie we encountered. It is exactly like 300 years ago. The virus spread so fast. If Lea hadn''t saved us with her powers, we would have been contaminated as well."


    "I know what you mean. Why did a zombie appear all of a sudden? After 300 years, it just appeared out of nowhere? Either someone accidentally messed up. Or this was no accident, but on purpose."


    "That''s what I thought, too. For all we know is that there can be more infected zombies out there."


    They both went into deep thought. Silvas wondered the same. But the forest hasn''t told him anything because it doesn''t know everything.


    "Your majesty, I know this is a weird theory on my part, but is it possible that the Witch has returned?" Radix showed some serious concern when he thought of this. It just seemed possible.


    "No, I don''t think so. If such a thing were to ever occur, the whole world will know."


    "Think about it, your majesty. The Great Sage is still alive after all these years. Wouldn''t it make sense if the Witch was never dead, but rather still alive after all this time? Look, even the black sun is the cause of the Witch. Doesn''t it seem strange that such an event can still occur every hundred years even though she is dead?"


    "Your theory seems plausible, but unlikely. I know that the Witch isn''t alive."


    "How can you know that?"


    "One, the Witch sought to destroy all of mankind many years ago, but she hasn''t made a single move after 300 years, it wouldn''t make much sense to let humanity progress so much and not do anything about it. Two, if she were alive, she would have no problems spreading this virus like last time. Compared to what you experienced in that village, that was nothing compared to the Wrath she unleashed 300 years ago."


    "Maybe she is waiting to kill the Great Sage. After all, he''s the only one powerful enough to stop her."


    "No, the Great Sage is old now, he is way past his prime. I know that she would have killed the Great Sage years ago if she were still alive."


    "Then where did the zombie come from?"


    "I believe that it was the humans who did it, most likely it had to do something with the ones who were trying to kill you, because you two know too much."


    "But your Majesty, the only ones who could do that are the Great Sage, the Phobia King, or the Fat Empress."


    "You might be right. Or it might be another being that we don''t know about¡­"


    They kept discussing about the zombies, but with no evidence, they had no idea who or what could have almost caused a zombie plague.


    Clement could never find the ''usual spot'' where the other two men would gather. He tried getting some more info out of them, but the other side found him suspicious, and destroyed the communication stone. Therefore any way to contact them is no longer possible.


    He kept riding on his horse with Princess Harmony. What exactly is he planning to do to the Princess? Nobody knows, not even he himself knew what to do. Not because he''s an idiot, but because many things messed up his plan, Will, black sun, zombies, and the Princess'' dark side.


    Although he expected his plan to kidnap the princess to go wrong, he didn''t expect that his plans would mess up AFTER he accomplished his mission to kidnap the princess.


    Right now, he needed to find Will and retrieve the gun that was stolen from him. The bad thing is that he has absolutely no idea where to go. Will could have gone to literally almost 200 different villages, an empire, or a kingdom. It felt like he was in a wild goose chase.


    And the worst part, is that he is a criminal wanted by the kingdom of Reyes, and there was even a high bounty on his head. He would have no problem disguising himself, but disguising the Princess seemed too far of a stretch.


    Even if he were to tell people about what he knows, no one would believe him, as no one would believe in criminals.


    "Where are we going now, darling?" Harmony kept pressing her ?h?st on his back as she breathed down his neck.


    One would expect Clement to have a flushed face, but it was the Princess who was blushing hard, as if she would climax any moment now


    "Not your business." Clement on the other hand was very serious about retrieving his gun. Other than that nothing else mattered.


    "Okay."


    "..."


    Meanwhile¡­


    3 people finally arrived in a village that was mostly damaged due to the locusts from the black sun. It seemed cleaner than it was a few days ago, but traces of destruction could still be seen.


    The three people were naturally July, Grace, and Arbor. July''s donkey dropped on the ground on his side. No one knew if he was dead, or tired. July got off before the donkey fell.


    "I''ll give you this, human, you are very stubborn." Grace said as she sat on the hard ground. They haven''t rested much in the past few days.


    July ran over to the nearest blacksmith shop. The village that they were in currently was none other than the village where Sam lived, A.K.A. Jack''s uncle.


    Inside the blacksmith shop, was Sam focusing on the current task at hand.


    He was trying to forge a short weapon. The materials he is using is a rare and expensive material known as Cobalt. It is not generally used to forge weapons on Earth, but in this world, things were different.


    Cobalt is stronger than steel and more expensive as well, as this material is one of the few ores that enhances the mana performance in a sorcerer when they use it.


    Jasmine''s mana staff is made entirely out of cobalt, and it was one of the weakest sorcerer weapons, and it is still worth a ton of money.


    A regular cobalt ore costs about 7-8 gold pieces, and Sam needed more than just 1 cobalt ore to craft a good weapon. But he was running low on materials, and he had no money either.


    So he took the only cobalt ore he had, and used all of it to forge a fancy dagger.


    Some blacksmiths would be saddened because they were running low on funds and materials, but Sam was ecstatic right now.


    He took out the cyclop''s horn that he was saving for three days. He was waiting for this moment, and it only took him three days.


    Even since he came out of his hiding spot, he spent 3 days and 3 nights without eating, sleeping, or resting. All that time was spent trying to perfect the cobalt dagger.


    It would take an ordinary blacksmith less than a few hours to make a cobalt dagger, but what Sam was attempting to make right now was not a simple cobalt dagger, but a magical dagger.


    Magical weapons naturally take longer to make, and the success rate to make one is low.


    Using a few more materials that literally cost him his entire fortune, he was finally gonna add the last material in order to complete the magical weapon, the cyclops horn.


    "Please let it work. Please."


    He took out a fancy flask that contained golden liquid inside, only a few drops of it were left. It looked like the flask contained melted gold.


    The golden drop touched the cyclops horn, and it was quickly turning into gold dust and was disappearing quickly.


    "Please, don''t fail me now."


    *BAM!*


    Without warning, the door opened violently as someone kicked it.


    "Ah!" Being spooked by the door violently opening, he accidentally applied too much force on his hand, and the cyclop''s horn was gone entirely.


    "Sam, mom said that Jack would be here. Is he here? Please tell me he is."


    She kept barraging him question after question.


    But Sam''s face was devoid of life. He was this close to possibly creating his very first magical weapon, and his chance was gone, just like that.


    He literally went broke in order to gather the materials to make the weapon. A magical weapon could be sold for thousands of gold, it could not only get him out of debt, but also give him opportunities to become a better blacksmith.


    And he used all the golden liquid for that weapon. That golden liquid was the reason he was in debt, because it is literally the only thing in this world that can make a magical weapon.


    Sam held tightly onto the cobalt dagger. He felt like stabbing someone right now, and by ''someone'' he means his sister.


    But he walked across the room, and tossed the weapon on the garbage. Sam could care less about anything right now.


    "What? Why are you doing that?" July was shocked. Who throws out a perfectly good dagger?


    "I don''t fu?k?n? care anymore. Just leave me."


    He was pissed at her. His lifelong dream of becoming a blacksmith was ruined by her, whether it was intentional or not she was the cause.


    Even if he failed in making a magical weapon it would at least be his fault. But now he will never know if he could make a magical weapon.


    And now he''s gonna have to spend the next few months repaying his debt. And right after that, he''s gonna have to spend the next few years trying to earn enough money to buy those golden drops again.


    Now he''s broke. Even if he sold the dagger, it wouldn''t make much of a difference either.


    Blacksmiths require three things in order to become a good blacksmith, patience, materials, and skill. And now, he has only his skill but not materials and no patience either.


    "What is wrong with yo-" July noticed the flask in the table, and her eyes widened. The flasks that carried the golden drops were unique and very fancy.


    And that''s when it hit her.


    "Did I just¡­"


    Sam went back to the hidden bunker. He locked the door from the inside so nobody would follow him.


    "Sam! I am so sorry." July wanted to apologize with all her heart.


    It was as if she had shattered Sam''s hopes and dreams like fragile glass.


    "Sam!" She tried prying the door, but it was no use.


    The bunker''s door was inches thick, meaning that Sam could not hear her calling to him.


    "What just happened?" Asked Grace.


    "I just shattered my brother''s hopes and dreams."


    "As expected from a human. Always destroying other''s dreams."


    "Come on, Sam. Open up. Let me make it up to you." She tried opening the door, but with her puny strength, it wasn''t enough.


    "Um, hello?"


    A soft voice could be heard behind them. It was a young boy. This boy was none other than Jack.


    "Jack?" When she heard his voice she immediately embraced him tightly.


    "Mom?"


    "Jacky! Are you hurt? Did they torture you?" She immediately checked his body for any wounds, but there was none.


    "I''m fine, mom. What are you doing here?" Asked Jack.


    He had already been here hours ago. Jack was staying at this place and was planning on heading back to his village the next day. Who would have thought that his mother would know where to find him.


    "I saw that you got kidnapped. Your grandma told me that you might be here."


    "Kidnapped?" Jack had no idea what she was talking about.


    "But, are you sure you''re okay?"


    "Yeah, I''m fine. Just a bit tired from all the travelling."


    "Thank god." July could finally rest her soul. After a few seconds, she resumed calling out to Sam.


    "Sam, come on. I am sorry. It was a mistake. I''ll make it up to you." She kept knocking and calling his name, but there was no response on the other side.


    "Hey, you." Grace said a bit hostile towards him.


    Jack looked around and pointed at himself to be sure.


    "Yes, you, Did you by any chance see where the Adalis went?"


    "Adalis?" Jack did not know the species name of Adaline.


    "An organic monster, really fast, tall, bird''s beak."


    "Oh, you mean Adaline." Jack realized who they were talking about.


    "Adaline¡­" Grace''s eyes twitched.


    "What''s wrong?" Arbor asked. He had no idea what they were talking about.


    "The Adalis¡­ the human named her Adaline."


    Arbor felt as if an arrow pierced his heart. He took care of the Adalis while it was still in her egg, and he has never even given it a proper name.


    He thought that he would name it after they finished investigating the possible zombie outbreak, but it was too late now.


    This was the equality of a daughter being taken from you, and that the daughter likes this other person more than you, and then given a new identity.


    "Where did he take her? Do you know?" Grace asked.


    "I don''t know." Jack shook his head. Even if he did know he wouldn''t tell him. Why else would these two disguised elves search for Will? It certainly isn''t about giving him a gift.


    "Do you really not know?"


    Grace''s eyes light shined, it was b?r?ly noticeable.


    Jack was now under a sort of trance.


    "Do you know where the organic creature and the human are?"


    "Like I said, I do not know."


    "This is not good."


    Jack shook his head, his eyes ached a little but the sensation soon disappeared.


    "Does he know where the Adalis is?"


    Grace shook her head.


    "I''ll go ask the trees. They might know something." He went to the nearest tree.


    "You know, you''re very pretty." Jack said as he stretched out his limbs. There was also a smile on his face, but he only smiled because he finally went to the kingdom of Reyes and got to see the place where the heroes were summoned. Not only that, but he has a picture of all the heroes, except Will''s.


    "Don''t give me compliments, you lowlife." Grace left angrily to where her dad was.


    "Lowlife?"


    And just like that everyone went with their day. Sam was crying. July tried owning up to her mistake. Jack was blissful. Arbor and Grace were still searching for the Adalis.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will finally made it to the deserted land. The land was a big bowl of nothing. There was nothing here, but stone everywhere. No trees, no houses, no water, nothing.


    "This can''t be right. Did I read this wrong?"


    Will looked at the map, and he was sure that this is the place that he wanted to live.


    According to the map, it should be a place filled with greens, clear waters, warm, but it was the opposite.


    "Did the guy who sold me this map scammed me?"


    He looked at the back of the map, and he realized something, it had the wrong date.


    "This is a copy of a map of how it looked like when it was 1815. Over 200 years ago¡­ of course. No wonder something felt odd. God I am stupid."


    Will crumbled the map. He can''t rely on it because it''ll just keep giving him bad information. If it was 1815 it would be fine, but it''s 2020.


    "Okay, Will, it took you 3 days on Adaline to arrive here, so you''re pretty far away from the kingdom, and Jack. You have some food, water, warm clothes, and enough materials to make a crappy house, and some woodfire, but I do not know how to make fire¡­ I felt like I made a horrible mistake."


    Will massaged his head.


    In Minecraft, other than building and crafting, there was another thing most players do, adventuring. When playing Minecraft one has to adventure the world, otherwise they will never progress any further.


    Will thought that that logic applied to him as well. He cannot progress through this life unless he explores the world.


    But this isn''t merely a game, but real life. Even if he can''t die, Adaline could. That''s what worried him the most.


    "Adaline, you''re someone who is connected with nature, is that right?"


    Adalis did not know how to respond.


    "Nod your head if you understand."


    And she did nod but many times.


    "One nod is enough. So, does that mean that you can sense the forest or something?"


    Adaline nodded furiously once more.


    "Okay¡­ so can you sense a forest nearby?"


    Adaline stood still.


    "Shake your head if you don''t know."


    Adaline shook her head furiously.


    "Can you sense any food nearby?"


    Adaline didn''t do anything.


    "Yeah, that was a stupid question."


    Will was pondering about something. He was running out of monster parts, which is crucial for feeding Adaline. And it didn''t look like there could be any monsters nearby.


    "What should I do. What should I do." Will kept walking back and forward.


    Adaline kept looking at Will. And then she grew some roots and stabbed the ground beneath her. More and more roots keep sprouting out her body.


    "I could make a base here, set down my bed. And then after that we can explore the area. But without a map we would get lost. Hm?"


    Beside his foot, he noticed a small sunflower sticking out of the ground.


    "A sunflower?" Will looked around, and there were no other types of flowers anywhere.


    Then another flower popped up, then another, and then a patch of grass showed up.


    "Adaline, is this all you?"


    Adaline nodded furiously.


    "That''s pretty cool."


    He noticed that his book glowed. Upon opening it, more information popped up about Adaline.


    {Adalis}


    {An endangered species, but still tameable. It''s speed and strength vary as they continue to grow and eat . It can grow at an extremely fast rate. It will kill anything when it feels threatened or when it is protecting its young}


    {A lover and protector of all forests. It can produce exotic flowers after eating certain prey. It can go up to 2 weeks without food. It gathers its energy from the sun or standing on or near a forest. It can perfectly camouflage itself in the forest to hide itself from predators}


    {it''s favorite food are goblins, ogres, trolls, gremlins, gnomes, imps. It eats these species only because it believes that they destroy the forests, and therefore are its natural enemies}


    {It''s appearance will change to dead organic matter if it doesn''t eat its specific foods after a week. It will grow weak, lose its ability to camouflage, and will die after 2 weeks}


    {It is the only organic creature that is able to grow acres of forests on any terrain. It depends on how strong it is that will depend on the forest''s growth speed and range}


    {It is able to sense nearby forests, even if a blade of grass is to get lost in a haystack, the Adalis is sure to find it easily}


    "I see. So you''re creating this tiny bit of forest so you can find your way back here?"


    Adaline nodded. It was smart. She knew that Will would want to stay in this place, but it would be dumb because the whole area was dry and devoid of life. It could prove to be a challenge to find something in this area.


    But with this little but of grass and flowers in here, it can find its way back easily.


    "I am so glad to have you here with me." He patted Adaline on her giant head. If it weren''t for her, he would be lost or dead by now, most likely dead.


    He placed down his ?h?st and took out the tools needed to craft his base.. Will was excited.

 Chapter 17 - Groundwater

    "Finally done. What do you think, Adaline?" Will dusted his hands off. His eyes glowed brightly as he looked at the marvelous creation in front of him. It was as if he had created the new Mona Lisa.


    In front of him, was what appeared to be a stone house. Calling it a ''house'' would be a complement. It looked like something out of a scary movie where a witch would live.


    The house was leaning on one side. It had no windows, a crappy wooden door that was somehow misplaced. It was only one story tall, and very small, like the size of a crappy hotel room, but with no bathrooms at all.


    Adaline was glad that she couldn''t speak and voice her opinion. Otherwise Will''s self esteem would crumble to dust. She''s a creature and she has seen trees that are more suitable to live in than that crappy building.


    Will knew that in his heart this was garbage. But it was also his garbage.


    "I know how to make bathrooms, but I just don''t have the materials in me to make them. Maybe I should have stored up on toilet paper after all."


    Will had forgotten that once the virus hit his world, there was a toilet paper massacre, only God knows why that''s a thing. The one thing he needed to do was store up mountains of toilet paper. He hadn''t learned his lesson.


    One hundred years from now, people will look back in the history books in the beginning 2020 and they will ask themselves one question... ''why''?.


    "Food will also be a problem. I wonder if I can do something about this."


    Will kneeled on the ground. A few hours ago it was nothing but dry land. But acres of land was now covered in lively, green grass. This made him think that it was possible to grow some food.


    "I don''t even have seeds on me. Just how unprepared am I?"


    ''Note to self: make a goddamn list of things I will need before leaving on an adventure.''


    "Adaline, is it possible for you to grow some good or something? Like wheat, berries or something?"


    Adaline looked at Will. She didn''t know what he meant.


    "Right, you''re merely a month old now. So there are probably some things that you don''t know about your given skills."


    Will thought how it was hilarious that he was asking for help from a month old creature. But to be fair she isn''t like other 1 month old monsters out there.


    Even he doesn''t know much about her. He can''t even rely on his bestiary. Just a few hours ago it wrote down new things about her that he didn''t even know. It must be because it needs to meet some conditions in order for the bestiary to be filled, like how right after Adaline displayed her ability to produce grass, the book wrote it down.


    "Seeds¡­ how about this?" Will took out from the ?h?st a seed, it wasn''t a regular seed.


    {Exotic flower seed}


    {Used to grow exotic flowers}


    So far Adaline has produced many exotic flowers, but only one exotic flower seed. Meaning that the odds of getting a flower seed is slim.


    Currently he has no idea what the exotic flower does, other than used to brew potions. But what if it had other uses like making food?


    The book also didn''t help him. He guessed that he either has to brew a potion using the exotic flower, or eat the potion.


    "How do I even grow seeds? Do I need water? Of course I do! Then again this is not an ordinary flower¡­ gah, this is hard! Why don''t I have someone here to guide me?! Even having the annoying Navi here would be fine!"


    (Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time reference)


    As time went on, the more he realized just how unprepared he was. Before he left he should have at least learned how to grow food. Will thought that he could just go along with it, and he was so wrong.


    He left the iron ?h?st inside his house, and also placed his bed. This way if he dies he would at least spawn with his stuff in his new crappy house. He still doesn''t know if he dies with his stuff on him it''ll spawn with him or without him, but it was better to be safe than sorry.


    The only thing on him was another iron ?h?st that had his tools, his gun, and ammo.


    "Adaline, let''s go for a walk."


    Will got on top of Adaline and they rode off into the distance.


    Adaline made sure that she didn''t run further than she could sense the patch of grass that she made, otherwise they will really be lost.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Come on, Sam. I promise I''ll make it up to you." July pleaded to her brother, who was still sulking in the corner of the room. Somehow July was able to break inside the bunker.


    "..." Sam kept quiet, not even sparing a glance on her.


    Jack wanted to say something, but wasn''t sure what he had to say. His mother just ruined his uncle''s chance of becoming a master blacksmith, a dream to any blacksmith.


    This has been going on for hours now.


    "Sam, I am sorry for what I did. But you can''t really stay mad at me forever, could you?"


    "How bout till I''m dead?" Sam got up and proceeded to walk away from the bunker.


    "Sam." July reached out to his arm, but he flung his arm away.


    "This isn''t the first time you''ve ruined something because of your bad timing."


    "Oh come on, that was years ago."


    "I''m still hurt! You ruined my one chance of having a relationship! And now she''s with some rich guy who sells potions."


    "Trust me when I say this, Sam, you dodged a bullet. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it."


    "Ugh!" Sam angrily stomped outside the bunker with July running after him.


    "Sam, I can pay you back for the mistakes I''ve created."


    "Pay me back? No offense, but even if you worked for years, you wouldn''t be able to pay back 10% of what you destroyed. I mean, you moved to that new village because other blacksmith shops from the other villages were doing better than you, and selling them cheaper as well. You couldn''t make enough money there so you had no choice but to move far away. Mom is even paying you some of her share to support the both of you. You''re a good blacksmith, but you will only be a good blacksmith."


    "Really? Grandma is giving us the money she makes from the hotel?" Jack added.


    "Ummmm¡­" July had no idea what to say.


    "So wait, we''re poor? Can we even continue to afford the blacksmith shop? Are we just throwing money down the drain by buying so many ores?"


    "Jack¡­"


    While they were still arguing, two elves were listening attentively.


    "What are they arguing about?" Asked Arbor.


    "Basic human stuff. It''s always about money and money."


    The sound of a horse trotting got closer and louder to them. A man wearing black leather clothing nailed some papers on the gate of the village, and left soon after.


    Grace read the paper. And what she read shocked her.


    "Dad?"


    "Yeah?"


    "I think Radix and Rias are in trouble."


    "Why do you say that?"


    Grace pointed to the poster.


    "It says that the village was attacked during the day of the black sun. Many people went missing, the mayor of that village is missing, many knights were missing as well. Only one corpse was retrieved, but no one knows who he was. That man had his head blown out by a gun. Nobody remembers how or who did this. Every villager there is completely clueless. This is the same village where Radix and Rias are."


    "I''ll go check." Arbor touched a tree and listened carefully.


    "Hey, hey, humans!"


    Her words merely entered through one ear and exited the other. No one paid attention to her.


    "You also took my teddy bear."


    "That was when we were kids."


    "I COULDN''T SLEEP WITHOUT MY MR. CUDDLES!"


    "Mom, why didn''t you tell me we were broke. I could have helped you."


    "HEY!"


    Grace shouting spooked them.


    "What is it?" Asked July.


    "Read this." Grace handed them the poster which she ripped out from the gate.


    The three read it all at once. And their eyes popped out of their sockets.


    "We''ve gotta go back now!"


    "I have some horses. Just try not to mess it up this time, July." Sam went to the other side to the village to get some horses.


    Jack wished that Will was here right now. Adaline could make it to the other village in a few hours, but it will take 3-4 days by any other means of transportation.


    He also examined his fancy enchanted shirt. Jack wondered how much it could sell for to help his mother.


    "Also, here."


    Grace handed July the arrows that she stole from her shop.


    "I''m too good for those crappy arrows. You can have them back."


    "Thanks." July placed the arrows somewhere safe.


    When Grace heard about their money problems, she felt that she should give her back her arrows. Grace will forever hate humans and nothing will make her change her mind about it. But since July brought them here to help them find the Adalis, she could at least return the arrows to July.


    Although the arrows almost sold for nothing, it was something.


    "Mom, here." Jack also handed her mother something.


    "Jack? Where did you get this money?"


    Jack handed his mother 9 silver coins. It was the money that Will gave him in order to use it to travel to his home. He already spent 1 silver coin on food and transportation.


    "From a friend."


    "The same one who took you?"


    "He didn''t kidnap me, mom. I offered to help him. And we also traveled to the kingdom of Reyes and got to see incredible things."


    "Wait, that''s the last place you two went?" Asked Grace.


    "Oops." Jack covered his mouth. He gave them a clue to Will''s location.


    "You went to the kingdom? Don''t you realize that travelling to the kingdom from our home is dangerous?"


    "I''ve wanted to see the place where the heroes were summoned ever since I was a kid."


    "After we''ve helped your grandmother, we''ll have a serious talk."


    Sam returned with 2 horses. July and Jack got on the same horse and sped off as fast as they could, with Sam following from behind.


    Sam has some ties with the person who gave him the two horses, which is how he was able to rent them.


    The donkey that July used to travel was roaming around eating grass. July left it because a horse is much faster than riding a mule. They need to get back to their village as soon as possible.


    "It seems that Radix and Rias have made it home safely." Arbor said.


    "Thank god. Also the Adalis was last spotted in the kingdom of Reyes."


    "Reyes? Oh, that''s not good." Arbor got worried.


    "Not only is it far away, but our disguises will be seen through. Going to that place is not an option."


    "What else can we do? The forest doesn''t know where the Adalis is¡­ wait a minute, that''s it!" Arbor took out a map from his pocket. His eyes glowed brightly as he just realized something important.


    "What is it, dad?"


    "The forest doesn''t know where the Adalis is, which can only mean one thing, that it is not near any forest. The kingdom and the Empire and many other spots are surrounded by trees, if the Adalis had stayed in any of those places, the trees would have known where the Adalis went."


    "But they don''t know where the Adalis went."


    "Exactly. Which means that the Adalis must be somewhere around¡­ here." Arbor pointed on a spot that was deserted.


    "Grace, this is the only spot where they could have gone."


    "What about the black mountains?" Grace pointed to another spot of the map.


    "It seems very unlikely that the human brought the Adalis there. It''s too far away, and it is also home to the most powerful monsters. Even if the human doesn''t know it, the Adalis is smart enough to never go near that place."


    "But that deserted place covers almost 1 million kilometers. It''ll take us weeks to get there, plus even more time to search the entire area, and it''ll take us a long time to return home."


    "I know. Which is why I am going by myself."


    "What?"


    "Grace, go back home. You''re entirely right, it''ll take us too long to get there, and we will probably run out of food and water before we even get there. I can make the trip and back without too much trouble. But if we both go, it''ll be troublesome."


    "Dad, I won''t let you do this by yourself."


    "It''s fine. Let Lea guide you back to home."


    Arbor got on top of the mule that July left behind.


    "I love you. Stay safe." Arbor kicked the mule and the mule ran at full speed.


    Grace stayed behind and looked at her father getting further away from her.


    Not obeying her father at all, she went inside the bunker, Sam''s house, and searched everywhere for stuff.


    "That man had a good amount of food, but most of it was made out of meat. This should be enough food and water to last me for a good amount of time."


    She took a backpack from the house, and lots of water and food as well.


    Grace touched one of the trees.


    "Please guide me to my father''s location. He can''t take back the Adalis alone."


    Gentle soft whispers were overlapping one another, but Grace could hear them all perfectly.


    "Thanks, Lea."


    Grace began running at a rhythmic pace behind her father''s trail.


    Arbor was right. Adding more people to retrieve the Adalis is more troublesome. It was better for him to know that her daughter would be safe and sound in their home village, protected, rather than being in the middle of nowhere, and facing dangers every night.


    Grace however thought that her father needed her. He couldn''t even hold a proper conversation with a human, so what if the human that took the Adalis would mistake him for a thief and shoot him?


    She has no doubts about her father''s capabilities to survive. But her father forgot something important, the human that took her wasn''t ordinary, at least according to him. So it meant that the human should not be underestimated, as he could be dangerous or a really powerful sorcerer.


    With worry and doubt in her heart, she will not be at ease until she sees her father doing well.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Stop, girl, that''s enough."


    Will stopped Adaline in her tracks. They were still in the middle of nowhere.


    "Just how big is this place? We''ve been running for almost an hour, and there''s no signs of life."


    Will covered his eyes with his arm. The scorching heat of the sun was getting unbearable, like being in a scorching desert.


    "You thirsty?" Will offered Adaline some water and he took some sips as well.


    At this rate, they will be out of water in a matter of days.


    He took out the crumpled map out of his pocket and examined it. It was useless, but it was the only map he had.


    "I wonder what the hell happened here. 200 years ago this place was green, with a giant river travelling across the entire area. But now there is nothing."


    200 years ago it was indeed a wonderful place to live. But over time the entire area changed, until it was uninhabitable, nothing lives here.


    "Crap!"


    Will tripped on a crack and fell face flat.


    "These damn cracks. Come on Adaline, let''s go back to our base."


    They returned back to their base thanks to Adaline. Will sat down on a patch of grass. But the sun kept irritating him.


    "Okay, that does it."


    Will took out his pickaxe and started to mine the entire area, which was mostly rocks with cracks on it.


    He gathered all the rocks he could mine and made a roof providing him and Adaline a nice shade.


    It was merely a thin stone, roof being supported by 4 stone pillars.


    "That''s better." Will lied on the patch of grass. He was tired already.


    "This is not going to go well for us. We need a source of food and water, something which I should have done before we left... "


    Hey held tightly onto a patch of grass. It was very green and fresh. Will just noticed something off about the grass.


    "Adaline, won''t the grass dry up without water?"


    Adaline nodded.


    "Are you using water to keep the grass fresh?"


    Adaline shook her head.


    "Are you saying that there''s water here?"


    Adaline nodded.


    Will looked everywhere, but it was all dried up land.


    "Where?"


    Adaline stomped on the ground 3 times.


    Will placed his ear on the ground, but heard nothing.


    "Is there actually water under us?"


    Adaline nodded her head.


    Will took out his pickaxe and began mining once more. He dug 2 meters below the ground. It was very physical and tiring work, it was nothing like playing video games.


    He placed his ear down, and heard water flowing, it was a faint sound but it was there.


    "There is water down there. Help me mine it!" Will felt excited.


    It is true that the water disappeared from the area, but not entirely. Water trickled into the cracks and crevices between the rocks due to the rain, or because of the river. This is what is known as ''groundwater'' it is a very important water source that many people use.


    Will forgot that in both minecraft and Terraria there is also water underground. He merely forgot about this fact and did not consider it a possibility.


    When he saw just how fresh the grass is, he began to think that there might be water, otherwise the grass would have dried up even a little bit.


    After excavating for a while, the water that travelled beneath them was getting louder and louder.


    And they finally found water.


    "Yes, it''s here!" Will tasted the water by gathering it with a leather bottle.


    "It''s fresh and cool. Perfect."


    Now his water source was taken care of. But there was still one problem, food.. How was he going to solve this problem? He''ll figure it out somehow.

 Chapter 18 - Lesson learned

    Will successfully found a source of water underneath him. It was like an underground river underneath his base. If Will has learned anything from youtube during quarantine, is that moving water is clean, whereas still water could be contaminated.


    After not receiving a debuff from drinking water, he was sure that it was safe to drink.


    But, he thought that there could be something more. After all this time Will had never dug a hole straight down for various reasons. Now that he is alone and has this space all to himself, he could now do what he has been wanting to do for a long time, mining.


    As anyone who has ever played any sandbox games and that has common sense, mining is very important.


    He left Adaline behind on the surface and gave her some food in case he was gone for a long time. Taking his tools and weapons with him, he was ready to mine.


    But like that one song goes ''don''t mine at night'' so Will mined while there was still daylight.


    Digging away from the water source he dug down deeper and deeper, while also taking some breaks every now and then. No ordinary person could have dug that much, but Will had the crafting system, which somehow made him dig better than most people. But his limited stamina could not carry him as far as he wished.


    An example is when he broke through a steel wall using steel tools. It was not possible for an ordinary man, but Will could do it.


    Obviously the deeper he went the darker it got. So he came prepared for once and carried torches, along with some matches and lit them up. To create these matches he needed some coal and sticks, exactly like minecraft, at this time it really shouldn''t be surprising. These torches unfortunately are only temporary and his only light sources, which can only stay lit up for 20 minutes tops.


    It wouldn''t make much sense to dig in a straight line beneath him. He dug down so it made like a stairway path so he could travel back easily. And there''s also an unwritten rule in Minecraft where you NEVER mine straight down. Maybe that logic applies to real life as well.


    Having never mined this deep before made him scared. All he light as a light source was a torch that lasts 20 minutes. There could be numerous dangers in this cave that even he cannot imagine. It''s like the first time one plays minecraft and they hear that creepy cave sound. The worst part is that he doesn''t know how deep he could go.


    But reassuring himself that everything was fine he kept mining and mining.


    And to his surprise he found a cave, a very small cave. It was b?r?ly enough to fit 2 people in it. It shouldn''t even be called a cave, more like a hole.


    On the plus side it had food, but it was fungi, and it looked very poisonous. Will wasn''t going to touch that fungi so he left them there.


    Will thought that he might find some mystical treasure, or a dragon loli who has been imprisoned underground for thousands of years and would serve him as a maid. But reality is often disappointing as a wise man once said.


    "I gotta go deeper."


    Will wasn''t going back without finding something valuable. So he kept mining deeper and deeper as he could. He needed to know what else was underground. Hopefully food but that didn''t seem like it would happen.


    Will is a very, very stubborn man. Once he puts his mind to something he will accomplish it even if it''ll take him days.


    Long ago, he once played a game and sought a rare item, this item could only drop from monster kills, it had a 1/200000 chance to drop. He spent literally 5 days straight grinding for that item. It might have been a long, boring process, but it was worth it. He got to flex on everybody he met. It wasn''t his luck that got him his item, it was his sheer dedication.


    Will was what some people might refer to him as ''weird'' because he is willing to do the tasks that no one would touch even with a 10ft pole.


    He noticed that the deeper he got the harder it got to mine. At first he thought it was because he was getting tired, but it was actually because he was now mining quartz, granite, flint, and other types of stone that most people wouldn''t recognize.


    The deeper he got, the more minerals he would find, and the more difficult it would get. Most of the ores he mined the deeper he went were harder than rock, which explained why he was having more trouble than before.


    And then he found it, the best, the legendary, priceless item¡­


    After many hours of mining, he finds silver, which is worse than steel armor and tools and also worse than his dragon-bone armor.


    Contemplating a bit, he mined all the silver he found and went back to the surface. By then he was ready to sleep. He was satisfied mining this much. And he needed a stronger pickaxe in order to keep mining deeper.


    "How long was I mining for?" He asked himself.


    Looking back, he gasped, he didn''t see the light coming from the door, because it was so far away since he mined so far down. It looked like he was in the middle of space, and a tiny, little, white, dot could be seen from afar, like a lonely star in the darkest night..


    He could not believe how far he had mined. It felt like he didn''t get very far at all.


    Will easily made his way back to the surface. The sun was almost setting down.


    Adaline was soundly asleep on top of the grass underneath the stone roof. She had ran around for so long it was no wonder why she was resting. Various roots from here body impaled the grass and were su?k?n? the water out of the ground..


    He placed down a furnace and lit it up with the silver ore still inside.


    Will knew how to make bronze, copper, stone, wooden, steel, and iron tools and armor. But he had not yet unlocked the recipe to craft silver yet.


    In his mind he didn''t need to craft silver tools, but maybe his recipe book might surprise him with something. And he had nothing better to do at the moment. It was getting dark, Adaline was tired, it would be stupid to travel anywhere right now. As sad as this fact is, finding the silver is probably the best thing that has happened to him today.


    The patch of grass kept expanding on and on. It now looked like a small park in a wasteland.


    Looking at his accumulated loot, it felt as if he wasted his time but not entirely. He did find a source of water, but no food, not even decent ore except steel which he can craft.


    Dead tired, with his hands covered in bruises and blisters, his knees and feet ache, as well as his shoulders, Will closed his eyes and lied on the ground near the furnace. He knew that when he wakes up the next morning his body would be completely sore. He has never used this much strength and energy before.


    Just like how he dug a hole to get to the bunker, it didn''t ache his body much as today, because he mined less and also Adaline was there to help him.


    This is a painful experience that most people would relate to. Will was just like any other man, but just a bit more special than the others.


    Will woke up many hours later. And as he expected, his body ached all over, especially his shoulders and arms. The sun was b?r?ly rising.


    "God, I should have slept on the bed." He was too tired and fell asleep on the spot, he didn''t even think about sleeping on a bed until now, maybe it could even wipe away the pain.


    He took out his smelted ore from his furnace, and to his surprise, he had 38 bars of silver, which is a decent amount.


    "That''s decent at least."


    He touched the ore, and as he expected he unlocked the silver crafting ingredients.


    Will smiled as he expected this. But one crafting recipe caught his eye.


    {Silver coins}


    {Convert silver bars into silver coins}


    {Requires: crafting table, silver ore}


    "I can craft money?! This makes so much sense now that I think about it!"


    Will now realized something, he could literally make money by mining ore. Most if not all video games don''t have this function because it would be considered ''game breaking'' which makes sense.


    But this wasn''t a video game anymore. The method to make great amounts of money was in his face all this time.


    Of course, he immediately crafted all the silver in his hand into silver coins. And to his surprise, he got 110 silver coins, which is the most money he has ever received.


    "Bruh!"


    Will couldn''t believe it. 38 silver bars and he got over 100 silver coins like that. Now he realizes that blacksmithing isn''t the way to make easy money, it''s by mining. He couldn''t imagine how much money he could make by mining gold ore. Then again the reason he wanted to be a blacksmith is so he could craft enchanted and magical weapons granting him more power.


    Converting silver bars into coins is random. Each silver bar can give between 2-4 silver coins.


    This is a function that many terraria players wished came true, but that would be too easy for the players. The crafting system is able to craft anything with the right materials. Therefore crafting coins is rather easy.


    Will leaped around like a maniac. Why wouldn''t he be? He just found the greatest way to make money.


    Forget smithing! He could just mine silver and gold and make infinite amounts of money like that.


    For a minute he forgot his pain. Until the pain in his back and arms were killing him. He suddenly felt like an old man.


    "Ow! Stupid! Worth it."


    He continued dancing around like a complete maniac. Adaline just watched wondering if that''s a normal human thing.


    After 20 minutes, Will was now fine. All he needed was a quick nap on his bed, and he was back to normal.


    It doesn''t work if Will only lies down on the bed, he needs to sleep in the bed for his injuries to heal. He tested this out during the black sun. Due to his insomnia he was never able to sleep properly, but now he can.


    But it does not cure his hunger or thirst, only injuries, poisons, and such. Otherwise all he would need is his bed and he would be technically invincible.


    After leaving his stuff in his terribly made home, he grabbed what he needed and took off with Adaline in hopes to find a village to trade with. Now that he had money, he had an idea on how to use it.


    And yes this money making method is broken and could inflate the economy, but Will doesn''t care, he''s rich. But in this world, although money is important, it is not the answer to all his problems.


    Running around in circles proved to be a complete waste of time. There is not a single soul around except them. Not even a monster, only some dried scorpions were seen.


    "Let''s just run in a straight line. Over¡­ there." Will pointed at a random direction and Adaline ran forth with haste.


    When Adaline ran she kept leaving behind some trails so she could find her way back. And this is a smart method so she could mark the spot where they were at already, so she would know where they had already checked. This way they won''t run to the same spot they had already checked.


    With no map and no guide, all they could do is mark their location and move on.


    This went on for 1 day straight. Adaline was tired of running around. Will was getting frustrated. He was questioning his own stupidity. Why didn''t he leave this place to look for a better location in the first place? Because he thought that this was a good place to set up his own base, but it was anything but a good idea.


    Had he known, he would have set up his base in another spot yesterday. He really thought it would be that easy.


    "Okay, Adaline, last run. If we don''t find something, we will leave this horrible place and never come back. But just in case."


    Will placed all of his stuff inside his two iron ?h?sts. except his bed. He had 2 extra beds in his ?h?st. He did craft another iron ?h?st because he had too much stuff on his person. His iron ?h?st was almost full already, and with the loot he collected from mining the past few days, his iron ?h?st was at its full capacity.


    He looked back at his stone base. It was somewhat better than last time. More sturdier and bigger, but not bad for a beginner like him who only spends less than 2 days building it. Will stole the design from one of the houses he saw in the kingdom of Reyes.


    It was the first real base he constructed, but leaving this terrible place was the right thing to do. Staying in this abandoned wasteland any longer would be stupid.


    They began running and running again¡­


    "You know, most games I''ve played, the main character, which should be me, should have found some secret, powerful, ancient, treasure by now. And then I would smite my enemies."


    At this point Will was spouting nonsense. The heat of the sun was started to get to him.


    And as if life would troll them, they found a village 40 minutes away from their base using Adaline.


    "What?" Will and Adaline stood there dumbfounded


    There was a goddamn village close by all this time, and they never saw it until now.


    If this was an anime, they would have fallen in a comedic style flat on their backs.


    They had run all around the area and found nothing until right now. How did they miss this village? They had no idea. And it wasn''t even a small village, it was at least as big as the village that Jack lives in.


    "Howdy." A man wearing a black shirt and pants said in a southern accent and greeted Will. It was a man with a thick black mustache. His hair was dirty, short and black, but covered in dirt.


    "Howdy?" Will recognized that accent, it was what many would refer to as a southern accent. He didn''t think that he would hear that accent in this world.


    "Y''all are a long way from home. Dis here lands bring death to those who dare trample here. Especially the stupid ones."


    "Really?" Asked Will.


    "Nah, I''m just kidding. I''m Jim. How do you do?" The man said in a normal accent and shook Will''s hand firmly.


    "I''m Will. And this is Adaline."


    "What a beautiful beast. I haven''t seen an organic creature since I moved here." Jim started patting Adaline but she started hissing at him


    "When did you move here?"


    "Eh, About 5-6 years ago give or take."


    "How were you talking like that?" Will was more intrigued in his accent.


    "This is my voice, punk." Jim started once again talking in a southern accent.


    "..."


    "I''m just kidding. You didn''t know? This is a place that a hero once claimed these lands as his own, about 80-90-ish years ago I believe. He used to talk in this accent or so I heard. And now everybody in these parts of the world talks like him."


    "That makes way too much sense." it seemed that the past heroes had many other influences that Will didn''t think of.


    Will took a good look at the villagers. Most of them were all dirty, and the place was dry, no patch of grass was seen. The very air was warm, animals were leaving their feces everywhere.


    The animals were malnourished, and flies were swarming their bodies as if they were already decomposing, but it was their stench that attracted the flies.


    Jim''s clothes were also covered in dirt and mud, but he kept it as clean as he could which is why Will almost didn''t notice it.


    It isn''t a nice place to stay at all. Even Will was disgusted by this village.


    "What happened to this place? Why is it so¡­ dry?"


    "It''s been like this for nearly 40 years."


    "Then why do you all live here? Wouldn''t it be wiser to move?" Will couldn''t even stand it in here for two days, he couldn''t imagine living here for years.


    "Because some of us have no choice but to live here. We can''t afford the taxes or rent from the other villages. If we could we would move out of this place, but to where? This is our home now."


    "Oh." Will felt awkward now. Not everyone is blessed.


    Jack and his mother had the same problem. They moved to a brand new village because it was cheaper to live in it. Maybe in other people''s eyes they were lucky not to move to somewhere far worse.


    "You came to live here, right?" Asked Jim.


    "No, to trade."


    "What do you have?"


    "I have money and I need food."


    "You want food? You''re a hilarious kid." Jim began laughing and walked away.


    "What?" Will was confused. Did he say something wrong?


    He got off of Adaline and scoured the nearby shops looking for food.


    Most of the shops were outside, only a thin layer of sheets covered the products from the sun.


    And his mouth dropped to the ground. The prices were too unfair.


    A single piece of chicken leg, that almost had no meat, costs 60 silver coins.


    With 60 silver coins Will could buy great weapons and probably barrels of food. But in this village 60 silver coins was the equivalent of a dried out chicken leg.


    The worst part is that this is the cheapest thing he has seen in the shop.


    "If you don''t like my prices, leave."


    Will tried many other shops, and they all had huge prices for terrible products.


    Will wondered why this village is in this state. It was rather big, and had many villagers here, but they also carried many diseases as he continued to observe them.


    Some of them tried to touch Adaline for reasons that Will did not understand. Adaline avoided them as much as she could.


    That''s when he realized something, they had no water sources to live with.


    These parts of the world are extremely dry like a sand dessert. With the scorching heat of the sun it didn''t help their situation at all. The villagers had to rely on some gross and extreme methods to survive without water.


    Without water they cannot keep their animals hydrated, they could not wash off the filth off their bodies and the diseases could invade their immune system.


    They tried looking underground, but for some reason there was no water underground. They were all rather unlucky to not find a river of groundwater.


    These lands were unclaimed as no one in their right minds would want to settle here. The village was self-sufficient relying only on trading what little they had with villages that were far away. It was a village where the poor lived.


    The villages that they traded were days away by horse. Since they did not have such methods of transportations they had to go on foot, which took weeks or longer.


    The way back was worse. By the time someone returned with the goods they traded for the food would have already started growing mold, and the horses that they would use to travel back with would often run or die after living in these lands.


    Why wouldn''t they just go somewhere else? Because they have nowhere else better to go.


    "This is sad." Said Will.


    Right now he had a choice, tell them about the groundwater that he found, or keep it to himself.


    He could tell them but most likely they would want to take it all and leave him with nothing. After all, humans are terrible. Will knows this after his friend was killed in a store robbery, and the robber only stole less than 50$ from the cash register.


    Was 50$ really worth his friend''s life? To him no amount existed that could buy his friend''s life.


    But if he keeps it to himself then the people would keep suffering. Will feels no d?s?r? to help them, but looking at their sorry state, especially the kids, it was a hard choice for Will to make.


    "I should bring them some buckets of water." Will thought of sharing some of his water.


    Even one of the villagers was trying to sell her newborn infant to feed her family.


    After strolling through the village he came to a decision. The sun kept blinding his eyes so he thought that he should go anyway.


    "I''ll share some water with them." As he was about to go back to his base, Adaline began acting strange.


    "Hiss." Adaline kept nudging his side as if she was trying to tell him something.


    "Something wrong?"


    But Adaline grabbed Will tightly using her roots from her body and hurriedly placed him on top of her.


    Then Will noticed that most of the villagers were gone. They were in the middle of a dirt road. On both sides of the road were men formed in a neat line. All of them carried handguns.


    Will was sure that they weren''t there a second ago. And now they appeared before him in a second.


    "Kid, if ye don''t give up that creature I will let you know what it feels like to suffer." It was Jim, he led the men to surround Will.


    "What''s going on?" Will asked but slowly reached for his handgun.


    "An organic creature like that could make a damn difference in this town. Their bodies sell for quite a lot. And from what I can tell is that she''s not only a beauty, but quite an uncommon one. With her we could trade it and have enough water to supply this village for months."


    "So that''s it. You want to kill Adaline?" Will felt angry. He was about to give them all water a second ago without asking anything in return. And before he knew it, their true colors showed.


    " ''fraid so. You see no one cares what happens in these parts of the world. I could kill everyone here and no one would give a damn. But I do give a damn. We all have families here and they are all suffering."


    Adaline hissed at them as she walked backwards until her back was up against a building.


    "So you''re willing to kill so everyone else can live?"


    "No. An organic creature like that is worth more to use alive rather than dead. But even if it dies its body is still worth something."


    Will was cornered and outnumbered here with Adaline. He tried to think of something, but had nothing. He had his magical gun that could shoot explosive rounds. After shooting those explosive rounds at the goblins from the first village, he had an idea how powerful they were, but not enough to kill everyone here quick enough.


    Not only that but he did not wear his dragon-bone armor right now. Because wearing that armor plus the heat made it unbearable for him to continue wearing it, which is why he is currently wearing light clothes. Today he did not expect to find a town and be cornered as well.


    The ones surrounding him all look coordinated and very experienced with guns. Most likely before he has a chance to point his gun at them, him and Adaline will be filled with more bullet holes than Bonnie and Clyde.


    After all, Will has only been practicing shooting his gun for a few weeks now. His experience cannot be compared to the others who have probably been practicing for years.


    ''What the hell should I do? I can''t let Adaline die because of me. I won''t let another friend die because of me.'' Will thought of everything, but there was nothing he could think of. Not because he couldn''t, but because he was under intense pressure. He could die and revive an infinite number of times, but the same could not be said about Adaline. Will was one of those people who could not think well under pressure.


    Then he felt Adaline''s roots tightening around his waist, Adaline''s action erased Will''s nervousness. He looked down and noticed that Adaline was sending roots on the ground from her feet. It was b?r?ly invisible that the others failed to see.


    That''s when Will knew what she was plotting. Somehow he knew what Adaline was thinking.


    "So what is it going to be, Will?" Asked Jim.


    "No, I won''t let anyone touch her." Will took a deep breath to compose himself. "But, do you recognize this?" Will took out his iron ?h?st from his pocket.


    Everyone looked at the ?h?st in Will''s hand.


    "Is that a¡­ iron ?h?st? But very, very small." Jim was confused.


    "Yes, but like all ?h?sts, this carries expensive stuff. Inside of this ?h?st are diamonds, jewels, gold coins, you know my most expensive and priceless items that I have come to collect in all my travels. You can have this if you let us go."


    Hearing this they all got a greedy look in their eyes. It would help their situation very much. They began looking at each other deciding on what to do once they grabbed a hold of that small ?h?st.


    Once Will saw that, he knew that his plan worked. He might not work well under pressure, but thanks to his horrifying experience with that dragon, this didn''t seem to be as scary, but still the thought of losing Adaline still made him feel pressured.


    But there was one thought that was going on in Will''s head.


    ''What would Sun Tsu say in this situation?''


    And that''s when he thought of a famous line from Sun Tsu''s book the ''Art of War.''.


    ''In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.'' - Sun Tsu


    ''Thank you, Technoblade, for showing me this book.'' he thanked in his heart one of his favourite Minecraft Youtubers.


    "Is one not enough? How about two?" Will took out his second iron ?h?st that he crafted.


    "Tempting offer, kid. But I have a better idea. You give up your belongings along with your pet, and we will let you go. I don''t like killing, but I am willing to go the extra mile for your sake."


    "Fine, here." Will threw one of his ?h?st as high as he could.


    They all had their eyes locked on that ?h?st. But they forgot one thing, the sun. Because they were staring at the ?h?st the sun came in their point of view and blinded them all temporarily, but some of them had shades on that protected them, this included Jim.


    The sun was getting unbearable so he thought he could use it to his advantage.


    But, then they felt roots coiling around their legs and impaled them like tiny spears.


    Jim and the others did not expect that. They had never heard of an organic creature being able to do something like that. Some organic creatures have special abilities, but they thought it would be weakened by being so far away from water and the forest.


    Jim took out his gun while he was still falling and aimed it at Adaline and shot her. The bullet travelled through her right shoulder and left a huge hole in it.


    "AUGH!" Adaline let out a screech of pain.


    "Adaline!" Will cried out in anger and he aimed his gun at Jim.


    Jim was about to shoot Will, but something unexpected happened. Above him, the iron ?h?st that was smaller than a woman''s hand, grew in size and weight to a real life size ?h?st! Obviously when the ?h?st left Will''s hand, it grew in size. Jim noticed it too late because the sun impeded his vision.


    The iron ?h?st that Will threw carried all of his stuff inside, therefore it was rather heavy. Jim had surprising reflexes and was able to move away before it crushed his ?h?st, but not fast enough. With the weight of the ?h?st and the height it was falling. It crushed his right arm entirely.


    Will quickly took out his gun and shot explosive rounds at the other gunsman.


    Some of the other gunsmen also began shooting, Adaline used her own roots to block the incoming bullets, injuring herself in the process, but protecting both of them at the same time.


    Adaline had to use her own roots to attack and defend. Naturally with the roots being a part of her if it got damaged she would also feel the pain.


    This would''ve been different if she were in the middle of a forest as she could use the roots there, but this place has no such things, which is why she has to use her own body as a weapon and a shield.


    Will quickly ran to the side and began shooting at the gunsmen.


    He shot multiple rounds of explosives creating a giant cloud of dirt around the village. He might have gone too overboard but he didn''t care, he wanted to be sure that they wouldn''t be able to shoot at Adaline.


    Will covered his face with his shirt so the dirt wouldn''t get in his eyes.


    "You okay, Adaline?" He felt that was a stupid question as she had used herself as a shield.


    Adaline coiled her roots around Will''s hand. He could feel her shivering from fear like a little kid. The hole in her shoulder began healing and so did her other wounds. It was thanks to her that Will did not receive the slightest bit of damage.


    In the end she was still a kid. This is her first time encountering a near life and death experience. It happened in a blink of an eye, but it was the worst time of her life. But even after that her first instinct was to protect Will.


    This is the first time she encounters the dark side of humans. She was this close to being separated from Will, and possibly almost died.


    Will felt a surge of emotions piling up inside him.


    The dust settled and there was nothing left but red and meat stains around them. And there was also Will''s iron ?h?st sitting there with an obvious red stain beneath it. But Jim wasn''t there.


    Will took his ?h?st and said to Adaline, "Let''s get the hell out of here." not caring about Jim but only about Adaline, they greatly rode off back to their base.


    They ran away from the village as fast as Adaline could.


    Adaline ran back to their base which is the safest and closest place she knew.


    They got on the pile of grass and lied there under the stone roof that Will built. Will took out his iron ?h?st and saw the blood stain on it. He threw it away out of disgust.


    Before he realized it, his hands started trembling. Was it due to fear? Due to almost losing another friend? Or because it''s the first time he''s killed a man. It was different from killing goblins.


    It was all self defense, but they were acting like that because they had no choice. Any person in their shoes would have done the same.


    Will did not think that it could happen to him or Adaline. He thought that maybe these villagers would treat him fairly just like Jack did.


    But he did not think they would act like that in this world.


    It wasn''t because he experienced a near death experience, after all he has experience with death. But the one death he could never get over with is the death of his friends. Adaline almost died because he wanted to go look for a food source, when it was something that he should have done before arriving in this horrible place.


    Because of his careless mistake, because of his actions, it almost caused the death of another friend. He didn''t want to see that happen ever again.


    Maybe it was because he was transported to this world, or because he met Jack, but he almost forgot how human nature can be so unkind.


    Adaline sensed how he too was trembling from fear. But she could tell that he was afraid of losing her that really made him shiver. She coiled her roots around him like a tight hug.


    Will let her do as she pleased.


    "I''m sorry." He gently whispered to her.


    Now he learned the greatest lesson since he was transported here. Nothing ever turns out the way he expects it. He wanted to find a village to trade, he almost lost someone important to him. He wanted to find a base and build a cool castle, which turned out to be possibly the worst place to live in the world.


    Next time he will be more prepared.

 Chapter 19 - One month

    4 days later¡­


    Will and Adaline were still living in the same wastelands underneath the stone roof that Will build. The roof was now a little bigger and firmer. Stone walls surrounded the area offering them protection. Obviously Will had built these stone walls using his system.


    The stone walls were 3 meters tall and 2-3 inches thick, which would be enough to stop bullets. There were already several bullet holes and cracks on the walls, but that is because Will was testing the durability of the walls.


    He built these walls due to the fear of being ambushed by gunmen from the village, led by Jim.


    Will, like many other people, wanted to leave the area as soon as possible. But there was a small problem, Adaline.


    Adaline was so traumatized by the event that she didn''t want to ever go far away from their base. She did not want to take a chance of encountering those men, or other people.


    Her fear of humans was deep, she feared them all, except Will, the only one she trusts completely.


    Will tried comforting her and encouraged her to leave with him, but it failed. Where Will wanted to go there was bound to be humans. This bit of plot of land b?r?ly had anything on it.


    Obviously Will could not go without her, because she is his fastest and ONLY mode of transportation, and a friend, so it would be unwise to leave on foot. If he did, he would probably be dead before he could leave this deserted land.


    Will decided to wait until Adaline got over her fears, so he built a wall to give her and himself some peace of mind.


    He continued mining and mining, he kept mining silver, iron, copper, bronze, and others and collected it all. After that he smelted it and crafted the necessary items he needed like pickaxes. What he didn''t use was stuffed in another ?h?st. The deeper he got the more difficult it became, which is why he has not been able to find other types of ores.


    His steel axe broke, but he continued making new ones by combining iron and copper. How exactly does this work? He had no idea but he didn''t bother questioning it.


    The stone and other minerals he mined he also stored it and continued making structures.


    He easily made a crappy stone house. It was small and ugly, and yet somehow better than the first house he built in the woods.


    "Haha, Jeracraft would be envious of my creation. Don''t you think so?" Will turned to Adaline but she had no idea what he was talking about.


    "Oh who am I kidding, this is a piece of junk."


    Ugly? Oh yeah. Useful? Most definitely.


    Without this crappy stone house the heat rays would have burned him up. He knows this but still he wanted to build more.


    The stone house wasn''t enough to deal with the heat of the sun. Which is why he would stay underground which was cooler and also used the running water to bath himself.


    His dream is to build a castle, he has been aiming for that goal even when he played on Minecraft, but his laziness got the best of him and he never got close to building a castle.


    This continued for days. His daily routine was mining, smelting, building, eating, sleeping, and repeating.


    Adaline kept watch. The field beneath them expanded greatly and they could not even tell that this is a deserted land. It looked more like a grassy field.


    Will thought that Adaline might have grown some type of food, as his rations were getting low.


    The food inside his ?h?st was almost gone. Will realized the more he mined the more tired he got, the more hungry he became, and so on. He stopped mining for now to make his food last longer.


    Adaline seemed to have no problem, as she could eat tiny portions and not feel any hunger. Her ability to last without food was better than a human.


    Will did not understand why she needed to eat when she was an organic creature, basically like a living tree, like Groot. So shouldn''t it make sense that she only requires sunlight and water?


    But this is a new and entirely different world and species he''s dealing with, so common sense does not apply to this world.


    The day when Will finally ran out of food, he resorted to eating the grass that Adaline grew. He did not like eating vegetables, but his hunger got the best of him.


    He hated the taste but it satisfied his hunger a bit. How he wished he could eat something else right now.


    Meanwhile¡­


    5 days went by after Jack, Sam, and July ran away from Sam''s village to help their mother/Jack''s grandmother.


    The ride should have taken 3-4 days at most, but after the black sun, which was unexpected and brought pain and suffering to many, the people were making life difficult for Jack and the rest, so they took longer than expected.


    There was blood on Sam''s horse and clothing, as well as July''s. It wasn''t their blood but someone else''s.


    When they arrived there were some guards there keeping a lookout. The entire village was practically destroyed, but it was currently going under construction.


    "Oh hey, it''s you." One of the guard''s keeping watch was the same guard that Jack and Will met outside of the Kingdom of Reyes. He immediately recognized Jack.


    "What happened here?" the three of them asked nervously and scared. The newspaper did not mention who died or lived. So these past few days they were a wreck thinking if Jack''s grandmother was alive or not.


    "Some people died during the black sun." The guard said.


    The three of them got off their rides and ran at full speed towards the inn.


    The guards let them through without a care in the world. Their job wasn''t to keep people out of the village.


    "Mom!"


    "Grandma!"


    They barged in the inn practically yelling. The inn was decimated by the locusts during the black sun, as were the other buildings nearby.


    "What? Why are you screaming?" A fat old woman came out of the bathroom angry and restless.


    The three of them hugged her and could finally relax.


    "What''s wrong?" She asked a bit worried to see her children and grandson acting so weird.


    "We heard what happened, and we thought something happened to you." Sam replied.


    "Oh that. Nothing happened."


    "We read that several people had gone missing, including the Chief."


    "Yes, that did happen. I was shocked to hear about it."


    They continued chatting for a while. The newspaper said that the villagers who survived had no recollection of what happened, as if that part of their memory was wiped out. As it turns out it was true since Jack''s grandmother could not even recall what had happened during the black sun.


    But what mattered is that no one else was hurt.


    "Julia? Is the innkeeper Julia here?" A soldier entered the inn with a long piece of paper and some ink and a feather.


    Since this world did not allow people to have last names aside from Heroes, they also had to add the title of their job. For example, Jack would be apprentice-blacksmith Jack, expert-blacksmith Sam, Sorceress Jasmine.


    "That''s me." Jack''s grandmother stepped forward.


    "Sign this, please." he handed her the ink and paper on his hand to her.


    "What''s this?"


    "The kingdom has now recognized this village as part of their property, so in exchange for trades between the kingdom and various villages under its protection, and also protection from any bandits and monsters, you are required to pay taxes if you plan to live here."


    "What?" July''s eyes shot up.


    Julia read through the paper carefully before signing it.


    "In a few days the kingdom will send professional builders to help reconstruct your shop. So long. Someone else will come to collect the tax money."


    The soldier left without saying anything else. July wanted to say something about this tax policy but could not find the words to say it.


    Julia could feel what her daughter wanted to say;


    "After the village Chief died, someone else took control of this village. The new Chief signed the village away to the king, so now we have to pay taxes."


    Before the village was independent. But after various unforeseen complications arose, many people, including Julia, felt that this was now necessary.


    This is the reason why she moved to this village, to avoid paying taxes and to avoid the fierce competition.


    After a while, Jack and July went to their store, and it too was destroyed. It had already been robbed by several people while they were out.


    "This is not our day, is it Jack?" July began cleaning the rubble and throwing it out of her store. Jack didn''t say much and also helped. They could salvage whatever they could before it could be rebuilt.


    It wasn''t long until another guard came with ink and a piece of paper to collect the tax money from July. Gritting her teeth she signed the paper. She did not look forward to it, but there was nowhere else to go, only the deserted land but only a fool would go there.


    In a blink of an eye a month had passed.


    Will probably had the worst time of his life while living in the deserted land.


    His daily food contained purely grass and nothing else.


    It is very wrong to only survive eating only grass, as it is not easily digested by humans. It can cause several stomach aches, diarrhea, vomiting, which will lead to dehydration. Grass does not contain all the nutritional values that a human needs to survive, so eating it is pointless unless you have nothing else.


    That''s exactly what happened to Will. The first few days of his diet were painful. On the fifth day, he somehow got used to it, or that''s what he thinks.


    It is clearly not possible to get used to eating grass, but, for him it did. Not only that but his body was healthier than before. His acne problem was gone, and that was about it. It''s merely grass so it can''t give him like a super buff or something.


    The brown book had many details on the grass he was eating, but it was ordinary grass, so it shouldn''t give him any benefits. But he thought of a few things that might have caused this.


    This is a new world so maybe the grass is different here.


    Adaline growing this grass might have something to do with it.


    The system. In the first episode he survived a long fall when he fell in the water, he should''ve died but didn''t, it must mean that his body defies common sense. For him sleeping on a bed cures any poison and injury, so it did make sense.


    He knew that it had to be one of these three factors, but wasn''t sure which one.


    Also, his skin was now developing muscle, and his skin was tanned too because of the sun. He started developing muscle when he began mining for the past month.


    Having nothing to do besides mining and building, he focused all his time on those two things.


    His base had greatly expanded. There were 2-3 meter walls surrounding his base that spread out 40 meters in a diameter.


    The walls looked like stone on the outside, but there were several other minerals inside the walls that even blocked bullets like iron, granite, and others.


    He got those from his past month of mining. He had so much iron, copper, and bronze to spare.


    Will thought of mining deeper, but there was a thick layer of granite beneath him. It takes him an hour of mining to make a bit of progress through the granite, by then either he would be too tired or his pickaxe would break.


    He thought of using explosions by using his magical gun, it worked but he died in the process when the entire cave crushed him.


    Fortunately he had his bed nearby so he didn''t spawn a million miles away.


    When he died he did not have his items with him. This proved to him that when he dies he will not respawn with his stuff. Good thing he had a lot of steel on his ?h?sts so he had no trouble mining to retrieve his stuff. But he did not find his body that was trapped in there. Either it was lost or it disappears as soon as he respawns.


    This was good because he''s been meaning to die to see if his items spawned with him, but could never do it on purpose.


    He never used explosions after that and was more careful afterwards.


    Adaline on the other hand had shrunk to 5 feet. She used to be 8 feet tall. This happened after Jim shot her and left her a giant hole on her shoulder.


    She helped by keeping a watch outside the base. Her grass spread throughout the entire base and further. When someone steps on her grass she will be immediately alarmed. Her fear had died down but not to the point that she''s willing to come into contact with another human.


    Obviously her food rations ran out. During that time she developed a new ability, she would grow sunflowers on her body which could be used to absorb the energy from the sun. This was her main source of food for now.


    It would help if she eats, but since she doesn''t move a lot she did not waste energy. As long as she did not waste energy she would be fine without having food.


    The first month no one has come close to their base. Will thought that Jim or the bandits from the last village would''ve found them by now, but it seems that he was wrong.


    Will was inside his stone house with a sad look on his face. He was sitting on a stone chair. In front of him, was a stone table, on the table was a stone bowl, and on that bowl was grass. Everything in his base was made out of stone or some kind of rock.


    Using wood was out of the question. There weren''t any trees nearby so wood was limited. He had a bit of wood left but he needed that for either campfire when it got too cold, or to craft his tools.


    If his wood runs out, he would have no choice but to get some more even if that meant walking on foot through this scorching land. Like in sandbox games, wood is essential for surviving throughout the end.


    "Well I turn into a vegetable if I eat too much grass?" He started talking to himself and not making any sense at all. He had Adaline with him but she couldn''t communicate with him.


    He tried burning the grass, it tasted worse. He tried mashing the grass into a form of juice, probably the worst thing he had ever done. He came to learn that eating dried grass was better than eating fresh grass.


    "Bon appetit."


    He munches on the grass and tears start flowing down his cheeks.


    Not far away was a man basically dragging his body through the deserted land. He covered his face with his shirt to protect him from the sunray, but it was still unbearable.


    He fell down face flat on the ground. He reached to his back to take a sip of water, but the bottle he carried was empty. He shook the can as much as he could for a tiny drop of water, but nothing.


    "Please, Lea, just one drop¡­"


    He spoke in elven tongue. This man is obviously Arbor.


    It took him 3 weeks to arrive at the deserted land, and the past week he had been searching for Adaline without rest.


    An elf''s most powerful weapon is nature, but there was no such thing in here, only burning rocks and the intense heat of the sun.


    He dragged his body using his hands, although he was only able to move forward one inch at a time, and each time became increasingly harder. He couldn''t even open his eyes anymore because the sun was too blinding for him.


    Then, he felt something on his hand. It was grass.


    "Grass?" He touched the grass and it felt fresh despite the intense heat pressure of the sun.


    It was only a few strands of grass but this meant something to him.


    ''There must be a forest nearby, or even a source of water.''


    Without water grass could not survive, and also soil but there is no soil nearby.


    He wanted to get up but he was too weak to continue. Arbor fainted on the spot.


    Adaline, had felt someone touching her grass. She hissed loudly to attract Willy''s attention.


    Will did not hear her. He was lost in his own little world. There was a deadpan expression on his face as he continued to eat grass.


    Roots coiled around his shoulders and shook him.


    "What? What?" He was spooked but realized that it was Adaline. He ran outside.


    Using her vines, she pointed at a specific location.


    "Someone''s here?"


    Adaline nodded.


    Will took out his gun and dragon armor.


    He climbed up some stone stairs that he crafted, he observed the area but found nothing.


    "Are you sure you saw someone?" Will asked.


    Adaline nodded.


    "He must be far away. Could it be Jim? Or maybe a scout of his."


    If it had something to do with Jim he needed to take care of that problem. It would be troublesome if they knew where he lived.


    "Want to come?"


    Adaline shook her head.


    "Stay here. I''ll be back."


    He jumped off the wall and landed on the grass. He ran to the location that Adaline pointed.


    A few minutes of running, he saw something on the ground, a shirtless man.


    At first he thought that it might be a trap to lure him in, but he saw that man''s status bar.


    {Elf}


    {40/15,000 HP}


    {status: fainted, dehydrated}


    "Another elf?"


    He had met another elf back in Jack''s store.


    "What is an elf doing out here?"


    Will thought of dragging him back to his base. After all Elves are lovers of nature, and Adaline is part of nature.


    "Maybe he has something to do with Adaline."


    Will first searched his body for weapons and such.


    He found 2 empty cans, and a pair of identical enchanted swords.


    He poked the blades with his finger and some information appeared in front of him and in the brown book.


    {Elven blade(enchanted)}


    {Damage: 200-300(100+)}


    {A blade made out of metal-grass, the rarest and hardest grass grown on the elven kingdom}


    {Enchanted: deflection III; can deflect any kind of projectiles back to the sender}


    {Enchantment: edge III; increases the damage output of the weapon}


    {Blessed: 90%+ reflexes, 25%+ on all stats boost}


    Both of the swords have the same stats and enchantments.


    Will was shocked, it does more damage than his magical gun.


    Enchantments are obviously a thing in this world, but he didn''t fully understand it until Jack told him.


    Per each enchantment level, the stronger it is. Each level increases its power significantly.


    Example,


    {Enchantment 1 edge} increases the weapons damage output by 1.25x or 25%


    {Enchantment 2 edge} increases the weapons damage output by 1.50x or 50%


    {Enchantment 3 edge} increases the weapons damage output by 1.75x or 75%


    Each enchantment level increases its might by 25%


    This is why magical weapons and enchantments don''t fuse, because it would be too powerful for this world to handle. But even so 2 people have a magical enchanted weapon, the Great Sage, and the Fat Empress.


    He took the swords away from the elf and stored them neatly inside his iron ?h?st. These weapons could basically one shot him.


    He had hoped that he had brought something useful for him like seeds, but his hopes and dreams died right then. Even if Arbor brought seeds it wouldn''t matter because there is no soil for them to grow. And even if he does somehow make or collect soil, the heat of the sun would dry out the plants.


    Will carried Arbor on his shoulder and carried him like a sack of potatoes.


    It was surprisingly easy to carry him, it was due to building strength from mining for the past month. Will might not have realized it but his body has undergone some changes in the past month. It wasn''t due to some miracle drug or by taking a shortcut, it was by hard work.


    Will arrived on his base and dropped Arbor inside his stone house. It provided some shade to Arbor.


    Adaline did not recognize Arbor at first because of the disguise, but she immediately knew it was him. She immediately became ecstatic like a puppy who was reunited with her family.


    "Adaline, bring him some water."


    Adaline nodded.


    Will took out some steel bars and crafted them into steel handcuffs. He cuffed his legs, and arms. Good thing he had literally dozens of ?h?sts filled with ores. Adaline absorbed some water from underground using her roots, and she made sure that it fell in Arbor''s mouth.


    Will wanted to take precautions especially against him. An elf with 15k HP is no joke. The most HP he''s seen was a dragon with 1,000,000 HP, but that''s understandable because it''s a dragon. But this is an elf.


    If this Elf attacks at least he will be restrained and unarmed, and if it doesn''t work Will could shoot him, and he could quickly run away with Adaline.


    The elf he saw before has 300 HP, which meant that this elf before him must be one of the strongest, or so he believes.


    {Elf}


    {269/15,000 HP}


    {Status: fainted, dehydrated}


    He was slowly regaining his health.


    Will knows that when someone''s HP drops near zero, they get weaker, slower, which makes sense since they are weakened, Will knows this from experience.


    Will had no way to recover HP any other way besides lying on bed. He needs to find out how to make health potions or something like that for others like Adaline.


    He tried making potions, but couldn''t for some reason. He needs an ingredient called ''ajio'' which is basically the only ingredient that he needs to craft any pills/potions.


    He has never heard of this ingredient before, so it must be a thing from this world. It was like trying to craft potions in minecraft without using nether wart.


    They both kept an eye on him at all times, especially Will who had his weapons ready.. Should the elf make any sudden moves, he was not afraid to pull the trigger and blow everything up.

 Chapter 20 - Do you English?

    "Gah! Cough! Cagh!"


    Arbor woke up, he could feel his throat was very dry as if it was made out of concrete. He coughed loudly several times before finally realizing that he was in a room.


    Now he noticed his hands and legs were cuffed. He used whatever strength he could muster to break free but it was very durable.


    "Hey."


    Will called out to him, he sat on the corner of the room while pointing a gun at Arbor.


    Arbor took a second to recollect his thoughts and ?ssess the situation he was in. The man before him was obviously human, but very young at least 20 years old.


    The thought about being kidnapped crossed his mind as elves are kidnapped by humans and are used as mere tools for sick purposes.


    "Where¡­ am¡­ so thirsty. CAH!" He kept coughing to clear his throat. It was like running 10 marathons without drinking water all the way. Adaline might have given him water when he was unconscious, but it wasn''t enough. If she had given him more while he was unconscious he might''ve choked.


    Will raised an eyebrow. What was his next move? He had no idea.


    To be fair he honestly didn''t think he would make it this far.


    He grabbed a stone bowl that was on a table and stretched out to Arbor.


    "Adaline, give him this water, slowly."


    Several roots grabbed tightly onto the stone bowl and made its way to Arbor''s face.


    Arbor made a weird look. It looked like water but how was he supposed to know it wasn''t drugged? If his hands weren''t binded he could know, but something told him that the man in front of him wasn''t going to release him from his cuffs.


    He traced to where those roots came from, but they came from outside the house which meant that he didn''t know who or what was controlling those roots.


    "Drink, it''s not poisoned." Will ?ssured him.


    Arbor didn''t understand him, he only knows elven tongue. Only his daughter and some other elves know how to speak human tongue, that''s how they refer to other languages.


    But he didn''t care if the water was poisoned. He took mouthfuls of it not even spilling a drop. It was clean, cool water, as if it was the best and only water he had in his long life.


    "More, please."


    One bowl wasn''t enough after what he had endured this past week.


    "???" Will did not understand him.


    "Can you understand me?" Will asked.


    "???" Arbor had no idea what he said.


    "Um¡­ donde esta la biblio¡­ yeah there''s no way in hell that that''s gonna work. Do. You. English?" Will made giant gestures with his hands as if that was any better.


    "Oh my Lea. I did not think this through." Arbor realized his mistake, he did not bring a translator with him. How was he going to communicate with a human?


    His only reason for coming here is to bring back Adaline. The thought of communication with a human did not cross his mind.


    "What?" Will thought he was talking to him.


    "I wish I had brought Grace. But at least she''s safe from harm and did not have to endure this torture."


    Meanwhile¡­


    Grace was tracking her father''s tracks. She lost track of him after she left the forest which guided her most of the way. Obviously she wasn''t the best tracker.


    Right now she was walking through tall grass that easily towered her. It was like a giant maze of tall grass because it looked like she wasn''t making progress at all, and she was most likely lost for good.


    "What''s a pretty young lil thing like you doing in these parts of the grass?"


    A man with a long sickle blade appeared beside her like a creeper. He was slender and tall, with short black hair and was wearing blue overalls. He smiled at her sinisterly.


    "Hello there."


    Another man came out wearing the same blue overalls as the other man, but this one was bigger, fatter, dumber and bald.


    Grace immediately felt a bad premonition. She gripped tightly onto a cobalt knife that was on her hip.


    "No, seriously, what are you doing here? This is like a maze. If you don''t know your way through this then you are lost for good."


    The man cut down the tall grass using his sickle blade.


    "Pardon?" Grace said but was still on guard.


    "My name''s Billy. This dumb thing here is my younger brother, Tucker."


    "I like being tucked away in bed, that''s why my name is Tucker." Tucker said while picking his nose.


    "I''m Grace?"


    "What brings you here? Why would anyone want to come here?"


    "I''m looking for my dad."


    "You have a dad?" Tucker said, a hint of sadness could be seen on his eyes.


    "Aw shit, you said the damn magic word."


    "WaH! DaD!" Tucker started crying like a big baby.


    "Tucker, why do you always cry when we mention dad? Why? You just saw dad last week! He''s doing fine ever since he lost his arm to some bandit and his organic monster a month ago."


    "..." Grace started to slowly walk away.


    "I wouldn''t go there if I were you. That path will lead you to nowhere."


    "DADA!"


    "Here, look, it''s a rubber mouse, your favourite." Billy took out a rubber mouse from his pocket and gave it to Tucker.


    Tucker made a complete turn and stopped crying.


    "Sorry about that, he''s¡­ special."


    "..." Grace really did not care at all.


    "Here, take this." Billy handed Grace a compass.


    "Keep going north and you will find your way out of this maze."


    "Thanks, but I''m going south."


    "Why would you want to go there? There are monst¡­" Billy looked at Tucker as he stopped his sentence midway.


    "The ''m'' word scares him a lot. Anyways, if you go south a lot of ''things'' will attack you."


    "I''m looking for my fath-"


    Billy quickly blocked her mouth using his hands.


    "Get your hands off me." Grace backed off several steps back.


    "Don''t say anything related to what you were about to say." Billy said seriously.


    "Listen¡­ I need to go to the deserted lands to find my, you-know-who."


    "The deserted lands? Hey, we live there." Billy said.


    "You do?"


    "Yes. Our daaa¡­ you-know-who just recently sent us here to collect some stuff. We usually take this route to avoid any dangers. We were just headed back. If you want you can come join us. There''s a chance that your you-know-who is there. My dad is basically the head of that village."


    Grace looked at the cons and pros of this.


    "Seems that I have no choice."


    "Okay, come on Tucker, let''s get going."


    "NO!"


    "What do you mean ''no''? Dad is waiting¡­ aw shit."


    "DADA!"


    "OH COME ON!"


    ''I am so glad I was born an elf.'' Grace thought to herself. At least she had a clue to where her dad might''ve gone.


    Meanwhile¡­


    This past month Jack''s village wasn''t doing so well.


    After the tax law was implemented on their village it was a disaster. No jobs, no trades, no nothing.


    The village that they live in was in a remote area where very few people lived nearby. So it wasn''t convenient to trade or have anything to do with these kinds of villages. Before it was okay because it was independent and had no tax laws, but now was different.


    Not only was trading from village to village far, but there were various obstacles standing on their way like bandits, monsters, and more.


    Even before Jack''s blacksmith job was doing bad, and with the tax law it was doing worse. They only had a few knives to sell and some arrows, and that was it. Who''s gonna buy bows and arrows when there are guns? But they were out of materials to make guns and bullets.


    And yet somehow despite their financial crisis, Julia, Jack''s grandmother, had more than enough money to feed her family 3 times a day, while others were still scouring for food, even the Chief right now could not eat that much.


    Many of the villagers, which only remained a handful of them, protested and wanted to become independent again, but there''s a problem, they can''t.


    Technically they could become independent again after signing another contract, but there''s a problem, the tax law that''s killing them slowly, is also keeping them alive.


    The increase of bandits and monster attacks was noticeably higher these days. If it weren''t for the protection of the kingdom they would have all been decimated.


    "This is not normal." July said.


    "I know, how does grandma have so much money?" Jack said that but ate a whole loaf of bread with a happy face.


    "Not that. Why are there an increase in monster attacks?"


    "July, how are we supposed to know that answer?" Sam said while eating happily.


    Sam could not return back to his home because thanks to his sister, he''s broke. He has to live with them now until he can get back on his feet. He already sold whatever he could, even his house to pay back part of his debt.


    For some reason his cobalt dagger was gone. It was easily worth a few gold coins which could help him, but it''s gone for good.


    Grace took it from the garbage can when it caught her eye.


    "If we make enough money, we could hunt some monsters on the fourth layer or above. We could earn a fortune." Sam said while he scratched his head.


    "I don''t want lice on my table." Julia smacked his hand with a newspaper.


    "It seems that''s our only way. The shop isn''t doing so well."


    "When has your shop ever done good?"


    "Hmmm¡­ fair point."


    "Isn''t monster hunting dangerous?"


    "Become a sorcerer and you''ll do fine." Sam jokingly suggested.


    "According to what Jasmine told me, it seems like a lot of hard work to become a sorcerer."


    "Nothing is easy. If it was easy to become a sorcerer then everyone would be a sorcerer by now."


    "I think I''ll stick to my blacksmith career." Jack said.


    "Or you could learn from me and earn some good money." Julia suggested.


    "..." no one said anything and continued eating.


    "Aren''t any of you gonna ask me what I do?"


    "..." they sipped on some nice hot coffee.


    "Fine, I guess I''ll say it."


    "What do you do for work, grandma?"


    "NO, JACK!" Sam and July said.


    "Hahaha, not telling any of you the secret of my fortune making method."


    "Ugh."


    This is what happens every single time. Julia never reveals what she does, aside from owning a hotel, but that makes nothing. It was like speaking to a broken record. Whenever they ask Julia how she makes her fortune she always replies the same.


    The best they could do is guess, and the best thing they had come up with is that she was into some illegal stuff.


    Obviously only the four of them know that they''re doing better than others. If word were to spread around that Julia has some money on her, then people would most likely show their true selves and kill and steal from them.


    How nobody has realized this can only be contributed to Julia.


    *Rumble*


    Their house shook violently, a huge shadow covered their house for a second before leaving. Whatever it was it landed in front of the village gate.


    "A monster?" Sam said ready to kill it.


    "Doesn''t seem like it."


    Everyone in the village gathered outside to see what it was.


    The creature that landed in front of the village was a four-winged creature, at least 6-7 meters tall, was covered in blue with greenish spots on it. There was a long, pointy head that stretched on his face all the way back to his shoulders. It also had a strong, thick jaw and large teeth.


    On top of that monster, was a man in his mid 20''s. He wore a white cloak that had two red stripes going across his abdomen area. This is a sorcerer.


    "Oh, it''s the pedophile. Nothing new." Sam continued to scratch his head as if it was full of lice.


    "Pedophile? Oh, is this the Kyle person that Jasmine mentioned?" July asked.


    "Yeah, that''s him." Jack said frustrated. Obviously he''s not happy that the man before him was here.


    Jasmine is not only a good friend of Jack''s and Sam''s, but also July and Julia. They are all acquainted with her.


    A little girl overheard them talking.


    "Mommy, what''s a pedophile?"


    "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh¡­ a person who¡­ can''t¡­ feel love?" The mother was put in a tight spot. How could any parent react normally to these kind of question from their children>


    "Oh, so he''s sick like my uncle."


    "Unfortunately, you''re not wrong about him." The mother brought her daughter away from Jack''s group before she overhears some other ''unique'' words.


    "I never heard Jasmine mentioning him before. What''s his story?" Julia asked.


    "Jasmine mentioned him many times. His name is Kyle. He has been after her for quite some time. His family is sorta rich. And he became a sorcerer when he was 18, making him an experienced sorcerer."


    "We call him a pedophile because that 25 year old man is in love with Jasmine, a 17 year old."


    "He''s been chasing after her for 8 years now." Jack added.


    "Eight years¡­ Jasmine is 17 right now¡­ oh my god." Julia and July frowned.


    "Yeah, many people now refer to him as a pedophile thanks to us." Sam hugged Jack tightly and both smiled, as if what they had done was something good.


    When Jasmine told the fabulous stories of Kyle the pedophile, Sam and Jack made sure to spread the news to as many people as they could. And now everyone makes fun of Kyle, and make sure to keep their children away from him.


    Kyle''s reputation was never recovered and never will be, even though he is a sorcerer. He hides in shame in public areas. Which is why he likes to visit villages far away because not many know about his reputation.


    The sorcerer got off his mount and walked through the village as if he owned the place.


    "Excuse me," he spoke to a random village, "Do you know where the bathroom is?"


    She pointed to a store.


    "Thanks." He ran to the store and finally relieved himself.


    People that gathered here began to disperse and resume with their lives. They all thought it would be something important, but it looks like they were wrong.


    "Let''s go. I don''t want to talk to this pedo." Jack and Sam quickly entered the house.


    July followed them. Julia went back to her job at the hotel.


    Not long after that same sorcerer came to the hotel.


    "Excuse me, I would like to stay a few nights here."


    "1 silver coin a day."


    "What? But your sign says that it''s 20 copper coins a night." He pointed.


    "Sorcerers get a premium price, and pedophiles especially."


    "How''d you know I''m a pedo- cough, how about I give you 2 silver coins a night if you don''t spread the news."


    He handed her 10 silver coins on the spot.


    "Make it 5 silver coins a night and I''ll consider it."


    "pFft! Fine." He handed her an extra 15 silver coins.


    Julia took the money and gave him a key. It was basically free money and who doesn''t like free money? She expected a fight from this sorcerer, but he didn''t even put up a fight at all, or even bothered trying to lower the price. It almost made her feel sorry for him. But then again this guy is a pedo, so yeah, she felt not a shred of guilt towards him.


    "So, what''s the news around here? I''ve heard that there are monster attacks happening around here, is that right?" He handed her an extra silver piece.


    "Sorry, I am not supposed to spread the news, remember?"


    "PFFT! That''s not what I meant!"


    "What isn''t? All I know is that some rich, pedophile paid me so I won''t spread any news for the next¡­ 5 days." Julia was merely doing what he asked.


    "Okay, leave it like that. Just please don''t tell anyone about me." He went to his room.


    "No promises." She began smoking without a care in the world.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will was trying to communicate with Arbor trying to get something out of him, but it did not work.


    Arbor was trying to do the same, but it would be better if he wasn''t tied up.


    So far communication between them was impossible.


    "How the hell do I¡­ what the hell am I supposed to do? Adaline?"


    He asked Adaline for help, but she was of no help right now.


    All Adaline could do was communicate using simple gestures. Not even Adaline could do everything.


    While Will was saying one thing, Arbor was saying another.


    "Hey, that Adalis is mine! I''ve been taking care of her for the past few years while she was still in her egg. She''s like a second daughter to me."


    But Will also did not understand him.


    When he pointed at Adaline he got even more confused. No matter what he could not accurately tell what he was trying to say.


    "Maybe there''s something here." Will looked through his brown book but found nothing.


    "And take these off me! And where are my weapons?" Arbor started wriggling like a worm. He was still weak as of right now.. Once he is completely healed he could snap the steel cuffs as if they were twigs.

 Chapter 21 - Kings Guard

    Will kept a close eye on the elf before him, but this was leading to nowhere. How was he gonna ask an elf a question when they don''t even speak the same language?


    "Maybe I should have built a cell. That might have been useful."


    Obviously he can''t have the elf alone in his base. As far as he knows this elf could''ve been sent on a mission to retrieve Adaline, and also kill him in the process. It wouldn''t be the first time it happened.


    "And my gun doesn''t even help in this situation at all."


    The gun he was referring to was the magical handgun that he stole from a man since the very beginning. It was magical and could do many things a normal handgun wouldn''t have been able to. But now his magical handgun is almost broken.


    {Durability: 3/600}


    After using it so many times this past month, its durability had reached an all time low. Will tries his best to not use the magical handgun as much until he finds the materials to fix it''s durability.


    But thanks to this handgun it has proved to have helped him various times.


    "Adaline, do you know how to write?" Asked Will.


    Adaline shook her head. She had no idea what ''writing'' even meant.


    "Yeah, makes sense." Will thought of sending the elf messages through Adaline but she didn''t know how to write in both languages.


    Arbor kept a cool mind and observed the man before him. It''s clear that him and Adaline have a deep relationship. This meant that bringing back Adaline might prove to be even more difficult than he thought.


    It would be easy to kill the man and bring Adaline back, but at the cost of her running away and hating him forever? No way is he gonna let that happen. And also it wasn''t his plan from the beginning to hurt the man in front of him unless it is necessary.


    "Adalis! Can you still understand me?" Asked Arbor.


    Adaline looked at Arbor for a bit then nodded.


    "Can you remove these cuffs? I want you to know that I bring no harm to you or him. I come in peace."


    Adaline tilted her head unsure of what she should do. She''s been with that man for a week at most, so she doesn''t know him very well. Adaline has not realized that the elf before her has also taken care of her when she was still in her incubation process.


    "Please, trust me." Arbor asked sincerely. He could break out of these chains when he was at full health, but that would make Will think that he broke out to cause trouble. It would be wiser to settle this without disputes.


    Adaline looked at Will, he had no idea what he just said.


    Adaline''s roots pointed at Arbor''s cuffs as if she was telling him something.


    "You want me to add more cuffs?" Asked Will.


    Adaline shook her head.


    "You want me to release him from those cuffs?"


    Adaline nodded.


    "Hmm¡­" Will had a bit of trouble trusting him, even though he has not done anything to him, but why take a chance?


    "I''ll do it, but keep a close eye on him. The moment he does something pin him down or stab him I don''t care."


    Adaline nodded seriously.


    "You can unlock the cuffs yourself now." Will said very wary of Arbor.


    Arbor put his hands up slowly.


    He slowly unlocked the cuffs from his feet and massaged them. Wearing cuffs is very tight and it hurts.


    "I don''t bring harm, human. I am not here to kill you." Arbor got up slowly as Will backed up.


    "My name is Arbor¡­ Arbor. Arbor." Arbor pointed at himself as he repeated his own name.


    "Arbor? Is his name Arbor?" Asked Will.


    Adaline nodded.


    "My name is Will¡­ Will." Will repeated the same actions as Arbor.


    "Will? Is that his name?" Asked Arbor.


    "This is Adaline¡­ Adaline." Will pointed at Adaline.


    "Ad¡­ Adaline? That''s your name?"


    Adaline nodded.


    Arbor could feel his heart shatter a bit. The creature before him was like a daughter to him, and it felt like someone took her away from him and changed her entirely.


    "Where are my swords?" Asked Arbor as he made several slash actions as if he carried two invisible blades.


    "...oh. Yeah, you''re not getting those back." Will understood what he meant and shook his head. Why give this man 2 powerful weapons that could one-shot him?


    "Why are you shaking your head? Do you not know or do you not want to give them back?" Asked Arbor but obviously Will didn''t understand.


    "Adalis?" Arbor looked at her.


    "Does he not want to give me back my swords?"


    "This is gonna be hard to earn his trust."


    Little by little they sorta began communicating with each other using hand actions or other types of signs. Adaline tried to help as much as she could as well.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jack was making several weapons on the back of his shop, and by several it means very little as the shop is still doing poorly. All they had right now was knives and short-blades. Anything big or fancy wasn''t possible for them to make due to their limited resources.


    Julia wanted to help them but did not want to. That would be very unwise if she were to buy ores and weapons for them to sell. How would people react if suddenly a terrible shop with no money were to suddenly have a lot of ores and fine weapons? People will come to realize that they have money and steal from them.


    The family had thought of moving out to a better village, but now doesn''t seem wise. They need to choose a time when monster attacks aren''t happening too much. The monster and bandit attacks have to do with the black sun.


    The locusts destroyed everything and caught the whole world off-guard. It''ll take several years before people could recover.


    Some had suffered a lot because of it and had no choice but to become bandits to survive. Same goes for the monsters.


    *Ring*


    "Welcome to our store. How may I-"


    "Jack? Is that you?" A man''s voice said.


    "Oh no." Jack realized who it was, Kyle, the pedophile.


    Jack slowly stepped back to the store hoping that he could avoid Kyle.


    "Wait, hold on a minute." Kyle intrudes the store and towers over Jack. Jack was shorter than most people his age, and Kyle was over 6ft tall.


    "You''re not supposed to be here, Kyle. Get out or I will call the guards."


    "Jack, come on, aren''t we friends?"


    "Not at all."


    Jack did not seem angry or pissed at Kyle, just bothered.


    "Is this about Jasmine?" He asked.


    "Very much. She''s my best friend since we were kids. You''ve been chasing her for years. While you were 19 and she was 9 you had every intention of getting your hands on her."


    "But Jack, it''s true I am in love with Jasmine, but I have never even touched her." Kyle said very earnestly.


    "You tried to make her parents sell her to you."


    "No! I did not! That was merely an engagement gift."


    "That was 1000 gold coins and several rare pills! To anyone else that looks wrong."


    "Again, wrong. I said that I wanted to marry her, but until she was of age appropriate, you know until she turned 18 years old."


    "You took every chance you could to get close to her."


    "What''s wrong with that? I wanted to have a normal friendship, like friends that could trust each other, and then we could you know, go to the next step, which is marriage."


    "And she doesn''t even like you." Jack added.


    "Yet."


    "You''ve memorized everything about her, her birthday, favorite meals, all of her clothes, her family. And you even became a sorcerer just to get close to her."


    There''s a difference between being persistent and a stalker, but Kyle had a case of being a persistent stalker.


    "Shouldn''t most people know about those kinds of things from their partners?"


    "The two of you are not anything. And most couples probably don''t know THAT much about each other. I am not an expert, but I know what I am saying is true."


    "Fair enough. But still, I am not going to give up on her. So, how''s she doing?"


    "She''s fine. Now please get out of this room. Only employees can enter."


    "Right, right. I just wanted to buy some weapons. Do you have anything good on stock?"


    "Just those knives and some arrows."


    "Oh¡­ okay, never mind I''m good. Say, do you know any monster spots?"


    "Monster spots?" Asked Jack.


    "Yeah, you know where monsters live. I need to earn my 3rd stripe as soon as possible."


    Just like a blacksmith has different rankings, a sorcerer has one, too.


    They all wear normal white coats. But there is a stripe on their abdomen area. Each stripe represents a sorcerer''s strength and ranking.


    The highest one can achieve are 5 stripes. 1 stripe means that they''re basically noobs. 2 means amateurs, and so on.


    "Why bother? Isn''t the only reason that you became a sorcerer is because of Jasmine?"


    "Well, yes and no."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Want me to tell you?" Asked Kyle.


    Jack had his arms crossed. He sighed. Kyle might be a pedophile, but what he said is true, not once has he made any improper advancements on Jasmine during the whole time. Although he is creepy and a stalker, he''s a nice guy. Still, he does not want to become friends with him.


    "Alright, tell me."


    Jack is only doing this for one reason, Jasmine. According to what he heard from her is that Kyle is a stronger sorcerer than her, and could possibly become the next Kings Guard in 4 years time.


    It is the reason why Jasmine did not witness the summoning of the heroes. She gave up on going to that once in a lifetime event to practice her sorceress skills.


    "As you know my family is rich. We are just like a step behind nobles, right?"


    Jack nodded. Kyle''s family is indeed rich. How else could Kyle bring a dowry of over 1000 gold coins?


    "It''s thanks to my parents who are sorcerers. Well basically my whole family comes from a line of sorcerers. And so my parents want to force me onto this role so I could keep the reputation of my family going for future generations."


    "I did not know that your parents are sorcerers."


    "Meh, they retired long ago. So it''s not weird that many people might not know."


    Even though Kyle''s parents are sorcerers Kyle wasn''t born as one, which is very normal.


    You could have 100 couples who are all sorcerers, but they will never be able to produce an offspring that has mana in him/her. The chances of an offspring of a sorcerer having mana is zero percent.


    The only known way to receive mana is from the Great Sage himself. There is no other way.


    "I never wanted to become a sorcerer. I wanted to become a painter, but I was rejected from the art school. Makes sense, the best I could draw are stick figures."


    "Same here."


    "But, thanks to Jasmine, I became a sorcerer so I could get closer to her. At first I thought I was making a mistake, and that sorcerers were dangerous, but as it turns out, it''s fun. I never knew that blowing up stuff was fun." Kyle smiled sinisterly.


    Jack backed up a couple of feet.


    "Relax, I haven''t killed anybody yet. I''ve only blown up buildings and monster heads. Nothing to fret about."


    "Okay, but what does this have to do with the stripes? Wait yet?"


    "Oh right. It''s because I want to earn my 5th stripe to qualify to become a King''s Guard."


    "King''s¡­ like Jasmine?" Jack was shocked.


    "Yep."


    "Isn''t that going too far? There is only one spot open. If you plan to take that away from her then¡­"


    "No no no, being a King''s Guard has nothing to do with Jasmine, believe it or not." Kyle shook her head.


    "No?"


    "No, it''s not. I realized something important before I even met Jasmine. I will never forget it, it basically changed my life. So I once had my chef make me a tuna sandwich."


    "A¡­ sandwich?"


    "Tuna sandwich. Yes. So, when I was younger, stupid, naive, I thought that my whole future was planned out. I had a rich loving family, all of their inheritance would belong to me since I did not have siblings or other relatives. So one night, I ordered for a tuna sandwich. When my servant served me my sandwich, I was excited, then I noticed when I took that first bite, it was a chicken sandwich. This made me realize something, nothing ever goes out the way it should. And that is when I had a striking realization, like my world view had changed."


    "Because of a tuna sandwich that happened to be chicken instead?" Jack had a hard time believing this story.


    "It made me realize that my future is not set in stone. I could die at any moment. Which is why I decided that starting from their that I should-"


    "Your whole world view changed¡­ your eyes opened up¡­ the thought that you could die at any moment¡­ is because of a sandwich?"


    "Yes. So yeah, from there on out I started to become wary of my future. Like my wife, kids, descendants, keeping the family business going. Although it wasn''t until much later that I realized becoming a sorcerer is important, it was also then that I realized that no one in my family has ever become a King''s Guard. And I did a little bit of digging and realized that each King''s Guard has been successful and lived a full life.


    They all served kings, fought alongside the greatest heroes, were honored and praised by all for many years, had money, fame, and protection. They are literally second to heroes. And so I aim to become a King''s Guard from now on. To provide my family protection, and even Jasmine, should she become my bride in the future."


    "Let me get this straight: the reason you were chasing Jasmine, the reason why you''re aiming to become a King''s Guard, is all BECAUSE A SANDWICH changed your view?"


    "I think you''re starting to get too focused on this life-changing-sandwich thing." Kyle looked at Jack weirdly.


    "LIKE YOU''RE ONE TO TALK!!!"


    "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just do me a favor, if you see Jasmine, tell her that I love her."


    "Pass."


    "Tell her that I am to become a King''s Guard. I am not going to give up."


    "Only if I see her again." Jack said.


    "Thank you, Jack¡­ one more thing, this is not for her only, but for you and your family."


    "What?"


    "There''s a rumor going on that zombies are still alive."


    "Zombies? That''s not possible."


    "Like I said, it''s merely a rumor. Then again a lot has happened these past two months, the Princess got kidnapped, the summoning of the heroes, the 100th hero missing, the black sun catching everyone off-guard. It''s been a terrible year, don''t you agree? I wouldn''t be surprised if some giant-ass Dragon were to appear and terrorize the world."


    "Well, yeah."


    Jack flinched when he mentioned the ''100th hero'' because he knows the identity of the 100th hero. Everyone else thinks that the 100th hero was never really summoned.


    "And also, tell Jasmine that she needs to work hard. Or else she''ll never become a King''s Guard."


    "Don''t worry about that. I know she''ll become a King''s Guard." Jack said with a hint of confidence.


    "Maybe, but the reason she became a sorceress is due to luck. You know that, right?"


    "Yes, I do."


    "I don''t know if she would get as lucky if she were to become a King''s Guard, but that''s probably not even probable. But, there''s one more thing, there have been no King''s Guards that were women. Out of the hundreds of King''s Guards they were all men. She might be at a disadvantage already."


    "Anything can happen. Like that 100th hero thing, nobody expected it, right?" Jack said.


    "Guess you''re right. So long." He entered the shop hoping to buy some weapons, but instead told his story to Jack.


    He called his mount by whistling loudly, and flew over to the deeper part of the forests hoping to find a powerful monster to kill.


    Jack sighed. He took out some ink and a quill and started writing on a smooth white stone. His eyes opened widely as if a sudden realization occurred to him.


    "Crap! I should''ve given a communication stone to Will! Stupid!"


    Jack had forgotten about keeping in touch with Will. Will had no idea that these kinds of stones even existed.


    Getting over that fact for now, Jack started writing to Jasmine everything that Kyle told him, even about the sandwich part.


    {A sandwich? Are you kidding me?} The stone replied almost immediately.


    {Does it sound like I would make that up?}


    {No, you would probably do better than that. But that is HILARIOUS!}


    Jack chuckled. There was an awkward pause between them. They weren''t in the same room but they felt somewhat awkward.


    Since nobody replied they left their communication stones in a safe place.


    It might look silly that a sandwich changed someone''s worldview, but there are many things that could change one''s world view.


    Like one''s rich parents being shot behind a dark alley and hiring no bodyguards and then becoming a vigilante. A contagious virus spreading. An apple falling down from an apple tree and dropping on your head.


    And many other things could happen like an author experiencing writer''s block and this is the best he could come up with while not having to go on hiatus for another 2 months!!!


    Meanwhile¡­


    For the next few days Will and Arbor have been trying to understand each other, but b?r?ly any progress has been made.


    Will was still wary of Arbor and kept a close eye on him, so did Adaline. Arbor was just happy that Adaline was safe, and that he had some water and food. Grass is more than enough to feed an elf.


    Will gave Arbor his stone house to live in, this way he won''t give away his system powers. It didn''t bother him much, he was using that stone house as a storage space. It carried all the ores and stone he mined over the past month


    Living underground was better. It was cool, dark, had water, and was spacious after all the mining he did. Will would occasionally go out to eat some grass and practice his shooting skills.


    One day he noticed that Arbor was touching the ground full of grass. He didn''t mind it as it could be an elf thing. Who would have thought that on the first day that spot would grow a tiny sapling.


    Arbor somehow made a tiny tree grow on the ground even though he had no seeds.


    Will realized that this was an elves'' ability. But there was no information written on his bestiary which unfortunately could not provide him a lot of help.


    But this meant one crucial thing for Will, wood. He could finally grow his own trees to make wood!


    A sapling takes many years to grow into a fully m?tur? tree, but not in this case. Arbor would occasionally touch the sapling and a strange green glow would appear on Arbor and the sapling. Adaline saw this but she is not able to use this ability, whatever it could do, Will had no idea.


    The sapling took 3-4 days to fully grow. It was without a doubt thanks to Arbor''s weird ability. It''s like how bone meal works in Minecraft but not really.


    The tree would just dry out with the heat of the sun, but no. Adaline made sure to keep it safe. Her ability lets grass survive the intense heat, so she made sure that the tree could survive as well. It was super easy for her, and very convenient for Will.


    Arbor would just occasionally touch the tree, but would always frown soon after.


    Then Will grabbed one of the acorns the tree grew and planted it on the ground. He thought that if he grew more trees it would be slow but would pay off in the end.


    The next day, the results shocked him.

 Chapter 22 - Graces Journey

    Will was shocked to see that his base had not only one, but two trees. One tree was the one that Arbor grew. The other one was in the same place where he planted that acorn. Meaning that this tree that he planted was the same one that he planted.


    It hasn''t even been a week and another tree just grew. Will expected it to take months to show minimal results, and he also tried to make Arbor grow some trees as well to fasten the pace.


    But, the tree he planted grew way too fast.


    "Adaline, did you or Arbor have anything to do with this?"


    Adaline shook her head. Will made her keep an eye on Arbor at all times in case he tries anything funny. Even now he carries his gun and wears his dragon armor on him at all times.


    "What''s going¡­ huh?" Arbor came out and saw another grown tree in front of him.


    "That''s odd. Did I do that?." Arbor scratched his head. He was still tired from growing that other tree.


    Will touched the tree but it was just a normal tree. He also checked the acorns but they were normal.


    "I couldn''t have done this¡­ unless." Will had realized something important that he overlooked.


    In the games of Minecraft and Terraria time goes faster there than in real life. Minecraft takes 20 minutes for a full cycle, while Terraria takes 24 in game minutes for a full day and night cycle.


    Each in-game day lasts 20-25 minutes. And there''s another important thing he forgot, tree growth rate.


    Each tree on those games takes 1-3 in game days to grow not including bone meal. That''s literally about an 1 hour that a tree takes to grow naturally in real life, sometimes more sometimes less.


    He had overlooked this important fact, like how those players can pick up beds and so many heavy items easily as if they''ve shrunk in size, or how they can wear metal armor 24/7 even while sleeping, playing, building, killing, pillaging.


    This meant that he had another ability he didn''t know he had, the ability to grow trees very fast. Not a super awesome ability for most people, but for him this is a very useful ability.


    "I swear, if I ever meet the person or god or whoever it is that forced this system onto me, I am gonna punch them."


    How many times does he have to suffer like this? He could have known everything about his system by now if someone took 5 minutes to explain it to him. But they just dumb on him on this world with no information about anything, and expect him to do good and for what? Everything he had accomplished until now, everything that he knew about the system he figured it out himself.


    He took another few acorns and planted them on the ground. Will sat there and watched. He needed to know how long exactly it takes for a tree that he planted to fully grow.


    Will needs to know this to help him understand the system''s capabilities. But a few minutes later he got up and left.


    "I don''t have anything to tell me the time¡­" Is what he said and left to go mining.


    What was the point of knowing how long it takes for a tree to grow if he doesn''t even have a watch. It feels like he''s been here for years now, but it''s been a month. His sense of time isn''t something he''d rely on.


    But at least the trees grow fast so that takes care of his wood problem. Now all he needs to fix is the food problem. If he continues eating grass like this he will take his chances on the deserted lands to find something else to eat. Eating the same thing for a long period of time can make you go insane.


    Arbor also examined the tree, but there was nothing wrong with it. It was as if the tree was here the whole time.


    Arbor touched the tree to communicate with it. What he heard shocked him.


    "That man did this in a single night?" Arbor couldn''t believe it. Will did something in a day that elves had trouble accomplishing in a month.


    Trees obviously take many, many years to grow. But elves can shorten that time little by little. The fact that Arbor grew the other tree in 4 days is already pushing himself to the limits. Arbor needed a tree to communicate with a nearby forest, but the range was too far for him to contact other trees, it worked like a radio.


    Arbor was now a little bit more curious about Will. He knew he was special when the forest told him before, but did not really understand his abilities. Now having seen it firsthand, he is indeed surprised but not amazed.


    "Is he a hero? No, can''t be. All the heroes have been summoned to the kingdom of Reyes. Except that 100th hero that might or might not have been summoned¡­ here. Oh. Now that makes much more sense."


    Arbor finally figured out Will''s real identity, the missing hero.


    Many heroes have been able to do amazing things, so it wouldn''t be weird if there was a Hero destined to use nature magic like elves.


    What Arbor doesn''t know is that Will has a crafting system, and growing trees is just a few of its unnatural abilities.


    Will sat on the dark mines near the entrance. He pondered for a long while. What else was there about the system that he was missing?


    He racked up his brain trying to remember everything he could about those sandbox games he played and loved.


    Reviving after dying? Check. Shrink items? Check. Growing trees at an incredible fast rate? Check. Growing various vegetables and fruits easily? It''s possible, but not yet fully proven that he''s capable of it.


    Having an inventory? How he wishes to God that he had one. Having placed blocks float on mid-air defying the laws of gravity? Not checked.


    Will mined some stone and placed 2 square blocks that were 20x20 centimeters long.


    He mined the bottom block but the block on top fell. This meant that the blocks he placed cannot defy gravity like in Minecraft or Terraria.


    "Check." Will threw the pickaxe away and began experimenting again.


    Landing safely on water no matter how high he falls? Check. Keeping your stuff on you after dying? Check but doesn''t keep his stuff after respawning. Cheat codes or mods? Like that will ever be a thing in this world. Having a purpose? Not checked.


    So far there is no clear purpose to why he is here. No dragon to slay, no moon god to kill. Was it possible that he had no actual purpose? All he had to do was live in this world the way he wants to?


    There is no one to answer his questions. Will continued to mine and mine collecting all the ores and stone he could get.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Grace had been travelling with two humans these past few days across the deserted lands. The water she brought had run out, her feet were burning and bruised. She felt like passing out at any moment, and so were the other 2 men.


    "Didn''t you two bother to bring a mount here?" Grace asked.


    "We did, but it ran away the first chance it had. I don''t blame it, but we really could use its help right about now." Billy wiped the sweat off his forehead and flicked it on the ground, which made a sizzling noise.


    "So hungry, so thirsty. So hungry, so thirsty." Tucker kept repeating that same sentence over and over again.


    "Here, have another drink. Only one, the rest is for the villagers." Billy opened a metal container and gave it to Tucker.


    Tucker took some sips and even poured some of it on top of his head.


    Billy did not mind, he brought a whole bunch of water containers for this exact purpose. It would be weird if they didn''t prepare for this kind of heat.


    Grace noticed that Billy had a magical item, a silver ring that is like an inventory space. This works great because whatever is inside of the ring does not get affected by the heat of the sun, meaning that their water will remain cool during this intense heat.


    She too brought water because she knew about the heat in the deserted lands, but it seemed like it''s b?r?ly enough.


    "Finally, we''re here."


    Surprisingly it was the same village that Will visited a month ago. The same village that almost killed him and Adaline. It looked way more guarded than before. Even 1 tower was built so someone with a sniper rifle could keep an eye out. Another tower was being built right now.


    "Hopefully your dad is here." Billy and Tucker entered the village and immediately went into this poor wooden building.


    Grace hesitated for a moment before entering the village. She didn''t follow them directly into a house they entered, she just looked around the village to look for some clues about her father.


    Unlike her father Grace did not wander around aimlessly. Which is why she didn''t suffer as much as him when Arbor first travelled through the deserted lands.


    Inside the house was Jim smoking a cigar. The arm that was crushed by Will''s iron ?h?st was completely gone. Jim learned to use only one hand, it was hard but he''s getting the hang of it.


    There used to be a light in his eyes, but now not so much.


    "Dada!" Tucker ran at full speed and shook the house because he''s tall and heavy.


    But, Tucker saw his dad''s missing arm and started to cry.


    Jim rubbed his forehead but the life on his eyes came back.


    "At least you two boys made it back safely. Did you find what I sent you to look for?" Asked Jim.


    "No." Billy shook his head.


    "We found and killed some travelling merchants, but they don''t carry regeneration potions or any potions at all for that matter. And because of the black sun and because of the heroes being summoned, it looks like most potion makers are either gone or too busy. It''ll take months before everything goes back to the way it was."


    "Next time then." Jim understood his son.


    "We managed to bring enough water to last many villagers here a month at least." Tucker wiped the snot and tears from his face.


    "There''s bad news." Jim said, a bit worried.


    "What? Did the man who crushed your arm came back?" Asked Billy.


    Tucker''s breathing immediately hastened, his eyes were shot red. If he were a cartoon character steam would escape from his ears.


    "I''ll kill the man who hurt dada!"


    "No, it has nothing to do with him. Our village population... it grew."


    "Grew? How much?" Billy asked with a deep\ frown.


    "You said that you brought enough water to last the village a month, right? Right now I believe it would b?r?ly last us 2 days, and that is if we limit the water to everyone."


    Billy started to massage his forehead. This was indeed problematic.


    These are people who have nowhere else to go. And Jim and his sons are in charge of taking care of the village. The population grew thanks to the black sun and the locusts killing and eating everything they could.


    "We can''t handle that many people in this village." Billy said.


    "Yes, you''re right. I''m already working on that."


    "Oh, right, here." Billy handed his dad the magical silver ring.


    "Thanks so much." Jim took a water barrel out of the ring and drank some water using a cup.


    "Thank god. Water ran out 2 days ago."


    "Dad, we can''t keep going on like this. We need water and food to survive. Tucker and I can''t keep going back and forward like this to gather food and water, it takes too long and it''s too dangerous walking here to there and back here again. There is only so much we can carry using the magical ring."


    "Like I said, I''m working on it. Do you know something? Some of my scouts claimed to have seen fresh grass growing on these parts of the land. According to them, it would take a day at most to reach there by foot."


    "Really?" Billy''s eyes shot up.


    Grass or any type of greens does not grow on these lands because it''s dry. But, if what Jim said was true meant that there was a nearby water source, otherwise it is not possible for grass to grow.


    "But then why didn''t your scouts look further into it?" Asked Billy.


    "That''s what I asked them as well. They responded with ''I don''t know'' some people are just dumb..." Jim and Billy looked at Tucker who was picking his nose.


    "The Gods finally took pity on us and possibly blessed us with a water source."


    "Have you sent people over to check if it''s true?"


    "They should be back by tomorrow. I also waited for you two to come back. Because of this." Jim held the ring.


    Without the ring they would only be able to carry some water back. And by then the water would be boiling or evaporated. It would be wiser to use the ring to carry a bunch of water back swiftly.


    Having a nearby water source would solve a bunch of their problems.


    "And what if there''s no water there?"


    "Then I would have no choice but to kick some people out of the village whether they like it or not. Honestly, if my men didn''t tell me about this possible water source yesterday, I would have taken action."


    Jim was dead serious. In order for this village to survive they need water. But overpopulation was a major problem to them. Either they find a water source or Jim will have to reduce the population one way or another.


    Tucker who was silently picking his nose said something, "Dad, Billy brought home a girlfriend. She''s real ''purty'' too."


    "Oh really?" Jim suddenly got a little interested.


    "She''s not my girlfriend, you liar. But yes she''s really pretty. I brought her here because she thinks that her dad is here. *Cough* And I also hope that she''ll remain by my side for many years to come." Billy got flustered all of a sudden.


    "That''s my son. Real proud of you." Jim hit his son on the back various times showing that he was proud.


    His son Billy has never taken a liking to girls because they were never his type. Jim got worried that his son was either gay or planned to die alone.


    JIm is the type of father to spoil his children, which is why Tucker is fat despite living in such a deserted land for more than 5 years.


    "Listen, Billy, now that I am extremely relieved to know that you''re not gay, I am gonna tell you just how to make a woman fall head over heels for you. I am gonna show you what I did that made your mother fall in love with me."


    "Ugh, gross¡­ you thought I was gay?"


    "Oh yeah, absolutely. Now, here is the secret to tame a woman''s heart. It won''t be easy, but here it is¡­" And then Jim started to pass on the secret to his son.


    Grace looked around the village, and she has never seen such a poor village before. It was fairly large, but there were way too many people.


    "Beautiful lady, can you help my mother? She''s not moving."


    A small child wearing ragged clothes, was very skinny and malnourished. He tugged on Grace''s clothes as he pointed to his mother who sat on the ground cross-legged. It looked more like a skeleton at this point.


    "I cannot." Grace was saying the truth. Unlike her father she was not that adept with nature like him, her only natural ability is being able to communicate with trees, but every elf can do that.


    She has no healing potions, or magical abilities to cure anything. Grace was an elf, not a healer, or a saintess, or a priestess. Saying that she will help the child will only raise his spirits for nothing.


    "Okay." The kid went to another person and repeated the same thing over and over again.


    Grace kept looking around and saw many men who were somewhat healthier compared to the other villagers, who were fixing many buildings that have been blown up and holes on the ground that were being patched up.


    "What happened here?" Asked Grace.


    "Something obviously happened here, missy." One of the men said. He looked at Grace and raised an eyebrow. To him she looked beautiful but she was a bit above average on looks.


    She was still in her human disguise. If she were to reveal her true form everyone would be stunned by her beauty. It''s because of her elven genes, as elves are known for their beauty.


    But with the majority of the people in the village that are malnourished and smell terrible, an average looking woman to these villagers would look like a top-NOTCH beauty,


    "But tell me what really happened here." Her eyes glowed a tiny bit.


    The man''s eyes glowed a bit just like Grace''s eyes. Now he was under a trance.


    "About a month ago a man came and caused havoc here for no reason. Our boss and friends of mine tried to stop them, but our boss lost his arm and many of our men died or were seriously injured that day."


    Grace frowned. Seems like her dad is not here after all, nor were there any clues.


    "He''s lucky that the bastard had an organic creature with him. Otherwise he would not have been able to escape."


    "Organic¡­ what did this creature look like?" Grace was shocked. She didn''t expect any clues at all regarding her father or the Adalis. If her father isn''t here chances are that he is with the Adalis. The chances of that happening are low, but she has no other clues leading up to him.


    "I wasn''t there so I don''t know. But what I have heard is that it was about 8 feet tall, was really strong, and unique."


    "It must be the Adalis."


    Adaline is a rare type of organic creature.


    "Where did they go?"


    "We don''t know. We ?ssume they ran off back to where they came from, which is not in the deserted lands. Going after them was not a good idea." They thought that Will ran back to somewhere like the Kingdom of Reyes, because why would those two ever want to live in the deserted lands?


    Even if they did somehow chase after Will and Adaline, they had no mount that could catch up to them with Adaline''s speed.


    Grace was in a deep thought. It would be suicide to walk around aimlessely in the deserted lands to find the Adalis and her father.


    "Anything else that I should know?" Asked Grace.


    "Well,,, I heard rumours about a water source nearby, about a day''s foot from here."


    "Useless information."


    Grace was about to walk away but stopped.


    ''If the Adalis hasn''t come back to anywhere near the forest it must mean that she''s still here. Organic creatures cannot go without water or sunlight for long periods of time.''


    "Water source¡­ they must be there."


    Grace connected the dots easily. She looked at the man very seriously.


    "Where is the water source? Tell me?"


    "Somewhere South-East."


    "South-East..."


    "Hey, John, are you gonna keep working or what?" Another man yelled at John.


    "What?" John was free from Grace''s trance. He shook his head slightly as he experienced a slight headache.


    Grace got a compass out of her pocket that she got from Billy. She learned how to use it during her walk over here. It was easy to use. There was no point in using it because she had the forest to guide her before.


    She looked at what she had right now. 2 water cans that were somewhat full, a compass, bow, arrows, and a knife. It wouldn''t be enough water to last for a full day of walking.


    "I could ask Billy for some water. But, if what Billy and this man said was true, then that means that the Adalis and the human with her are the ones who attacked his father and this village."


    There was a chance that if she told Billy where she was going he would follow her. She doesn''t want that to happen. It seems like a problem waiting to happen if she brings them to her.


    Grace ran with full speed to where the Adalis could be without letting anyone else know.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Two men who were riding on top of camels were exhausted from the heat. These two were scouts sent by Jim to look for the rumours water source. They had umbrellas, wore nothing but shorts, and had sunglasses.


    "I''m starting to think this is bogus. Why would grass suddenly show up out of nowhere?"


    One of them started to complain.


    "I''m going to ignore the fact that you said the word ''bogus'' besides we have no choice, this is the boss''s orders. We''re lucky he gave us 3 days worth of water and food. And we''re lucky to have tamed these camels on the way."


    "Ugh, if only we had checked thoroughly before, we wouldn''t have had to travel back here again."


    Then, both of their camels stopped abruptly.


    "Hey, stupid camels, why''d you¡­ stop¡­"


    One of the scouts noticed that the ground looked greener. He took off his glasses and saw patches of grass.


    "Grass? So it was true."


    "HALLELUJAH! WHERE''S THE FUCKING WATER?!"


    "Race you to it." They both got off their camels and ran full speed to where they seemed to have more grass.


    "Wait, what is that?" One of them pointed.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Adaline, who was sleeping near the trees sensed something eating and stepping on her grass. She immediately called for Will and Arbor.


    Will was mining peacefully before two vines crept up on him and shook him.


    "HOLY! I thought that was a snake." Not expecting that it spooked him. He still ran outside to see why Adaline called him.


    "What''s wrong?" Will asked. She pointed outside the stone wall using her roots. Arbor was already on top of the stone walls keeping a lookout.


    "Over there." Arbor pointed.


    "What?" Will did not understand what he said, but understood why he pointed there. Something was nearby.


    He took out his handgun and looked out the walls. On the far side he saw two distinct figures running towards him.


    "They could be dangerous. Hand me my swords." Arbor stretched his arm out to him. Despite looking everywhere he could not find his swords. Will kept them inside a ?h?st with him at all times.


    "No." Will understood what he meant when he stretched his arm towards him.


    "This''ll be a good time to test out my newest weapons."


    He took out from a nearby ?h?st 2 weapons.


    {Iron long-barrel rifle}


    {Damage: 170-190}


    {Keen eye: raises your accuracy}


    Will wished he could add a scope to this weapon, but he didn''t have the materials to make one.


    {Iron ?ssault rifle}


    {90-110 damage}


    {bullet saving: 5% chance per shot that you don''t waste a bullet} (It''s like he has a 5% chance that he can save up a bullet per shot. For example, he has 40 bullets in a magazine round, he can shoot more than 40 bullets using the same magazine, it''s like having more bullets without wasting more bullets}


    He''s been practicing with these weapons almost for a month.


    Will kept those guns by his side, he waited for those two men to get closer. If they were merely travelling here he would find nothing wrong with that. But, if they were Jim''s scouts, he''s gonna have to kill them.


    Arbor kept a close eye on them. Even without his weapons he can still take them out using his hands.


    Adaline hid inside a stone house that Will built for her not too long ago.


    "What? Who are you?" One of the scouts asked, they didn''t expect to see stone walls here much less people.


    "I would like to ask you two the same question. Why are you two here?" Will gripped onto a handgun that was on his back.


    The scouts looked at each other.


    "We come from a village. Our people are in need of help. We just want to know if there is water here."


    Will gripped onto his gun tighter. There is only one village nearby, and that same village needed a lot of help, especially water.


    He planned on giving them some water before, but that thought was quickly thrown out after they tried taking Adaline from him. Now they could all rot in hell for all he cared.


    Arbor noticed Will''s behavior change. Something about those two made him angry.


    "Do you two know of a man named Jim?" Asked Will.


    "Of course we do. He sent us here because he heard that there was water here."


    "He knows! How?" Will was confused. How can word spread that he has water when the only ones here were Adaline, Arbor and him.


    Unless Arbor told someone about it, but that did not seem possible. He doesn''t know English, and he was at death''s door when Will found him.


    Will closed his eyes tightly and hit the stone wall with his other hand as realization struck him.


    "The grass. I should have known." Having fresh grass grow is what possibly gave it out. Someone must''ve seen the grass and told Jim.


    It''s not like he could''ve hid it for long. If no one saw the grass they could''ve possibly spotted the stone walls he built.


    "Wait, doesn''t he look a bit familiar?" One of the scouts said as he looked at Will.


    "Adaline, now!" Will screamed not because he heard them, but because now they knew about this place. If they go back and tell Jim about this place, he''ll bring everyone here to raid the place.


    Adaline used her roots to impale the two men''s feet.


    "Son of a-"


    Now both of them knew who it was in front of them, the same one who attacked them a month ago, the one who had the rare organic creature.


    Will took out his ?ssault rifle and started blasting at them.


    "Run!" They said but their feet were impaled by thick roots, making their ability to run difficult.


    Arbor was immediately shocked. What the hell did they say that made Will shoot them?


    But Will unleashed a hail of bullets. Not long after did they both die.


    Will saw two corpses in front of him. He took out his ?ssault rifle and shot them both.


    "Double tap."


    Arbor stayed back and did nothing. He never would''ve thought that Will had this kind of side.


    Arbor looked at Adaline and she trembled in fear.


    "What''s wrong?" He comforted her. He had never seen her this scared.


    Guns did not scare her because Will practiced with them every day.


    Now that he thought about it, she was scared as soon as those men arrived.


    "Did something happen? Did those humans harm you?"


    Adaline nodded.


    Arbor clenched his fist. He didn''t know exactly what happened, but something terrible must''ve happened to cause Adaline to shake in fear from their presence alone.


    Adaline was like a daughter to him, and any dad who sees her daughter getting hurt by someone will always get angry and act.


    "I wish I''d know what they did to you, so I can pay them back 100 fold."


    He patted her on her head and she felt somewhat relieved now.


    Will went to check what the men had on their person. He knew they were dead because their hp dropped to 0.


    He thought that killing those two was going to be difficult, but it was easy, b?r?ly an inconvenience.


    They had some water which was useless to Will. They carried some dried out food which was probably the best thing ever. A pair of sunglasses but thanks to him it was now just pieces of glass, but he kept those anyway.


    And lastly 2 smooth stones and some ink and quills.


    {Communication stone}


    {Used to communicate with someone else holding another communication stone}


    "So something like this does exist." Will most likely guessed that these communication stones were a way to communicate with Jim from far away.


    He also unlocked how to craft communication stones, ink, quills, and even sunglasses.


    Will had no idea what to do with these corpses. He dug a hole on the ground and dumped them there after covering it up. Nobody besides him will know where the bodies are buried.


    Will noticed a pair of camels calmly eating grass.


    His eyes shined immediately, those camels to him looked like food. Honestly he''s willing to eat anything that isn''t grass at this point.


    He smiled as he went inside his base to craft something important to catch those camels.


    Seeing Arbor comfort Adaline made him feel warm.. Maybe he could trust Arbor just a little bit.

 Chapter 23 - Pokeballs?

    {Animal cage}


    {A portable animal cage used to trap monsters. It does not work on monsters bigger than 10 ft}


    Will unlocked this crafting method after he tamed Adaline. He has never used it on her, but has been planning on using it someday.


    He had planned to trap animals and breed them together like in Minecraft, that will secure his food problem at the very least. Depending on the animal he breeds they could have many uses for him fit for his own survival.


    Now that he has camels eating in front of his base, now was the perfect opportunity to trap them and breed them. Can one even eat camels? Yes, they can, it''s even a delicacy in some parts of the world.


    Will grabbed as many steel bars he had and made 10 portable cages. It''s better to come prepared with more animal cages in case things don''t go as planned. After suffering because he came to these lands unprepared, he learned his lesson and was more prepared now. And also he had a lot of ores to spare.


    "Adaline, come. I need your help." Will decided to have Adaline help him as well.


    Adaline got up and ran towards him. Arbor was left sitting there.


    They both walked slowly towards the camels.


    "Adaline, the moment they run away, you pin them down but don''t stab them. Understand?" Will said very seriously, he has never been more serious in his life. It would be terrible if the camels died or ran away.


    Adaline nodded.


    Will had no idea how these cages worked.


    "Do I throw them like they are pokeballs? Seems logical."


    Will grabbed one of the cages and threw it at one of the camels. The next that happened the cage grew exactly to the camel''s height and trapped the camel inside a steel cage. It all happened so fast that the camel didn''t see it coming.


    "OH MY GOD! THAT IS AWESOME!" Will leaped in joy. The brown book glowed brightly, this meant that he had unlocked something new.


    But the other camel ran away as soon as possible.


    "Don''t let the other one escape."


    Adaline''s roots coiled around the camel''s feet and tied them together. Both camels screamed as they tried to escape.


    Will threw the other animal cage to the camel and trapped him. Now they''re both trapped in cages.


    "I think I am in love." Will looked at the steel cages in his hand. It''s like having pokeballs but not really. Definitely better and cooler than having a leash in minecraft or a glass cage in terraria.


    Both camels tried spitting, kicking, jumping, whatever desperate attempt they could think of to escape from the cages.


    "Let''s see." Will touched the animal cage with his finger.


    {Animal cage 1 (steel)}


    {Durability 500/500}


    {Currently has a (male) camel trapped}


    {Say the words: "System, open cage {Insert name}" Or "System, open all cages" to release the animals from their cages.


    {Animal cage 2 (steel)}


    {Durability 500/500}


    {Currently has a (female) camel trapped}


    "Yes, a male and female camel. God really hasn''t given up on me." Will cried a bit. He was worried that his bad luck streak would''ve continued and given him two of the same gendered camels.


    Will looked into his brown book and found something new added to his book.


    {Camel}


    {Camels are one of the best modes of transportations used in lands that are extremely hot and dry. They can last without food or water longer than a human can}


    {They like to eat grass, grains, wheats, oats, carrots, apples¡­}


    {Camel treat(s): use this treat on two different gendered camels and they will enter into a "love mode" where they will start consummate and produce off-springs}


    {Crafting method: 100x grass}


    {Crafting method: 100x seeds}


    {Crafting method: 100x apples}


    {Crafting method:...}


    "Amazing¡­ wait, why doesn''t Adaline have anything like these treats?" Will was a bit confused. He tamed her a long time ago and hasn''t gotten any other crafting materials for her.


    "Is it because she''s a creature not like pigs, or cows?" Will felt like that made sense. Treats are used only for animals to breed and then to eat.


    "Thanks for your help." Will pat her head gently.


    Adaline rubbed her head on his ?h?st.


    After a while, Will had one problem, dragging the camels inside the cages back to his base.


    It says ''portable'' which should mean that it''s easy to carry, but there wasn''t anything on these cages that told him that it was portable. It didn''t even have wheels installed.


    "Hmmm¡­" Once again he is left on his own to figure out how this system works.


    The description clearly says ''portable'' but it''s not actually portable.


    "It must be a typo, it has to be. But is it?" Will kept examining the descriptions of these cages. The camels tried spitting him through the huge space between the steel bars, but they won''t go through, as if there was invisible glass added.


    He took out his ?h?st and got his steel pickaxe. He gently tapped the steel cage, contrary to his expectations, the animal cage with the camel inside did shrink.


    "No¡­ way." Will''s eyes shot up. This was unbelievable.


    The camel was still inside the shrunken cage. It was currently scared out of its mind, because its whole world suddenly got bigger.


    "Okay, this is definitely out of pokemon, and I love it." He stood there for 5 minutes looking at this camel. This system is more broken than he thought. It was kinda cute how a live sized camel would suddenly shrink to the size of his palm.


    Will took both camels inside his base with relative ease. They were both scared completely.


    Will while inside his base got into thinking, now that Jim knew where his base was there was no doubt that he would send more men here. He needs to be prepared and keep building.


    "First things first, meat." Will got his pickaxe and took down a huge portion of the walls with ease, it was clear that he was now adept in using a pickaxe. His plan is to build another wall beside his wall meant only for breeding animals. He did not think that this day would ever come.


    Arbor knew that Heroes had superior strength so it did not surprise him. But what he doesn''t know is that Will might be a hero, but he wasn''t born with those special traits that Heroes possess. The strength that Will was displaying came from his system, Will can easily break through even steel walls using a stronger pickaxe.


    There was a huge gap between Will now and a month ago. You would think that they were both different people. This Will is now more ripped, tanned, healthier, and confident. He had grown a lot in this short month.


    This time Arbor was surprised. There has never been a Hero that could build something so quick and large. It would take so much manpower, tools, money,, and many, many years to build these walls. But that logic doesn''t seem to affect Will.


    ''Now that I think about it, these walls look new. Did he also build all this in the past month?'' Thought Arbor.


    Will didn''t stop there. The walls that were normally 2-3 meters tall were now 10-12 meters tall. It was easy to climb a 2-3 meter wall, but now this was way harder in case there was a raid on his base. He purposefully didn''t build a doorway or a gate. If someone wanted to come in or leave they either needed to dig down, climb above the 10 meter tall walls, or break through the walls.


    If Jim does send more men, and he Will, he is not going to show them the way to enter it. Right now he didn''t care if Arbor did see the system''s powers, he needed to be sure that he can protect the base from Jim.


    He also built 6 guard towers on his base, and 3 guard towers on the walls of his breeding area.


    It all merely took him 8 hours to build everything. Adaline and Arbor also helped him, without them, it would''ve taken him more than a day to build what he just built.


    They merely kept giving him all the ?h?sts that were filled with stone, all those ?h?sts were from the effort he put into his mining the past month.


    Will, while in the middle of a break, something glowed brightly in his pocket. He took it out and it was the two communication stones that he took from the two scouts.


    {Have you found it? Are you there yet?}


    It didn''t have a name, but Will could merely guess that it was Jim who messaged him. Jim thought that his scouts were being slow and haven''t found it yet.


    Will''s face showed a hint of anger, but it disappeared soon after. The words on the stone also disappeared.


    Does it seem suspicious if he doesn''t answer? What can he do? If he doesn''t answer Jim will definitely get suspicious. But if he does answer would JIm realize it''s someone else?


    Will took some ink and quill and wrote,


    {Not yet}


    It was a short, and simple answer. Surely this wouldn''t make him sus of him, right?


    {Who are you? What happened to my men?}


    "Are you serious?! There''s no way!" Will almost lost his balance. All he did was reply with two words and already Jim realized that it wasn''t his men who responded.


    On the other side of the communication stone, JIm immediately noticed something was wrong. The communication stone was on a table so he wrote on it using his other hand.


    His men would usually reply to him every few hours, it''s been almost 8-9 hours since they messaged him.


    The sentence they use always ends with ''boss'' and this time the word ''boss'' wasn''t written in it. Will had no way of knowing this.


    And lastly, each message they send is sent using their own handwriting. The message he received was very different from before.


    In conclusion, he noticed that the one who responded was someone else.


    {I don''t know what you mean. It''s us}


    {Okay, would you mind giving me your names?}


    Now Will was in a very rough situation. Jim was a lot sharper than he expected.


    Will stopped messaging Jim and continued building.


    Jim placed down the communication stone and sighed.


    "Most likely they''re both dead." If both his scouts were still alive, then the one messaging him would''ve at least known their names.


    "Carlos!" Jim yelled.


    "Yes, boss?" Carlos was a middle-aged man carrying 2 pistols, and was very tall, over 6'' 6'''' He is one of the men who surrounded Will a month ago. Carlos lost a few fingers when Will got too trigger happy with his magical gun.


    "Assemble a team as quickly as possible. We leave at sunset towards the east."


    "Why?" Carlos asked.


    "Just do it. And also let my sons know I want to see them."


    "Yes, boss."


    Soon after his two sons, Tucker and Billy entered the house.


    "Dad? Something wrong?" Asked Tucker and Billy.


    "Both of you need to stay here. I''m going out."


    Jim said that as he brought his weapons with him.


    "Where?" Asked Billy.


    "My two scouts are probably dead. Most likely the one who killed them is still there. Best case scenario that the one who killed them is living in the east."


    "Why would anyone want to live there?" Asked Billy.


    "If I''m correct, it''s because a water source does exist there. And someone else found it before us and set up a ''lil base there." Jim would''ve done the same. If he found a source of water in the middle of a deserted land he too would set up base nearby.


    "We want to come as well." Tucker said.


    "Too dangerous."


    "Dad, we keep travelling back and forth to the other villages which are almost 2 weeks away. We''ve fought soldiers, monsters, and you''ve taught us how to fight and protect ourselves. If you''re ?ssembling a team, then we need to come as well."


    "Fair point, but I am still in charge here. And you both are not to come."


    "And also, remember the girl I mentioned earlier today? She left to the east. At least that''s what people told me that''s where she went." It was Billy''s intention to go to the east anyways.


    Billy was surprised that Grace left without saying anything. Surely he thought that they were at least friends, or that she would ask him for help.


    Grace left without saying anything for a good reason, because her dad and the Adalis might be there. There was a clear conflict between the human that''s with Adaline, and if they knew her connection with Adaline, there could be a fight.


    "Hmmm¡­"


    "Dad, remember what you said about taming a woman''s heart? This is my chance to show it!"


    "Sigh¡­ come along, then."


    "Me too?" Tucker quickly included himself.


    "Yeah, without Billy or me with you, no one could control you. It might get dangerous out there. So if things go wrong, run back to the village. Promise me?" Jim asked, very worried and serious about his sons. They were not children anymore, but men. Well Tucker could still use some help.


    "Sure."


    "My own sons¡­ your mother would be so proud. Let''s go. Grab all the guns you can bring, water and food as well."


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will finally build it, his animal breeding place. It was just mostly stone fences in an open area. It had a lot of grass for camels to eat, and water too.


    On his hand was a camel treat that he crafted.


    It was easy to craft. All he needed was 100 grass, and 10 treats were crafting from it.


    He crafted an iron sickle blade to cut grass, Adaline gathered all the grass she could and handed it to Will.


    Will threw the cages inside the stone fences and they grew fully in size.


    "System, open all cages." Will commanded. It was a neat feature that came with the cages, voice activation locks.


    The cages opened to his command. And the camels like nothing began to eat and drink to their heart''s content.


    Will entered the fence to recollect the cages. And also, he lured both camels using the treats. They were blindly following the scent of the camel treats.


    "Oh? So these treats can lure them." He kept learning something new every day


    He fed both of them one treat each. Not long after both of them started to consummate.


    "Bye." Will left the scene as soon as possible. Why would he want to watch two camels get intimate with one another?


    He checked on how his trees were doing, and as he expected, they all grew so fast.


    "Oh thank god, more wood." Will first gathered all the acorns he could get, then he chopped off the trees and collected the wood.


    Arbor did not feel anything for the trees. Just like all life trees die and grow back. He wasn''t too worried about the trees anyway, because Will could regrow trees in a single day.


    Will planted many more acorns to have more wood.


    "If there is a raid coming, I need to be prepared. I need to start crafting more."


    Will got all the steel and ores he mined, and crafted a shield.


    {Steel shield}


    {Bullets cannot penetrate it and ricochet off}


    The shield was long and fancy, it almost covered his entire body, except his feet. There is even a small hole on the side of the shield meant for melee weapons like spears. It might seem silly to use a shield with a gun, but Will didn''t care, it provided him some protection.


    Will didn''t stop there. He crafted a ton of bullets, and extra weapons. Worse case scenario he will use the magical gun, which is almost completely destroyed.


    He tried making armor specially designed for Adaline, but the system didn''t allow it, or he had just not unlocked it. Which is weird because it''s the crafting system, so shouldn''t he be able to craft anything he d?s?r?s?


    Sometimes Will feels like there''s more that this system isn''t telling him, something that he needs to figure out on his own.


    "Adaline." Will sat beside Adaline who was lazily sitting in the middle of the base.


    "Someday those men are gonna come back here. They know that we are here. So we need to prepare for it."


    Adaline faced Will, she suddenly felt scared.


    "We could run. That seems like a logical reason. But are you still strong enough? Do you want to flee?" Will was busy building so much that he forgot running was an option.


    This depends all on Adaline. She''s the only one who can carry them away from this hellhole safely.


    Adaline thought rationally. Run away back to the forest where she knows she''s safe. After this past month she''s mostly gotten over her traumatizing event. But, would that mean that running is the only thing they should do?


    No matter where they go they are still gonna face dangers, either from humans, monsters, or other things. They once witnessed a live dragon being consumed in seconds. This world isn''t safe at all.


    Will realized this too a long time ago. But he wants to know Adaline''s decision.


    As for Arbor? There''s no way he can communicate with him.


    Adaline stood up and stomped her foot on the ground heavily.


    "Does that mean you want to stay?" Asked Will to be sure.


    Adaline nodded. She wanted to make a stand. It would be a lie to say if she wasn''t terrified right now. She just did a better job right now to hide it.


    "Okay. I agree as well."


    Will especially will not let this base go to JIm, who hurt Adaline. He worked too hard, and suffered too much to let someone else take his base that he build.


    There is nothing else that pleases a gamer more than grinding, and then seeing the results after endless hours of grinding. Imagine all that hard work he did the past month were to be taken away all of a sudden? Would all of this been in vain if he were to give up?


    Will does not want to go back to his old ways of being lazy anymore. He wants to live his life to the fullest. That''s the promise he made to himself, and his family who are back on his home world.


    There is nothing that pisses him off more than someone stealing his hard earned work. Sadly, he''s put more hard work into this base than any other minecraft or Terraria world he played in.


    "Then again I might be wrong about this, hopefully. Have a good night." Will entered his house and slept like a log after taking a shower.


    Adaline kept expanding her grass as far as she could. The further her grass was the more likely someone will touch it, and the sooner she''ll notice them coming


    Not too far away, Grace kept walking without rest. She was tired and thirsty. Her water ran out hours ago. The reason she still kept going is because the sun was down, so the heat didn''t affect her. If she were to rest right now and way until day it would tire her out.


    At least she plans to rest until she arrives at the water source.


    Arbor, on the other hand, couldn''t sleep well for some reason. He climbed the stairs up to the walls. He could see the entire desert from up there.


    Arbor kept staring outside. Something about those men bothered him. Adaline seemed deeply afraid of them. He wondered something, was he a bad father?


    "I left Grace for many years to go venture out and never checked on her personally, I let the trees tell me about her. I failed to fully gain the Adalis¡­ Adaline''s affection. I came here to bring her back, but is that even the right choice? If I divide her from the human hero, it would be cruel of me. But I don''t want to let her go."


    Arbor teared up a bit. He had taken care of Adaline for many years while it was still inside an egg. How he cared deeply about her. Before he knew it, he was raising a second daughter.


    Arbor continued to be in deep thoughts to himself for a while before heading back inside his house.


    He had tried numerous times to contact his people to let him know if Grace and his wife are okay. The fact that he doesn''t know is driving him crazy.


    Meanwhile¡­


    It was already sundown. Jim gathered all of his men near the entrance of his village. The amount of men behind him easily exceeded 50.


    His men were all equipped with pistols, some with ?ssault rifles. They were all in better shape than most of the villagers. They were all glad that they would finally get a source of water, and all they need to do is take it from someone else.


    Jim carried his pistol, inside the pistols were his bullets, but the bullets all had flamelike, indigo colors, the bullets were obviously enchanted.


    A month ago when they wanted to kidnap Adaline, Jim one made a giant hole on Adaline''s shoulder when he shot her, there was no way an ordinary weapon could do that. The only logical reason that made sense is that he had shot her using an enchanted or magical weapon.


    The amount of bullets he had was limited, only 11 shots remained. He found these bullets from a merchant he killed 2 years ago. Jim and many of the men behind him have all done illegal stuff, because they had no other choice.


    "Let''s move." Jim led the man along with his two sons. They all went on foot because none of them had a mount.


    Like Will had predicted, there was going to be a raid, and it would reach his base soon.

 Chapter 24 - Exotic flower

    Will was currently sitting in front of a console playing some more Mincecraft skyblock on hypixel. Beside him was another man in his cell phone scrolling through a light novel story.


    The man was average in height, had dark, short hair. He wore a long dark, sleeved shirt. His eyes were brown. This was Alexander Anderson, Will''s best friend who died.


    Alex was currently reading a light novel called ''Dragon King''s son-in-law'' on qidian.


    Will shut down the computer and sighed.


    "No matter how much I grind in this game, I am always too poor to afford good stuff." Will sighed.


    He found something weird about this. Didn''t he get reincarnated to another world? But his memory was fuzzy.


    "Well if you can''t grind it then make some real life trades with someone." Alex recommended.


    "That would get me banned, and all that hard work that I put into the game would have gone to waste."


    "You won''t get banned if you don''t get caught."


    "Wait, Alex, didn''t you die?" Will said as he remembered something important.


    "What?" Alex looked at Will confused.


    "The store¡­ you got shot during a robbery gone wrong."


    "Um¡­ I''m still here. Are you on drugs? Because you know how I feel about that."


    "No¡­ maybe it was all a dream." Will tried to remember but he couldn''t access certain parts of his memory.


    "You better get your head straight before Sandra comes back." Alex put his phone in his pocket and stretched his arms out.


    "Sandra¡­ summoned to another world¡­ Heroes." Will felt like he could remember, but was facing difficulties.


    "I''ll go pick up the food from the store you send me to collect. I''ll be back. Later we can finish that castle of ours in Minecraft." Alex walked up some stairs, but Will''s eyes shot up that instant?


    "Store? Castle? ALEX! STOP!" Will remembered that this is the day that Alex dies.


    When he ran up the stairs Alex was already in a body bag, and the room he was in wasn''t his house, but a store. Police were there. Lots of people were taking photos of the crime scene.


    "No, not again." Will fell to his knees as he cried.


    "NOOOOO!!!"


    Soon after Will woke up completely covered in sweat and breathing heavily.


    "Alex¡­" Will cried a little. It''s the first time he''s thought about him since he arrived in this deserted land.


    It took him a while to get over it.


    He splashed some water on his face.


    "I''m sorry, so sorry, Alex."


    It was still dark outside, the sun was almost rising.


    He went out to observe the stars. It''s something he did every time he dreamt of his friend. Somehow he believed that his friend is in heaven, and that he''s up there. Will is not a religious person, but he believed that right now Alex is in a better place, and that he was at peace. The thought of this also put him in peace.


    Adaline noticed he got up so she did too.


    "Adaline¡­" He gently patted her head.


    After the sun had risen, he remembered something, the camels.


    There used to be 2 camels, but now there were 3. Two of them were fully grown, and the other was merely a calf.


    The camels were gently resting on the grass, the calf was with his mother.


    "Aw, how cute. But I still want to eat them." Will''s hunger will not be satisfied. Try eating nothing but grass for a month, it would make anyone else crave for anything else, even as something as gross as Arby''s.


    Like right now, thousands of thousands of animals are being slaughtered so people can buy and eat them. They don''t care about how the animals feel, except vegetarians, but they''re weird. How can those guys live without eating meat or dairy? Will will never understand.


    Will didn''t care as well. When the time comes he''ll be able to feast.


    The reason why it didn''t surprise him that a calf was born in such a short amount of time is because of his system. If trees could take less than a day to fully grow, then the same logic would apply to animals and even crops. It''s the same in Minecraft.


    Another page was filled in his book once he saw the baby calf.


    {Calf}


    {Feed them a ''treat'' to speed up their growth}


    "I''ve got some more treats." Will immediately said.


    He took some treats and fed the two ?du?t camels, and fed the rest to the calf. The faster it grew the more camels he could breed, and the faster he could eat.


    Once again he left the scene and continued building.


    Not too far away, someone stepped on Adaline''s grass.


    Adaline noticed someone was getting closer. She immediately called out to Will and Arbor.


    "What''s wrong?" They both asked.


    Adaline pointed to a specific location.


    "Are they already here?" Will quickly grabbed his rifle, ran up some stairs and made it all the way up to the wall. He aimed his rifle but saw nothing. It meant that they were still too far away for him to see.


    "How many are there?" Will asked.


    Adaline stepped on the ground once.


    "One? Only one? Did Jim come alone?" Will couldn''t believe it. Would Jim really come alone when he had men to spare? Not only that but it would take Jim longer to arrive here even if he walked all night.


    Somehow he doubted that Jim would be that stupid to come here alone.


    Arbor squinted his eyes, he could faintly see a silhouette, like a woman''s figure.


    "I see someone." Will pointed his gun at the silhouette, but Arbor grabbed the rifle and pushed it away.


    "Arbor?" Will asked.


    Arbor shook his head. It wouldn''t be wise to kill someone before they got a good look at them.


    Will moved away from Arbor but didn''t point the gun at the figure.


    The figure got closer and closer, and Arbor finally recognized her, it''s his daughter.


    "Grace?!" Arbor jumped the 10ft wall and landed safely and ran up to her at full speed.


    Will was confused but continued to watch.


    Grace was basically dragging her body with her feet. She was about to give in at any moment. It was the worst experience she had ever gone through.


    "Grace!"


    She looked up when someone called to her in elven tongue.


    Grace couldn''t believe it, it was her dad.


    "Dad?" She fell limp and her feet gave up, but Arbor got a hold of her before she fell.


    "Are you okay?" Arbor immediately checked her condition, she was fine, but was dehydrated and dead tired.


    "I''m good, now that you''re here. Is the Adalis¡­?"


    "She''s fine." He picked her up princess style and carried her back to base.


    "Please, let us through, Will." Arbor shouted to Will who was all the way up in the walls, he forgot that Will couldn''t understand him.


    Will scanned the area one more time in case this was a trap. He soon made a hole using his pickaxe to let Arbor and Grace inside, he blocked that hole once more and no signs of damage could be seen.


    Arbor gently laid her on a bed. Adaline got some water for her. It was basically how Arbor was feeling when he first arrived in this base, all she needed was some water, rest, food, and she would be all set.


    Will got a little cautious of her and Arbor. She was an elf in disguise and so was Arbor. It''s clear that Arbor came here looking for Adaline, he found her in this deserted land all through luck.


    But, it would be a strange coincidence if another elf were to arrive in this base as well. The odds of that happening are astronomical.


    Not only that but Will was watching her, and it didn''t seem like she was that surprised to find them, almost as if she knew they would be here.


    It took Grace a few hours to recover, all she needed was water. She had recovered but her feet were still aching. Walking through the deserted lands where the sun was hot and the ground was just as hot, anyone''s feet would ache and hurt.


    Grace was immediately cautious of Will, who was watching her while holding a gun.


    Will took Grace''s bow and arrows before she woke up.


    Arbor stood by Grace''s side, he could feel the tension in the room coming from them. Adaline was outside also watching.


    Grace hates humans in general. Will was very cautious of her. There was a small chance that Jim could''ve send her.


    "Grace, this is Will. He''s the one who took Adaline." Arbor said.


    Grace was a little angry at Will. The reason her father and her went to this place is because he took Adaline and ran off with it.


    "So your name is Will." She said.


    Will raised his eyebrow. The elf could speak english? This would make things easier for him.


    "How did you find this place? And how did both of you know that Adaline and I would be here?" Will asked.


    He also found it strange that Arbor somehow knew that they would be here, but they could never communicate with one another.


    Grace was observing the area and him but still paid attention.


    "We didn''t know which part of these lands you were, but we merely guessed you would be here." Grace answered.


    "Still, how did you know how we were here, in this specific spot? The deserted land spans for millions of kilometers."


    "I don''t know how my dad found you. But I found out that you attacked a certain village about a month ago, with Adaline, and ran away. They also told me that there was a nearby water source here, so I thought that you all would be here."


    "So, Arbor''s your dad¡­ wait, you think that I attacked the village? So what are you gonna avenge them or something?"


    "No, I don''t care about them. We only came here to take back the Adalis."


    Will frowned but already knew about their main goal.


    "If Adaline wants to go back with you, she can. I will not force her to stay." Will said.


    Grace leaned to her father.


    "Dad, he said we can take back the Adalis if she wants to leave with us."


    Arbor shook her head.


    "That''s not possible. Adaline is too fond of him." Arbor started calling Adalis ''Adaline'' on purpose since that''s now her name. He didn''t hate the name, it actually suited her.


    "How? Isn''t the Adalis a creature of nature? Shouldn''t they be more fond of elves?"


    "Not this one, no."


    Grace looked at Will.


    "How is the Adalis fond of you, when you put her in danger?"


    "I put her¡­ I guess in a way I did in danger. But I won''t ever put Adaline in danger on purpose. It just happened. We went to ''that'' village only to trade, but we were almost killed. They planned to kidnap Adaline to sell her. I didn''t and won''t ever let that happen. It''s thanks to her that we manage to get out of there. She''s still afraid of them, which is why we are still here."


    Adaline coiled her roots around Will''s hand.


    Grace almost didn''t believe him, but looking at Adaline seeking comfort from him, then it must be true. She thought that the human who tamed her used something to make her heed his every command against her Will.


    Grace sighed in relief. She was glad that she didn''t tell anyone else in the village about the possibility that Adaline is here.


    Will walked outside to continue building. He suddenly got a good idea.


    "Dad, I''m sorry for not listening, but I just couldn''t let you-" Grace looked at her father. Arbor hugged her tightly.


    "I am glad to see you safe. That''s all that matters."


    They both shared a tight hug. Grace was afraid that they wouldn''t be here, and that she wouldn''t see her father again.


    Will went outside the stone walls and dug a hole around his base that was 3 meters deep. He crafted a lot of stone spears as well, and placed them underground. It took him a while to build, but he had some practice when he built those goblin traps on Jack''s village.


    "What are you doing?" Asked Grace.


    While Will built the traps, Arbor told Grace everything he knew about Will.


    She now knew that he''s a Hero with many abilities, the ability to grow trees in a day, the ability to make weapons instantly, the ability to build, and others.


    Grace also told her father what had happened to Adaline that made her fear humans. He was angry at the thought of that, but it wasn''t anything new. Many elves have also suffered the same tragedy that Adaline almost suffered,


    "Making a trap." Will responded.


    "For what?"


    "Remember those guys from the village that I told you about, the one who tried to kidnap Adaline?"


    "You told me a few hours ago, how could I forget already?"


    "I think that they''re planning to raid this base. They want the water source that''s here. And if they see me or Adaline, they would probably want to kill us like they almost did a month ago."


    "You think or you know?" Asked Grace.


    "I''m not sure. But it''s better to be prepared. Believe me, I know. If I had been a little more prepared before coming here, then we wouldn''t have suffered as much."


    Will grabbed a bunch of grass, and crafted something using a crafting table.


    {Patch of grass: place this on the ground}


    The patch of grass is crafted using a bit of grass. It was the perfect tool to be used for hiding ground traps. He placed all that grass on top of the holes he created to cover them up. If someone aimlessly walked in there they would fall to their deaths.


    The reason he never bothered building this until now is because it would also kill any animals that would come across his base. There was no way he is gonna kill animals like that, it was better to capture them and breed them,


    Grace kept observing him. Like her father said the human before her was unnatural, then again he''s a hero so it''s not weird.


    Her hate for humans will never change, even now she hates Billy and Tucker who had helped her. She knew that Billy kept looking at her and got a little too close to her. His intentions were obvious to anyone watching them, another reason as to why she didn''t tell him anything when she left.


    "If you think that there''s a raid coming here, then give us our weapons back." Grace said.


    "I will. If I am right and if there''s a raid coming, then I am going to need all the help I can get."


    There is no way that Arbor nor Grace would ever help him defend his base, but they are, because Adaline is here. If those men were to know that Adaline is here they will stop at nothing to get their hands on her.


    And also Arbor would more than gladly hurt the ones who hurt Adaline if given the chance.


    "I need to ask you something, are you a hero?"


    Will stopped in his tracks. It seemed that Arbor knew and told her.


    "I''m not too sure about that. It is said that all Heroes are blessed with strength, speed, reflexes, and powerful gifts. I have a gift, but none of the other traits a Hero possesses. Also I wasn''t teleported to the kingdom like the other Heroes were. So yeah, it''s unclear if I am a Hero or not."


    Will had doubts if he was actually a Hero, or something else entirely. If he died before but was still reincarnated is he still a Hero? If not then what is he?


    He believes that some might call him a Hero. He didn''t care as it didn''t matter. All that he knows is that he''s here.


    Will put down a ?h?st and took out a bow, arrows, and 2 enchanted swords.


    "Tell your father that he needs to be prepared for a possible raid, or else Adaline won''t survive this time if they catch her. Tell him to do it for her."


    Grace took the weapons a bit surprised to see that they came out of a ?h?st.


    "When do you think they will come?" She asked.


    "How long did it take you to arrive here from that village?"


    "Not long." If she arrived here on foot, then the other men from Jim''s village could too.


    "Do you have any more arrows? A few dozen doesn''t seem enough."


    "I don''t." Grace shook her head.


    "I''ll make you some."


    Will got some steel bars, wood, and crafted over 100 steel tipped arrows with relative ease. It''s like Terraria, he could make wooden, stone, and even iron arrows if he wants to. It''s convenient that he doesn''t need feathers to craft them like in Minecraft. But adding feathers on arrows would improve the accuracy and performance on the arrows when shot with a bow.


    The same applies to bullets, he could make different types of bullets as well.


    "Here, this should be enough arrows." Will tossed her a bunch of arrows.


    Grace almost lost her balance from carrying too much.


    "You''re not like any Hero I''ve met before."


    "How many Heroes have you met before me?"


    "Well¡­ none."


    "Then you couldn''t possibly compare me to other Heroes if you haven''t met them yet."


    Grace didn''t say anything else and ran back inside to her father.


    Will finished setting up the trap. While there was still daylight, he crafted some wooden dummies and planted them all far away from his base.


    Will went up on one of the guard towers and shot the dummies. He needed to practice his aim.


    It was thanks to his years of playing gun games like call of duty that he had decent aim. But video games and real life are not the same.


    Will did not mind wasting a bunch of bullets, he had so much more that he could spare over 1000 bullets.


    After two hours of shooting, Will finally sighed. His aim was a little off especially on the dummies further away, but over time he got better and better.


    Arbor started using his blades to cut the dummies in half. Grace also shot the dummies using her bow and arrows.


    Will was more fascinated about Arbor''s sword skills. He was too fast. Was it because he was an elf? It would make sense since he had 15k HP.


    Unlike Grace who had merely 300 HP.


    This hit him hard since his HP was still at 50, even lower than Grace''s. He''s been trying to raise his HP but he has no clue how to.


    Will was sorting out his ?h?sts, most of them were now empty because of all the stone he used to build the walls, and the ores he used to craft more ammo and weapons. All the empty ?h?sts he put inside another ?h?st.


    He kept sorting until he saw something that he had completely forgotten.


    "Hey!" He called out to Grace.


    "What?"


    "Do you know what these are and what they do?" Will showed him an exotic flower and an exotic flower seed.


    These two he got after Adaline ate some goblin parts and ''pooped'' them. He''s been trying to figure out exactly what these do exactly. And if it was possible to grow more of these flowers if they proved useful to him.


    As soon as they saw the exotic flower, they gasped.


    "Where in the world did you get this?" Grace asked. Even Arbor ran up to the flower but didn''t dare to touch it.


    "From Adaline. She ''produced'' these two things and I have no idea what they are used for."


    The book also doesn''t provide specific details on the exotic flower, only that it is used to make potions with it.


    "May I hold it?" Grace said.


    "Sure." Will flicked them the exotic flower, the two elves immediately grabbed it gently without damaging it.


    Will did this on purpose, it looks like the flower must be important.


    Both of the elves started talking to one another in their elven language. Will could not understand them one bit.


    "This is an exotic flower. It''s an incredibly rare flower that rarely appears within the elf kingdom." Grace said.


    "That''s nice, but what does it do?"


    "The one who eats it gains a huge boost in vitality permanently. My grandfather, father, and other elves, upon reaching a certain age, have consumed it."


    "Vitality? You mean down there?" Will was a bit confused.


    "Nothing s?xu?? you perverted human. It means that it gives you life."


    Will understood now. The reason why Arbor has so much HP is because of the flower?


    "So I need to eat it?" Will took another exotic flower from the ?h?st and ate it. He''s desperate to increase his measly 50 HP.


    "Stop!" Arbor and Grace were not prepared when Will took out another flower and ate it without hesitating.


    Will munched on the flower and swallowed it quickly.


    "Never knew flowers were crunchy like a dorito. So is that it?" Will felt nothing, his HP remained the same.


    "You¡­ aren''t you feeling any pain?" Grace asked unsure of what she just saw.


    "Should I?"


    "Yes! Only elves can eat this flower, not humans! Are you insane?! This flower is the reason why elves have such a long life."


    "Well, that''s a waste. Might be because I''m a Hero and¡­ Guh!" Will got on his knees as a sudden pain went through his body. It felt like his entire body was burning from the inside.


    Will looked at the status and it read {poisoned: 23:59:59}


    He had gotten poisoned from eating the flower. The effects would last for an entire day.


    Grace and Arbor helped him and took him to his house. Adaline also noticed and ran to help.


    "It burns!" Will cried in pain. His HP started to plummet by the second.


    {HP: 49/50}


    {HP: 48/50}


    {HP: 47/50}


    {HP: 46/50}


    {HP: 45/50}


    "What can we do?" Asked Grace.


    "Give me some space." Arbor touched Will''s ?h?st and a green energy flowed between them.


    "The poison is too potent. There isn''t any cure for this." Arbor started to worry for Will''s life.


    Will couldn''t even go to bed to cure this effect, he needs to sleep on the bed for it to take effect. But the excruciating pain that he''s feeling right now made it impossible for him to sleep.


    Adaline moved around frantically, coiling her roots around him, but it was no use, she had no idea what to do to expel the poison either.


    "Kill me!" Will screamed.


    "No! It''s still too early to give up!" Grace said.


    But Will wanted to die right now because the pain is too much for anyone to bear, and he will die anyway. If he dies he''ll respawn and the poison will be gone.


    The three of them tried to help Will in any way possible, but there wasn''t anything they could do. As elves they knew how to expel poisons but now wasn''t possible.


    The flower Will ate is too rare, and the poison of the flower doesn''t affect elves. Elves have tested the flower on animals and humans too many years ago, which is how they knew that it is extremely poisonous to them.


    The problem is that they''ve never bothered creating a cure for the flower because why would they? Animals always die as it''s the circle of life, it''s part of nature. And the elves hate humans in general, so there was no way they were going to create a cure for them.


    {HP: 3/50}


    {HP: 2/50}


    {HP: 1/50}


    {HP: 0/50}


    Will stopped moving, his eyes turned white. He had died on the spot.


    "Is he¡­ dead?" Asked Grace.


    Arbor touched him, and as she said, he had died.


    Arbor started shaking his head. He wouldn''t call themselves best friends, but to see someone like Will die like that, it felt unreal.


    True Will''s the reason why Adaline was taken from them, and why they are currently in the deserted lands, if anything they should be happy that Will died.


    But, Arbor knew how close he and Adaline were, if he died then Adaline would never be the same.


    Adaline stopped moving and started walking around when Will died, it''s like she didn''t care at all about Will''s death.


    "I''m gonna go check on Adaline."


    "Um, dad?" Grace pointed at Will''s body.


    Will''s corpse faded away until there was nothing of his corpse. All that was left was the items he had on his person.


    "What was that?" Arbor didn''t believe it. He touched the same spot where Will had died, but it was really gone.


    "Is¡­ what''s going on?"


    "I don''t know."


    "Ugh, that was the second worse death I have ever experienced. The dragon is still number one." A voice was heard behind them. It was obviously Will.


    He set his bed underground where it was more protected, and cool to sleep in. He teleported there as soon as he died.


    "What, but, you, was, died, what?" Grace was so surprised that she couldn''t make out her words. Arbor looked at Will as if he was looking at a ghost.


    "Guess the cat''s out of the bag. I can die, but then I will revive." Will said without giving out too many details like his bed. If his bed is destroyed then he will respawn somewhere else.


    Will was wearing the same clothes when he first reincarnated here, which is blue jeans, and a thin, cyan-light, blue color, with short sleeves.


    "That isn''t possible, even for a Hero¡­ no, it''s possible." Arbor sat down and went into a deep thought.


    Adaline already knew about Will''s ability to revive. A few weeks ago he accidentally blew up the mine he was in and the rocks crushed him, luckily the bed was near the entrance of the cave so it didn''t get destroyed. Adaline acted more dramatic when Will first died. But now she didn''t need to worry.


    "Just how many abilities do you have?" Asked Grace.


    "Beats me." Will shrugged his shoulders. He recollected the items he dropped when he died.


    The brown book glowed again. Somehow he unlocked something new.


    He saw what it was he unlocked, and it surprised him.


    {Exotic flower}


    {A rare flower used for potions}


    {Very poisonous upon consuming it, except for elves}


    {It can permanently increase the users HP by 25 each potion he consumes}


    Will clenched his fists tightly in anger. Couldn''t the book include those extra details in the beginning?


    "I hate this." The way to increase his HP was in his grasp the whole time. Had he known, he would''ve paid more attention to potion-making.


    "This is what I get for being unprepared." Will repressed his anger and continued building. The two elves were left standing there.


    "Grace, do you remember the story of the Witch?" Arbor suddenly said.


    "Uh. yeah... I''ve heard about it many times when I secretly ventured on the human world. And also you and grandfather told me the story many times when I was a kid. She was killed when she fought the Great Sage, right?"


    Grace is a young elf, but she wasn''t born yet when the first three heroes were summoned.


    "But we didn''t tell you everything. This is something that many don''t know, even the king of the humans probably doesn''t know about this. I remember your grandfather telling me that he fought the Witch one time. But she was too powerful. Do you know why that is?"


    "Because she''s a Hero?"


    "Yes and no. It''s because she''s the only Hero, the only one who had control over death. She could never die, she was a true immortal. Her powers alone were terrifying. Imagine being immortal and possessing the power to shake the world. We''re lucky that the Great Sage defeated her."


    "Immortal? Like him?" Grace was referring to Will.


    "No, this is different. Will clearly died and was revived by his own power. But with the Witch, nothing could kill her, she could only be sealed by the Great Sage."


    Some people call elves ''immortals'' because of their long live spans, but they were wrong. They only had longer life spans than humans and that was it, they would still die upon reaching a certain age.


    It''s like how most insects have shorter lifespans compared to humans, some of them live up to a week at most. To them, humans were like immortals because they can live up to 80+ years.


    But a true immortal is someone who can never die, even if they were shot, stabbed, burned. Those are the real immortals.


    The reason many didn''t know that the Witch is an immortal is because those who have fought her have all died. Silvas was probably the second one who fought her and survived, the other being the Great Sage.


    "Are you comparing him to the Witch? He doesn''t look evil or that powerful to me." Grace said.


    "You''re right, but I see great potential in him. I just got a little worried. I am still pondering over the fact that the zombie appeared after 250 years."


    There was a saying; "in order to fear something, you must be scared of its potential."


    They continued chatting a bit and slowly got used to Will''s weird abilities.


    Will opened up a ?h?st filled with exotic flowers, over 20 of them. Adaline can easily reproduce these as soon as she eats monster parts.


    He was glad he kept the exotic flowers instead of throwing them away. Each one can increase his HP by 25.


    Adaline produced more flowers when they were hiding on a bunker when the black sun appeared, and when he fed her all the remaining goblin parts he stored for her.


    "20 flowers multiplied that by 25 equals¡­ a lot, yes a lot. Now I wonder what I should do with you." Will looked at the exotic flower seed. He wondered if he could grow more exotic flowers without using Adaline.


    "I''ll ask that elf girl next time. I should probably learn her name." It would be a waste to start growing flowers when there was a possibility that his base would get raided, and also he doesn''t have the method to craft potions. After that he''ll.focus on increasing his HP. it was safer to keep the seed inside the ?h?st safe for now.


    Not far away from his base were over 50 men walking towards the base.


    Jim had a serious look on his eye as he led all those men.


    ''We will no longer suffer because we lack water. Never again will my village suffer slowly from diseases, or thirst.. I need to get this water from whoever is getting in our way.''

 Chapter 25 - Attack

    Hours later, the moment that Will had predicted, had almost arrived.


    The sun was already setting down. Will continued to breed the camels.


    So far there are 4 camels, 3 of them are now ?du?ts. The oldest calf had already grown up like its parents.


    Will kept feeding them ''treats'' but didn''t force feed them. The camels know how much they want to eat, which is why they won''t eat 100 treats in a single day.


    "Would it be a good idea to eat them until there are like 10 camels? Yeah, sounds about right."


    "Why are you raising these camels?" Asked Grace.


    "To eat."


    "Oh. This doesn''t seem natural at all. How can one camel keep giving birth so fast?"


    "It''s another one of my abilities. Do elves eat meat?"


    "They can, but once we do, we lose our connection to nature." Grace kept looking at the camels.


    "Lose your connection to nature? How does that work?" Will doesn''t know much about elves.


    "You know about Lea? Our Goddess? The one who protects nature?"


    "I think a friend of mine mentioned it briefly but not the whole thing."


    "It is said that our Goddess created the elves so they could love and protect nature in her steed. Animals are meant to be eaten by other animals, and then their corpses can be eaten by the forest and grow, then the animals would that part of the forest, and so on."


    "So the circle of life? I''ve watched the Lion King animated movie." Will jokingly said.


    "Um, sure. So, our Goddess Lea will punish the elves if we break that circle, by eating any kind of meat. It''s a weird law but we have to follow it."


    "So you can''t kill animals either?"


    "We can, but we can''t eat them."


    "It seems your Goddess Lea is very weird. No offense."


    "None taken."


    "So what happens if you lose your connection to nature?"


    "We lose the ability to talk to trees, and also we lose protection from our Goddess."


    "What kind of protection?"


    "The force of nature. It''s the reason why no humans have ever been able to invade our homes. Without that protection we will be vulnerable. Even so, it isn''t enough to protect all of us from the likes of you."


    "Why are you mad at me? I have never done anything to elves." Will shrugged his shoulders.


    "You took the Adalis from us. We had to go through a lot of trouble to find you and her."


    "Not my fault that you guys were doing a terrible job raising Adaline. I merely rescued her."


    They continued discussing for a while. Arbor kept a close eye on them, his daughter might lose her temper on him.


    As they were about to go to their beds, Adaline felt something getting closer.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Over 50 men had finally arrived. Patches of grass could be visibly seen.


    "So it was true. There is a water source here. All this time, all these years, and we''ve only realized until now." Jim touched one of the grass blades to check if it was fresh, and it was.


    "Everyone, proceed slowly. Whoever killed Lance and Terence is still out there."


    They all took out their guns and walked slowly with caution.


    It was Jim''s plan to arrive at night, the best possible time to catch Will and the others by surprise.


    It was also a cloudy night, not even the moonlight could light up the lands.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Adaline quickly let the others know about the intruders.


    "So, he''s finally here. How many are there this time?" Will asked. He took out his weapons and carried them with him.


    Adaline stomped the ground repeatedly.


    "That''s a lot." Will said.


    "I counted 61." Arbor said.


    "My dad counted 61." Grace translated to Will.


    "That''s more than I expected."


    They all stood up on the guard towers. It was too dark to tell where they were.


    "Couldn''t you install some lights?" Asked Grace.


    "I only have torches and they don''t last that long. I don''t know how to make any other permanent light sources, otherwise I would''ve added some." Will also didn''t expect them to attack at night. But attacking at night is indeed smarter than attacking in broad daylight.


    Will thought about using the status bars above their heads to see them, but it doesn''t work like in Minecraft. He cannot see a persons'' status bar through walls, or in the night either.


    "Don''t make a noise. They probably think we are still asleep."


    Grace translated to her father and he agreed.


    Arbor closed his eyes to hear them better. His dad has the best hearing in the elven kingdom, but he doesn''t have such an ability. If his father was here he could tell where anyone is even if he is blindfolded.


    "Is that a wall?" One of the men whispered.


    "Since when was there a wall here?"


    "How long have these people lived here?"


    "Shh. Don''t make a sound." Jim said. They could also b?r?ly see the wall in the dark,


    "Did she also come here?" Billy asked himself, he wondered where Grace is right now.


    Jim suddenly stopped and so did everyone else.


    "Everyone surround the walls." Just like he commanded, they completely surrounded the base. That way they could all attack at the same time in all directions.


    Will couldn''t see them at all. He quietly talked to Adaline who was with them.


    "Adaline, don''t forget the plan, okay?"


    Arbor was now on the ground. He couldn''t use any long range weapons at all. He was like a last defense, if the intruders successfully broke through the walls, he would kill them all, and protect Adaline and the others.


    Grace and Will were in charge of shooting them all down.


    Jim and the men slowly walked towards the base.


    Will could vaguely see the shadows of several men getting closer. But they still didn''t shoot. They waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.


    Will was getting scared, but breathed in and breathed out.


    One of the men thought that he stepped on ground, but there was nothing. He lost his balance and fell on the hole.


    The hole was 3 meters deep, and beneath that hole were various stone spears all pointing up.


    "AAAHHH!!!"


    Several men were unprepared for this and fell to their death already.


    "What?" Jim could hear his men screaming one second, moments later they would stop screaming.


    "Now!" Will said.


    Adaline used her powers and impaled most of the men''s feet using her roots. The trap had only taken out 12 men at the same time. Even Adaline cannot use an infinite amount of roots to impale all the remaining men at the same time.


    Will began firing his ?ssault rifle at the shadows he could vaguely see.


    "OPEN FIRE EVERYONE!!!" Jim commanded.


    People saw Will firing his gun and focused on that.


    Will''s shield, and his armor reflected most of the bullets as he continued firing his ?ssault rifle.


    Jim saw Will and shot him with his magical bullets. It left a giant hole on the guard tower.


    "GAH!" Will was pushed back but didn''t fall off the wall.


    "What the hell was that?" He felt a great force of power that hit him, but he sustained minor damage.


    {Steel shield}


    {Durability 281/500}


    His shield took all the damage, and half the shield''s durability was cut almost by half.


    "What kind of gun is what?" Lucky for him it wasn''t as destructive as his magical gun, but it was still deadly. If he didn''t have his armor on, and his shield, he would have suffered a lot of damage and possibly died.


    "Dad, the wall doesn''t seem to have any entrances." Billy came back to report to his father.


    "Then we need to make one."


    While Jim was ?ssessing the situation, he kept hearing screams of his men.


    "OW!"


    Jim''s men kept yelling in pain. They were being shot with arrows.


    Arrows and bullets are two different things. Arrows are sneaky, silent, and hard to detect, but not as deadly as bullets. But even so it was a perfect weapon to use in this situation.


    Grace kept shooting arrows where she thought she would see dark figures.


    "Everyone, jump over that trap and make your way closer to those walls. I will make an entrance." Jim shot the wall 2 times and made two giant holes big enough for them to fit in.


    "Be careful of more traps."


    "SON OF A- Something keeps stabbing us on the ground."


    Tiny spears kept impaling their feet making them unable to use their feet.


    Jim heard that and immediately jumped away. As soon as he did, tiny spears had almost impaled his feet.


    "That''s¡­ the organic creature!" Now Jim knew who it was they were dealing with. The same one who took his arm.


    "So, we meet again." Jim smirked. He could finally take his revenge for losing his arm.


    Will continued shooting his ?ssault rifle at them, he couldn''t tell how many were left.


    Jim saw him again and shot him with his magical bullets.


    Will was pushed back and this time he fell on the ground.


    {HP 46/50}


    Thank goodness for his dragon armor that broke his fall.


    "How many rounds does he have?" Will asked. His steel shield was nearly broken.


    "Lucky for me I made spares." Will threw the shield away and got a new one. He made sure to have a ?h?st on him filled with weapons, armor, shields, and bullets.


    "They''re going to enter through the walls!" Grace loudly said.


    "Tell Arbor to cover his ears. Cover yours, too." Will said.


    Will immediately grabbed some stone on the floor from the wall that Jim destroyed, and made a tiny wall to provide him and Arbor some cover.


    Adaline seemed to know what Will planned on doing and covered her ears.


    As soon as Will saw someone enter, he immediately let out a roar.


    "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"


    The roar caught the intruders off-guard and were pushed back. The shout not only pushed some of them back to the traps and fell to their deaths. They were all semi-deaf now and confused.


    {Small dragon set bonus: Dragon roar}


    He had tested this ability before, and he found out a few things, these do indeed push back everyone in its range but not as exaggerated as the shout from the Skyrim game.


    It also left everyone nearby deaf and confused, except Will, and the ones who protected their ears before.


    "What?!" Jim and many others were frightened to their very core. Only one thing could produce such a sound, dragons. Some of the men fled in fear.


    Jim instinctively looked up for any dragons, but it was dark so he couldn''t see it. Dragons are feared more than anything in this world.


    Arbor took this chance to run outside the walls and attack everyone head on.


    He could vaguely see several dark figures lying on the ground. He cut off their heads swiftly as if cutting bu??er with a hot knife.


    Arbor entered the castle walls as soon as he killed them. He didn''t want to leave Adaline nor Grace unguarded for too long.


    Will quickly covered the holes on the walls using his crafting system.


    Jim noticed that there weren''t any dragons around, it was all a trick. He recollected his thoughts. He could vaguely guess that most of his men were already dead or ran away.


    This was actually not a part of Will''s plan. Inducing fear in others using the dragon shout would have never worked in the day.


    Will had honestly never thought of this but it worked out for him.


    Jim heard something moving under his feet again, he jumped away and shot the ground where he stood, and Adaline screamed in pain.


    "AAAAUURGH!!!"


    Jim knew that Adaline was gonna stab his feet at that very moment. He knew that she used her body as a form of weapon like last time, so he shot the roots and injured her in the process.


    "Seven rounds left." Jim needed to make these bullets count.


    "Adaline!" Will and Arbor ran up to her.


    {Adalis}


    {HP 1621/2000}


    "How were you injured?" Will and Arbor checked her condition, but her roots were all injured. They both knew how they injured her now.


    "Not this crap again! JIM!" Will was seething with rage once more. It was his plan to use Adaline''s roots to stab the men and catch them off-guard, he never would''ve thought that they could''ve injured her like that. Once again, it was because of his own actions that caused Adaline to be injured.


    Arbor was angry as much as Will. Arbor got both his weapons and sliced through the walls as if they were nothing. He once again exited the walls and searched for the one who injured Adaline.


    "JIM! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Will cried out in anger as he too exited the walls.


    At that moment, the moon finally lit the area, and Jim saw Will''s dragon armor reflect the light.


    "Right over here." Jim smiled and shot at Will using a magical bullet.


    Will saw Jim for one moment, and b?r?ly blocked that shot with his shield. He was pushed back to the wall and made a huge crack with his body.


    "Blagh!" Will coughed up blood.


    {HP: 4/50}


    The force of the bullets were stronger because he was closer to Jim, and was directly in his line of sight.


    Even the shield broke in two and it was brand new with full durability. Enchanted bullets are on a whole new level compared to regular weapons.


    Jim also saw Grace shooting arrows at his men and aimed his gun at her, but was stopped by someone else.


    Somehow someone sneaked up behind him and cut off his other arm. It was no one other than Arbor.


    "AAAAHHHH!!!" Jim cried in pain as blood flowed out of his arm.


    "So it was you who injured Adaline. And you were just about to shoot my daughter as well." He said but didn''t kill him.


    "Dad!" Billy ran up to him, but Arbor kicked down Jim and put his blade close to his throat.


    "Surrender, or else your leader dies." Arbor threatened him.


    Billy stood there afraid and confused. What did the man want?


    "Son, stand down. Don''t move. Everybody don''t move." Jim also didn''t understand him, but it was logical what he wanted them to do.


    Looking around them, Jim noticed that there weren''t that many people left. Out of the 60 men he brought, only 8 were left including him.


    "Drop your weapons and get on your knees, now!" Arbor commanded.


    "He says to drop your weapons and get on your knees right now!" Grace showed herself while aiming a bow at them.


    "Gr¡­ Grace?" Billy recognized her.


    "You heard him! Do it!" Grace also recognized him, but didn''t care. They clearly came here to kill them, and Jim almost killed her if not for her dad saving her at the last minute.


    "But¡­" Billy was heart broken. He was sure that Grace was the one for him. But it seemed that it was never meant to be.


    Jim''s men dropped their weapons and got on their knees and placed their hands on their heads.


    "Grace, put these on them." Will limped his way to them, Adaline helped him stand up. He crafted some steel handcuffs beforehand in case something like this happened.


    Grace took the handcuffs and cuffed everyone''s hands behind their backs.


    "Where¡­ where''s your brother? Where''s Tucker?" Jim looked around for his other son, but he was nowhere to be found.


    Billy slowly looked over the death traps, and below him, was Tucker who had died when a spear ran through his ?h?st.


    "Tuck¡­ TUCKER!!!" Billy lost it completely. Grace pulled him back and cuffed him.


    "No, no, no, that can''t be. Not my little boy." Jim knew why Billy yelled, his son had died.


    Now all of the prisoners were lined up while cuffed. Jim wasn''t cuffed because he lost both his arms now. Arbor used a piece of clothing to wrap it around the part of the arm he didn''t cut off, to stop the flow of blood from flowing out.


    Will felt bad about this. They were son and father, and one of their family members had died.


    "What do we do with them?" Grace asked.


    Will was still injured, but thanks to Adaline she helped him. They were both slowly regaining their HP.


    "You killed my brother." Billy looked at Will in anger, if looks could kill, Billy would''ve killed everyone near him.


    "Then you shouldn''t have come here." Will responded.


    Jim was dead on the inside. First his arm, his men, his hope of helping his village, and now his son was gone.


    "Grace? Why would you do this to us? Tucker and I helped you dammit! We guided you here and this is how you repay us?!"


    Grace looked at Billy very seriously.


    "My father, and the organic creature you attacked a month ago are part of my family. The minute you attacked them you made an enemy out of me."


    "Grace, what does Will want to do with them?" Arbor asked, still holding a sword. The minute any of them do anything suspicious, he will cut off their heads.


    "Maybe I could build them a prison to lock them all up in¡­" Will had this idea of keeping the prisoners alive for now.


    "And you! You were the one who hurt my father! All he wanted to do was to save the village! Are you that selfish?!" Billy said angrily.


    Will looked at Billy''s face. What he said reminded him of something long ago.


    Many years ago¡­


    He was in his basement having a serious talk with Alex. It was one of the few moments where Alex talked to him about his past.


    "You said you shot your father when he tried to kill you." Will said unable to believe what he had heard.


    "I did. And I don''t regret it." Alex responded coldly. He had his sleeves rolled up all the way to his shoulders.


    There were various burn marks, and cut marks on his arms. They all seem to have happened long ago, some more recent than others.


    Part of his shoulders was exposed, and it too had the same cut marks as his arms, but more deeper compared to others.


    "It''s your father, even if he was the worst scum of the Earth. Couldn''t you have shot him on the shoulder and ran away?" Will asked.


    "I could''ve done that, yes. But why would I ever take the chance to let him track me down and bite me in the ?ss? He had friends who were into some illegal shit and were powerful, there was no way I was gonna give that man a chance to ever kill me. I would rather kill than be killed." Alex said very seriously. He had a terrible childhood where his parents were just the worst.


    Will didn''t say anything. He couldn''t refute Alex''s words.


    "Kill or be killed." Those words stuck to him since that day.


    Back to the present¡­


    "Kill or be killed." Will murmured to himself.


    "Pardon?" Grace asked.


    "I changed my mind... Leave no survivors." Will realized something now.


    It didn''t matter which world he lived in, it was all a game of survival. Like predators hunting each other, only one will survive, and the one who survives is the one who is stronger.


    He thought that this world was dark, but his home world was the same. Alex showed him that.


    Grace ran her finger around her throat as a sign to her father to kill all the prisoners.


    "Dad?" Billy looked at his father. Arbor raised his blade and cut their heads off in one fell swoop.


    Will thought how Alex was right. Why take a chance to let the enemy come back to bite them in the ?ss in the future? It was better to kill them now than to be killed.


    Will knew that this was cruel, but it''s a cruel world, and he''s gonna live with that. It was either themselves, or them.


    Grace went up to Will and patted him on the shoulder.


    "I also know how cruel this world is. I''ve seen what they''ve done to my people. What I saw in my adventure is too dark and gruesome not meant for anybody else to see or learn."


    Grace could see how Will made a tough decision, but it was the right decision. He reminded her when she was still pure, innocent, naive, back when her view of the world wasn''t tainted.


    It was the same for Arbor. He too knew how cruel this world is. Only those who know how the world is, and learn to live with it, can only continue to live and rise above everyone else.


    "I can see that now."


    Will walked up to his base to sleep. That night, he couldn''t sleep well at all.. Adaline followed him and slept beside him, he petted her head all night, which is how she was able to sleep well.

 Chapter 26 - GAWBLINS!!!

    (Goblin slayer abridged reference by Grimmjack)


    The sun rose once again. Will closed his eyes when the sun touched his face. He didn''t get a wink of sleep all night,


    He petted Adaline all night as she slept on his ??p. Despite being over 5ft, she was surprisingly lighter than most people think.


    Will noticed that Adaline''s body was changing colors. She only had thick roots for a body, which should be only green. Now certain parts of her body are changing to a darker color.


    "Oh, no." Will knew why that is.


    When he first met her, her body was black entirely, her roots were basically dead and withered. Her colors changed to green when he fed her goblin parts.


    "We need to get you some food." Will got up and left the cave. Arbor and Grace had already fallen asleep, but before that they threw the bodies on the holes after taking their weapons.


    Will heard them but didn''t bother to help, he was deep in his thoughts.


    The trap holes were still there. On the bottom were all the men that they killed last night.


    Will got a lot of stone and covered the trap.


    Beside the entrance of the castle, which Arbor made when he cut off that part of the wall, were all the guns that the men used.


    Will examined the guns, he wondered how Jim was able to deal so much damage. None of the guns were enchanted, or even magical, he checked them one by one.


    "I don''t understand. Then how about the bullets?" He took out all the bullets from the guns, and sure enough, he found several enchanted bullets inside one pistol.


    There were only 6 enchanted bullets left. Jim had used 5 last night, and 1 more a month ago.


    {Lead bullets(enchanted)}


    {Impact I: Each bullet has the force of a cannon}


    "Now this makes a ton of sense." Will understood why Jim caused so much damage to him, Adaline, and his walls. It really did feel like being shot by a cannon at close range. Although he has never been shot by a canon, he could faintly guess how it could feel.


    "Didn''t think it was possible to enchant bullets. Good to know."


    "Who are you talking to?" Grace got out of her house that she shared with her father. Her hair looked like a bird''s nest. Her eyes were still droopy after last night.


    "No one. I''m going out. Adaline needs monster parts to eat. She''s sick and she needs it." Will planned on walking back to where he came from before he entered the deserted lands.


    Adaline came out of the cave, she was weak and couldn''t move much. She produced sunflowers on her body so it would absorb the energy of the sun.


    "Her body is getting darker." Grace examined her body.


    "Thanks, Sherlock."


    Before Will left, he grabbed his old map and drew on the back using ink.


    He wrote down a list of things he needs before he comes back.


    {Step 1: find monster parts as many as you can for Adaline}


    {Step 2: find seeds, any seeds to plant and grow crops}


    {Step 3: find out how to make potions}


    {Step 4: possibly figure out how blacksmiths enchant items}


    {Step 5: bring back more animals to breed}


    {Step 6: make profitable trades}


    The reason Will never tried to leave until now is because of JIm. He feared that when he walked out of his base, JIm would find Adaline, and kill her. Now he''s gone for good.


    He needs to learn how to make potions because he now had the knowledge on how to increase his HP, he only lacked the ingredients which is called ''ajio'' which is something he needs.


    Will had also mined a lot of silver ore in the past month, and could convert all of it into silver coins. He needed to know if it was better to use the ore for coins, or to craft jewellery. Silver is something that no one should use if they''re planning on making weapons with it, unless they make silver bullets for werewolves.


    Will needs to grow seeds because it''ll help with his food problem.


    And he plans to trade for more powerful items, something that''ll prove to be useful to him.


    But his most important goal is to find monster parts for Adaline.


    "Take care of Adaline for me." Will said after sorting out his stuff. He grabbed a camel and mounted it. The camel was too tall for him to mount, so he made a few footsteps to climb the camel.


    It was a bit weird sitting on a camel between it''s two humps, but he thought he''ll get used to it. Before he left, he added a small, wooden door on the walls in case Arbor or Grace wanted to go outside, that way he doesn''t need to climb or jump off the 10ft walls.


    "Woah, easy there." Will had trouble riding a camel at first, but he somehow got used to it.


    "Where is he going?" Arbor asked.


    "To get monster parts is all that he told me. Adaline is a bit sick right now, and she needs to eat." Grace understood.


    "Grace, go with him. I''ll protect Adaline." Arbor said.


    "But-"


    "I want you to go with him so you can let your grandfather, and mother know that we''re fine."


    Grace understood now. She got on a camel and followed Will.


    Arbor sat beside Adaline and petted her head gently. The sunlight hit their faces as they enjoyed each other''s company.


    "You''re very strong, you know that, right?" Arbor comforted her.


    Adaline was a bit too weak to even nod, and she fell asleep comfortably on the grass.


    Arbor got some grass and ate it. He had nothing else to eat.


    Will rode the camel and went into a deep thought. He was planning on how to use the system''s powers effectively.


    "I need more power." He stared at the enchanted bullets on his hand. He needs to learn how to enchant, otherwise if he faced another enemy who had more than enchanted bullets, he will lose.


    "Hey!"


    Will turned around and saw Grace gaining behind him.


    "Why are you here?"


    "Dad told me to follow you."


    "Why?" Will knew the reason they were both here is because of Adaline, they don''t care that much about him.


    "Because..."


    "... you''re planning on letting the forest and the rest of the elves know about us, am I right?" Will immediately knew the reason.


    "Um¡­ yeah." Grace didn''t expect Will to see through her so easily.


    "I don''t care anyways. It''s not like you plan on calling them for help or something."


    Will had no doubts that they were planning something, because those two elves could kill him before he has the chance to kill them. It was thanks to Adaline that they didn''t make a move against him.


    The elf and main character rode off across the desert.


    It went for many hours, and the heat of the sun was as intense as ever. Even if Will got a little bit used to living to the heat, no one could become immune to it.


    "Hey, elf."


    "Grace." Grace added.


    "What?"


    "My name is Grace, not elf."


    "Grace, how did you learn our language? Not even your father knows how to speak it."


    "It took a few years for me to learn. I didn''t want to learn it, but I had to."


    "Maybe¡­ you could teach me how to speak the language of the elves?" Asked Will. He was interested in learning to speak elven tongue in case he meets other elves like Arbor.


    "Why would I?"


    "Because I want to learn. Is that not a good enough reason?"


    "It''s not weird for humans to learn our language, but it''s difficult to learn." Grace said.


    "With the camels we''ll arrive at our location in 2-3 days. We have enough time for you to teach me even a little bit."


    "Hmmmm, I won''t do it."


    "Really? Okay, but I wonder how long you can last in this intense heat with no food or water?" Will smirked.


    Grace''s eyes widened. She had gotten on the camel and followed him so fast that she didn''t think to prepare anything for the long road ahead.


    "It''s important to come prepared." Will waved an iron ?h?st in front of her, it carried all the water that they needed, and also lots of grass to eat. He brought more just in case something happened to him on the way.


    "Fine, I''ll teach you." Grace had no choice now.


    "How do I know you won''t teach me a bunch of nonsense?"


    "Have you known me to lie?"


    "I don''t even know you that well."


    "Then you have no choice but to trust me."


    "Fair enough."


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jack was still in his blacksmith shop, and business did not get any better.


    "Opened for business!" A woman screamed really loudly.


    Jack woke from his nap. Near his shop was another building where they were going to build a brothel, but the owner of the brothel died and the building went to a relative instead. And instead of making a brothel, she made it into a potion shop.


    "So that potion shop finally opened. How nice." Jack yawned as he stretched.


    "You''re right, it is good for us too." Sam was also there. "More shops that are added to this village, the more it attracts people. And the more people that come the more we can sell and buy."


    Business wasn''t going well for them, not because they had nothing to sell, but because no one was buying. Sam was an expert blacksmith, he could not make better weapons than Jack and Julia, and enchant them. But there weren''t that many people willing to come here to buy from them.


    There were already several guns, bullets, knives, swords, armor for sale.


    "Kyle came back again and bought some bullets. So I guess that''s okay." Jack added.


    Sorcerers could indeed use guns instead of staffs, some also used knives, swords, or in a rare case bows and arrows. They weren''t only limited to using a staff as some might think


    "He even ordered me to make him enchanted bullets. Since it was a special order I could charge him more for it." Sam smiled.


    "Are my bullets here?" Kyle entered the shop.


    "Well, speak of the devil." Sam reached for the floor and got 2 wooden with different colored boxes. He opened those boxes to reveal dozens of enchanted shells. There were exactly 88 shells in each box. They were all lined up neatly


    "The box with the red coating has enchanted shotgun shells that easily pierce through 5 layers of steel. The box with the green coating has enchanted shells that have more explosive power in them. If you shoot a cyclops in the head his whole head will explode." Sam explained in great detail.


    "Oh wow." Kyle examined the shells and nodded in satisfaction.


    "This is definitely worth the price. Thank you, Sam."


    "We''re not that close to call each other by our names." Sam smiled a bit.


    "Yeah. Do you think it''s possible that you could make a weapon as good or better than this?" Kyle handed Sam an enchanted shotgun.


    Sam looked carefully at the enchanted shotgun after taking out all of the bullets inside.


    "An enchanted battery shotgun, semi-automatic, pump action, can hold up to 4 shells per round¡­ no, 8 shells per round, someone successfully made alterations to it." Sam was impressed by the shotgun.


    (Sorry if I got some of these wrong, I am not that knowledgeable on guns. I know that shotguns can hold up to 3-4 or even 5 rounds, but I made it a little different here)


    "Yeah, my family has our own expert blacksmiths. But they all died during the black sun. They were out drunk one night, and¡­ you know, got eaten by the locusts." Kyle was sad that those blacksmiths died.


    "Sorry for your losses."


    "It''s okay. It''s way more difficult right now getting enchanted weapons since all expert and master blacksmiths are still making armor and weapons for the 99 heroes. I didn''t think that an expert would be here. No offense, Jack."


    "None taken." Jack also admitted that this isn''t the best village to live in.


    Sam was closely examining the shotgun not missing out on the smallest detail.


    He took out a pair of enchanted glasses and put them on. These glasses can identify a weapon''s enchantment, what type it had, and how strong it was. All expert blacksmiths have these glasses.


    "This shotgun has a pretty good enchantment. It can deal up to 2x the normal damage it can usually do."


    If Will was here, this is how the enchantment would look like.


    {Battery shotgun: custom(enchanted}


    {Damage 300-500+200}


    {Enchantment: power IV: increases the shotguns might and power}


    "So, can you make another shotgun as good as this?" Asked Kyle.


    "I do have the materials to make a battery shotgun, but the custom designs are really good and compliment this shotgun well, it''ll be a challenge to make something like this, but it''s nothing I can''t handle. And also the enchantment added to it is a difficult level to achieve. But yeah, give me about 3-4 weeks and I am pretty sure I can make you a shotgun as good as this. It''ll cost about 80 gold pieces."


    Sam handed Kyle back the shotgun.


    "Thanks. I''ll be waiting." Kyle handed Sam 82 gold pieces. The 2 extra gold pieces were from the special bullets he ordered.


    Kyle and Jack''s eyes opened when they saw that much money handed to them.


    "I trust you both enough to pay this many gold pieces in advance." Kyle took his shells and left the store without saying much.


    This world some people refer to the currency as ''coins'' or ''pieces'' depends which they prefer, sometimes both.


    "Uncle, why do you help Kyle? We''re on Jasmine''s side." Jack added.


    "I am on Jasmine''s side, but this is good business. Even if I declined Kyle''s offer he would''ve gone to another expert blacksmith. His family is rich so I don''t have doubts that they can find another expert or even a master blacksmith. This money will also help our current situation. Why bother turning down a good business deal when it wouldn''t even affect Kyle negatively?"


    "I guess you''re right."


    "Want to help me make the weapon for Kyle?" Asked Sam.


    "I''m still a beginner. I don''t know how to make a shotgun, only pistols. And enchantments are out of my reach as well."


    "I know. Leave the heavy lifting to me. You can help me and I can teach you as well, so you can become an expert blacksmith. You''re already a few steps away from becoming one."


    "Okay." Jack and Sam both began working on the shotgun as quickly as possible.


    Sam saw talent in Jack''s skills as a blacksmith. However his sister, Julia, didn''t have such talent, which is why she''s still a beginner blacksmith even though she''s almost as old as him.


    Sam was also the one who taught Jack the basics of blacksmith, and turned him into a blacksmith, which is how Sam got to be an expert blacksmith, since the requirements to become one is to teach a student and have them become a beginner blacksmith. Jack did the same thing to Will.


    Meanwhile¡­


    3 days had gone by in a blink of an eye. Will and Grace made it to the end of the deserted lands.


    "Finally. Trees. Fresh air." Will stretched his arms out and enjoyed the beautiful scene that is nature.


    Grace touched one of the trees and communicated with them. Soon the trees would inform Silvas about her and Arbor.


    The camels ran as fast as they could when Will and Grace got off of them. If they could talk they would yell at that very moment, "FREEDOM!"


    "Oh no you don''t." Will threw his steel cages at the camels and captured them.


    "NOOOO! We were so close." The camels cried on the inside. This is what they would say if they could talk.


    Will put the caged camels in his pockets.


    "Grace?"


    "Yeah?"


    "You mentioned that you''ve ventured in this world for many years, right? Do you know where the nearest village is?"


    "No, but I can ask the trees."


    "Tell them if they can also tell us where we can find monsters."


    "Sure." Grace shrugged her arms and communicated with the forest again.


    Will looked at his list. He didn''t want to waste too much time here. At most he''ll spend 5 days here, and go back to Adaline. He can rest easy knowing that Arbor is with her.


    "There''s a goblin hut about 20 minutes from here on foot. And there''s a village not too far away from there. It''s probably where you want to go."


    "Could you lead the way?"


    "Ah¡­ fine."


    "I''ll buy you something nice for your troubles." Will smiled. It''s nice to have a guide, unlike his system who left him here without helping him.


    "I don''t need anything¡­ but I could use more arrows. Those steel tipped arrows that you gave me were very good."


    "I can do that."


    They began running towards the goblin hut.


    After twenty minutes they reached it. They hid behind a small hill where the goblins couldn''t see them.


    "It seems like their numbers aren''t that big. But when there''s a group of goblins like this, there''s usually a stronger goblin in charge of them." Grace said.


    "How strong?" Asked Will.


    "It''s different for each hut. But goblins on the fourth layer are usually the ones in charge of groups this size."


    Jack once explained to Will that monsters are categorized on a pyramid scale, the higher they were, the stronger they are.


    Normal goblins are on the 5th layer, which is on the bottom layer. The 4th layer is just above the 5th layer. On the very top is the 1st layer, also known as ''the apex layer'' where only the strongest monsters are known.


    The goblin hut had a sniper tower where two goblins were located. They kept watch and warned the other goblins if they spotted any monsters or humans. They each had bows and arrows with them.


    The other goblins were dancing around a fire as they ate small animals like rats, rabbits, squirrels.


    "Good, they don''t have guns. I''ll take the ones on the tower. As soon as I kill them, you rain down bullets on the other goblins." Grace said.


    "Sure." Will took out his ?ssault rifle and pointed at the goblins.


    Grace concentrated hard. She pulled the bow''s string and aimed it for the two goblins on top of the sniper tower.


    She released the arrow, and killed one of the goblins, but the other one had his shoulder grazed by the arrow.


    "Crap." Grace cursed. Killing two goblins with a single arrow is still too hard for her.


    Will didn''t care at all. He began his ?ssault on the goblins and killed as many as he could.


    The goblins were caught completely off-guard, but some of them grabbed their weapons and charged at Will and Grace.


    Grace kept raining down arrows, but her speed was nothing compared to an ?ssault rifle.


    The goblins couldn''t do much when there was an ?ssault rifle aimed at them, so they ran back into a cave that they built,


    Will ran behind them but didn''t go inside the cave. It was too dangerous and could be full of traps.


    "Should we go in?" Will asked. He had no idea what to expect, but Grace did, since she''s been living in this world far longer than he has.


    "No. We cannot risk it."


    "Well then." Will placed down and ?h?st and placed all the goblin bodies he killed.


    "Ugh, I can never forget the putrid scent of goblins."


    Grace kept a close eye on the goblin cave. But, she saw something near the entrance of the cave.


    She picked it up, it was a bow identical to hers.


    "Oh no." Grace had a terrified look.


    "What?" Will asked.


    "An elf has been abducted."


    "Oh¡­" Will didn''t know how to feel about that.


    The bow Grace is holding is something that elves use.


    "We must go in."


    "Didn''t you say it was too dangerous?"


    "That was before I knew that they kidnapped one of my people."


    Will stopped her by grabbing her arm.


    "Hold on, if this elf was kidnapped, then why didn''t the forest tell you before?"


    Grace looked at the cave and realized something. He had a point.


    "I think I know why. Because that elf lost the protection of Lea."


    "I guess that makes sense." Will let go of her arm.


    "I''m still going to help them, don''t try to stop me." Grace ran inside the cave and Will did too.


    Those elves who eat meat will forever lose Lea''s protection, and their connection to the forest. It''s mostly those elves that get killed, kidnapped, and r?p?d because their goddess doesn''t protect them anymore.


    But even so, the elves will keep on helping their people. Because they are all still elves in the end.


    The cave was too dark for them to see. Will got a lit torch from his ?h?st and lit the area they were in.


    Will also had his pistol on his waste because the cave is too small and narrow to use an ?ssault rifle.


    Grace put away her bow and arrows and took out a cobalt knife that she had.


    Goblins could see well in the dark, which is why they didn''t use torches to light up the path.


    The cave kept going down and down, it was as if a giant worm made the cave.


    "They already know that we''re here. They''re probably waiting to ambush us." Grace said.


    "I think I know how to draw them out. Stand behind me." Will took out his pickaxe and began mining.


    Grace looked at Will wierdly. What is he thinking?


    Will got a lot of rocks from mining. Next he placed down a crafting table, and crafted a boulder.


    "What?" Grace was still confused. The boulder in his hand was the size of his palm.


    "Observe." Will threw the boulder on his hand and it grew in size. It rolled down and it kept rolling.


    The goblins who were waiting didn''t expect to see a boulder rushing at them. They couldn''t outrun it before it turned them all into meat paste.


    At the end of the cave was a goblin that was bigger, fatter, and red. He sat down on a chair made out of human and monster bones.


    He was busy eating freshly torn human limbs. He didn''t even notice a boulder rolling toward him and crushing him flat.


    Grace and Will quickly ran down, and they both were shocked. The boulder alone had killed the majority of the goblins.


    "Oh wow, that actually worked! High IQ play bitches!" Will laughed a bit. He didn''t expect such an outcome.


    "You are a¡­ I don''t even know what to say." Grace observed the area. On the far side of the cave, there were various women chained up. Their clothes were torn. They were beaten up, bruised, and bloodied.


    Some of them were human, but 2 of them were elven women.


    Grace first ran up to the elves and freed them.


    When Will saw those women, the proud and happy expression that he had on his face was replaced by shock and horror.


    "It''s okay. You''re both safe now." Grace helped the elven women from their chains.


    Will brought the torch closer to where the boulder was. A thick, fat, red arm was slapping the side of the boulder as someone was trapped underneath and wanted to push it off.


    Will got a good look at who it was, it was a goblin he had never seen. It was pinned down by the boulder and couldn''t get out. It''s legs and stomach were crushed.


    Will felt no pity for it. He took out his rifle and aimed it at the goblin''s head and blew its brains out.


    Later he destroyed the boulder and collected all the goblin corpses for Adaline. Some of which were just paste, but he got what he could out of it. The big one was a great harvest though for Adaline.


    "Will¡­ do you have anything that can help them?" Grace said as she laid down the elven women. She saw how Will could make a lot of stuff, so she hoped that he had a healing ability.


    Will looked at their HP, they both had 2/150 HP, they were close to dying.


    "I don''t. I''m sorry." He said. He released the other women from their chains.


    "Even if I talk to the forest they won''t help them or send help for them. And if the humans see that they''re elves, they won''t help either, but use them as slaves instead." Grace felt helpless.


    "Then we have no choice, we need to go to the human village."


    "That''s too risky¡­ but it does seem it''s our only choice."


    Will placed down another crafting table, and made wooden helmets.


    "Place these on them. It''ll hide their ears, that way nobody can tell if they''re elves." Will said.


    One of the physical traits that elves had was their long, pointy ears. It might seem like a dumb idea to hide the elves identities using helmets, but that''s the best they could do.


    "Thank you."


    "Stay here with them. I''ll get some help. On the way here we saw the village, remember? I can ask them for help."


    Grace nodded.


    Will ran off to the village. He didn''t feel like helping, but Grace would never let this go.. And also he owed her and Arbor for helping him defend his base, even if they were ultimately trying to protect Adaline.

 Chapter 27 - Guards

    Later¡­


    Several people were inside the goblin hut. Men were carrying the kidnapped woman out of the goblin''s nest. Will had obviously called for them.


    Grace made sure to keep close to the elven women and made sure that their disguises weren''t exposed. As soon as they''re healed, Grace is gonna lead them back to the nearest elf village.


    Many people were outside talking to themselves. Some ran up to some of the women because they were her relatives, husbands, fathers, siblings.


    Some were just dropped to the ground crying. Many of their relatives were already dead, and eaten by the goblins.


    Will would be lying if he didn''t feel bad for the villagers, but he remembered the other village, and how he wanted to help them but they ended up attacking him instead.


    He had learned his lesson and not to help everyone he crosses paths with.


    Even if there are those who seek your help, sometimes they don''t deserve your help.


    The only reason why he did what he did is because he needed the goblin parts for Adaline, and Grace wanted to save the elven women. And these men were the only ones who could heal them.


    "Thank you brave man. Someone from the Reyes kingdom finally came." An elderly man came to thank Will. He was old, short, and used a wooden cane.


    "What?" Asked Will.


    "We asked help from the kingdom to eradicate the goblins nest. Here''s the promised payment." The elderly men handed Will a pouch full of coins.


    Will counted the money, and it was 50 silver coins.


    "Thanks." Will kept the money. It was basically free money, and he had done them a service that so happened to coincide with his goals, why wouldn''t he take it?


    "Mary!"


    An old man and an old lady ran up to one of the women who was being carried away. She was still awake. The lady called ''Mary'' slowly said something to her parents, they had to place their ears closer to her mouth to hear her.


    "If there''s anything you need, please tell us." The old man slowly walked back to the village, with the help of his young nephew supporting him.


    Will followed Grace and the elven woman back to the village. The village was doing far better than the one that was led by Jim. They were healthy, the economy was good, they were all well fed, their hygiene was good.


    But Will would have a hard time trusting so many strangers like that again. He kept his guns close to him and was wary. He still wore his dragon armor at all times just to be safe.


    They took the injured women inside a building that was the hospital.


    They placed two of the elven women in a separate room after running out of space in the other room.


    Will and Grace were naturally there.


    "Relax, I am a professional."


    Their bodies were getting in better shape.


    "They are so badly hurt that they can''t even open their mouths to eat this. Lucky for us there are other ways to administer these healing potions. Physical damage is not a problem for us to heal. But mentally I cannot say if they will ever recover from what they had just gone through. If it''s okay they need to stay here for a few days until I can ?ssess their condition."


    Grace nodded.


    "Hold on." Will said.


    "Yes, young man?"


    "What did you use just now? That pill thing."


    "This thing? It''s a healing potion."


    "Where did you get it?" Will needs to know how to make those potions.


    "Right around the corner you will find someone who sells and makes potions."


    "Thanks. I''ll be back Grace." Will knelt beside her ear and said "be on your guard."


    Grace nodded.


    Will walked to the potion store. No matter what he needs to know how to make potions, and that starts now.


    The building was oddly identical to the one he saw in the kingdom of Reyes.


    "Hello?" Will entered the store.


    "Hey. What are you looking to buy?" Another young man was labeling and cleaning the potions that were for sale. There were several vials, each of them had pills inside with different colors.


    "I don''t want to buy, I want to know how you make potions."


    "Oh." The man went back and got a book.


    "Here ya go. That''ll be 5 silver pieces for this book. It details every single basic pill the potion makers have discovered." He said.


    "No, I don''t need¡­ actually, I''ll take it." Will handed him 5 silver coins and took the book.


    "Thanks. Anything else?"


    "Yes, how do you grow ajio?"


    "Grow them? I''m surprised you don''t know that since basically everyone knows." The man went back to the store and took out a pot filled with dirt, and two things that looked like broccoli but different colors and sizes.


    "These are ajios." He said.


    "Um¡­ both of them?"


    "Yes, you see this little, white one, is an ajio seed. It doesn''t look like a seed at all. It causes no harm when you eat it, but it does taste like an onion, and also very sour, the same goes for the other one. Place it on a pot filled with dirt, water it daily, keep it out of the sun, they grow in cold, dark places." The man gave Will a small presentation for him. He was very helpful.


    "And then wait a few months and the ajio will grow into this red one. It''s bigger and fatter. Once it has turned into this color and size, you are ready to make potions."


    "How many seeds do you have?" Asked Will.


    "A few hundred. How many do you want?"


    "I''ll take 50 ajio seeds. And also 5 fully grown ajio''s."


    "That''ll be¡­ 1 silver and 25 copper coins."


    Will handed him two silver coins, the man gave Will his change.


    "How do I make potions?"


    "Everything you need to know is written in the book."


    "Thanks a lot." Will left the store while reading the book. It was less than 60 pages, and it even had pictures, this is the kind of book Will likes to read. It was simple and easy to remember.


    Will noticed on his right 3 men were looking at him. Once Will looked at him they turned their heads around.


    Will frowned. He closed the book and kept it safe beneath his shirt. He took out his pistol and was wary of them.


    He came across another store, it was a store that sells masks.


    The store wasn''t a building, it looked more like a garage sale.


    "Hello there, is there anything that you like here?" It was another old man, he wore a red hat, and had grey hair, and wrinkles all over his body.


    "What are these three masks?" Will asked. There were many masks, but three of them stood out the most.


    "This mask is from the image that I drew when I saw the pig king one time. It''s a pig, with a gold crown on it''s head that''s also part of its body. Although it is merely a legend, I heard that no-blade could pierce it''s hide. And legend also has it that it once defeated a squid after almost an entire year of fighting¡­ how I heard it is way better than I am telling it."


    "How about this one?"


    "This is from a design that I drew from a corpse rabbit from the stories. Though I only finished halfway. It is a story that scares kids, that it''s nothing but terror, and has the lowest, deepest voice that could shake your bones, or so the stories go."


    "And this one?"


    "This is a mask with a smiley face, and dots for eyes. This idea came to me in a dream."


    Will took a look at the masks and walked away without buying anything.


    "Wonder who would buy those ugly masks. But the rabbit one looks kinda cool to be honest¡­ eh, not worth it." He chuckled to himself.


    As he was in thought, someone ran up to him from behind and hit him on the head with a heavy blunt object.


    Will felt it, but thanks to his dragon helmet he didn''t feel any pain.


    Will turned around and saw it was the same three men who were looking at him weird.


    "Hey, it was just a joke man." He dropped his weapon when he saw that Will was still standing. His two buddies were also behind him.


    Will took a pistol out and shot him in the leg.


    "OW!!! BASTARD ELF!!!" He cried and screamed in pain.


    "Elf?" Will said.


    The two other men ran up to Will with bats on their hands, but Will pointed his gun at them and they stopped.


    "We already know who you are now. The guards will come for you now." The man on the ground laughed at Will.


    "What are you saying?"


    "You elves thought that you could hide with your disguises, but we know."


    Will realized something, they somehow knew Grace''s identity, but mistook him as an elf because he''s with her.


    "That''s the one. He came with the elf. Our daughter overheard them in the goblin nest."


    It was the same old woman and old man who ran to her daughter ''Mary'' as it turns out. Mary was still conscious when they rescued her. She heard Will and Grace talking about elves, and realized that they were elves.


    As soon as she got out, she told her parents, and they told the village. Everyone held weapons on their hands, some were guns, others were blunt objects.


    The man on the ground was laughing at him.


    Elves could be sold as slaves as it was a legal law in this world. If someone sees an elf, reports it, they will get paid if their information is right.


    Everyone here was greedy to their very core. Why would they all let this opportunity escape from them? It was free money. And since they weren''t near a forest, their Goddess Lea wouldn''t protect them.


    Will was angry right now. This village was doing a whole lot better than Jim''s village. They didn''t need the money. Not only that but he rescued their people practically 10 minutes ago.


    "I see, that''s how it is then. Even after what Grace and I did for you..." He dropped a ?h?st and grew in size, he dropped it on top of the man that he shot and it crushed his head, killing him instantly.


    Some of them yelled in horror. To kill a person in front of them and in such a brutal manner.


    "This is the thanks we get. Then let me show you all just how grateful I am. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6¡­"


    Will started counting down. He reached for his ?h?st and took out his ?ssault rifle.


    "1, 0."


    He started a volley of bullets and shot them all. The villagers began screaming, never in their wildest thoughts did they think an elf would be so brazen enough to use an ?ssault gun and shoot them all to protect himself.


    The ones who had guns started firing back at Will.


    Will also got some stone from the ?h?st and built a wall in front of him for cover. He reloaded his weapons and began shooting them once more.


    The villagers stood no chance. They all began hiding and running.


    Will had his dragon armor, and a shield. He deflected practically all of them. As long as he wasn''t shot with a enchanted weapon he was good. Will slowly made his way to Grace to get them out of here.


    "Grace?"


    He ran inside the room. The middle-aged man had his throat cut by Grace, and there were several other men here with an arrow on their hearts.


    Grace was on the corner of the room, the elves were behind her.


    "Did you plan this?! Did you tell them?!" Grace was scared and angry at the moment.


    "No, one of the women we saved from the goblin''s nest overheard us talking. They think that we''re both elves." Will explained carefully.


    "That¡­"


    "Grace, I would never put you in danger. Just like I would never put Adaline in a position like that, I would never do that to you." Will said.


    Grace looked in his eyes, it was sincere. She could tell he was telling the truth.


    "Let''s get out of here." Will kept a lookout in case other men were pursuing them.


    "It''s okay. We can trust him." Grace ?ssured the other two elven women.


    "But, Princess¡­"


    "He might be a human¡­ but I think we can trust him." Grace said sincerely.


    The elven women nodded. If it were anyone else they would never believe them. But the one who ?ssured them was the Princess of the elves.


    Silvas is the king of the elves. That would make Arbor and Grace royalty of the elven race.


    Will and Grace were shooting and protecting the elven women. The villagers didn''t think this through at all. If JIm were here he would''ve let a better ?ssault force. Good thing no one smart here was leading them.


    "If we make it to the forest we''ll be safer there." Grace said.


    "I agree." As they were about to leave the village, they heard tremors beneath their feet and they felt the ground shaking.


    Dozens of horses entered the village. They all wore the same armor as the ones from the king of Reyes. They all had pistols and ?ssault rifles with them. The one in the front wore enchanted armor.


    Will and Grace saw them.


    "Shit! The guards are here. We need to run." Grace dragged them all before they could see them.


    "Are they strong?" Asked Will.


    "Strong? Yes. The weapons and armor they''re wearing make them impossible to kill with our puny weapons. Even if you shot them in the head, a shield will protect them."


    Will took one more look at the guards and fled as fast as they could.


    Once the guards in horses saw the scene of the village, the one in charge said, "Spread out. The elves must''ve done this."


    They all acted swiftly and surrounded the village.


    Grace and Will saw that and cursed. They ran inside the nearest building.


    "What do we do?" Asked Grace.


    "If they catch us, we fight." Will said.


    They hid underneath a counter and backed up against the wall. Will was planning how to get out of here.


    He felt something cold and hard on his back, what he thought was the wall, was actually a small safe.


    "Any ideas?" Grace asked.


    "No."


    "Well¡­ I knew this day would one day come."


    Will could hear the guards swiftly running around the village checking building by building.


    "Man, this all happened because we happened to help a couple of village idiots that were chained up underground¡­ wait, underground." Will had an idea.


    He took out his pickaxe as quickly as possible and started digging as fast as he could.


    "Grace, tell the elves that when I tell them to, jump down this hole. Which is now, go!"


    Grace led the elven woman inside the hole. First thing Will did was take the metal safe with him, which shrunk as soon as he touched it with his pick.


    He covered the ground using the same floor tiles, completely covering their tracks. Minutes later, guards showed up and searched the area. Once they found nothing they continued looking elsewhere.


    They couldn''t tell that beneath them were the ones they were looking for.


    Grace, Will, and the two elven women were very silent, not making a sound in the slightest.


    Will kept mining as quietly as he could to make them a path that leads outside the village.


    Will knew that living underground like this would only give them a limited oxygen supply. So waiting for the guards to go away was not an option.


    Will purposefully mined a little bit lower so they would be further away from the surface and no one would hear them. He covered the path he made to cover their tracks completely.


    Beneath the surface, the guards kept looking and looking.


    "Sir, we did not find the ones who attacked the village. But we did find many victims and they all gave detailed drawings of their faces. Here''s how they look."


    It was 2 portraits, one looked identical to Grace. The other was hard to tell because it was just mostly drawings of a guy wearing a dragon helmet.


    "Can we get a better detailed picture of him?"


    "No one saw his full face as he never took off this helmet."


    "Hmm¡­" The one in charge was in deep thinking.


    "Why would elves suddenly attack this village knowing that we were coming? Why did they even bother coming here?"


    The soldier didn''t explain because he too didn''t know.


    "Doesn''t make sense, but it does not change the fact that we need to pursue them. Find them."


    "Yes, sir."


    The one in charge was doing a little detective work and finding bits of clues and asking the surviving victims.


    Further away from the village, Will dug a hole to the surface.


    "That was tiring." Will sat down and rested. Mining for that long without taking a break was too much for him.


    Grace noticed that Will dug out in the middle of the forest. She immediately contacted the trees.


    "It seems you brought us pretty far away from that human village. Those guards won''t find us here." Grace sighed in relief.


    "I know, I''m too good." Will laughed a bit, then took out a bottle of water and drank it all.


    "Princess¡­" The elven women didn''t know how to express their thanks to her.


    "The village is a bit far from here. But you two can make it there easily." Grace.


    "Princess, we''re too scared and weak to walk there."


    "I know. Good thing I called for help."


    An organic creature came and rubbed it''s body on Grace''s legs. It was the same organic creature that she rode in the past.


    As soon as she arrived at the forest, she called for her mount in order to help them travel faster. Who would''ve know that he would be used in this situation.


    Sten resembles a lot like a 6-legged goat made out of organic material.


    "His name is Sten. He''ll carry you both to the village."


    "Thank you, Princess." They couldn''t bring themselves to thank Will at all. Today was a terrible, traumatizing day for them.


    First goblins scarred them for life mentally, and spiritually. Next, humans tried enslaving them soon after.


    They got on top of Sten, and they rode off.


    One of the elven women looked at Will for a short moment, she wanted to thank him, but couldn''t.


    "They''ll be fine." Grace was now relieved and sat down on a log.


    "That''s good. I even got this from the village." Will placed the metal safe that he stole.


    "Why''d you take that?"


    "It was there, and I had the power to take it, so why not?"


    He jammed the steel pickaxe and pried it open like a crowbar.


    "And¡­ it''s gold¡­ I expected something better." Will frowned a bit.


    Grace reached the inside the safe and took out a leather pouch and looked inside it.


    "And also I think that''s diamonds. I heard those are pretty rare."


    Inside the ?h?st were three gold bars, a pouch of diamonds, and coins that equaled 10 gold coins.


    "How much are gold bars worth in coins?" Asked Will. He didn''t want or need money, but it didn''t hurt to have some.


    "If I remember correctly, each bar is worth like¡­ 20 gold pieces give or take."


    "So 60 gold for the bars¡­ how about the diamonds?"


    "I don''t know. I never paid that much attention to how much things are worth. Elves don''t use money, only humans do."


    Will touched the gold and tried to place it inside his ?h?st, but he got a new recipe unlocked.


    "Now that I think about it I have never found gold when I mined during the past month."


    He opened the brown book, and what he saw what he had just unlocked in his book, it shocked him to his very core.

 Chapter 28 - New recipes

    ((MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!))


    {Advanced crafting table}


    {A more advanced crafting table with more crafting options. With this you can unlock more powerful weapons, armor, tools, and most importantly, system exclusive crafts that are only beneficial to the user, which is you}


    {Crafting ingredients required: 100x gold bars, 100x iron bars, 100x copper bars}


    Will had his eyes wide open. System exclusive crafts for him only? That sounded important. All this happened as soon as he touched the gold.


    That made him think what he could craft with that, plus the other crafting options.


    This reminded him of the mythril/orichalcum anvil from Terraria, where with that anvil could craft more powerful items compared to the normal anvil.


    The problem was that it required 100 bars from each ore that he mines. Whenever he smelts ore it turns into bars.


    "I''m sure I have at least 100 iron and copper back at base¡­ but I cannot say the same about gold."


    Will frowned. He only got the gold bars purely from luck. He didn''t know how to find gold yet.


    Gold would obviously be found deep in the ground. But there was a thick layer of granite that he could never get through. He''ll need a stronger pickaxe or as an alternative, use explosives. But he doesn''t know how to make explosives yet.


    "What about diamonds? What would they give me?"


    "Are you talking to me?" Asked Grace.


    "I''m talking to myself." He responded honestly.


    {Diamonds: A rare and very durable mineral. It is one of the best minerals for sorcerers}


    {Diamond power source: used for enchanting}


    Will was beyond delighted. Jack and Sam had told him briefly about enchanting items, but failed to mention diamonds could be used like this.


    There were also items for crafting diamonds like jewelry, and mage staffs as well. But the one that caught his eye the most was the {Diamond power source}


    {Diamond power source crafting ingredients: 10x diamonds, anvil, crafting table}


    He checked how many diamonds he had, and only 11, just b?r?ly enough. He let out the biggest sigh of relief. Sometimes gamer''s in their lives get lucky, and other times, not so much.


    Will and Grace began walking away from the village before someone else saw them.


    Back at the village the soldiers kept searching everywhere, not leaving a single stone unturned.


    "Sir, we have not been able to find the elves. They''re gone." A soldier reported to the one in command.


    The leader is a man in his early 50''s. His hair was already grey and so was his beard. Even so he was tall, strong, and had a dominating aura of a retired veteran soldier..


    "The fight started here. I guess that the villagers surrounded one of the elves, but he retaliated and used a type of machine gun." He examined the area and walked inside a room filled with more corpses. There were exactly three dead men, one had his throat sliced, and the others had arrows on their hearts.


    "He ran to this building, and I guess that the other elf killed these men, since the weapons that they were killed with are completely different."


    The commander brought the other soldier with him to another building and stood there.


    "And then they completely disappeared here." He said.


    "How would you know?" The soldier asked.


    "The elder of this village told me that a metal safe was missing, it was this village''s entire savings in case an emergency happened, and now it''s gone. He said that they had over 500 gold coins worth of diamonds here, and 10 gold coins, and 3 gold bars."


    "Want me to fill out a form to any nearby villages if someone''s trading gold bars and/or diamonds?"


    "I already did. But what''s weird here is that I can''t tell how they escaped. We clearly surrounded the area before they could leave, and they didn''t enter any other buildings¡­ it''s like they teleported but they shouldn''t have been able to. How could 4 elves, with a heavy safe, disappear like that? And not only that, but why would elves bother stealing a safe? Were they really elves or bandits disguised as elves? But that wouldn''t make sense" He rubbed his chin and thought really hard.


    Elves view currency as a useless thing. And they don''t focus on accessories like diamonds, or gold. They were beings of nature.


    This made him think that it was bandits with machine guns, but also a bow and arrows. This was too confusing for him.


    The commander was starting to doubt if these elves were actually elves, but the villagers mistook them for elves.


    Then he drew out his enchanted blade and cut the ground beneath him. It was like cutting bu??er.


    "They didn''t escape underground either." He had a sharp mind. If Will hadn''t covered the dirt hole that he made they would''ve been found out sooner.


    "I might be losing my touch since I''m too old now."


    "So what now, sir?"


    "For now, we wait. Have you printed posters of their faces and spread them out to the other villages?"


    If there was a chance that they weren''t elves but bandits, there''s a huge chance that they''re planning on selling the items that they stole to earn a quick buck. But there was also a chance that they would also go to an expert blacksmith and offer him the diamonds to make a powerful weapon.


    "Yes sir, as you requested, they now have a bounty of 10 gold pieces each. We also included that if anyone has any information about them they get 1 gold piece, on top of the extra pieces that they receive for the capture of the elves by law."


    "Good."


    "Sir!" Another soldier entered the building.


    "What?"


    "A sorceress had just arrived at the village. Her name is Jasmine."


    At the entrance of the village, Jasmine was observing the area. On her hand was a sheet of paper, it was a request from this village to send help to exterminate a goblin''s nest.


    The elder of the village mentioned to Will how he thought that the kingdom had sent them to deal with the goblin''s nest, which is why he gave him 50 silver coins. But Will only eradicated the nest due to a series of incidents that led him and Grace there.


    Jasmine saw this request for help and took the job. It was also a good way for her to raise her rank as a sorceress. Most goblin nests have a 4th or 3rd layered monster in charge of these nests.


    Before she was a 1-striped sorceress, now she''s a 2-striped sorceress. Her hard work during the past month had paid off. There was an ''v'' shape mark across on her robe covering her body.


    When sorcerers'' go up in ranks their stripes take a different shape.


    1-stripe has only a single strip going across their robe from their abdomen.


    2-stripes have an ''v'' shape on their front and back side.


    3-stripes are in the form of a triangle.


    4-stripes have a diamond shape.


    5-stripes have all f fives stripes across their body.


    As soon as the commander heard that a sorceress was here, they immediately ran to her and kneeled.


    Sorcerers are very strong and respected. Even an old commander like him needs to pay respects to even a 1-striped sorcerer.


    "What''s going on here?" Jasmine said.


    "Miss¡­"


    "Jasmine."


    "Sorceress Jasmine, we heard that there were elves in this village and we immediately came here. It was like this when we arrived. The perpetrators have apparently ran off before we could find them. We have no clues to their whereabouts."


    She decided not to press on this matter.


    "What do these elves look like? I imagine they''re in human disguises." She asked. It''s not weird for elves to use disguises to fit in.


    One of the soldiers showed her two pictures of Grace and Will.


    "Don''t you have a better description of this other elf wearing bone¡­ armor." Jasmine remembered something important when seeing that bone armor.


    "This is the best description we could make out of them."


    "I''ll go fly over the forest and see if I can find them." Jasmine took off and flew above the forest, like an eagle searching for its prey.


    Jasmine took this time to take out her communication stone and drew on it while flying. It was a form of texting and flying.


    {Do you still have that bone armor with you?}


    Jasmine texted Jack and waited for a response. Jack mentioned to her that Will made him bone armor made out of a cyclops, so it could protect him on his journey. Ever since then Jack had taken care of it, because it''s basically a gift from a hero. It''s like getting a signature from his idol.


    Jack did not see the communication stone light up. He and Sam were still making a shotgun for Kyle, and he was learning a lot.


    Grace and Will kept walking, until they both stopped.


    "Where are we going?" Asked Grace. They''ve been walking around and have no idea on where they were going.


    "I was following you. You were the one leading the way."


    "No I wasn''t¡­ never mind. It''s probably a good idea if we went back to your base. We already have goblin parts for Adaline, and you found a way to make your potions." Grace sat down cross-legged.


    Will also sat down and was in deep thought, what she said was true.


    Not only did he get monster parts and ajio, but he found a way to make enchantments now. And he also has a new objective to unlock the {Advanced crafting table} which is something he needs.


    The problem was the gold. How was he going to break through the granite layer?


    Grace was talking to the trees while Will was thinking. She got up, walked a fair distance away. Later she returned with some fruits.


    "You might also need this."


    She handed him an apple. She ate one too.


    "Oh! Thanks." Will took the apple and ate it wholeheartedly. It''s the first time he put something in his mouth that wasn''t grass.


    Ever since arriving here the first thing he promised to himself was to eat something else. But many things happened so fast that he forgot about food.


    Will devoured the apple in a minute. He spat out the seeds and examined it.


    {Apple seed}


    {It''s an apple seed. Plant it and you''ll grow an apple tree}


    "Grace, are there any more fruits or vegetables nearby?" Asked Will. If he could bring more seeds back to his base and grow more, it''ll definitely help with his food problem.


    "There are only oranges and grapes nearby. If you want any more fruits it''s gonna take us a few hours to get there."


    "Let''s just get those two fruits and leave. Grab as many as you can for the road." Will wanted to go back home but did not want to eat grass on the way anymore.


    Grace grabbed all the oranges, apples, and grapes and placed them inside an empty ?h?st.


    Will was starting to see that carrying too many ?h?sts was a bother. He needed a better way to carry stuff without putting so many ?h?sts in his pockets.


    It was annoying and slow placing down the ?h?st, searching and grabbing stuff out of the ?h?st, and using a tool to shrink the ?h?st. In the middle of a fight it''s not efficient enough. Sometimes he messes up and grabs another ?h?st because they all look alike.


    It''s a great tool for carrying a bunch of stuff for travelling at long distances, but it could be better.


    Grace stopped as she heard whispers of the forest telling her something.


    "Hide!" Grace pushed Will back underneath a tree.


    Above them a robed person flew by them. It was Jasmine. She''s still looking for the two ''elves'' but missed them.


    The forest saw Jasmine and told Grace, which is how she was able to react quickly before Jasmine spotted them.


    "A sorceress. We cannot mess with those. Most likely they were sent here by those soldiers after they couldn''t find us. But how did they react so quickly?." Grace was a bit afraid at the moment. No matter what sorcerers were way more powerful than ordinary guards. She had no way to defeat them, neither did Will.


    "Grace, could you get off of me? You''re heavy." Will was still underneath Grace.


    Grace got off of him while still being wary of the sorcerer.


    "I think she''s gone." Grace felt relieved.


    "Then we better leave now." They got their stuff and left the forest.


    From far away, Silvas, grandfather of Grace, also felt relieved. Now he knew that his son and granddaughter were still alive and well.


    As soon as Grace contacted him he felt as if the weight of the world finally left his shoulders. It''s been a month since he saw them, and was planning on sending more elves to find them.


    Silvas learned a few things from Grace, Will was the 100th hero, the Adalis is doing well and her name was now Adaline, and that he had a base on the deserted lands, and found an exotic flower as well.


    He had asked the forest to keep sending him information. It did bother him that the 100th hero was with Grace and that he had many weird abilities. But after what he saw, he felt that Grace was a little bit safer with him.


    When the soldiers were heading to that village where Grace and a few other elves stayed he planned on going there himself to save them. But when they got out he sat down.


    It was like riding a roller coaster of emotions.


    "Thank you, Lea. For protecting them." Silvas said.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jack was still working with Sam and were both making good progress.


    The shotgun was in several pieces across the table. Sam was adding some major customizations that required a lot of skill, money, and patience.


    "And now, for the enchanting part. I am so glad I didn''t sell the enchanting power source¡­ I think someone wants to talk to you." Sam nudged his head over to the communication stone that was glowing.


    Jack picked it up and read what it said.


    {Do you still have that bone armor with you?}


    The letters disappeared as soon as he read it.


    {Yes. Why do you ask?}


    {Did the bone armor look like it was made out of a dragon''s bones?}


    {Not mine. Mine is made out of a cyclops. But my friend did have dragon bone armor, you know him the one who tamed the organic monster}


    {Oh¡­ is there a chance that he''s by any chance an elf?}


    {I can ?ssure you that there isn''t even a 1% chance that he is. Why do you ask?} Will is the 100th hero, how could he be an elf?


    {Ok, good. I think it''s better if you throw out that bone armor you have}


    {Why?}


    {You''ll understand soon. Just please hide the armor and don''t tell anyone else about it}


    {Um¡­ okay?}


    Jack didn''t understand but he listened to Jasmine''s command.


    "What''s wrong? What did Jasmine want?" Asked Sam.


    "She asked me to do something. I''ll be right back."


    "Hurry. At this rate we might just finish before the deadline."


    Jasmine put away her communication stone and kept flying around the area. She thought that the dragon armor sounded familiar. There was nobody else in the world that could make armor out of monsters because it''s useless. Using metal was better.


    It''s why she asked Jack to hide or throw out his dragon armor, since people could think that they''re the same person or related somehow.


    Now that she knew that it was Will she still needed to find them, but not kill them. It was easier to deal with someone if you know them. The problem was if she could find them.


    After a while of running Will and Grace finally made it to the deserted lands.


    "I don''t think that sorcerer will look for us this far." Grace said.


    "Good thing I still have our camels." Will took out the two caged camels from his pocket.


    "I''m not gonna ride on those camels anymore. I have a better idea."


    At that moment a 6-legged, organic goat came out of the trees and rubbed itself on Grace.


    "We''re taking him. With his speed we''ll arrive in a day instead of 3."


    "Even better." Will tried to touch the organic goat, but it bit his hand.


    "Ow!" Will retracted his arm.


    {HP: 47/50}


    "Sorry, this one doesn''t like humans in particular. I raised it like that." Grace gently ??r?ssed the goat''s head and fed him an apple. She got another apple and put it on Will''s hand.


    "It might not like humans, but I can tell it to trust you for now. Just give him this apple."


    Grace got on top of the goat and gently whispered on its ears.


    Will slowly crept up on the goat and gave him the apple, but the goat wasn''t moving or reacting to it. It was staring directly at Will''s eyes not losing eye contact.


    "It''s very stubborn." Grace added.


    "I can tell." Will kept touching the goat''s mouth with the apple but it still didn''t move.


    "Just get on, slowly. Don''t make any sudden movements." Grace said.


    Will slowly got on the goat''s side but it didn''t move, only it''s eyes kept locked on Will.


    Grace kept ??r?ssing the goat''s head to calm it down and not attack.


    Will successfully made it on top of the goat.


    "Okay, Sten. Go!"


    Sten ran as fast as he could while purposefully trying to knock only Will down.


    Will grabbed tightly onto the side of the goat but that only made the goat trying harder to knock him off.


    "Oh, Sten, always playing games." Grace laughed a bit.


    "I don''t think it wants to play games." Will said while holding on for his life.


    "Okay, take it easy Sten, don''t waste so much energy. We have a long way ahead." Grace fed it another apple and it somewhat calmed down.


    The brown book glowed and it showed Will the information about Sten, mostly about it''s biology and species, just normal stuff.


    It was a little awkward riding on a goat, but it did travel faster than a camel.


    "You know, back at the village¡­ for a second I did think that you had betrayed me." Grace suddenly said to break the silence.


    "Why would I do that? You''re my guide." Will responded.


    "Do you know why humans want elves so much?"


    "Because they''re deranged s?x maniacs who enjoy the p???sur? of enslaving another race?"


    "That''s¡­ oddly specific, but you''re not wrong. What humans are looking for are the exotic flowers. Like the one you ate."


    Will shivered from remembering that painful experience.


    "Once humans somehow knew about the existence of the exotic flower over 200 years ago, they''ve been constantly trying to break into the elven kingdom, to steal that flower. It''s thanks to Lea that no human has ever made it through the village¡­ well, only one I guess, but that''s because my grandfather invited him."


    "It''s a flower that only grants one vitality right?"


    "Yes, but they don''t know it''s poisonous to them. It''ll let them live a few hundred years more than the average human. Which is why they want it."


    "Ah." Will now understood. He wondered why there''s a great fight between those two races.


    "Your grandfather." Will said, "Who did he invite?"


    "The great sage. They are surprisingly good friends. I still don''t know how or why, but they''re on good terms with one another."


    "Makes sense. But if they''re good friends, can''t he make the Great Sage make a law that punishes those who kill or kidnap elves? I heard that he''s strong."


    "You just came to this world, so it''s not surprising you don''t know yet. The Great Sage did what you said he should do about 200 years ago, but he''s old now. They changed the elf laws and made it legal to enslave elves 70-80 years ago. The Great Sage still holds power, but not as much as he used to. It''ll be a matter of time before he''s gone for good."


    "Did¡­ did your grandfather give the Great Sage an exotic flower to extend his lifespan."


    "Good guess. Yes he did. The Great Sage is the only hero and human to have eaten an exotic flower and lived. Grandfather says that it''s the mana flowing through the Great Sage that made it possible to eat the flower, and extend his lifespan. He did this to protect the elves, and it worked, for a while. Although the didn''t stop the humans from killing and enslaving us 200 years ago either."


    Now Will knew why the Great Sage had a long lifespan. It''s because of the exotic flower.


    This made him shiver once more. He had over 20 exotic flowers, and humans would wage war against a race for 1. Now he''s really glad he didn''t set up base in a village or somewhere populated. If someone found out, they would give him a worse fate than death.


    Now he was glad that he set up base in the deserted lands, away from anyone else.


    It seems that all the suffering he and Adaline went through in this desert was actually a good sacrifice.


    "I never got to ask, but how did you get 2 exotic flowers?" Grace asked.


    "From Adaline."


    "That''s not possible. Although an Adalis can indeed produce exotic flowers, it takes about 100 years before that can happen. Even my grandfather can only get an exotic flower every 300-500 years if he''s lucky from an exotic seed."


    "Oh¡­ how does he get an exotic flower?" Will thought he heard wrong.


    "From an exotic flower seed. The elven kingdom only has one and it''s well protected, even from other elves."


    Will thought about the seed he had. Maybe it''s because they''ve never seen the exotic flower seed that they didn''t recognize it. He showed it to them with the exotic flower, but they paid more attention to the flower instead of the seed.


    "Maybe it''s better if I keep it to myself." Mumbled Will. There was no reason why he should show them the flower seed, or the other 20 exotic flowers he had at base.


    "What?"


    "Nothing."


    They continued with their long journey. Once they stopped Grace continued teaching Will to speak in elven tongue. Sten never took a liking to Will and distanced himself from him whenever he could.


    And in short of one day, they arrived back at base.

 Chapter 29 - Exotic potion

    The moment Will and Grace arrived at the base, they noticed blood stains on the grass that wasn''t there before. It looked fresh.


    "Dad!"


    "Adaline!"


    Both of them ran inside the base by breaking down the wooden door. Did this mean that another fight occurred while they were outside? If so then Adaline and Arbor might be hurt.


    As soon as they entered, they saw Arbor sitting on the patch of grass with Adaline waiting by the wooden door for Will.


    "Are you okay?" Will checked Adaline''s HP and felt relieved.


    "Dad, what is that blood outside?" Grace asked in elven tongue.


    Arbor explained what happened before they arrived.


    "Um¡­" Will was listening closely but could b?r?ly make out a few words. He needed a lot of practice before he could speak elven tongue.


    "He said that more men from that village came back but with more people. This time they weren''t as tough. Dad killed them all but some fled. He didn''t want to chase them down because it would''ve left Adaline unguarded."


    Will listened and frowned. That village is poor and couldn''t possibly come back at the same strength like when Jim led over 60 men. At most they were fighting with their b?r? hands or whatever weapon they had. And with their skinny, frail, weak bodies, it would be a miracle if they were able to make it from their village to his base alive.


    Will walked up to Arbor and said in elven tongue, "Thank¡­ yew¡­ for p.. Pr¡­"


    Grace whispered in his ear to help him. While Arbor raised his brows.


    "Protecting Adaline."


    Arbor nodded and said, "My p???sur?. She''s important to me too."


    "Did he say thanks or¡­?" Will looked at Grace. He thought that Arbor added a few more words that he couldn''t make sense of.


    "Later you''ll understand. Just practice." Grace shook her head but felt proud of herself by teaching him a bit.


    Will quickly took Adaline to the far side of the walls away from the elves, he didn''t want Grace or Arbor to know about the exotic flower and seed that he had with him.


    Arbor turned to her daughter, "You''re teaching him how to speak our language?"


    "Yeah, it''s getting bothersome having to translate for you and him." Grace sat down on the patch of grass beside her father. She whistled for Sten to come inside the walls. Sten was busy eating the grass outside.


    "I thought you hated humans. What''s so different about him?" Asked Arbor.


    "At first it was because we made a deal, he''d give me food and water on the way and in exchange I''d teach him a bit of elven tongue. But, after being attacked by-"


    "You were attacked?" Arbor grabbed her arm and a green glow coursed through her body.


    "I''m fine. I''ll tell you what happened to us until now."


    Meanwhile Will was also talking to Adaline while feeding her goblin parts.


    "Listen, Adaline, do you know what this is?" Will showed her an exotic flower.


    Adaline nodded and resumed eating. Her color was returning and so was her energy.


    "This is extremely dangerous if anyone sees you producing this from¡­ behind. So, whenever you want to eat goblin parts and ''poop'' make sure you do it somewhere isolated. I''ll build you a safe place. So please, promise me, that you will never, ever show anyone, even Grace and Arbor. Understand?"


    Once again, Adaline nodded her head and resumed eating. As she ate she continued producing more and more exotic flower seeds until she was full.


    Adaline managed to produce 2 more exotic flowers but no seeds out of it.


    "I''m going to be busy from now on." Will had a lot to build and tend to. For example his camels, ajio, the fruit seeds, enchanting, a safe room for Adaline, mining gold, and probably more stuff that he forgot for now.


    What he did first was build an isolated place for Adaline underground. It was a bit dark but Adaline couldn''t see at all.


    Next, what WIll did was dispose of the evidence by eating it.


    First, he grabbed the potion stand that he got from the garbage in the kingdom of Reyes.


    He read through the guide book on how to make potions.


    It was the same for potion making. A screen appeared with 5 boxes on it, which meant that he needed to place the materials in there.


    He first grabbed one ajio and one exotic flower, no sooner did a timer appear.


    {9:59}


    Will sat there for 10 minute straight not even looking away. He was in his own room where Grace nor Arbor could see the exotic flowers he stored in his ?h?st.


    After 10 minutes had passed, he had unlocked a new potion recipe.


    {Exotic potion}


    {Grants 25+ permanent HP}


    {It''s extremely poisonous to all races except elves, and the user}


    It was still poisonous but not to him anymore.


    Will ate that potion and it dissolved in his mouth as if it were a cloud, tasteless, and yet somehow satisfying to eat. It was the ajio''s effect, as soon as it comes in contact with saliva it''ll dissolve and break down into millions of particles.


    {HP: 75/75}


    He had longed the day where his measly 50 HP would increase at least by one number. And now it happened.


    Will looked and still had 21 exotic flowers, but four ajios, and 50 ajio seeds left. Seeing that he had a limited amount of ajio''s left, he planted some ajio seeds inside a stone pot, with dirt in it. He left it underground and watered it a bit.


    Will got soil because of Adaline. Adaline was not only able to grow grass but also convert the land into soil slowly. It was thanks to the various elements that this land had that it was able to grow soil. The rate she''s producing soil was slower than she was able to produce grass, but it was better than not having soil.


    Will decided to get risky, so he added one ajio, and 2 exotic flower seeds to see the results.


    {9:59}


    Once again he sat down for 10 minutes until the results came back.


    {Exotic potion}


    {Grants 50+ permanent HP}


    {It''s extremely poisonous to all races except elves, and the user}


    Will rubbed his chin. It seems that no matter how many exotic flowers he adds at once, it would still give him 25 health per each flower. But it does save him time from making potions every 10 minutes. The potion stand can combine 5 materials at once. It meant he could add 4 exotic flowers each time, and with an ajio as well.


    He sighed because he thought he would get a little bit more permanent HP, but not everything would go his way.


    {HP: 125/125}


    Will continued making potions until he ran out of ajios.


    {HP: 425/425}


    He could''ve easily had over 500 HP but he ran out of ajio. There were 7 more exotic flowers to be used, plus all the other flowers that Adaline could still produce.


    "So¡­ a monster''s poop is what''s basically giving me life. Never thought I would say." Will thought of something confusing.


    Throwing out those thoughts he continued building as the ajio seeds grew, and he could keep consuming more and more pills.


    First, he built the diamond power source, the very thing that would be able to give him enchants.


    The diamond source looked somewhat weird. It was like a music stand that one would use in an orchestra, it''s size could b?r?ly reach Will''s legs so it was short. There was also a diamond the size of his fist standing a top of the stand.


    The brown book glowed but Will didn''t pay attention to it for now.


    Will touched the diamond power source to see how enchantments work.


    A screen with 3 boxes, and a bar appeared. The bar read.


    {Enchantment power 0%}


    {Enchantment power 1%}


    It was slowly rising for some reason.


    Next, the first box was just right beneath the bar that read.


    {Insert fuel source: optional}


    Will did not know what that meant exactly. He put some coal in it but it didn''t go through, meaning that it doesn''t accept coal as a power source.


    Next, he inserted a diamond, and the bar went up to 100% instantly.


    "Okay¡­ but what does this mean?"


    The next box beneath that read.


    {Insert item}


    Will got his steel pickaxe, it seems that it could be enchanted right now, and enchanting his pickaxe would be beneficial for him. It was a new pickaxe with full durability.


    "Hope this works."


    He inserted the pickaxe inside, and it shrunk so much that it fit inside the diamond on top of the diamond power source.


    The pickaxe came out without him doing anything, and it was enchanted. Will carefully examined the pickaxe in his hand.


    {Steel pickaxe: Enchanted}


    {Enchantment: Excavate II: Easily mine through harder rocks/ores}


    {Enchantment: Durability I: Increases this item''s durability}


    "So it''s completely random?" Will thought that he could choose the enchantments, but it was completely random. Still he was extremely happy to use enchantments.


    He checked what he had unlocked in the recipe book.


    To his amazement, a completely new section of the book was added: enchantments. It details all the enchantments he had unlocked. It even had the enchantment bullets he got from killing JIm. The reason he didn''t get this section unlocked is because he needed to touch an enchanting power source.


    That wasn''t all he unlocked.


    {Super power source generator}


    {This power source will fill up the {enchantment bar} faster than any other power source stand. It will also let you choose which enchantments you want instead of getting it randomly. And enchantments will also be more powerful}


    {Crafting materials needed: Diamond power source}


    {Crafting materials needed: Ruby power source}


    {Crafting materials needed: Emerald power source}


    {Crafting materials needed: Sapphire power source}


    In order to craft the super power source generator, he needed to craft another 3 other different types of power sources.


    Will was curious about that enchantment bar. Did it need to be at 100% to actually enchant an item.


    He inserted his ?ssault rifle in the diamond power source even though it only had 1% right now.


    And to his surprise, it worked.


    {Assault rifle: Enchanted}


    {Enchantment: Durability I}


    He tried testing it on other tools when it reached 1%, but it all had the same garbage enchantments. Will understood now that in order to have more powerful enchantments, he needed to wait for the enchantment bar to rise.


    Will times how much time was needed until the bar number keeps going up.


    Until it reached 3% he understood how long it took. Approximately it takes 5 minutes for the bar to go up by 1% meaning that he''d need to wait 500 minutes until it was maxed out. For some reason, it takes a second for the power source to go up to 1% so he needs to wait a full 8 hours until the enchanting bar reaches 100% which is indeed slow.


    "Although it takes time for the enchanting bar to go up, it''s still better than nothing. I''ve been meaning to enchant these items of mine for the longest time." Will wasn''t bothered by the long wait. While he tended to other stuff, the enchantment bar would go up, and he''d get stronger as well. And luckily for him it didn''t require more minerals to enchant them. All he had to do was wait.


    Next he released his two camels, planted the fruit seeds. He now had 7 camels. A few more and he can eat meat.


    Camels obviously had to release their body waste and it would start to smell, but Adaline absorbs their feces to enrich the soil. It''s a good thing he didn''t need to clean it up because he didn''t feel like it.


    "Why do I feel like I''m forgetting something?" Will racked his brain to remember what he had forgotten.


    "Will!" Grace said.


    "Yeah?"


    "We need to speak to you about the exotic flower you found." Grace and Arbor showed up with the flower in hand.


    "Oh yeah, I forgot I gave it to you." Will realized he was one flower short, because he gave one to them and ate the other one. He had forgotten to take back the exotic flower from them after that.


    "We would like to propose a trade." Grace said.


    "For the flower?"


    "Yes. It''s beneficial for us, elves, but it''s poisonous to everyone else. The next exotic flower that will bloom in the elf kingdom will take about another 100 hundred years. So we need this."


    "Well¡­" He didn''t want to let go of the chance to increase his HP.


    "Is there anything that you need or want? I am sure that my grandfather will comply with your requests as long as it''s reasonable."


    The flower technically belonged to Adaline, but Will was the one who tamed Adaline. They guessed that the next time Adaline produces a flower it''ll take a few hundred years.


    They really did need this flower to increase their lifespan.


    Will thought about this. Increasing his HP is something he really needs, however HP isn''t the only way to go. Adaline could produce more for him as long as he fed her more monster parts. And he had an exotic flower seed as well, but still had no idea how to grow it. He didn''t want to accidentally destroy the exotic flower seed by using normal means.


    "There''s a few things that I want. But I need to know one thing." Will said after planning it out.


    "What is it?"


    "Are you two planning on going back to the elf kingdom?"


    Grace talked to her father. Arbor looked at Adaline for a while and responded.


    "He said that only we will go back, but will return here to check on Adaline."


    "As long as you both go back, I need these items: healing herbs to make healing potions, actually give me all the herbs and flowers and seeds you can and bring them back." Will needed to make more than just exotic potions. Potions could give him a huge advantage in the future if he knows how to make and use them.


    Grace talked to her father and he nodded without hesitating.


    "Done. Anything else?"


    "Is it possible that elves have rare minerals like diamonds, rubies, gold and such?"


    Grace translated to her father.


    "He said that some elves do have those items. We use them for enchanting our weapons."


    "I need those. I need about 10 emeralds, 10 rubies, 10 sapphires, and 10 diamonds. And also gold will be nice, not coins though. If you have more I''ll gladly take it." Will didn''t need the diamonds, but they were a great fuel source for enchanting quickly.


    Grace translated to her father again.


    "He says that''s fine too, but it wouldn''t be fair on your end to end it like this. Anything else?"


    "Yes. I need info. As you know I am a hero and I don''t know much about this world. I need maps, info about this world, and also is possible info about the other 99 heroes. Everything that I need to know please tell me."


    Will still wanted to explore and not remain in the same place for a long time, it would remind him of his time in quarantine. Having the basic information about this world''s history, and geography would help him.


    Also, he needed to know if his ex-girlfriend was doing fine.


    "Done. Anything else?"


    Will raised his eyebrows. It felt like he suddenly got a good deal thanks to the exotic flower. Then again, it''s rare and it grows once every 300-500 years, and it''s the reason why humans want to take over the elven race.


    "I realized that your father''s blades are made out of something called metal-grass, bring me a bunch of that."


    If he could make weapons out of that metal-grass, his power would rise significantly. It''s definitely stronger and lighter than steel.


    Grace looked at Will for a second before translating it to her dad.


    "He said that''s fine too. So I guess that''s it then?"


    "Yup." Will really wanted to ask them about how they grew flowers from the exotic seed and if there were any special or unique methods he didn''t know about. But if he asked them they would get suspicious of him. He wasn''t stupid enough to trade it. The only reason he traded the flower is because they knew about it, and wouldn''t rest until they had it completely in their hands.


    Grace nodded to her father and he nodded as well.


    "We''ll take Sten. Adaline is a faster mount, but she cannot take Sten and us both at the same time. We''ll be back in about a week or two."


    Arbor and Grace mounted Sten and rode off. They needed to get the flower back asap.


    Will realized that he was alone again with Adaline.


    "It''s just us again." Will patted her head gently.


    Now he took the steel pickaxe, went to the deepest part of his literal man-made cave, and mined the granite. It was easier to mine granite than before.


    "It''s still hard, but at least now I''m making noticeable progress." Will chuckled and smiled.


    He continued to mine and mine granite. When his steel pickaxe would come close to breaking, he fixed it like he had always done.


    If he had to complain about one thing when he''s mining, is the light source. Torches only last so long. It''s a pain to make another torch, light it up, set it up every 20 minutes. And when he got too far he had to take it with him because it got darker.


    But it was worth it. He had already found way more ores than he did further up. But still no sign of gold.


    "Diggy-diggy hole, diggy-diggy hole. I am a dwarf and I''m digging a hole." He sang to himself as he mined. It''s a very good and popular song somehow.


    Then, he found a cave that he didn''t make. It was pitch black so he couldn''t see the entire cave because it was big. He was all the way at the top and almost fell.


    He heard faint sounds of something below. Like water or something else. And screeching as well.


    "Did I find another water source and bats? Oh god, I hope those things don''t spread another disease again in this world."


    Will grabbed another lit torch and threw it on the ground.


    The torch dropped 15-20 feet before landing. On the ground were none other than monsters living in the darkness. It wasn''t just ordinary monsters, they were scorpions the size of a full grown man. The number of scorpions could well be over 100.


    They were all black, had long pointy tales, the light of the torch reflected off their skin. As soon as the torch touched one of them and burned them, they shrieked and began attacking the torch.


    "Nope." Will blocked the wall and went back up.


    "That was scary as fu?k. It was like facing a terraria monster. God, that''s scary." Will wasn''t prepared for that. He didn''t expect to find a cave, much less monsters living in it.


    It did seem like there were monsters living in these lands, but were deep underground. Probably nobody noticed until now.


    "No, I cannot let that be. I need to find gold." He cannot rely on Grace and Arbor bringing him gold. It was safer and probably quicker looking for it underground. And there was probably a lot more valuable minerals that could be of use of him if he continued mining deep underground.


    "I''ll go back tomorrow. After I enchant a few weapons." It wasn''t safe going down there when there were that many scorpions, especially with his weak guns.


    He took this chance to take a break and to find out how to make more flowers than just using Adaline.


    Will grabbed the exotic flower seed, placed it inside a pot full of soil, watered it, and left it on the sun.


    "I hope this works.." He said.

 Chapter 30 - An exotic chapter

    The next day, Will woke up refreshed. The first thing he did was enchant another ?ssault rifle when the enchanting bar reached 100%, he enchanted another weapon because his old one was already enchanted, and cannot be enchanted twice.


    {Assault rifle: Enchanted}


    {Enchantment: Super bullets I: Increases the bullets damage}


    {Enchantment: Cheap II: Chance to save bullets when firing}


    {Enchantment: Double bullets !: Chance to shoot twice the amount of bullets at the cost of one}


    Will was shocked to get 3 enchantments and they were kinda good too.


    "It''ll be a matter of time before I can use up to 10 enchantments or more at the same time." He chuckled at that thought. But that was still too much for him.


    "Hey, Adaline, how are you¡­ what the fu?k happened to my trees?!" Will saw that his tres, which were normal a while ago, suddenly became a glowing purple, the leaves were glowing blue, and one could see the roots going all across his base right to the exotic flower seed.


    He followed the roots, and saw that a tiny flower was sprouting from the exotic seed that he planted. Adaline was just sitting beside the trees, as if it gave her some sort of comfort. The flower wasn''t an exotic flower, that was the the entire seed but grown.


    The roots of the trees broke through the stone pot and connected with the exotic seed.


    "So¡­ this is the method to grow exotic seeds. It needs trees." Will touched the tree and read the description.


    {Exotic tree}


    {The trees give the exotic seed life. It protects the seed as if it were it''s sacred duty}


    Will decided to test something out. He cut one of the trees down, and it became a new type of wood.


    {Exotic wood}


    {Known to be a rare and powerful type of wood. Can only be grown when it has given it''s power to an exotic seed}


    {Can grow even underground, but still requires water}


    Will cut down a few more trees, replanted more, and used the wood to craft it to see what it could produce.


    He first crafted sticks, which were now exotic sticks, and crafted another steel pickaxe with it.


    The pickaxe was the same, but it glowed a blue and purple color.


    {Steel pickaxe}


    {Exotic: Grants extra durability to the tool and power}


    Will used the new exotic steel pickaxe and mined granite with it, and to his surprise, it was easier to use this pickaxe than the enchanted one. It was like literally cutting bu??er. The best part is that it also worked as an infinite light source.


    "Holy... to think something like this would happen."


    He never would''ve thought something like this could happen. Then fear struck in his heart. If others found out, he would be doomed. He needed to hide the exotic seed and exotic trees from sight especially from Grace and Arbor.


    "I cannot take the risk. This is too good to be true and I cannot afford to lose it. Adaline, come quick."


    Adaline came to Will''s side.


    "I need to know if you can keep the exotic seed alive for a while. I just need to replant it somewhere safe but I''m afraid that if I take it out of it''s pot, it''ll die."


    Adaline nodded and connected her roots with the exotic seed.


    "Wait, I still need to build a place to plant... Adaline! Are you okay¡­?"


    Will saw Adaline''s body glow and brightly as the trees, and her HP was slowly rising.


    {Adalis}


    {HP: 2,500/2,500}


    {HP: 3,000/3,000}


    {HP: 8,000/8,000}


    And finally, she had reached her peak.


    {Adalis: Exotic}


    {HP: 20,000/20,000}


    Her 2,000 HP multiplied by 10. It was insane.


    Not only that, but Adaline was now cooler, stronger. As if she had gotten a serious upgrade.


    "Now¡­ that''s awesome!" Will''s eyes were shining as bright as stars. To think that an exotic seed could show some serious results.


    Adaline was running around like a dog chasing its tail, she could feel the power flowing through her body.


    "Is this why Arbor and Grace wanted that exotic flower? Because they knew about this?" Will asked himself, and it made sense.


    Then, he noticed that the exotic flower seed had withered. It died.


    "Shit¡­" He looked at Adaline and sighed. Looks like it could give Adaline a huge boost in power and HP and die.


    "Oh well. It''s no use crying over spilled milk. Maybe if I am lucky I''ll get another one." He remembered the first time he got the exotic flower seed is because Adaline also produced one when they first met.


    Then he noticed that the exotic trees were still there. He cut them all up and stored them for safekeeping. He also kept the exotic saplings safe until he found a better place to plant them. If Grace and Arbor know about those trees, they will know about the exotic seed. He just cannot take a risk of letting anyone else find out.


    Adaline was still glowing, and it didn''t seem like it would change back to normal any time soon.


    "At least you''re happy." Will smiled when he saw Adaline''s great mood.


    Adaline was testing out her new look. She was now faster. Her roots can now cut through metal. She was way more resistant and durable than before. If she were to be shot by another enchanted bullet like last time, it will be very different now.


    "Can you change back?" Asked Will, he needed to test it out.


    Adaline wasn''t sure what he meant at first. But, in that moment, her original color returned, and that also meant that her newfound powers weren''t with her anymore.


    "So, it''s like a transformation, like that one show Alex liked¡­ What did Alex say that was the name of that show again? Saiyan transformation, or dragon balls? Eh, exotic transformation sounds better." Will nodded to himself and agreed.


    Will crafted exotic armor as well to see if it was different. And it was.


    {Exotic wooden helmet}


    {Defense 20}


    {Exotic wooden ?h?st piece}


    {Defence 25}


    {Exotic wooden shoulderguards}


    {Def¡­}


    Will was amazed to see that this new exotic armor was actually stronger than his dragon armor.


    Not only that, but there was a new armor set ability.


    {Exotic set bonus: Strength+ Speed+ Defense+]


    He wore the armor and tested out the new buffs it granted him, and he noticed a rise in his physical abilities.


    Will ran but didn''t calculate his speed correctly and ran into his stone wall. Next, he tested his strength on that wall and accidentally broke it down.


    "Cool¡­ that didn''t even hurt me. Must be because of the defense boost."


    Will had the dragon armor for almost a month now, and it was his strongest armor set. But now this armor is the best one he had.


    "Adaline, thank you so much."


    All this couldn''t have been possible without Adaline. His HP increasing, the new exotic armor, all that because of her. If he hadn''t met her, at most he''d be wearing steel armor and would''ve never progressed this far.


    Now he felt confident about taking on the scorpions.


    He grabbed all his strongest gear and went deep below.


    The exotic armor also glowed brightly so he didn''t need to use torches to light up his way.


    Once he reached the end, he took a deep breath and mined the entrance. He could still hear their screeching noises deep below.


    Will didn''t mind bugs at all, they didn''t scare him. But it''s a completely different story if they''re over 2 meters long, poisonous, and if there''s an army of them all at one place.


    The scorpions noticed Will''s glowing armor and screeched as they climbed the walls toward him.


    Will first threw a torch at the cave to give him some more light. Then he grabbed his gun and shot them all down. He quickly reloaded and never stopped raining down bullets on them.


    Scorpions are tough and scary, but against an enchanted ?ssault gun with almost infinite bullets, they stood no chance.


    Will could hear them scream, some fell on other scorpions. Some were close to killing him, but were all shot down.


    When they came near him, he could see them thanks to the blue glow from his armor and shot them. It was easy but still scary.


    Some of the scorpions fled to another cave when they saw that their numbers were going down significantly.


    After a while, Will finally stopped shooting but kept a close eye.


    "I know some of them ran back. Are there more caves with those things?" Will shivered at the thought of that. It was thanks to his gun and the fact that he was above them that made it possible to kill the majority of them.


    Will made a staircase down while holding his gun. If there were more scorpions, he was confident enough to escape before they could kill him. He checked if the scorpions on the ground weren''t playing dead to fool him. If their health isn''t at 0 he''d shoot them.


    Will threw and placed down many torches. The hole that the scorpions escaped was 5 meters tall and wide. He could still hear their screeching noises from afar echoing throughout the cave.


    What he did first was simple, block off the entrance to that cave using granite. Why would he leave that entrance open for them to come and go as they pleased?


    With the adrenaline in his veins finally starting to go down, he sat down on a floor that was wet, smelled, and was warm.


    "Ew, ugh, gross." Will just sat down on the corpses of the scorpions he just killed.


    "Imma take a shower after this. Disgusting."


    Will grabbed a steel sword that he crafted and started cutting out and storing the scorpion parts inside the ?h?sts. Maybe he could have some use for them.


    He got scorpion pincers, heads, teeth, and most importantly poisoned tails.


    {Cave scorpion tail}


    {Extremely poisonous}


    {Can be used on weapons, or potions}


    "Weapons¡­ I wonder."


    Will grabbed a bullet from his ?ssault rifle, a crafting table, and it worked, poison bullets.


    "That''s just playing dirty now." Will realized that what he had just done was making a deadly bullet. One shot and that person will be poisoned for sure.


    Will threw the bullet away but kept the poisoned tails with him. It might be of some use to him in the future.


    "SCREECH!"


    Will grabbed his gun and aimed it at the blocked entrance of the cave. He could hear more scorpions trying to find their way to kill him.


    "Thank god I blocked off the entrance."


    He ignored them and continued collecting all the scorpions leaving nothing behind.


    Then, on the ground, he found something he needed, gold ore.


    "Amazing." Will chuckled a bit and mined that little bit of gold he had found.


    Now that he knew that gold could be found in this level of the ground, he continued to mine in another direction away from the cave entrance where all the scorpions are.


    Today was a busy day for Will. He had never mined so much and so efficiently before. With the new pickaxe and the d?s?r? to get 100 gold bars made him mine like never before. He had to go back for more ?h?sts because he ran out of space to put all the granite and ores he collected.


    After all that mining he had never found another cave, he didn''t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. But if there were monsters living in those caves then maybe it''s a good thing he hadn''t come across them.


    Finally, he stopped.


    "87 gold ores. Damn so close. Plus the other 3 that I stole from that village that makes it 90 in total."


    He looked back, and frowned a bit. He had mined so much that it looked like an endless tunnel. He decided to dig straight up minecraft style.


    Finally he reached the surface. He couldn''t even see his base but saw so much grass. Not only that but the sun was already rising. Will had been mining for almost an entire day straight.


    Will ran at a great speed thanks to his new armor''s speed buff. It didn''t take long for him to reach his base.


    "I love this armor. It''s like taking super steroids or something." Will smiled. It did feel amazing to have speed. Now he knew how Usain Bolt must feel.


    He got home, he didn''t even make it on his bed and slept on the floor.


    "Too lazy. Good night, Adaline." Will snored and slept like a baby soon after.


    Adaline coiled her roots around him and placed him on his bed that was underground. Afterwards she left him on his own to rest.


    Meanwhile¡­


    In Jack''s village, there was a poster board for people who want jobs, or posters of wanted men.


    There was one of Clement who had kidnapped the princess of the Reyes kingdom, and also some other no-named criminals. Clement''s bounty was the highest with 1000 gold coins on his poster, and 30 gold coins for any information about him.


    On one of the posters was Grace, and Will. Both have a high bounty with a ''dead or alive'' sign beneath their posters. Beside the poster was a detailed explanation of what they had done to become wanted criminals.


    Jack was looking at Will''s poster. He had a hard time believing that this was him. Although it was hard to see his face because of the bone dragon helmet he was wearing, Jack knew it was him.


    "I don''t really believe that this is him."


    Jack had heard stories of fallen heroes, who were once heroes, but have crossed the line of no return. Most of them had abused their powers and killed or caused pain to many innocent people.


    Jack did not want to believe it, but there were too many eye witnesses.


    Jack took out the communication stone from his pocket and messaged Jasmine.


    On the other side, Jasmine was still looking for Will and Grace. Her endless pursuit showed no results, as she couldn''t find any clues of their whereabouts. She had given up already and was just flying around aimlessly.


    "They''ve already escaped somehow. It''ll be a waste of time if I continue searching for those two. Hm?"


    Jasmine noticed her pocket glowed brightly, it was her communication stone.


    {Jasmine, is it true about Will?}


    Jasmine sighed. She expected him to say that. But she didn''t know why he cared about him even though they were friends for a few days, it was almost as if he viewed him as a role model.


    {It''s true. I arrived at the village right after they attacked. There were bodies there. I think he joined the elves side}


    This only made much more sense to Jack. In the past elves had used their charm and appeal to make heroes fight for them. Most of the heroes that are summoned are young and v?r??ns, they could not resist an elf''s charm. In short, they became simps/thots and fought for the elves. Many other humans have done the same.


    In this world where humans and elves hate each other, joining the elves is treason against humanity.


    {Can you do me a favour.} Asked Jack.


    {Sure. What do you need?}


    {Can you go back to the village and see if it''s really true? Maybe there was a mistake.}


    {I''ll check. I was going back there anyways in case there were clues as to where they were headed. But why do you want to know? I don''t think I''ve seen you act like this towards anybody aside from your family, and heroes. Like back at the hidden room with Sam, it was like you were treating him like a role model.}


    Jack almost choked at that moment. Jasmine had almost guessed Will''s real identity.


    Jasmine didn''t think much when she wrote down ''heroes'' as she would''ve never guessed that Will is the 100th hero.


    {He''s just a good friend. Like you and I, we''re friends. I would be worried too if you were a criminal and ran away.}


    {Fair enough.}


    Jasmine put down the communication stone and ran towards the village. Unknown to her, just right behind her, was Grace and Arbor riding on Sten on their way to the elven kingdom. If Jasmine had turned around at that moment, she would''ve seen Arbor and Grace.


    Unfortunately for her, her timing is as bad as Romeo and Juliet.


    Grace looked up and thought she saw someone.


    "Something wrong?" Asked Arbor.


    "I thought I saw a sorcerer. But I think I saw something else."


    They continued riding the organic goat as fast as possible without stopping.


    The next day, the first thing Will did was tend to his camels. When they reached 11 camels, he ate one of them. He didn''t feel bad, just hungry. Even a hungry man would eat his loving dog if they had no food.


    He cut the camel and cooked it in the furnace.


    Will collected the apples, grapes, and oranges and ate it together with the camel meat. It wasn''t a delicious plate, but these were all his ingredients he had. And he was too hungry to care at the moment.


    That day, Will cried as he could taste the meat and fruits. After eating grass for so long, it felt like it was the best thing he had ever eaten.


    "Want some?" Will offered Adaline some of his food but she declined. She still had spare goblin parts.


    Adaline at that moment brought more exotic flowers to Will, 5 to be exact.


    "Oh, thanks." Will collected the flowers but continued eating the food on his table.


    Afterwards he made more exotic potions, and increased his HP once again.


    {HP: 725/725}


    It brought him much joy to see his HP rising fast. He had already surpassed Grace''s 300 HP.


    He enchanted his exotic armor next, since it''s now his best armor. He started with the helmet first.


    {Exotic wooden helmet: Enchanted}


    {Enchantment: Bullet proof II: Increases your defense of projectiles}


    {Enchantment: Piercing protection II: Increases your defense against sharp weapons}


    Will checked his glowing armor, it looked very badass. With the exotic glow from before and now with the new flamelike glow from the enchant, it was arguably just as badass as the dragon armor he had.


    He wasted no time running back to the cave to find the last 10 pieces of gold he needed to craft the advanced crafting table.


    It took Will another 1 hour to find the last 10 gold bars. After smelting it, he finally had 100 gold bars. It took some time, but he finally achieved it.


    "100 iron bars, 100 gold bars, and 100 copper bars. I wonder what new items I''ll have unlocked."


    Will crafted the new advanced crafting table.


    The table was made out of gold. The legs were made of iron. The rest of it was decorations, but it was made out of copper and some gold and iron.


    Will touched the advanced crafting table, and a whole new list of items were now within his reach. There was a new section of {Exclusive crafts} and one of them caught his eye.


    {Inventory I}


    {Place items inside and you will not lose them after death}


    {Maximum number of items allowed: 10}


    {Upgrade to increase the maximum number of items allowed}

 Chapter 31 - Sorcerers might

    "Inventory¡­ so I did have it all this time. I only needed to unlock it and craft it."


    Will was ecstatic. Having an inventory would be such a great help. And the best part, he could place anything inside and it won''t drop when he dies. This doesn''t include the armor and weapons he''d use when he dies.


    This made sense now that he thought about it. It''s a crafting system. He even needed to craft even his own inventory.


    He checked the crafting materials needed to craft the inventory.


    {Inventory I}


    {Crafting materials: 500x gold bars, 100x cobalt bars}


    "Bruh! 500! I worked hard to earn 100 gold ores, and now I need to work 5x the amount for that?! And I also need cobalt! I don''t even know how far I need to go down to get that ore!"


    Will wanted to pull his hairs out. Just when he thought it was a lot of work to mine 100 gold ores, now he needs 500.


    "Whatever, I''ll worry about that later. What other exclusive items do I have here?"


    The {Inventory} wasn''t the only exclusive item to him. There were several more.


    {Hot belt: Place items inside, and you can instantly equip them at any time with ease}


    {Maximum number: 4}


    {Upgrade to increase the maximum number of items allowed}


    {Portable crafting table}


    {Can craft anything without having to place down a crafting table. Does not drop upon death}


    {Blueprint: Copy down a building/structure, or anything else and instantly build it}


    {Super map: It shows the user where you are, and the places where you''ve been}


    But, on the exclusive item section, some of the pictures were grayed with a ''?'' in the middle of the picture. Apparently he needed to unlock more crafting materials to unlock those other exclusive items.


    Aside from the inventory, the hot belt was also very useful. If he could equip items fast like in terraria and minecraft, it''ll help him a lot.


    And that portable crafting table and blueprints would also be of great help to him.


    "I should start with the cheapest one. That seems like a good idea."


    Will wanted to craft the exclusive items first before seeing the other normal crafting recipes he had unlocked. The cheapest one to make was the portable crafting table, which required 100x crafting tables to make. Lucky for him, he had trees and wood to spare.


    After a while he unlocked the portable crafting table. It was basically like wearing a bracelet, it had small and fine details carved in it. It was wood but felt really soft when touching it.


    At that moment he had unlocked another item when his brown book glowed.


    Will tapped the portable crafting table, and a list of items showed up in his face, as if he was using an ordinary crafting table.


    "That''s neat. What did I just unlock?"


    {Does not drop upon death}


    A crafting table can only craft so much. It could not craft weapons better than stone, or make arrows or bows.


    "Huh, okay. What do I need for that?"


    {Crafting materials: 1x advanced crafting table}


    {Crafting materials: 1x portable crafting table}


    {Crafting materials: 100x bowman''s table}


    {Crafting materials: 100x anvils}


    "Ugh¡­ this is gonna take so long to craft."


    After one hour, he finally crafted the universal crafting table. It was still a bracelet, but with more details, and it was now made out of iron, wood, copper, and gold.


    "Yup, this is worth it. Although the ores I collected over time have almost depleted." Will b?r?ly had any ores and wood left. Crafting those ingredients took up most of his resources.


    "Oh god, and this was the cheapest on the list. What materials did I need to build the hot belt again?"


    {Hot belt]


    {Crafting materials: 100x leather belts}


    {Crafting materials: 1000x wood}


    {Crafting materials: 4 leather pouches}


    Will frowned. How was he gonna get all that leather? He already got leather when he killed a camel, but that was nothing compared to what he needs to craft the hot belt.


    "I''ll just plant more trees, and breed more camels, but breeding camels and killing them will take me weeks or even months until I can gather the required materials¡­ I am gonna need to breed more types of animals¡­ or I need to go to another village to trade. But¡­ that''s too risky."


    Will did not want to go to another village for several good reasons.


    1. The last two villages he went to they had tried to kill him.


    "Gah! Do I really have no choice but to risk leaving my base unguarded?" Will was trying to think which choice was the best one.


    "What about the other items?" Will looked at the other exclusive items for now.


    {Blueprints}


    {Crafting material: 1000x papers}


    "Oh god, why do these need so much wood?"


    In order to make paper he needs wood.


    {Super map}


    {1000x papers}


    {1x compass}


    He got the compass when he asked Grace for it. She left it back at the base because she didn''t need it anymore so she threw it away, but Will thought that he might have some use for it, so he kept it safe, and he was glad he did.


    Will sighed. First he cut down all the remaining trees that he could and planted more. Next he tore down another portion of his wall and expanded his base once more, by adding more walls. This area was now going to be for trees only. The tree area was now larger than his base. It shows how much he needed wood at the moment.


    When he had time, he built another area only for growing crops. There grew his grapes, apples, and oranges. It took him a total of 10 hours to build those walls, plus a few more hours to plant the seeds and saplings.


    By then it was already night.


    "This is taking so long to build. There has to be an easier way. That reminds me when Technoblade said something on one of his youtube videos ''if you have a problem, the answer is ''slavery'''' and he''s right. But, I don''t see how that''s possible at the¡­"


    Will said that as a joke, because he never believed in enslaving people for real, even he has morals. But, an idea came to him.


    "Wait, that''s a good point, me. That''s a damn good idea! Instead of gathering materials myself, why not have others do it for me?"


    Will rummaged through his base and gathered all the silver he could find.


    "Over 300 silver ore. Damn. Convert that into coins and I should have over 300 silver coins, at most 1,200. But that seems like it''s not enough. Looks like I really need to go to another village, hopefully one that doesn''t want to kill me."


    Back in the kingdom of Reyes and Jack''s village, there were these boards with jobs on them. If he could make his own job poster and pay people good money for wood, cobalt, gold, and leather, then he doesn''t need to waste all that time grinding for it.


    "It''s like playing skyblock sort of." No matter how rich he felt, it''ll all be gone when he needs a new better item. The life of every skyblock player.


    Will sighed once more. Would this be enough silver to give him a lot of money? Because people won''t work for free.


    "But I can''t leave the base unguarded for too long. Isn''t there anything here that can help me?"


    Will checked through his brown book. He had been busy for the past 12 hours that he didn''t even check the new crafting materials he had unlocked.


    What he unlocked was basically simple upgrades, crafting tools out of bones, better animal cages, better ?h?sts. Items that he couldn''t craft with the normal crafting table. But two things caught his eye, something that could protect his base while he was out.


    {Energy shield: Protects you from any attacks. Does not work on large, heavy, or explosive objects}


    {Crafting materials: 1 diamond}


    {Sentry turret: Shoots anyone that user deems as enemies}


    {Crafting materials: 1000x iron bars, 3 diamonds}


    The energy shield is something that even normal guards have. It''s why Grace did not want to go against them, because it was easy to make and cheap too. In the beginning of the story, Clement shot at some of the guards, but was blocked by an energy shield. Diamonds are rare, but somehow more common in this world compared to Earth.


    However, that turret seemed like the perfect item to use to protect his base. What he lacked was the materials to craft it.


    "I need diamonds. Damn. And I just used one accidentally on enchanting."


    This made him think of something else. Did this mean that other rare minerals such as rubies could be used to craft different types of weapons and items?


    "Looks like first I''ll need to go back to the mines to get diamonds. But I haven''t even found one yet. I''ll have to go deeper. I''ll need to have Adaline help me mine. Oh well, I''ll start right after I wake up,"


    Will took a quick shower, enchanted his ?h?st piece, and slept like a log.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jack was silently standing on the counter. His mom was there as well. The village has been doing better lately. More people have migrated to their village and have begun to live there. There had been an increase in monsters and bandits attacking, which is why they migrated to the village where it was a little more safer to live in.


    With the increase in people their shop was doing better. That means more jobs, more money, stable economy, more houses.


    At the start they were worried if their village was going to be torn to shreds from the inside. But now it seems like it''s gonna do well.


    July was reading a book, but was also a bit bored. Jack was in a bad mood as he''s waiting for Jasmine to message him. He needs to know if Will has truly fallen.


    "Are you and Jasmine fighting?"


    "Nope."


    "Then why are you constantly checking your communication stone?"


    "Reasons."


    "Whenever you''re in a bad mood you always answer with a few words. Aren''t you gonna tell me why you''re in a bad mood?"


    "Nah."


    "Fine, I won''t ask you anymore. But thanks, for your help."


    "With what?" Jack was confused.


    "Remember a month ago when I asked your help to trick your grandmother into thinking I was committing ?n??st? Because she wouldn''t stop nagging me about finding another husband?"


    "It was weird. Why did I agree again?" Jack shuddered at the thought.


    "Because I promised you that someday I''d take you to the kingdom of Reyes, to see the summoning of the heroes."


    "And we didn''t. But at least I have this." Jack looked at the picture of the 99 heroes that were summoned, it was the same picture Will gave him.


    "I''m sorry about that. I know how much you wanted to see the heroes."


    "It''s fine." Jack didn''t mind because he made a friend with a hero, which is probably better. But after what Will had done, he didn''t know anymore.


    "But really, thank you for helping me trick you grandmother, even though it kinda backfired in the end. I can never love another man like your father."


    Jack held her hand firmly.


    "I miss dad."


    July hugged her son.


    "Me too."


    Sharing this wonderful moment, someone had violently kicked the door.


    "YO!"


    It was 3 sorcerers men in their mid-twenties. They all had 2-stripes in their cloaks.


    They ruined the mood the moment they walked in.


    One that appeared to be the leader of the group had an enchanted staff with an emerald embedded in the tip. His cloak, and clothes were all enchanted too. He had wild-blonde hair, an enchanted earring, and black glasses. He was rather tall, over 6ft and skinny too.


    One of the other two was a little quieter, covering his entire face with his cloak. He carried an enchanted katana and an enchanted knife with him.


    The other had purple, spiky hair. He was carrying a mirror while combing his hair non-stop, as if his hair was never perfect. The spiky haired individual also smoked a cigarette as he combed. On his back was an enchanted crossbow that he carried.


    "Hey, hot lady, gimme your best weapon in store."


    "What you see here is all we''ve got." July didn''t like his attitude one bit.


    He looked around and had a disgusted look on his face.


    "Ugh. How can you make such crappy¡­ oh, you''re both beginner blacksmiths. Make sense. Can you at least make decent arrows for my friend Pete?" He got a pouch full of coins and placed them on the counter.


    It was full of copper coins.


    "That''s enough for 100 arrows."


    "Pete, is that good enough for you?"


    "Yeah, whatever, Nick. This place is making my hair get weird. I''ll wait outside." The one called Pete left the store.


    "How long until you have the arrows ready?" Nick asked while smiling for some reason.


    "They''re by the corner."


    "Ah." Nick grabbed the arrows and took them all.


    "HEY! That''s over 300 arrows. I said take 100!"


    "Yeah, yeah." Nick pretended not to listen and was about to leave, until someone blocked his way.


    "Oi, are you gonna pay for those arrows or not?" It was Sam holding an enchanted hammer. He left to go eat and just got back.


    "An expert blacksmith. That''s better. Think you can make me some-"


    "Are you gonna pay or not?"


    "They''re only arrows. They''re cheap."


    "Then make your own damn arrows. But these arrows were made by us and we didn''t make them for free." Sam got closer and menacingly.


    "You don''t know who I am, do you?"


    "I do. I just don''t care."


    "A sorcerer has a higher standing than an expert blacksmith. You don''t scare me. I can single handedly obliterate this shop with my staff."


    Nick reached for his staff quickly, but there was an arrow close to his throat. Sam took one of the arrows and pointed it to his neck with a great speed. Nick didn''t expect that and was unprepared and left himself wide open.


    "People think that it takes enchanted weapons to kill and become dominating. But really all it takes is one measly arrow, like this. If I press just a little more, It''ll cut through your vocal chords, veins, cause you pain, and you''ll bleed to death."


    Nick didn''t look scared, he kept smiling.


    "Lucky for me, I brought a friend. Wade?"


    The one behind Nick unsheathed his sword and sheathed it once more. The arrow on Sam''s hand was cut to pieces.


    Nick jumped back and took out his staff.


    "You want to fight us old man? With that hammer?"


    "Nope. I am no match for a sorcerer much less two. But she is."


    Jasmine appeared at the door and pointed her staff at Nick and Wade.


    "Jasmine!" Jack said happily.


    "Sorry I couldn''t message you. My communication stone broke into pieces. I ran back as fast as I could to let you know about¡­ you-know-who."


    "Well, if it isn''t sorceress Jasmine." Nick seemed to have heard her name.


    "You know me?"


    "There aren''t too many sorceresses. Heard you''re only a sorcerer because of a fluke."


    Jasmine frowned and charged up her staff''s energy.


    "Don''t you know it''s a crime to attack a fellow sorcerer?" Nick added.


    "Don''t you know it''s a crime to destroy property and put innocents in danger when it''s under the protection of the Reyes kingdom?"


    "This¡­ is that true?" Nick looked at the blacksmiths in the room. They all nodded.


    "To think that this crappy village¡­ that changes things." Nick put the staff on his back and Wade let go of his sword, Jasmine did the same.


    "Here. That should be enough to cover the costs." Nick threw a few more leather pouches full of coins.


    "I don''t want to get a stain on my record. Otherwise I won''t get to be a Kingsguard."


    Nick only threatened to destroy the building but could never do it, because it would definitely lower his chances to become a kingsguard, who needed to have a clean record.


    It wouldn''t matter if he stole a few arrows as it''ll have little to no effect on his record. But if he steals from a village under the protection of the kingdom, then it would be no different than stealing from the king.


    "So much for free food and free stuff. Let''s go, Wade."


    Right as Nick was leaving, he stopped beside Jasmine and whispered.


    "I heard you''re aiming to become a kingsguard. But you''ll never be a kingsguard. There''s never been a woman kingsguard, and there will never be one. You''re just lucky to be a sorcerer, but the majority of the people, including me, will truly never see you like one."


    Jasmine gripped her tiny fists, but Sam came in and touched her shoulder.


    "You''d better leave now." July said.


    "We''re leaving, hottie."


    And just like that, they left.


    "Thanks Sam. If you hadn''t stopped me I would''ve punched him." Jasmine said.


    "He was taunting you, baiting you into punching him."


    "I know. But he''s right¡­"


    "Jasmine, stay with us. Grandma will serve us dinner and you''re more than welcome to join us." July added.


    "I really can''t, I need to go and-"


    *Growl*


    Her stomach made a growling sound at the thought of food.


    "On second thought, that would be nice. I haven''t eaten much these past few days."


    "Stay with us. You can stay the night." Sam said.


    "You and Jack can sleep in the same room." July added.


    "But, grandma owns a hote- OW!"


    July kicked Jack before he could finish his sentence.


    "I don''t mind. It''ll be just like when we were kids." Jasmine shrugged her arms.


    "Come. Mom would love to see you again." Sam, July, and Jack left the store and went straight to Julia''s, while not forgetting to put up a ''closed'' sign on the door.


    They were all good friend''s of Jasmine, she''s been with them since she was Jack''s age.. They all got along well.

 Chapter 32 - Scorpion Queen

    Many hours ago¡­


    Grace and Arbor had just arrived at the elven kingdom. It was just a bunch of elves living together in harmony with different types of organic creatures.


    Silvas came to greet them. Grace''s mother was also there as well. The trees told them when they would be arriving and so they waited for them.


    "I''ve missed you both so much. I haven''t heard from you two in a while." Grace''s mother hugged them both as soon as they got off Sten.


    They shared a hug for a moment. But they both quickly ran to Silvas.


    "Dad. We found something." Arbor showed Silvas the exotic flower.


    "Where did you find it?" Silvas took the flower and held it gently as if it was more fragile than glass. He already knew about the existence of the exotic flower, but didn''t know how it appeared.


    "You remember that hero I mentioned? He got it from Adaline." Grace crossed her arms.


    "I knew that the Adalis can produce exotic flowers, but not that young. She shouldn''t even be 6 months old. Regardless, this is very good news."


    "Actually¡­ he had two¡­ but he ate one." Arbor couldn''t help but feel his heart ache, such a waste.


    "Two? That seems unrealistic, even for me."


    "It''s true, grandfather." Grace added.


    "Then how is he still alive? I know he was with you the last time you two came here." Silvas said.


    "He has a weird ability¡­ well abilities. We''ll tell you later. What do you plan to do with the exotic flower?" Arbor asked.


    "Well the Great Sage was the one who ate the last flower 300 years ago, and I was gonna use it on your mother, Arbor, but that time won''t ever come."


    Arbor felt sad when he heard that.


    "I''m sure that she would''ve liked to give it to you, or Grace. Arbor, you already have a good constitution after all your years of training and fighting. With this flower you''ll probably become the only elf with the strongest constitution."


    "That seems like a good idea, dad. But I want Grace to absorb the flower instead."


    "Me?" Grace pointed to herself.


    "Yes, you."


    "Dad, we won''t see another flower for another 100 years. I can wait. We only came across this flower by luck, and we won''t probably ever have this opportunity ever again. So you take it." Grace said.


    "Grace, I would have agreed with you, but after the zombie appeared, I am not sure if we can wait another hundred years. Like your grandfather just said, I have a strong body because of years of countless training. But you''re still young and weak. I want you to absorb the flower."


    "He''s right, Grace." Grace''s mother added herself in this conversation. "Take it. Your protection is all that matters to us."


    Silvas nodded in agreement.


    "But-"


    "No, buts, Grace. I am the king, and my orders are that you will absorb the flower." Silvas said jokingly but also serious.


    "Fine¡­ will it be painful? And how long will it take?"


    "You''ll soon find out. Come. To the forbidden grounds." Arbor led them all to a part of the forest that is restricted even to elves.


    "What did the human want?"


    "Dad?" Arbor asked not sure what he meant.


    "I imagine that the human who gave you the exotic flower didn''t give it to you guys for free. What did he want?"


    "Not much. A bunch of herbs, a bunch of different seeds, diamonds, rubies, gold, emeralds, sapphire, information about this world, maps, and metal grass." Grace remembered everything Will said he needed.


    "That''s it? Looks like we got a very good deal. Joyce?"


    "Yes?" Joyce is the name of Grace''s mother.


    "You can''t enter the forbidden grounds. But can you gather 1000 different types of herbs and seeds for the human? Also a few hundred minerals as well, we have a lot. And if we have gold he can have it all. It''s useless to us anyways. And we can spare a few hundred metal-grass as well."


    "Of course my king. Good luck, honey." Joyce hugged her daughter and husband one more time and left.


    They continued on their path until they arrived at the forbidden grounds. It was a forest underground, but it was the same exotic trees that Will had in his base.


    "Even if you guys come here without my permission, these trees will tear you all apart." Silvas said.


    "But humans have never made it this far, is all this necessary?"


    "Humans aren''t the only cruel ones in this world, Grace. Sometimes elves can be just as corrupted as humans. You can never know until it''s too late."


    Elves also d?s?r? a longer lifespan, and the exotic seed is the only one that can give them that. But common elves won''t get a chance to even see the flower. Silvas chooses the elf that can absorb the exotic flower.


    Grace didn''t say anything about that. Not all elves are as dignified and selfless as some might think. Given the chance, they would enslave humanity.


    "Okay, lie down on this water. The process is simple. You and the flower will be in this water, and your body will slowly absorb the exotic flower. The process isn''t long. At most a few days." Silvas said.


    "Hm." Grace dropped her stuff on the ground.


    "And also¡­ I just remembered, you need to be n?k?d for it to work." Silvas said awkwardly.


    "What?" Grace instinctively covered her ?h?st and was embarrassed all of a sudden.


    "If you have your clothes on you then the effects won''t work all the way. It''s like that one story of that Achilles guy, the one that the heroes of the past told." Silvas added, trying to explain himself.


    "Oh, I love that story." Arbor added.


    "I am not going to strip in front of my father and grandfather!"


    "We''ve seen you n?k?d when you were born, and also when you ran around the entire forest n?k?d because you didn''t like to wear clothes." Arbor added.


    "I was a kid! I am now a¡­ it won''t happen." Grace couldn''t finish her sentence properly.


    "We can cover you with a small towel, but that''s it." Silvas said.


    "G¡­ give me the darn towel." Grace was beet red, she felt humiliated.


    Grace hid behind a rock and came out with two towels covering her two most important places. She slowly went into the water and floated, she made sure to cover herself with the towels.


    "Whatever you do, don''t move around too much. The key is to keep still. You can sleep if you want, your father and I will watch you all night."


    "When you phrase it that way, it makes me not want to sleep."


    "Yeah, yeah, I know. I realized the moment I said it."


    Silvas plucked the pedals of the flower and dropped them on the water. The water changed colour, it changed to a slightly purplish color.


    "The process will feel weird at first, as if there''s something tingling inside you. But that''s normal."


    "Okay. But just please turn around. It''s hard to focus when you two are just standing there." Grace said, still embarrassed.


    Both of the elves left the room where they could feel her presence, but not see her. Grace felt relieved all of a sudden.


    "Can''t we have the trees watch over her?" Asked Arbor.


    "These exotic trees don''t communicate or listen to us like other trees do. Their only purpose is to protect the seed at all costs, even from me. And if we plant more trees here, they''ll turn exotic. It''s why we need to be here in case Grace does fall asleep and drowns, or if something else goes wrong." Silvas said.


    "I see."


    "So¡­ tell me about this hero kid. What is he like exactly?"


    "I know a few things about him, and I think he''s trustworthy. Adaline seems overly fond of him."


    "Must feel terrible to see the Adalis being taken from you like that, as if your own child had eloped." Silvas jokingly said.


    "It did feel bad at first. But now I know that she''s in good hands. That still won''t stop me from visiting her."


    "What about Grace? She doesn''t like humans much."


    "I don''t know. What do you think about Will, Grace?"


    "Meh." Grace responded.


    "Oh wow, that''s an improvement." Silvas chucked a bit.


    "She''s teaching him to speak elven tongue."


    "Oh, really? Never would''ve guessed that. How about his abilities? I want to know more about this hero, and why he hasn''t been summoned properly like the other 99 heroes."


    They started talking and chatting to pass the time.


    That''s what they''ve been doing all this time.


    Will woke up. Did all of his daily chores, breeded camels, ate meat and fruits, enchanted his armor, made more exotic potions, cut down trees, and grew more fruits. It was the same every day.


    The amount of exotic flowers adaline produced was 2, 3 if he was lucky. With her new exotic transformation he thought that maybe she would''ve produced more flowers, but it seemed that not everything would go his way. Either way he was satisfied seeing his HP rising slowly each day.


    {HP: 800/800}


    He was already down in the mines, beside him was Adaline. She used her exotic form to make it brighter, and used her roots to cut through stone and granite. It was as if she became a powerful mining tool.


    "Remember, Adaline, whatever you mine you place it inside the ?h?sts." Will had placed over dozens of ?h?sts all around. He planned to mine a lot to find diamonds and gold.


    *Screech*


    Will could still hear the scorpions screeching and clawing their way. He frowned. The granite he used to block the hole in the cave was giving in. The scorpions on the other side were growing restless, and were trying to break down the granite wall he made.


    "It won''t be good if those things make it to the surface."


    Will took down his guns. Next, he also took out his pistol and added a new type of ammo.


    {Torch bullets}


    Like it''s name suggests, it''s a bullet but a torch as well. He could shoot these in the dark and a torch would then be placed there. It was convenient to have when venturing dark caves.


    He shot those torch bullets everywhere to give him a better view of the cave. He kept the enchanted bullets in his pocket, just in case.


    "HISSS!"


    Adaline hissed at the scorpions, she could feel them through the vibrations.


    "Are you ready?" Will said while loading his gun.


    Adaline didn''t say anything, but was eager to fight. Maybe it''s because she wanted to test out her exotic form.


    "Tear that wall down."


    Adaline used her roots and smashed the wall to pieces.


    No sooner than later, a swarm of scorpions started to escape. Some even climbed the walls and were surrounding the area.


    Adaline used her roots as whips and tore them to pieces.


    Will used his ?ssault rifle and aimed for their heads. No matter how much HP one had, a shot to the heart or head will result in an instant death.


    Will was scared but kept shooting. After a while he got used to it. Monsters like these scare him especially in such a dark area. Probably his greatest fear are monsters bigger than him in size, not just dragons. Even back then he has a deep fear of whales, giant squids, mostly sea monsters.


    But seeing them all die in an instant, made him feel relieved.


    After what felt like an eternity, the scorpions finally stopped attacking.


    "Man, that was scary. But satisfying to say the least." Will wiped the sweat off his forehead.


    *SCREECH*


    A horrible, loud screech shook the cave. It came from the hole where the scorpions were coming from.


    Sudden earthquakes vibrated the area, like the t-rex in the Jurassic park movie. It got closer, louder.


    Will instinctively took a few steps back and aimed for the hole. He covered his ?h?st with the exotic shield he crafted. The exotic shield had more defense and durability than a steel shield.


    A giant, pointy tail, like a scorpion, but 5 times the size of the other scorpions, shot out with an amazing force and speed directly at Will.


    Will didn''t even see it coming, he was pushed back by the tail, all he felt was as if a powerful invisible force pushed him back. It took him a second to see a giant tail attack him.


    {Exotic shield}


    {Durability 1799/2000}


    {Exotic ?h?st piece}


    {Durability 1111/1200}


    {HP: 799/800}


    It might seem that he didn''t suffer much, but his shield and exotic armor just took a hit. If his armor breaks then his vulnerable body will be defenseless.


    The tail retracted fast and stabbed Adaline instead.


    Adaline reacted quickly and coiled her roots around the tail, and used her head to collide with the tail. For some reason her head is very strong, which is how she''s able to tear down trees with ease while running at full speed.


    Adaline pulled the scorpion''s tail and made the scorpion reveal itself.


    Not surprisingly it was a giant scorpion, bigger than 15 feet. It was very dark. It''s claws were also big enough to cover it''s head.


    Will saw that giant scorpion''s status.


    {Scorpion Queen}


    {HP: 30000/30000}


    "Attack!" Will shouted and began shooting at the scorpion using his ?ssault rifle.


    The scorpion used her claws to protect her head.


    {HP: 29999/30000}


    Will kept shooting until he saw that thing drew its last breath.


    The scorpion queen wanted to pull her tail, but Adaline had it wrapped tightly with her roots, and was even beating her in a contest of strength, like a tug-of-war was happening between them.


    *SCREECH*


    The scorpion queen ran towards Adaline and used her giant claws instead to attack.


    Adaline used even more of her roots and made a shield around her as she continued to push back. She''s not gonna let her use her tail to attack.


    Their powers were shaking the cave violently. If they continued it''ll be a matter of time before they were all buried alive.


    While they were doing that, Will was thinking up a plan to kill the queen. He grabbed a bunch of granite and stone he had in his ?h?st. Next, he placed the enchanted bullets inside his pistol as quickly as he could.


    "Hey!"


    The scorpion queen saw a giant boulder flying directly at her face. She blocked it, but more and more boulders kept coming. The queen had no choice but to block the barrage of boulders hurtling towards her.


    This was Will''s doing. He grabbed all the stone he could carry, used his portable crafting table to craft all the boulders he could, and threw them at the scorpion queen. He got this idea after using the boulder to kill the goblins back in the cave. The boulders when he crafts them are small, but when they leave his hand, they turn into massive boulders.


    "Adaline, keep pulling her tail until it comes off! Use all your strength!"


    Adaline did as he said, and pulled the tail as hard as she could.


    The scorpion queen didn''t expect this, and her tail came off clean off her back. The pain it caused her made her go in an angry rampage and destroyed everything using her giant body.


    Once the scorpion queen''s claws were not protecting her face, Will was already aiming at her head.


    "Die."


    He managed to shoot her right in the head using the enchanted bullets. The scorpion queen''s body fell on the floor.


    {Scorpion Queen}


    {HP: 0/30000}


    Will let out a sigh of relief.


    "It doesn''t matter how much HP one has, unless if they''re immortal, a single shot to the head is all it takes."


    The cave stopped shaking violently. Adaline cheered and made her small victory dance, which is just running around the cave like a happy dog.


    Will took out the enchanted bullets out of his pistol and shot it right at the cave. He wanted to see if there were any more scorpions to kill.


    The cave leads to a long tunnel. Right at the end, there were scorpions indeed, but very small compared to the other''s size. They saw Will and tried to stab him using their tails.


    Will shot all the scorpions. Someday they would grow up as big as their parents.


    "Nothing else here. But this is a nice cave. Maybe I could plant the exotic trees and exotic flower trees here, right after I make a few changes here." Will looked at the save and nodded his head. He was half disappointed that there wasn''t a gold ?h?st, or items in here, but it''s real life, not a game where they would reward the player an item at the end.


    "Adaline, let''s take a break. I''ll give you more goblin... "


    He saw Adaline eating the corpses of the scorpions and the scorpion queen with delight.


    "SPIT IT OUT! THOSE ARE POISONOUS!" Will said, but Adaline looked at him confused.


    Will checked her status and was fine. She hadn''t been poisoned yet.


    "Don''t eat those. Their tails are very poisonous."


    Adaline dropped her head down as if she was sad.


    Will knew why she''s sad, because all she''s been eating are goblin parts. He knows better than anyone that eating the same thing for too long can make anyone go insane.


    "Okay, eat it, but don''t eat the tails. Just be careful, okay?"


    Adaline nodded and continued eating. Another exotic flower came out of her behind.


    Will picked it up, but he also picked up something else.


    {Exotic seed}


    Will smiled. He had finally gotten another exotic seed. There was a low chance of getting a seed from Adaline, and today is the day he finally got another one.


    "Looks like we''ll be busy for the next few days, Adaline. At least until we find a few diamonds and go off to trade in another village."


    Adaline continued eating, not paying attention to him.


    While she ate, Will began building a place to grow his exotic seed and exotic trees. The scorpion cave was the perfect place to use.


    "This was totally worth the wait."


    Meanwhile¡­


    In another village, were this family inside a small house.


    There was a pregnant mother cooking, while her husband helped her out. Behind them was their daughter, reading a book silently in the other room.


    "Ow!" The mother felt a sudden pain in her stomach.


    "Not again." The father carried his wife and laid her on the couch.


    "It''s okay, just a mild cramp."


    "I told you that you should rest. Leave the cooking, cleaning, everything to me."


    The daughter was looking at her mother, she didn''t know what to do. She ran to the kitchen to fetch her some warm water and a towel. She tried to help but had no idea how. She is only 8 years old.


    The little girl is cute, big round eyes, white soft skin, long brown hair in pigtails. She was even wearing brown common clothes to fit her hair color. She looked as cute as a doll in the eyes of many.


    "Not happening. The last time you cooked something, the food came out like something out of a horror storyyyyy." The mother experienced another cramp.


    "I''ll get you something for the pain." The father went to the cabinets, but there wasn''t anything there to help his wife.


    "Did you forget to buy the potions?"


    "I forgot to buy the potions." The husband scratched his head.


    "Just take to the bed. I don''t think this baby likes the couch too much."


    "I will."


    "Mommy, I''ll go to the potion store. I want to help mommy too." Their daughter said earnestly.


    "No, honey, it''s toooooooo." The mother once again experienced a cramp.


    "Kat, go to the potion store and get more potions for the pain. Tell John that I''ll pay him back later." His dad said as he carried his wife gently to their bedroom.


    "Hm." Kat nodded her head once and ran off to the potion store which was right around the corner.


    The village they were in was ordinary and safe. All of the villagers living there were doing well, and were happy to live there.


    As Kat ran hastily, she bumped into this man wearing a camo cloak.


    "Excuse me. Sorry." Kat continued running to the store and made it.


    The camo cloaked individual saw Kat, and followed her to the store. He stood right behind her on the counter.


    "John!" Kat said loudly.


    "Kat, nice to see ya, kiddo." It was a plump, old man with a grey beard, thick brows, and smoked a pipe. He was a little shorter than the average man.


    "My mommy is hurt." Kat said.


    "Ah, yes. Pain nullification potions. I have them right here¡­" John turned around to look for the potion Kat needed. Her father had come a few times to his store to buy potions for his wife, so he knew exactly what she needed. They were also good friends as well.


    The camo cloaked individual grabbed the girl''s arm tightly, and they both disappeared from that spot, as if they had teleported.


    "Here ya go¡­ where did you go, Kat?" John looked around and didn''t see the little girl anymore.

 Chapter 33 - Taker part 1

    In a hidden room.


    "Let go of me!" The little girl Kat fought for her life but she couldn''t escape the man''s grasp.


    The camo cloaked man teleported himself inside an iron cell with no doors or locks. The cell had several more kids inside, all between the ages of 7-10. They all looked scared and horrified.


    "Let go you mean, nasty, man."


    The man threw her inside the cell like a sack of potatoes, and teleported himself out.


    "Well, that''s the 12th one this week. I honestly cannot believe how easy the parents make it to kidnap these kids, it''s as if they want them to get kidnapped. What a world we live in. Even though I''m wanted, the parents do nothing! Nothing! It''s like they don''t think it could ever happen to them until it actually happens." The camo cloaked man laughed to himself, and took out a notepad and wrote something in it.


    "I need a few more to meet this month''s quota." The camo cloaked man changed the appearance of the cloak to a black sweater with a hoodie.


    "I still have a few days left."


    A white stone that was on his desk glowed brightly. He knew who it was and read the message.


    {I''ve changed my mind. Deliver the full ''merchandise'' by tomorrow. And make that they''re not ''broken'' in any way like last time}


    The man took a pencil and wrote in it.


    {I still have some time before the month''s over}


    {Like I said I changed my mind. If you don''t deliver it you won''t get paid}


    The man looked angry. He placed down the stone on his desk.


    "So much for taking the rest of today off."


    "Hey! My daddy will come to save me! Us! Let us go." The little girl was not scared but tough.


    "Yeah, yeah, I''ve heard that line dozens of times. ''The heroes will protect us. My grandpa will save me. I miss my mommy.'' bye."


    The man teleported out of the secret room which had no windows, no doors, no exits. It would be impossible to find the place where the kids are in.


    Kat used her little arms to break out of the iron bars, but how could a kid possibly bend iron bars?


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will had finished modelling the cave to his very liking. In the center is the exotic seed. Beside it exotic tree saplings. He figured that since the exotic trees were already emitting light, they didn''t need the sun. And also the brown book said that these trees can grow underground, but still needed to be watered.


    Adaline used her roots to water the trees and the seed.


    "Well that''s awesome. Now I need to block the entrance to this cave." Will treated this as his secret man cave. Only he and Adaline would know about this place.


    He covered the entire cave in granite so nobody could see it or destroy it.


    Adaline was sitting in the middle of the room very satisfied.


    "Did you like the food?"


    "Hisssss." Adaline nodded, totally satisfied.


    "That''s good. Help me put the rest inside the ?h?sts so they won''t spoil."


    "Let''s get mining."


    Adaline and Will mined straight down. As they got further down they found more ores, more gold, silver, and granite, but less stone.


    Finally after a while, they found something new and rare.


    {Sapphire}


    {A rare mineral but not as rare as diamond. This mineral is beneficial to sorcerers}


    Will unlocked more crafting recipes that are sapphire related.


    He looked through it and found that this had the same crafting materials as the diamonds.


    Meaning that he could build a sentry turret using sapphires instead of using diamonds.


    "Strange. Is it basically the same thing? No, I think diamonds are better. I remember Jack told me that sorcerers use minerals to power up their strength, but diamonds are one of the best to use, but it''s difficult to make even if a master blacksmith uses it."


    Although Will could use other rare materials as a substitute for diamonds, they won''t be as good or as powerful as diamonds.


    "Still, this is good. It''s not diamonds but I''ll take it." Will proceeded to keep mining more and more. With Adaline''s help it was a breeze.


    After a few good hours of mining, they found many rare materials


    {Sapphire 5x}


    {Gold 129x}


    {Granite: A bunch}


    {Ruby 8x}


    {Emerald 5x}


    {Diamonds 2x}


    {Iron 403x}


    "Thanks for your help." Will patted Adaline''s head which she enjoyed. He was indeed very grateful to her. Without her, he wouldn''t have accomplished much.


    Will and Adaline got out of the cave. The first thing he did was make a sentry turret.


    {Sentry turret: Sapphire}


    One could see the sapphire on the turret.


    "How does this work exactly?"


    Will touched the turret, and more boxes appeared in front of him.


    {Sentry turret: Sapphire}


    {Durability 10000/10000}


    {Ammo: 0}


    {Allies: None}


    {Sentry mode: off: Voice activation required}


    {Attack mode: off: Voice activation required}


    When Will touched the turret, a white line surrounded his base. It was the turret''s max range of attack.


    "The {Allies} box?"


    Will touched the {Allies} bu??on, and the faces of his camels, and Adaline appeared.


    "Hm." He touched Adaline''s picture, and it appeared on the box.


    {Allies: 1}


    "So, I can insert the allies'' pictures as long as they''re in range of the turret. Okay then."


    Will took one of his camels from the other side of the wall and placed it near the turret.


    "I was gonna kill you anyway and eat you, so no hard feelings. Sentry mode {on} Attack mode {on}"


    The turret aimed itself at the camel and began spinning rapidly, but no bullets were coming out.


    "Oh wow, so it does work." Will put a few bullets in. Not long after did the turret start shooting at the camel until it''s HP reached 0.


    "Sweet. With this I can leave my base alone."


    Will put in 1000 bullets in the sentry. He also built a few more sentries to cover the area. First he made the camels his allies so the turrets wouldn''t kill all his livestock.


    Will thought that he would need to do that for every turret, but no. Once he puts the allies on one turret, the rest of the turrets automatically recognized the ally as well.


    His minerals were limited, he could only build 2 ruby sentries, 1 emerald, and 1 sapphire sentry. Since he couldn''t craft anymore, he left the rest on his base to build the power source generators to make an even more powerful power source generator.


    After testing them, he came to learn that emerald is the second strongest, sapphire third, and ruby fourth. The first is obviously diamonds.


    "I wonder if I can build golems in the future. But first." Will grabbed a diamond and crafted it into something else.


    The item in his had looked like a round, glass badge. It had a diamond shape carved in the middle.


    {Energy shield: Diamond}


    {Durability: 10000/10000}


    {Once it''s durability is lowered, it''ll recharge itself over time. Even if it reached 0 durability it won''t break, but it will take longer to recharge and won''t be useful until it has fully recharged itself}


    {It''s weakness is explosives, super powerful attacks, and large and heavy objects}


    Will realized that having this energy shield is the same as having 10000 HP not to mention his armor, his HP.


    "I guess I am a walking tank now sorta." This way bullets nor ordinary weapons won''t damage him much. But if he comes across more enchanted weapons, his shield won''t last long.


    Will treated it as a pin and placed it on his ?h?st piece. It was now stuck there for good unless he wanted to remove it.


    "Now the exclusive crafts mentioned a super map or something. I could really use that now."


    Will collected all the wood at his disposal. It was so much. But he crafted it all to paper. There was only a bit of exotic wood left.


    "I hope this is worth it."


    {Super map}


    The map showed a little black dot, which is him. He could see that the map showed him where he was, and it even showed him his base.


    "This is definitely useful. But I still need a lot to craft. Let''s make a list¡­ man I have got to stop talking to myself."


    Will took out a piece of paper, some ink, and wrote down a list of trades he needed.


    A bunch of leather.


    Gold, and rare minerals.


    Wood.


    Etc.


    "Let''s see, I have 880 silver coins, 20 gold coins that I took from the village. Crap. That''s right, that darn village! They probably saw my face and drew my face on wanted posters."


    Will thought about it. And sighed. He grabbed some exotic wood and began crafting.


    "I''ll have no choice but to make an exotic mask. I don''t like wearing masks. They hinder my vision and breathing. But I guess I have no choice. Rather this than be captured."


    Will crafted an exotic mask, it took awhile since he modified it a little bit. When he crafts armor, it usually also let''s him decide the appearance of the design.


    {Exotic mask}


    {Defense 9+}


    The exotic mask only had eye holes in it, the eye holes were glowing brightly. It fit his face perfectly even when wearing a helmet.


    Once he put on the mask, he noticed that it didn''t hinder his movement. If anything he could see just fine.


    "Wait, so this mask doesn''t hinder my vision? Damn. And I could''ve made a mask all this time. Oh well." Will shrugged it off and mounted Adaline.


    "Let''s go, Adaline! Sentry mode {on} Attack mode {on}"


    The turrets were now looking around and scanning the area for intruders.


    "I love this system."


    Adaline ran with an amazing speed towards the forest. It would take merely an hour to get there.


    "Woah, you''re faster now. Try running in your exotic form." Will had an idea.


    Adaline glowed brightly and her speed got noticeably faster.


    "HOLY! THIS IS AMAZIN- AW DAMN BUGS! Great. Now my mask will get splattered with bugs. Ugh."


    At the speed they were going, they didn''t even need to wait 30 minutes until they arrived.


    They hope that this time this village won''t try to kill them. Even if they did, they were confident in escaping and robbing them before anybody could stop them.


    But Will really did need a place to trade and have people work for him. He didn''t want to collect all the materials himself.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jasmine was with Jack, chatting with each other. They were both in Jack''s room. Jasmine was on a chair and Jack was on his bed.


    "And then I met this giant snake, and I burned it to cinders." Jasmine finished telling her adventure to Jack. She also told Jack about what she found in the village. But Jack''s mood worsened. To cheer him up she told him of his adventures and he seemed ecstatic, like a kid watching a cartoon of his favorite hero.


    "Man, I feel envious of you. I wish I could become a sorcerer."


    "You can. In 9 months the Great Sage will hold more auditions for sorcerers. If you have the aptitude you can become one."


    The Great Sage is the only way to become a sorcerer. It was a test, and everyone wanted to become a sorcerer. But only 10 get elected every year. It was a long and painful process.


    "We both know I can''t become a sorcerer. If I become a sorcerer I won''t be able to make weapons and armor for the heroes." Jack said.


    "But if you become a sorcerer you can fight alongside them."


    "I could, but I am afraid of monsters. I''d rather work and help heroes in the comfort of my home where it''s safe."


    "True."


    Jasmine got up and sat beside Jack.


    "Jack, in the future, if I don''t become a kingsguard, will you still help me?"


    "Of course I will. But I know that you''ll become the best kingsguard ever."


    "If I did it''ll be quite a leap. The first female kingsguard ever." Jasmine could imagine it. She would be an inspiration to all women, and show to all the men that women can be just as good as them as long as they work for it.


    "Jasmine, I never asked, but why do you want to become a kingsguard?" Asked Jack.


    "Remember when we were kids, in the old village where you used to live?"


    "Yeah?"


    "That day when we were playing tag in the forest, we traveled further than we were supposed to, and we saw the king, with sorcerers, and the king''s guards around him fighting an apex dragon?"


    "I can never forget that day. The king wanted to kill an apex dragon himself that day, and many sorcerers and all his kingsguard protected him. It''s what made me admire heroes since that day, because if those guys are awesome, imagine the heroes."


    "Yeah, right after you wet yourself at the sight of the dragon, and I had to carry you back home on my back." Jasmine smiled and laughed.


    "Shut up. You cried too when we arrived home." Jack blushed a bit.


    "I did. But it was the day I decided I wanted to be a kingsguard. But everyone made fun of me because no one believes that there can ever be a female kingsguard. The only ones who believed in me are my family, you, and your family as well."


    "What about Kyle?"


    "What about him?"


    "Never mind. Then you can certainly prove those who don''t believe in you that they''re wrong." Jack said with shining eyes.


    "Thanks for believing in me." Jasmine laid her head on his shoulder.


    "Of course, what are friends for?"


    "..." Jasmine.


    "Anyways I''ve gotta go now." Jasmine grabbed her stuff.


    "So soon?" Jack felt bad to see Jasmine leave.


    "I can''t afford to waste too much time. I need to practice, work harder, and get stronger so I can get 5 stripes before I turn 21. And it looks like those other creeps won''t cause trouble anymore. And I want to leave before Kyle realizes I''m here."


    "You work too hard. Can you please take small breaks like this one? Your health is important as well."


    "I know and I will."


    "And also, it''s almost your birthday."


    "Almost. See ya, Jack. Say ''goodbye'' to your family for me. And if I find your friend¡­ never mind." Jasmine flew out the window..


    When Jasmine flew out, she saw a man adding another poster to the board.


    She saw that it was the poster of a missing child named ''Kat'' with a perfect detailed drawing of her face.


    "This monster." Jasmine clenched her hands. "He''s been kidnapping children for years and no one has captured him."


    Many sorcerers, including her, have tried to capture the kidnapper. But he can teleport using a magical item that he possesses. It made him near impossible to detect or track down.


    "Last seen¡­ okay. That''s my next clue." Jasmine knew where she would be going next.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Okay, slow down Adaline. We''re already here."


    Adaline stopped and accidentally flung Will off her back.


    "Ow. At least my armor broke my fall."


    Adaline helped Will stand up.


    "Now, where is the nearest village? Do you know?"


    Adaline looked around a bit, communicated with the trees. She used her roots to point at a location.


    "Lead the way. But don''t go too fast." Will got on top of her once more.


    It didn''t take long for them to arrive in the village. It was a different village this time.


    "Okay, now stay here and don''t let anyone see you. If you find yourself in trouble, run. I''ll be fine if I die. Okay?"


    Adaline nodded. She camouflaged herself to the trees blending in perfectly with the surroundings.


    "I sometimes forget you can camouflage."


    Will entered the village this time with his guard up. There was no way he''s gonna take his armor off for any reason. This armor and energy shield is what will protect him from a sneak attack, and cover his face from being recognized in the wanted poster boards.


    Will first entered a new store he hadn''t seen, the sign read ''rocks'' so he entered the store.


    Inside were various ores, rocks, fancy rocks but useless overall. Behind the counter was an old, plump man examining the rocks using a microscope. Once he saw Will enter he dropped what he was doing.


    "Welcome, I am a collector of-"


    "Yeah, yeah, how much for gold, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emerald?"


    "You sure like to get to the point. I''m afraid I don''t have those gems, but I do have gold."


    "Why don''t you have those gems?" Asked Will.


    "I sell them to the blacksmiths, they have better uses for it."


    "Makes sense. I''ll need to pay them a visit. How much gold do you have?"


    "Let me see."


    While he looked around, Will touched the microscope and the fancy rock to add it to his crafting recipes. The fancy rock was just basically a normal rock, but just carved like a sculpture of a flower.


    The microscope required glass to craft it which is something he lacked.


    "I have some gold with me. Just a ?h?stful."


    "Can I see it?"


    "Uh, sure." The man signaled Will to follow him to the next room. Will saw the room filled with ores and rocks.


    "How do you have so many ores?"


    "I''m in the mining business. I dig up the ore, my friends give it to me, I sell it, and we split the profits evenly between us."


    "How do you mine?"


    "Pickaxes. Explosives are also used, but they damage the ores and we lose a ton of money and it''s dangerous. So we don''t use them as much anymore."


    "I see. How much is all this gold worth?" Will didn''t need the other ores, gold was just fine.


    "Well¡­ gold is hard to smelt, and it only used to make gold coins. I guess 200 gold seems reasonable."


    "200¡­" Will didn''t have enough, even with all the coins he had on him. He needed the rest to make more trades, especially leather and wood.


    "I don''t have enough on me. Sorry for wasting your time."


    "It happens, kid. Come back soon." The old man shrugged it off as Will left the store.


    After exploring the other stores, and getting a better understanding of the worth of the materials he needed, Will placed a paper on the board.


    {Materials}


    {I am willing to buy the following materials}


    {100x leather piece 20 silver coins}


    {100x wood/logs 10 silver coins}


    {Meet at sunrise at this spot}


    The average price for this much wood is 2-3 silver coins but leather was worth 5-6 silver coins. Will was selling it at a higher price so that people would flock to him. If he sold it at the same price, then what would be the point of selling to him?


    "Hopefully people will see this. Hm?"


    Will noticed a poster of Grace, and himself but his dragon helmet had his face covered on the poster. Also Clement''s. And many missing kids as well.


    "I don''t remember seeing these many missing children¡­ an unknown man who calls himself ''Taker'' has been kidnapping children for years now. No one knows who he is, or what he looks like. Some say he wears a cloak, a sweater, shirt, but no other descriptions have been discovered. None of the kids have ever been rescued."


    Will was fazed a little, but got over it. This world is dark and the sooner he accepts it, the better he''ll be.


    He left the spot and kept looking around the area. Will visited the potion shop to see what else they had.


    On the back of a building, was a small, skinny, young kid making a mud castle. His mother was there folding the laundry while keeping an eye on her son.


    As the mom was folding the blankets, she saw a man wearing a dark hoodie appearing before her son in a blink of an eye, and disappearing along with her son.


    "MICHEAL!!! HELP! THE TAKER HAS TAKEN MY SON!" The woman screamed at the top of her lungs. Even while she was keeping an eye on him, he was still kidnapped, and there wasn''t anything she could do.


    Adaline was lying on the ground enjoying the scenery of the forest.


    She noticed that a man holding a child was teleporting a short distance and going further and further away.. Adaline stood there not knowing what to do.

 Chapter 34 - Taker part 2

    Will heard the woman''s screaming and crying throughout the village like a banshee. She pleaded to everyone to help look for her child. The village was a decent size, but mostly everyone knew each other


    The rest gathered and protected their children by keeping them close to them.


    Will had no d?s?r? to save children. One he wasn''t an expert in tracking. Two, the last time he did something like this for a village, they tried to kill him and Grace. All he wanted to do was trade and nothing else.


    "How did he escape? Did you lose him from your sight?" The same plump man from the store asked the lady.


    "I didn''t. I was folding laundry, and my s-s-son, was right in front of me. But ''he'' just appeared out of thin air and took him." The woman cried and teared up.


    Will''s ears perked up.


    "It must be that annoying magical item he has. He can teleport wherever he wants. It''s the reason why no one has ever been able to find him or the kids he took." Another village voiced his opinion.


    "SSSSHHH!!!"


    The woman teared up even more. It meant that she''ll never see her son again.


    "No, I need to find him. MICHAEL!!!" The woman ran out of the village to search for her son.


    "Linda! The forest isn''t safe. We''ll help you look! He couldn''t have gone far."


    The villagers took whatever they had and ran to the forest. They had no clues or idea where the Taker had taken him, but it was better than sitting around and doing nothing.


    "A magical item that can teleport. Sounds great. Maybe Adaline saw him leaving the village." Will ran to the forest to look for Adaline.


    There she appeared before him.


    "Adaline, did you by any chance see a man teleported with a kid not too long ago?"


    Adaline nodded.


    "Lead the way and don''t lose him." Will jumped on Adaline and they both ran after that man.


    The man kept teleporting and teleporting. The magic item he had could teleport, but it had a short range. Even so it was faster than running and didn''t consume his stamina.


    It didn''t take him long before he disappeared for good. It looked like he and the boy disappeared from the face of the Earth.


    A few minutes later, Adaline and Will arrived at the spot where he had disappeared.


    "Here? I don''t see anything." Will looked around but no sign of the kid, or the man.


    Adaline looked around for a bit and pointed at the ground.


    "Oh. I get it, he''s hidden in a secret base. But since he can teleport he doesn''t need to use any doors that could give away his hideout. That''s smart. Adaline, the moment he leaves his hole you stab him but do not kill him. Strip him if you can so he doesn''t teleport away. If we take away that item that teleports him, he won''t get away."


    Adaline nodded.


    Will took out his pickaxe and started mining.


    The Taker threw the kid inside the cell and teleported out of it. He wrote in his notepad.


    "That''s child number 15. This month''s quota has been met. Now to message him back."


    He took out a communication stone, but a wooden bowl hit his head.


    "You bad man! Let us go!" Kat said.


    "You''re probably the only kid I''ve seen with this much fighting spirit. He enjoys little kids like you the most."


    It was obviously Will. The Taker and the kids saw not a man, but a humanoid figure with glowing blue eyes.


    "What? How did you find this place?" Taker was taken aback. No one could''ve tracked him here.


    Will pointed his gun at the Taker, but he teleported out of there.


    "Adaline, now!"


    The Taker teleported away from the cave. He tried to think of a plan to dispose of him without leaving any traces that led to his base.


    But, his legs were stabbed by tiny spears. He could feel something like snakes stripping him.


    "WHAT!" He teleported out of there, but more and more spears impaled his legs soon after. No matter where he went, he was stabbed. He was stabbed in the arms, legs, shoulders.


    With the holes made in his body and because he moved around so much, he started bleeding to death. He got too tired to move and teleport anymore.


    "So, you''re Taker." Will appeared before him and so did Adaline. Adaline with her new exotic form was now way more powerful, and could react fast enough to stab him wherever he was. It didn''t help Taker that he made his base in a middle of a forest.


    "How¡­ how did you¡­"


    "How did I find you? You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I read what you''ve done these past few years. As far as I know a quick and painless death would be too good for you. But I''d much rather be at peace and kill you myself, then to let your fate be in the hands of someone else."


    Adaline stripped Taker off all his belongings until only his und?rw??r was left. It was merely a normal looking man. One wouldn''t think he was a child kidnapper.


    Will took out his rifle and aimed it at his head. He noticed that his HP was dropping quickly because he was bleeding to death. Will thought that this man didn''t even deserve to live and breathe the same air as him. Disposing him would be the best move.


    "Spare me." He asked weakly.


    "Nah." Will shot the rifle and killed Taker on the spot.


    Will didn''t have any healing potions on him so he could ask Taker about the other kids. By the time he returns to the nearest village he would already be dead.


    "I need to learn how to craft healing potions."


    He left the Taker''s body there to rot.


    Will observed the items the taker had. Merely clothes, a steel knife, some gold coins, and a cloak. The hood is what caught his eye.


    {Defense 0}


    {Durability 100/100}


    {Short teleportation: Can safely teleport the wearer anywhere with a 15 meter radius. Consumes no stamina, or mana, nor it requires a cooldown when performing this ability}


    {Shape: Can change colours and appearance depending on what the wearer wants}


    "Huh. It''s a little bloody, but it''s a very good item to have." Will placed the coins and the sweater inside one of his ?h?sts.


    He went back to the hole he found, and there were 15 kids locked up in a cell.


    All the kids looked at Will very scared and afraid of him, mostly because of his mask. Inside the b?r?ly lit room, if anyone saw glowing eyes peering from the dark looking at them, how could they not be afraid?


    Even Kat was a little afraid.


    "Sigh¡­ I can''t leave them here." Will did not like the idea of helping others anymore, but they were all kids, he''d have to be a heartless devil to leave them to rot and die in a cell with no chance of escaping. He''d never forgive himself if they all died.


    He looked around the hidden room. There was a ?h?st under a desk, several papers on the desk. Upon opening the ?h?st, he found several gold coins, over hundreds of them. And also, a lot of jewellery. The Taker didn''t only take kids but also stole from various stores.


    "Nothing enchanted or magical items. But maybe I can somehow make use of these jewelleries since I am in need of these."


    First he collected all the information that the Taker had, papers, clothes, everything. Will took a good look at the papers that were scattered.


    "Papers¡­ shit. Shit, shit, oh god."


    Will saw the many, many names who were written in those letters, all of them kids. The oldest one was no more than 12, the youngest was 4. The dates went back years ago.


    Will saw even more papers, but they were about the one commanding Taker to kidnap those kids.


    "A noble from the Reyes kingdom is the cause of all this."


    In this world, nobles were not descendants from the king but from the heroes. But that is a story for another time.


    He used his pickaxe next to set them free from the cell.


    "Come. Let''s get you all home."


    The kids stood there frozen in fear.


    "I don''t have all day. Either stay here or leave with me. Your choice.


    Kat was the first to step in. She helped the youngest kid get on his feet first.


    "Come." Kat helped the other kids leave the cell before her. The rest of the kids soon followed her lead.


    Some of the kids were weak. Will carried some of them outside of the hole.


    "I think that''s all of them. Now, everyone cover your ears." Will raised his gun, pointed it to the sky and shot a few rounds.


    The sound of the shots echoed through the forest. Not far from them, people heard it.


    "I heard gunshots. This way." Villagers ran to the source of the sound.


    Once Will heard the voices of people running to them, he hopped on Adaline and ran off deep into the forest without saying anything.


    "Mister¡­?" Kat didn''t have a chance to say anything before Will left.


    The last thing Will wanted was more attention. He only came to the village in the first place to trade, nothing else. Besides it did give him some good items that could be of use to him.


    "Michael? Michael!" Linda ran as fast as she could when she saw her son.


    "Mom!" Michael and her started to cry a bit, but were relieved and happy to see each other again.


    "You came back. I was so scared I''d never see you again."


    "Everyone back to the village, Taker could still be here. The guards should be here any minute."


    The older villagers carried the kids back to the village.


    No sooner than later did a few guards come to show up. The reason so few came is because it was the same story, a child got kidnapped, they never find the kidnapper, the kid is never seen again. Sometimes they get lucky and catch another child kidnapper.


    When they saw the missing kids, they immediately notified the higher ups.


    More soldiers appeared, and 2 commanders showed up. As well as a few sorcerers.


    They immediately scoured the forest after hearing what happened. They entered the secret underground hole, and found nothing. Everything had been taken by Will.


    Not long after did they discover a body near the woods. Since it could be Taker they collected his corpse for examination.


    One of the commanders, which is an old woman, gently questioned Kat to provide them answers.


    "What did the Taker look like?" The commander asked.


    "Tall. Dark. Skinny. Had a normal voice. That''s all I know. It was too dark to tell."


    "And this other ''man'' that rescued you, what is he like?"


    "Scary at first. Covered his entire body. Wore this weird armor, as if it was made out of wood, but glowing."


    "Did it look like this?" The commander showed Kat an enchanted weapon.


    "Sorta, some of it had this color. But it was a different kind of color."


    "I see¡­" The Commander couldn''t think of anyone or anything that fit her description. What kind of idiot would make wooden armor? And since when does wooden armor like that exist?


    "Did he have a name, or anything else that could help identify him?"


    "I remember him riding off on something, but I didn''t see what, it was invisible."


    "Invisible¡­ so he had a giant lizard or a chameleon with him. Probably someone rich."


    This world has giant sized chameleons and lizards, some of which could turn invisible or camouflage. They were rare and did not like submitting to others, especially humans who looked more like food to them.


    There were several ways to make creatures submit to them.


    "Thanks for answering these questions even though you must be scared."


    "I''m not scared. I am just worried for mommy. She is in pain and has a baby in her tummy."


    All of the parents were notified that their children had returned. A soldier was sent to each of their homes to pick them up and reunite with their children.


    It wasn''t long after that all of the children were reunited with their families. That day many tears were shed from the pure joy of having been reunited, even soldiers cried. There was a lot of emotion, a lot of love in that village.


    "Kat!" A voice of a man echoed.


    "Dada!" Kat jumped to her father''s embrace, and he hugged her tightly as he spun her around.


    "Sorry, I''m sorry Kat." Kat''s father said as his tears flowed out.


    "Why?"


    "I sent you to collect potions, which is why you were kidnapped. I should''ve known better. Sorry, I am so sorry. Forgive me."


    "Dada¡­" Kat began crying, too.


    "I love you so much."


    After an hour of reuniting, the families thanked the villagers, and the soldiers for reuniting them.


    The soldiers and villagers took the praise. Some did not. The two commanders also felt the same. They were not the ones who found the kids or tracked down Taker.


    "Any results on the corpse we found?" Asked the female Commander as she smoked a cigarette."


    "The corpse''s name is Clancy. He was supposed to be dead 5 years ago, after he killed his family, and set his house on fire along with him." The male Commander was the same one from the other village that Will attacked.


    "So he came back from the dead?"


    "If you''re saying he''s a zombie then you''re wrong. His body was in perfect health. He was killed by a bullet to his dead, and was pierced in the limbs by what I can describe as tiny spears. If it weren''t for the bullet on his head, he wouldn''t have bled to death. Someone had it out for this guy and wanted to make sure he was dead for good."


    "Tiny spears. Was this the work of a magical item?"


    "I don''t know. We also inspected the place he hid in, we found nothing there, not the magical item he used for teleporting. Someone robbed him clean and fast long before we got there." The man took a cigarette from the old lady and smoked one too.


    "The one who saved these kids covered his face well, or at least that''s what they told me. All they said was ''scary blue eyes'' or something, and his armor is weird too."


    "Did he have a dragon''s helmet?"


    "Not a dragon''s, but glowing wood or something like that. And I think he had a chameleon with him as a mount."


    "Glowing wood¡­ that sounds stupid. So a chameleon, that limits our ''hero'' suspect to nobles, sorcerers, the Fat Empress. Speaking of nobles, guess what I found about our child kidnapper."


    The commander handed important papers to the woman commander.


    "What''s this?" She asked.


    "A death certificate for our dead kidnapper, a certain noble confirmed the death certificate himself, not a week later did the disappearances of kids begin. Recognize that name?" The man pointed at the corner of the paper.


    "Stein."


    "Not only that, but Stein also gave the order that no one should investigate the murder of Clancy''s family, or the house burning down. It seems to me that he''s kinda sus."


    "Sus?" She asked.


    "Er I mean suspicious. I overheard people talking like this in the military, the heroes had something to do with it."


    "You think that a noble, a descendant of the heroes, was the one behind the child kidnappings?"


    "Why else would Clancy kidnap so many kids? When I went down to that hole I found nothing. No signs of bones, corpses, intrustments of torture. It seems to me like Clancy treated these kids as nothing but cargo, and someone probably paid him a hefty sum of money to do this."


    "If you plan on taking on a noble, you need more evidence. We''re merely Commanders, your word or my word will mean nothing to the king!"


    "I know. If only I had evidence."


    Sorcerers flew around the city and forest looking for the so-called ''scary eyes'' fellow that the kids described. But found nothing.


    Jasmine, was also one of the sorcerers flying around. After she arrived at the village that Kat was kidnapped, she asked the father and mother questions, Jasmine wanted to capture the child kidnapper and this was her newest clue. At that moment a soldier came and gave them the happy news, their daughter, and all the other kids were rescued.


    Jasmine flew to the village, was up to date on the news, and flew around looking for anyone.


    Will was hiding underneath a rock he mined. He took out the ?h?st full of the stuff he took from the Takers secret hideout.


    Will went through all the papers, there were so many details explaining how and why he kidnapped the children, as if he was writing a diary. Clancy was so confident that no one would find him, that he didn''t care what he wrote. Even if he was caught, he purposefully left evidence to get back the noble who paid him off, so he can take him down with him and hopefully be given a light sentence if he used this evidence against him.


    Too bad for Clancy, he died before he had a chance to speak for himself at a fair trial.


    "This seems like hero work for me. And the one behind this kidnapper is a noble named Stein." Will placed the papers inside the ?h?st and looked at the maps with detailed drawing in them. It led to another place where supposedly this noble would make the trade.


    Will did not have a clear understanding of how powerful and influential nobles are. But he did know that they are all descendants of heroes.


    Obviously there had been over 300 heroes summoned to this world, it wouldn''t be weird if they started having off-springs. But their off-springs are also born with strong traits compared to an ordinary person.


    However, a hero''s off-spring will never have the same abilities as an original hero or even close.


    This is why the ?n??st law is a thing in this world, it''s mostly for the heroes. They needed to keep the bloodline pure of heroes only.


    There''s one reason why he took the papers, he thought he could use this to get more items, like if Taker had a secret stash somewhere. If there was one it wasn''t in the papers.


    Will took out the hoodie which was now dried with blood.


    "There''s no way I''m putting this on until it''s clean."


    Will tossed the magical hoodie back in his ?h?st.


    "I think we made a good harvest today. And tomorrow we''ll trade with the village. Let''s go back home."


    Will looked around the forest and up and saw that the cost was clear of people or monsters.


    At the moment Will ran away, someone behind them saw Adaline running at a fast pace.


    "Isn''t that... Hey!" It was Jasmine. She flew as fast as she could towards Adaline.


    Will didn''t listen because he couldn''t hear her. He didn''t think a sorcerer would come looking for him. Adaline may not be able to fly, but her speed was on a whole ''nother level compared a sorcerer''s flying ability.


    "Will and Adaline! Stop!"


    Jasmine took out her staff and aimed it in front of Adaline to show them that she''s right there. It created a mini explosion.


    Will saw where it came from and noticed it was a sorcerer, but since she was too high up, he couldn''t see her face, so it didn''t know it was Jasmine.


    "Crap! Keep running!"


    Will took out his gun and aimed it right at Jasmine. But noticed that Adaline stopped running.


    "Adaline?"


    Adaline instead walked to Jasmine slowly with no intention of fighting.


    Will thought that Adaline wanted to fight the sorcerer so he aimed the gun at her once more. But, she put down her weapon and descended.


    Once Will got a good look at her, he recognized her. Adaline did too when Jasmine shouted out to them the second time.


    "Jasmine?" He said.


    "So you do remember me." Jasmine said.


    "What? I don''t know you. I just recognized you from the¡­ newspapers?" Will tried to come up with a lie to cover his mistake, because there was a chance that she saw him in the wanted posters. He didn''t want to fight a sorceress since he doesn''t know how strong they are.


    "I already know it''s you Will. I didn''t think it was you because of that weird armor you''re wearing. But when I saw Adaline, I knew it was you."


    "Oh." Will took off his mask. Even if he tried to lie his way out of it, Jasmine already knew him. There was no point in trying to hide it.


    "So, Jasmine, how have you been? Have you become a kingsguard yet?" Will tried to make a friendly conversation with her.


    "No. But I''m not here to talk about me. Do you know the pain you caused to the villagers? How many people you killed because you joined the side of the elves?"


    "Elves? Oh, I see, you think I am¡­ would you believe me if I said I killed those villagers because I was protecting myself and my friend?"


    "How is that protecting yourself? Those were innocent people."


    "Not so innocent. Would you hear my side of the story?" Will gripped his gun tightly. If Jasmine declined and wanted to bring him down, he''d have no choice but to fight back.


    Jasmine would not listen to others like this or give them a chance to explain. But, remembering the sad look on Jack''s eyes, she couldn''t help but want to help him.


    "I''ll listen, but it better be the truth. I''m only doing this for Jack."


    "Jack? Crap! I didn''t think about him." Will rubbed his eyes. Jack looks up to heroes so much that it''s unreal.


    Now that Jack knew and befriended Will, who is a hero, that would negatively affect Jack if he knew about what he did in the village. The first hero he met, and the first hero friend he befriended, his view of him probably changed for the worse.


    Will owed Jack a lot. When he needed to become a blacksmith, Jack helped him, when he needed money, Jack helped him, when he needed weapons and armor, Jack helped him. He felt grateful towards Jack.


    Will ended up telling Jasmine everything, even about Grace and the goblins nest. Although he left out some details like his base, the exotic flowers, anything that would give away his hero identity.


    Jasmine thought about some of it made sense. When she arrived at that village the goblin''s nest was eradicated and everyone was saved. And when they found out that Grace was an elf and wanted to enslave her, Will protected her and the other elven women, But elves are their enemies, they''ve been at each other''s throats for a long time.


    Jasmine was thinking how to solve this without any more problems rising.


    "If anyone else heard you say that, they would most likely believe that you were working for the elves."


    "I''m not. We just have something in common." Will looked at Adaline. Arbor and Grace are only with him because of Adaline.


    "Still¡­ if you did save their people and they still turned on you¡­ I don''t know what to say or do."


    Jasmine was in a complicated spot. She would''ve done the same thing if she was in Will''s position. But a sorcerer''s job is to protect people just like the heroes.


    "Say nothing. Pretend like you never saw me."


    "No. And I take it that you also saved those kids and killed the Taker?" Asked Jasmine.


    "I did."


    "Well at least there''s that. How come you ran away?"


    "I cannot tell you. I don''t trust you enough. But I have a good reason." WIll said truthfully. The only ones who knew about his identity is because they all found out themselves, he never once told a stranger his identity. Clement, Arbor, Jack, Grace, they all found out by themselves.


    "Here. I want you to contact Jack, he needs to hear this from you. Do you have a communication stone with you?"


    "I do." Will took it out from his ?h?st. After killing Jim and his men he tested out the communication stones and figured out how it works.


    Jasmine touched Will''s communication stone with her stone, a red light glowed between them, and so did Jack''s from far away.


    Jack was helping his uncle, when he saw the communication stone glowed red.


    "Red? Did Jasmine connect our communication stones with someone else?" Jack asked.


    In order to connect with each other, the stones have to touch and messages could then be sent between them like texting.


    It wasn''t limited to just two stones, it could go up to 3,10, 100, higher ups use them to give commands during wars in order to launch a tactical attack.


    [Hello?} Jack wrote in his stone.


    "Aren''t you gonna help me, Jack?" Asked Sam.


    "Can we take a five minute break?"


    "Sure." Sam let go of the hammer and grabbed a snack.


    {Hey, Jack. It''s me, Will.}


    {Will!} Jack was taken aback. Out of all things he didn''t expect Will to message him.


    {I know that you heard what I did. I did it for a good reason. I''m sorry that I didn''t talk to you about it, I had a lot on my plate since you know¡­ I''d tell you about it, but Jasmine might read it. How about we meet back at your village? I''ll tell what happened, and why I did it.}


    Jack took a while to answer. Emotions piled up in him.


    {Okay.}


    {I''ll see you soon.}


    Will placed the stone in his pocket.


    Adaline was a little hesitant getting close to Jasmine, but since she knew her, she wasn''t as wary as she was around people. After Jim hurt her, she did not want to be near humans anymore unless she knew them. Which is why she stopped. Somehow she knew she wouldn''t attack them, otherwise that first blast would''ve struck them instead of blocking her path.


    "Will, how did you find Taker? We''ve been tracking him down for years including me. Even the Great Sage couldn''t find him."


    "Secret. Speaking of secrets, look what I found at Takers place."


    Will took out his ?h?st and took out many papers with crucial evidence. Jasmine wasn''t as shocked to see the ?h?st grow in size because Will had shown her some of his weird abilities, so she thought it had something to do with a magical item he had.


    "This is detailed evidence of the Taker''s kidnappings. All of the kidnappings happened because of a noble from the Reyes kingdom."


    "Noble." Jasmine looked at astonishment at the papers. Nobles are powerful because of their genes. But, if they had committed such serious crimes, they would be executed.


    "You can have it. I only brought it with me because I thought it would benefit me. I know that if you brought this news to the king, it would put you in a better spot to become a kingsguard."


    "Kings¡­ is this a bribe? You''re giving me this so I won''t have to turn you in?" Jasmine looked at Will seriously. If people found out she made a deal with a criminal, she would have a black spot on her record, and that would mean the end of becoming a kingsguard.


    "No, even if you planned on turning me in, I wouldn''t let you. Even if you don''t take it, I was planning on throwing it away. All the evidence you''d need to bring this noble to justice is here. Think about all those kids who died because of him. All those families who split up because they suffered so much emotional pain because of him."


    "You''re playing with my emotions here." Jasmine said angrily.


    "I''m only stating facts here. Bring this man to justice, I don''t care."


    "Wait, why don''t you do it yourself? This could be used to forgive your criminal status or possibly give you a light sentence. People will forgive you for killing those villagers if they knew that you caught the child kidnapper."


    Will stopped in his tracks, but shook his head. If he did he''d bring a lot of attention. And soon the heroes would recognize him, and his identity would be exposed. If they found out about his powers, he''d become a slave for them.


    "You misunderstand me, Jasmine. I am not a psychopath who likes killing people, I don''t like killing people, that is my LEAST favourite thing to do. If that''s what people think about me then so be it." Will could care less about them. He didn''t need them to survive. But he did need to trade with them but he could always hide his face using a mask.


    "Uhhhh¡­"


    "Just promise me you won''t ever mention me when you bring this evidence. Don''t do me any favours, got it?" Will left with Adaline and said nothing else.


    "I didn''t say I was gonna¡­ and he''s gone." Jasmine looked at the papers in her hand. Pictures, maps, detailed explanations. It''s rare to come across so much evidence.


    "If someone else catches you I won''t help. I''m only letting you go because of Jack."


    Jasmine flew directly to the kingdom as fast as she could.


    Will sighed in relief when Jasmine didn''t pursue them. He didn''t know how powerful sorcerers are, and he didn''t want to find out. If he and her fought, it''ll also mean that Jack would never forgive him. He cares about Jack for all the things he had done for him.


    "Come on, let''s go see Jack. I think I remember where it was¡­"


    But remembering correctly, he had no idea where Jack lived or the name of the village he was in. It''s been a month now and he had forgotten.


    Will took out his communication and messaged Jack¡­

 Chapter 35 - Tinkering

    After a while, the news of the infamous Taker shook the world. The one child kidnapper that evaded the world for years had finally been killed.


    Some laughed in pure joy, some were relieved, some were angry that Taker got away with a quick death, and not the slow painful death that he deserved.


    This included the many, many families who were victims. But, they were all saddened that they couldn''t at least have a proper funeral for their children, because no bodies were ever recovered.


    Inside the kingdom of Reyes, was a fat noble who was cursing repeatedly at the news.


    "Shit, shit, fu?k, damn, fu?k." The fat noble kicked and slapped the maids working for him. Since he has the genes of the heroes, his slaps and kicks were stronger than an ordinary man''s.


    "If people find any evidence about me, I will be executed." He bit his finger, he was sweating with fear.


    "Noble Stein, I bring some good news." A black-haired individual showed up before the noble.


    "Don''t just stand there, tell me the damn news!"


    "It seems that there wasn''t any evidence leading up to you. Whoever killed Taker took every single piece of evidence. And he killed Taker before anyone else arrived, so he won''t be talking anymore."


    "Really? Oh, that''s good news. But, that means that there is someone out there with all the evidence. Find this person, I don''t care if it''s a child, woman, kill them, and their families and friends, whoever he was ?ssociated with. Then burn all the evidence. But not the cloth of teleportation, that''s too important."


    "Yes, sir." The black haired man bowed and left.


    He went down hundreds of stairs. When he arrived at the end, there were chains everywhere, filled with blood on the walls, floors, the roof. It was gruesome.


    Even worse was the various eyeballs, fingers, hair, basically human parts that he collected through all the years. They were the body parts of young kids.


    "I shouldn''t have killed those kids so soon. Had I known I would''ve had more fun with them. Eh, they were boring anyway."


    He gently ??r?ssed some hair with skin and blood still under it. The hair looked short, blonde, with pigtails on the side.


    "Once I get my cloth back, I''ll hire someone else to do some more ''hunting'' for me. I can''t wait."


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will arrived at Jack''s village. Jack was waiting by the entrance. Before Will arrived, he took off his armor and mask, making sure that no one saw Adaline. But two soldier''s blocked his path.


    "Papers please¡­ oh, it''s you." The same soldier from the Reyes kingdom recognized Will.


    "Papers? Right¡­ I have this, does it count?" Will showed him his beginner''s blacksmith badge. Jack told him that his village was now dependent unlike last time.


    "Yeah, that''ll do. Proceed." The two soldier''s stepped aside.


    "Jack. Hey."


    Jack stood there with a deadpan expression on his face.


    "Will¡­"


    Will sighed, he didn''t like it when Jack looked at him like that. It felt like he had disappointed his parents.


    "Jack, I''ll treat you to some fancy food while we talk. I promise you, I have a good reason, and a good story."


    "I trust you and I know that you''re a nice person¡­ but I can''t get over it."


    "I''ll tell you some more of my ''hero'' stuff."


    Jack chuckled. "Fine."


    Will took Jack to the most expensive restaurant in the village, which was less than a few silver coins. This village is doing better, but it doesn''t have such luxuries as other places do.


    "What happened to you?" Asked Jack.


    "Try living in a deserted land for 2 months, eating nothing but grass and water. Until recently, I started eating meat and fruits."


    "Deserted¡­ where have you been? Or better yet, what happened to you in these past two months?"


    "It''s a good story. But first, food." Will continued munching his foot like a wild beast, it didn''t affect him if others saw him.


    Jack smiled a bit. He too began eating. After an hour they were both full.


    "So, what''s the story?" Asked Jack.


    "Story¡­" Will looked around, there were too many people listening.


    "Let''s go to your room. I don''t want anyone listening to what I have to say." Will placed down some silver coins on the table and got up.


    "Sure."


    "I see now. I was afraid that you joined the elves side. But I understand why you did it." Jack was amazed by the story.


    "How can you believe that I joined the elves?"


    "Because of their charm power. They can basically brainwash anyone of into doing their bidding. It usually works on heroes since they''re young and v?r??ns."


    "Oh, I''m not a v?r??n." Will added.


    "What?" Jack was surprised.


    "I lost my v?r??n?t? about¡­ 2 years ago? I know I was 18 at the time."


    "Oh. I didn''t expect that."


    "Eh." Will shrugged it off like it was nothing.


    "So, how was it?"


    "Well, it was scary and weird at first. But when you get used to it, it becomes a very pleasurable exper-"


    "Not that!" Jack blushed. "I mean how was the road trip here? Must''ve taken you a few hours to get here on Adaline."


    "Actually, no, Adaline became stronger now through¡­ unknown reasons. I was actually at the village where they found Taker and his secret base."


    "That far?"


    "Yup."


    "Did you see the Taker? You must know something about him!" Jack got up on his toes and stood close to Will''s face.


    "I should know. I killed him. And took his stuff. And set the kids free."


    "THAT WAS YOU?!?!"


    "Shhh!" Will covered Jack''s mouth.


    "Sorry¡­ that was you¡­" Jack whispered.


    "Yes, I am not lying."


    "I heard that they did not find anything else, not even his magical teleportation item."


    "I took that as well. Wanna see it?"


    "I do!" It would give Jack great insight to becoming a better blacksmith.


    "Here." Will took out the cloth.


    "Why is it¡­ a rag?"


    "I dunno. But don''t wear it, it''s covered with Taker''s blood and brains."


    "Ugh!" Jack threw the cloth back at Will. Then, something fell out of the rag from one of the pockets. It was basically a black marble that was enchanted.


    "What is that?" Asked Jack.


    "I don''t know." Will scanned it.


    {Black ball: Enchanted}


    {Enchantment: Blocks telepathy}


    "It blocks telepathy? Why would Taker have this?"


    "Oh, it blocks¡­ I know why." Jack smiled as if he felt smart for knowing something.


    "Why?"


    "Because of the Great Sage."


    "What about him?"


    "You still don''t know? Maybe I forgot to tell you. So listen, the Great Sage is powerful, so he knows many, many abilities. One of them is telepathy."


    "Telepathy?"


    "The ability to communicate through minds."


    "Oh, I think I get it now. Taker must''ve used this to block off the Great Sage''s telepathy so he wouldn''t find him."


    "Yes. The Great Sage uses his telepathy to interrogate prisoners who don''t want to talk. It''s usually him who finds out much valuable information. This must be why Taker had this ball on him."


    "Man, glad you told me. If you hadn''t, my identity would''ve been exposed by him long ago." Now Will made a new mental note, never getting near the Great Sage, who is a literal mind reader. But at least he now had this ball with him.


    Will placed the ball back inside his ?h?st.


    "What identity? Who are you?" July asked, Jack''s mother had entered Jack''s room.


    "Mom, this is Will, the one I told you about. And Will this is my mom." Jack immediately introduced Will to his mom.


    "Oh, so you''re the one." July didn''t know how to feel about Will. For some time, she thought that he had kidnapped Jack.


    "Nice to meet you." Will shook hands with Jack''s mother.


    "I wish I could say the same. I''ll be back." July left while still looking at Will.


    "I get the feeling she doesn''t like me." Will pointed out.


    "She thinks you kidnapped me."


    "Kidnapped? That''s weird."


    "Kinda¡­ so, this base you build." Jack touched his fingers together.


    "What about it?"


    "Could I see it?"


    "Sure. We can go now. If we use Adaline, we can arrive there in an hour or so."


    "I can''t. Maybe in 2 weeks I can."


    "Why the wait?"


    "My uncle has this special order from a sorcerer named Kyle, who is into Jasmine."


    "Oh¡­ that''s good for him, I guess."


    "He''s been chasing after her since she was 9 years old."


    "How old is Kyle right now?"


    "25, almost 26."


    "Oh, he needs to die then. I''ll get my gun."


    "No. He''s a good person just¡­ weird. He hasn''t done anything to Jasmine that would be considered ''inappropriate'' but still, it''s weird."


    "If you say so. So what''s this about a special order?"


    "We need to make him a custom shotgun in 2 weeks. We are already halfway done."


    "I didn''t know it took that long to make a shotgun."


    "It doesn''t. But this is a very powerful shotgun we''re making. Only true experts like my uncle can make it."


    "Could I help?"


    "You''re an apprentice blacksmith."


    "So are you."


    "That''s¡­ a good point. Come, I''ll show what we''ve been working on." Jack led Will to the back of the building.


    Will remembered that this room was a mess, coal, ore, rocks everywhere. Now it was spacious, clean.


    In the middle of the table, was a shotgun that he''d never seen before. It was half way done. It was all white, with only the trigger missing, and some other important parts.


    "I didn''t think it was possible to modify weapons like this. How did you guys do it?" Will wanted to know to increase his gun''s performance.


    "I''ll show you a simple trick. My uncle taught me this while we were working on it." Jack took 3 pistols and placed them on the table.


    "So, each gun here is different, each has their own weaknesses and strengths." Jack said.


    "Okay."


    "So, many years ago, master blacksmiths took the idea of taking out the strongest points that made these weapons powerful, and combined it into one."


    "And that works? I''m no gun expert, but that seems like it would fail."


    "You''re right. But with the right knowledge, and with the right materials and tools, it''s possible. Like this."


    Jack disassembled the gun''s into pieces very quickly. Obviously he had been practicing.


    "I''m not supposed to do this, only experienced expert blacksmiths can do this. But, it''s not a crime to learn. And when I''m done ?ssembling it, it''ll look like this." Jack took out another gun that had identical parts to the other three.


    "I still have to fully learn this technique. My uncle made this gun for me so I can practice. He still teaches me how to make them."


    "But I still don''t understand how this gun is better than the 3 other guns."


    "This pistol is a snake. It has good pinpoint accuracy but isn''t that strong, even metal can deflect it. This other one is a guerrilla, it has a lot of fire power, but the recoil is so strong it can bruise your hand if you''re not careful. This last one is a hawk, it carries more ammo, but it''s heavy."


    "Those sound like defective guns to me." Will pointed out.


    "Yeah, it''s because they are defective. No one in their right minds would ever use them. But, like I said, if you take their strong points and add it together, you get this." Jack pointed at a test dummy that was covered in metal, and it blew a hole in it''s head.


    Will looked at the hole the bullet made. It even pierced through the wall.


    "You see, it carried power but b?r?ly any recoil. It had a lot of ammo, and it has accuracy."


    "I have been using guns for a while now, but I have never seen something like this. Could I see it?"


    "Sure."


    As soon as Will touched the gun, a new crafting recipe was added.


    {Tinkering table}


    {Able to tinker many weapons, explosives, armor. Unlike other tables, this one is limited to the users imagination}


    {Crafting recipes: 10x iron, iron nails}


    {Universal table+: Can now use tinkering table}


    {100 tinkering tables}


    "Tinkering¡­ mind if I borrowed some iron?"


    "Sure."


    "Thanks." Will left Jack some money for him, grabbed some smelted iron, and crafted the tinkerer table.


    "I never get tired of seeing that." Jack already knew about Will''s ability to make stuff, but it was different this time because he didn''t even use a crafting table.


    "Me neither, Jack."


    Will placed down the crafting table, and unlike the other crafting stations, this one was different. There were two boxes labelled {Experimental} and {Crafts}


    {Experimental} means that he can experiment with any weapons and fuse weapon parts together.


    {Crafts} showed the successful weapons he fused in the {Experimental} section. But there are two types of weapons in the crafts section.


    {Successful: made a powerful, working modified weapon}


    {Incomplete: the weapon will not work, is missing parts, or is too dangerous to use for the one holding the gun}


    The tinkerer''s table was amazing. The best part is that it didn''t require two types of the same weapons. Meaning that it wasn''t merely limited to handguns. He could fuse a shotgun and a sniper, a handgun and a rifle, bazooka''s with shotguns. The possibilities were endless.


    "I am so glad you''re my friend, Jack." Will felt once again grateful to Jack. Because of him, he had just opened a new world of possibilities.


    "Me, too." Jack didn''t know why he said that but was glad.


    "Can I touch your uncle''s shotgun?"


    "Okay¡­ but please don''t destroy it."


    "I only need to touch it." Once he touched it, the shotgun was added to the {Crafts} section but read {Incomplete}.


    Will saw what he required to make the shotgun perfectly. Once again he brought all the ores that Jack had, paying for it all, and made the exact same shotgun that Sam was making. But it was still incomplete. Will frowned and kept experimenting.


    It wasn''t enough. He crafted only weapon parts, and added it to the shotgun, trying to find the perfect piece for it.


    After a few minutes of crafting, experimenting, he made a {successful} weapon.


    {Battery shotgun: modified}


    "But, how did, that''s the¡­ what?" Jack was confused.


    "It''s a good shotgun. Pump action, can hold up to 12 shells per round, has explosive power."


    "12, explosive? But, it should have only 8 rounds. And it shouldn''t have explosive power either."


    "Oh, huh. I think I made a little too many alterations to it."


    Will could craft anything as long as he had the knowledge and the materials, so he crafted a bunch of gun parts and added it to the shotgun.


    "Can I see it?" Asked Jack.


    "It''s yours. This is my way of saying thank you for helping." Will handed Jack the modified shotgun be made. Even till now Jack was helping him.


    Jack examined the shotgun and took a few test shots with it. He thought that Will might''ve exaggerated a bit, but what he said was right, Will made an even better shotgun than his uncle, and took no less than 10 minutes.


    Will had been using this system for a while and had known how to make it work, had it been before he''d had no clue how to make it.


    "Will, what exactly is your hero ability?"


    "It''s too complicated to say."


    Jack sighed.


    "Please, don''t show my uncle your ability. It''ll break him if he knew that an apprentice blacksmith made a better weapon than him. All those years of training, he''d think it would''ve been a waste."


    "I won''t."


    "But this''ll save my uncle some time. So, thank you."


    "You''ve helped me a lot, Jack. I should be thanking you."


    "I love you, Will."


    "No homo?"


    "No homo."


    Outside of the counter, was a little girl and her mother.


    "Mommy, what''s ''homo''?"


    "This damn village¡­" The mother was tired and angry of her daughter learning new words from other people. All she wanted to do was buy a knife for cooking since her old one is dull and useless.


    July was secretly listening. She had her eyes wide open.


    "So¡­ he''s a hero, the missing 100th hero. No wonder Jack''s..." She shook her head. She left them alone and decided to keep this a secret. She''d been worried that Will is not a good person, but looking at how Jack was so happy now, she knew that he was a good friend.


    "Hey, sis, what are you doi-"


    "SHH!" July covered her brother''s mouth. She didn''t want Jack or Will to find she had been listening to their conversation.


    "I was just about to leave. Oh, and we have a guest." July left the store.


    "Guest?" Sam looked over and saw Will and Jack.


    "Oh, hi Will. Didn''t expect to see you here."


    "Sup, Sam."


    "Want to help me work on this shotgun me and Jack have been working on? We could use some help, and I could teach you as well, so you can earn your expert blacksmith badge."


    "Umm¡­" Will and Jack looked at each other. Sam''s intentions are good, but he didn''t know that Will could make a better weapon in a short amount of time.


    "Hey, Jack, can I see that gun?" Sam looked at the shotgun on Jack''s hand that looked almost identical to the one he''s been working on.


    "Sure."


    Sam inspected the shotgun.


    "Wow, 12 rounds, explosive power. Better range. Less recoil. Where''d you find this shotgun? It''s one of the best ones I''ve seen. And it works so well. The parts compliment each other. Only a master blacksmith could make something like this."


    "Well¡­" Jack looked at Will.


    "I bought it." Will lied. He was keeping his promise to Jack about not telling Sam he made it.


    "Man, this must''ve cost you a fortune."


    "Nah, not really. Actually it''s my gift to you and Jack, for helping me."


    "That''s very generous of you, Will. But I cannot accept it. It''s too precious to give away."


    "I don''t plan on selling it or using it. Shotguns are not my style. If I keep it it''ll just be collecting dust." Will could make shotguns at any time, but he had never been too keen on using these types of weapons.


    "If you sell it you could make over 200 gold coins, or even 300."


    "I don''t need money. I have enough." Especially after stealing from Taker''s stuff, he had over hundreds of gold coins now.


    "Uncle, let''s keep it. Will wants to give it to us." Jack added.


    "If you insist. Let''s keep working on that shotgun, Jack. Want to help out, Will?" Asked Sam. He was still planning on working on Kyle''s shotgun because the shotgun Will gave them was too good for Kyle to use. If they sell it to him, it would be easier for him to take the position of a kingsguard. They wouldn''t want to make things difficult for Jasmine.


    "No thanks. I''m just visiting and I have to go now. Jack, message me when you''re free to come over."


    "I will." Jack promised.


    "Oh, and, do you guys have soap, something to take the blood off of clothes?" Will needed to wash the cloth of teleportation.

 Chapter 36 - Dropping it! (Goodbye!)

    After washing off the blood of the cloth, Will left Jack''s village. Not long after did he try out the cloth of teleportation.


    At first he accidentally teleported high and fell face flat on the ground. Next, he almost fell in one of the goblin traps that he built when he lived in the village. Surprisingly no one bothered this place. The best part is that the goblin traps are still working and many goblins died in his death traps.


    Adaline ate those goblins and produced a few more flowers. Will quickly hid those flowers before someone saw them.


    After an hour of teleporting with his cloth of teleportation, he had gotten down the basics. Will made the cloth into a green-blue cape which matched his exotic armor. It also carried a hood that he placed over his helmet.


    He headed back the next day before it got dark. When he arrived at his base there were people there, dead, covered in bullet holes.


    They had been secretly watching Will from a distance. Once he left, they raided the place for the food and water it had. But the sentry turrets killed them before they could even touch the door.


    Will was glad that the sentries worked. He dug holes for those people and threw them there, it made his base look bad with so many bloody corpses lying around.


    Adaline used those corpses to make soil, and expand her grass.


    The first thing Will did was experiment with the tinkering table. The more he experimented, the more he was fascinated by this function.


    It wasn''t only limited to weapons. He could fuse pickaxes, shovels, armor, accessories, clothes. It wouldn''t be called the ''crafting system'' if it couldn''t craft this kind of stuff.


    He was so fascinated by it that he b?r?ly got a wink of sleep that day. After so much tinkering, this is what he produced.


    {Exotic pistol turret: modified: Enchanted}


    {Enchantment: Piercing II}


    {Enchantment: Mini-explosion I: Created a mini explosion each shot}


    Will took a bit of time making this gun. The only flaw it had was the limited ammo it carried. He kept it in store for now if he ever got an enchantment that made ammo infinite.


    The design looked cool. It was as small as a handgun, but the barrel looked like a mini turret. It functioned well.


    That wasn''t all he experimented.


    {Exotic ?ssault sniper rifle: Modified: Enchanted}


    {Mix of exotic wood, an ?ssault rifle and a sniper rifle}


    {Enchantment: Ricochet II: Bullets ricochet off walls}


    Will always had to switch between his ?ssault rifle and sniper rifle. Now he had two weapons in one without having the need to switch between them.


    And for his last weapon, this is his result.


    {Exotic shotgun pistol: Modified: Enchanted}


    {Mix of exotic wood, a pistol and a handgun}


    {Enchantment: Explosive power I: Each shot carries the power of an explosion}


    {Enchantment: Feather II: Is as light as a feather}


    {Enchantment: Durability+ I}


    Similar to the pistol turret, this pistol is like a mini shotgun. But this time it did look like a shotgun, only that the barrel was a little bigger than it''s supposed to be. Will designed this to trick the enemies into thinking it''s an ordinary pistol.


    Will never liked to use shotguns because they were heavy, had to be close range, they were too long that the enemy could disable it easily. But now with this shotgun pistol, he had no more complaints.


    Of course he still had an ordinary pistol on his waist, that way he had a variety of choices to choose from.


    He''d plan on adding some weapons to his armor, but it was limited. He''d plan on doing something like that after he got good enchantments.


    But, he did have this idea to add blades on his arm guards. But, he wasn''t used to the blade and accidentally stabbed himself and almost cut off his fingers. It was too dangerous to use right now. Will wasn''t the best at using blades as a weapon.


    "It''s almost sunrise. I have to make this quick."


    Will increased his max HP once more, it had now reached 950.


    {HP: 950/950}


    Just a few more exotic flowers and he would have over 1000 HP. Honestly he was happy with it as long as it rises every day.


    The flower seed still hadn''t produced any exotic flowers yet. It took unusually longer than most crops. But Will understood, it takes the elves over 300 years for their exotic seed to produce an exotic flower.


    Will got Adaline, his money, empty ?h?sts, armor, items, and he was set. When he arrived at that village he put up a poster saying that he was willing to buy leather and wood for a very good price, one would think he was insane. But he was in a hurry and had money to burn.


    Thanks to Taker, Will now had a lot of money. And so they left their base once more.


    "I need to learn how to make healing potions¡­ wait." Will checked his brown book for the potion recipes he had unlocked, and to his surprise, he''d already unlocked it.


    "Well damn. I already knew how to make healing potions, but it only gives me 50+ hp. There''s so much in here that one can easily forget." Will re-read the entire brown book in case he had forgotten something important.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Inside the castle of the Kingdom of Reyes, was the king on his throne. He had a worried look on his face.


    Beside him was his wife, the Queen. She was as old as him, wrinkles on her body, her hair was almost gray, but had an aura of a loving grandmother.


    Beside them was another throne, but it was empty.


    "It''s been so long now. And still no word from her." The King said nervously.


    "I can feel it inside me, our daughter is still alive. You have 3 of your 5 kingsguards looking for her. They''ll find her soon"


    "But what the hell is the point of those Kingsguards, my most powerful weapons, if they can''t even find two people after so long. Not to mention that the other Hero Quincy failed as well."


    "We should''ve seen Clement plotting this. After his son died, he hasn''t been the same since." The Queen said.


    "Clement¡­ he was my most loyal soldier, the best gunsmen to have ever lived, and took our daughter on the day the Heroes were summoned when we were all distracted. He has been planning for this moment for too long."


    The Queen held her King''s hands firmly.


    "What worries me most is that Clement hasn''t said anything, never demanded anything in return. If he wanted to kill her he''d already done it. What is he waiting for?" The King said.


    "Maybe this is his plan, to make us feel scared like this not knowing how our daughter is doing. Poor Harmony, he must be doing horrible things to her, torturing her day and night." The Queen wiped the tears using a napkin.


    Meanwhile¡­


    There were two people on a horse riding through a thick forest. It''s Clement and Harmony. He wasn''t torturing her at all, it was mostly the opposite.


    "Come on, just a little. No one has to know." Harmony said seductively on Clement''s ear.


    "No."


    "Even after what you did to me yesterday¡­ you should take responsibility. What if I have a baby?" She touched her stomach.


    "I only touched your ?h?st by accident, and that''s because you almost fell off Esmeralda."


    "Once you touched me in my most sacred area, it tied us down in body and soul. From that moment I knew my body belonged to you, and only you." She nibbled on his ear as she was getting excited.


    Clement was eyeing his gun, it was starting to look very friendly right now. Harmony hasn''t shut up at all since he kidnapped her. Covering her voice with tape only made her touch him more. Tying her would made her fall off a horse. And tying her to a horse would just make her muffle loudly, and attract monsters.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "My king! I bring some news" A soldier knelt before the King and Queen.


    "What? Is it about our daughter?" Both King and Queen stood up.


    "Sorry, your highness, it''s about something else."


    "Oh." They both sat down with their hopes crushed once more.


    "Speak." The King ordered.


    "A sorceress named Jasmine, claimed to have brought hard evidence about the Taker. She said she would only show you, your highness."


    "Taker¡­ let him in."


    "It''s a her... never mind." The soldier shut his mouth and ran to welcome Jasmine.


    Taker had been a thorn on his side. So many civilians were scared because of him, and it caused his kingdom to be a wreck. When he heard he''d been killed, he was happy, but at the same time disappointed that he couldn''t publicly execute him.


    Nothing was ever recovered aside from the 15 kids he kidnapped the past month.


    Jasmine came running and knelt before the King.


    "Your Majesty. Your Highness." Jasmine greeted them politely.


    "Stand up." He said.


    "Yes." Jasmine was nervous, this is the first time she talked to the King. She''d seen him a few times before, but never talked to him.


    "You say that you brought evidence on the Taker?"


    "Yes, I did."


    "Let me see it. And, soldier."


    "Yes!" The soldier responded.


    "Tell Roy Morgan that we need him here. Tell him that it''s about the Taker. He''d love to be here for this."


    "Yes, right away!"


    Jasmine sweated once again. Roy Morgan is the name of the Great Sage. She and him weren''t familiar much, apart from the time where he made her a sorceress. But they weren''t close, or even friends.


    And she looked up to him like an idol, like how Jack admires Heroes. He''s the strongest sorcerer, which is a feat she wishes she would reach one day.


    "Let''s wait until he arrives." The King said.


    "Yes!" Jasmine said.


    The King wanted the Great Sage here for several reasons: Roy Morgan had been looking for Taker for years now, but he evaded him every time. And also, Roy Morgan is a mind reader, the King needed him to read Jasmine''s mind in case she wasn''t willing to say more than she knew.


    Minutes later, an old man showed up in front of them without a sign beforehand. This is Roy Morgan.


    He wore an enchanted blue cloak. He had a short beard that b?r?ly reached his neck. Roy also sat down in a lotus position but was floating towards them, he was using his ability to levitate. On his hand is an enchanted staff, it was made out of normal wood, but the tip had a very rare mineral that exceeded diamonds in power and rarity, it looked magical and had some sort of life in it. This is the 1 out of two weapons out there that is a magical, and enchanted.


    Blacksmiths can never enchant a magical item. Many have tried and failed, But that changed when Roy Morgan and the Fat Empress both had one.


    Roy had the face of a 90 year old man. His skin was old, wrinkly, and falling. But that''s to be expected after living past the age of 300.


    "You summoned me?"


    Roy didn''t even open his mouth to speak. He was communicated through all of them using his telepathy.


    Jasmine clenched her fists tightly in admiration. No matter how much she hears him speak through his mind, it never gets tiring, she found it awesome.


    No one has ever seen Roy open his mouth, and he never says why. He has only ever communicated through telepathy. Many have asked him, even King''s, but he never said why.


    "I did. Have a look at this. Our little Sorceress friend here found crucial evidence about Taker." The King handed Roy the papers. Roy used a telekinetic power to bring the papers to him.


    Roy extended all the papers in front of him, never touching it. Once he read through it, he vanished from the spot.


    Everyone was confused at first. But, Roy appeared in front of them with a fat noble by his side. Roy threw the Noble on the ground.


    "Where¡­ My king! Great Sage!" The noble hurriedly bowed down at the sight of those two giant figures.


    But, Roy used his staff and bound the fat noble down using some sort of magical chains.


    "Here''s your culprit. Noble Stein. He''s the cause of those children kidnappings. He''s the one who paid Taker to kidnap those children. He''s the one who killed them."


    "But, I-"


    Roy Morgan extended his staff, the tip was near Stein''s face,


    "You should know just how cruel I can be. Either admit your sins and face a painless death, or I''ll put you through hell."


    Stein even wet his pants at the moment. He put his face down.


    "It WAS ME! I KILLED THOSE KIDS! I WAS THE ONE WHO DID IT!" Stein was surprisingly weak minded.


    The King was surprised. To see a noble do something like this, and right in front of their noses. Many thought it had something to do with the Fat Empress, but they never thought that it could possibly come from their own.


    The King gripped tightly onto his seat in anger.


    "You''re a goddamn noble! A descendant of the heroes! Your identity alone presents not only this kingdom, but the heroes in general! Tell me, why did you do it? What made you cause those children''s deaths?!" The King was fuming. The Queen found the Noble disgusting.


    "Why?" Stein looked at the Great Sage.


    "He asked you a question." Roy said sternly.


    "Because¡­ I¡­ I just wanted to kill kids. I loved it when I skinned their skin, cut them open, gouged out their eyeballs."


    "That''s enough! Take this sick bastard to the dungeon! And have Skinner do his thing on him, but he cannot kill him."


    Skinner is the King''s best torturer, his name is not really ''Skinner'' but people call him that because his favorite hobby is to skin criminals.


    Two nobles covered in full enchanted armor bowed before the king and took Stein down to the dungeon. Stein was still trapped because of Roy''s magical chains.


    "NO PLEASE! NOT THE DUNGEON! NOT SKINNER! ANYONE BUT HIM!"


    Stein''s cries echoed across the kingdom, until his voice couldn''t be heard anymore.


    "To think something like this was happening in my kingdom¡­ I''ll have to announce this to the public and execute him soon." The King rubbed his eyeballs.


    Jasmine couldn''t believe what had happened either. So many child''s had died because of one sick bastard with power.


    "What''s your name again? Don''t move your mouth to talk to me. Use your thoughts only." Asked Roy.


    "M-me?" Jasmine asked.


    "Yes, you. I''m sorry for not remembering. I don''t have the best memory."


    "I''m J-Jasmine!" Jasmine was very nervous right now.


    "You have done a great service for us. I''ll promote you to 3-stripes and give you additional rewards for this. This will put you in a good position to become a kingsguard. I''ll also give something to your friend, who helped bring this evidence to us." Roy said.


    "Friend? You mean Will?"


    Roy nodded. He read Jasmine''s memory when she thought about him.


    "If there''s a reason why he doesn''t want to be known, that''s fine by me. Everyone has their secrets. I''m just glad that those families who were victims of Taker can now rest knowing that the ones who caused these have been caught."


    "Thank you, Great Sage." Jasmine said.


    "Jasmine, was it?" The king asked.


    "Yes, my King?"


    "You''ve done a great service to the people. I''ll reward you handsomely for this. But, if you found the evidence, did you also find the teleportation item Taker used to get away?"


    "No, I do not have the item that you speak of."


    The King turned to Roy and he shook his head.


    "Well then. That''s a shame. How did you find the evidence?"


    "A friend!"


    The King once again turned to Roy to confirm if what Jasmine was saying is true.


    "Why didn''t he bring us the evidence if he had the evidence in the first place? Doesn''t sound wise to give away this opportunity to become famous and rich."


    "I¡­ I also do not know why that is."


    "I see¡­ please stay in the kingdom for a few days. I wish that you would be here when that bastard noble gets executed."


    "Of course, my King."


    "You''re free to go now."


    Jasmine bowed to them one more time and left.


    "Jasmine." Roy said through telepathy.


    "Yes!" Jasmine stood still


    "No, keep walking, I don''t want the King to know that I am talking to you."


    Jasmine nodded instinctively and walked slowly.


    "I know that your friend is also a criminal. But hearing his story, and bringing this criminal down, I''ll take down the posters using my connections, and no one will recognize him anymore."


    "It doesn''t bother you that he protected the elves?" Asked Jasmine.


    "No, because I am friends with the elves. It''s a long story. Don''t tell anyone I said this."


    "I won''t!"


    Jasmine left the building until it was just them left.


    "My Queen." The King said. "Could you give me and Roy some time to talk?"


    "Of course." The Queen left the room. It was just both of them.


    "What did you find out about her?" The King immediately asked him.


    "If you''re saying she''s hiding something, she is not. Her friend who was caught does not want to be known."


    "Then that means he has the magical teleportation item. What if this man uses it for the same purposes as Taker!"


    "That would be problematic. But at least we know he''s connected to Jasmine. If he does make a move, I''ll make sure to catch him."


    "We cannot take any risks. I want you to bring the cloth of teleportation." The King commanded.


    "No." Roy declined.


    "What?"


    "You only want the magical item to use for ?ssassination purposes. And Jasmine''s friend also took care of a huge problem, so I don''t mind if he has the magical teleportation item."


    "Roy! You dare read my mind even after I forbid you from doing so!"


    "So what if I did?" Roy was unfazed. It''s not the first time he met a king, and it won''t be the last. After living for 300 years he had learned how to deal with these types of people.


    The King was angry. But sat down in his chair and controlled his emotions. There''s a reason he was king and still alive after so long, he won''t let something like his emotions cloud his judgement.


    "You might be strong, Roy. But you''ve gotten weaker. You''re way past your prime now." He only said that to get back at him.


    "I know I am. And when my time comes I will be remembered. But what about you? No one will remember you. Just like the king before you, and before him, and before him. After you die, no one will miss you."


    "Why you!"


    Roy teleported from the spot and back into his tower.


    The King harrumphed angrily, but controlled his anger again.


    He took out a communication stone and communicated with someone.


    {Tell Morgan to come here}


    No sooner than later a young man appeared before him. He looked composed, confident, had an aura that made one think he was raised by classy people.


    "Yes, my King?" He knelt before him. He was young, no more than 18. He has short blonde hair, soft white skin. The only distinct feature he had was his pointy ears.


    "Morgan, I have a mission for you."


    "Please tell me, what can I do for you?"


    "I want you to stalk a certain Sorceress named Jasmine. Your stealth skills are second only to your father, who is now gone. But don''t confront her."


    "What exactly must I do?"


    "Have you heard about the one who rescued the kids? Mr. Scary Eyes I believe the kids called him. I''m sure someone drew his poster or something."


    "Yes, I have heard of him."


    "I want you to stalk Jasmine, she''s most likely a friend of his and the one who weeded Taker from his hiding hole. So it''s most likely they''ll see each other. If you see this scary eyes person, offer him a large sum of money, I am prepared to give him 5000 gold coins if he''s willing to sell us the item of teleportation, the same one that Taker used."


    "And if he declines?"


    "If he declines for whatever reason, resort to any means necessary to take the item from him. But make sure you''re not seen. Make your father proud."


    "I will. Thank you for giving me this chance." Morgan felt grateful.


    "Go on."


    Morgan left without making any sound.


    "He might be half noble, but he''s still half elf. Pity. Had he been half human and half noble instead, I would''ve given him a better position of power. Oh well. Not my fault elves are so stubborn. Not willing to give me that exotic flower even after I offered them a good deal."


    Morgan is not a distant relative of a Hero, he is a son of a hero from 100 years ago. Morgan might look young because of his elven genes, but he''s 80 years old.


    Meanwhile, inside a hotel room.


    "Oh my god, oh my god. I talked to him! I am so glad to be alive!" Jasmine was on a bed, punching and kicking her sheets and pillows out of pure joy of having to speak to her idol.


    She was also a hardcore fan girl who couldn''t control her emotions. If it weren''t because she was within the king''s presence, she would''ve launched herself at the Great Sage.


    "Wait until I tell Jack about this. And I also need to thank Will. If not for him, I would''ve never gotten this chance. Eeeeeeeeeeh!" Jasmine screamed out of pure delight and continued kicking and punching her bed.


    This went on for hours non-stop.

 Chapter 37 - Leather

    While it was still dark, Will made it to the village where his trading will start. There were still guards and sorcerers there, which is why Will was not wearing his armor. The cloth of teleportation did an amazing job at making clothes for Will.


    He was wearing plain clothing that did not stand out, he looked like a friendly commoner.


    "Why are you here?" Asked a guard who was guarding the entrance. They were tasked to protect this village in case they found evidence about the Taker.


    "I''m here to trade. I put up a poster on the board there."


    "Do you have some form of I.D.?"


    Will handed him his papers, and his apprentice blacksmith badge. Will remembered to carry his papers with him this time.


    "Okay, Apprentice Will." The guards got out of his path.


    While it was still somewhat dark, b?r?ly lit from the torches, Will made a tiny wooden stand with a sign that read ''trading'' one would think he was selling lemonade.


    After a few minutes the sun was rising. Some early risers were already getting out of bed, some later than others.


    As they got up, Will made more signs that let them know the prices of the trades he''s willing to make. He only accepted leather and wood. Will had over 100 gold coins in his pocket alone.


    It wouldn''t make sense to carry only gold coins, but he was messing around with his system a month ago, and he found something interesting.


    Will could make 100 copper coins from a silver coin, the same applies to gold, he could make 100 silver coins out of thin air from a single gold coin. This way he wouldn''t have to carry a bunch of silver or copper coins at all times, and not have change on him.


    "First gold coin." Will took out a gold coin, converted it into 100 silver coins, and placed those coins inside the pouch.


    "Is no one interested? Maybe I studied it wrong and got the prices wrong." Asked Will. He needed this trade to make more exclusive crafts which is essential to him.


    Will saw a guard passing by.


    "Excuse me, guard!"


    "Yes, commoner!"


    "Is there something wrong with my sign?" Will pointed up.


    The soldier looked at it and was confused.


    "What do you mean? Like it''s broken?"


    "No, are the prices for leather and wood too low?"


    "No, they''re actually too good to be true."


    "Then, why is no one interested?"


    "Because this is a small village. This village in particular doesn''t have many lumberjacks, or leather workers."


    "So, I just picked a poor village to trade in?"


    "Pretty much. Just because you are buying these at a good price, doesn''t mean people have them. There isn''t even a blacksmith here."


    "Damn. I am stupid." Will hit the stand. He should''ve known as it was so obvious.


    "There are two ways if you want to buy leather. One is to go to a butcher shop. Or go to the villages on the east that are more resourceful. I suggest you trade there." The soldier added after he saw Will''s behaviour.


    "Why east?"


    "Because the east is there the Empire is. Most of the villages there have people with so many resources it''s unreal."


    "How?"


    "Because of the Fat Empress. Although she treats the villages more like workshops than actual villages. It''s richer but those people don''t have much freedom."


    "So, what you''re saying is that I need to go to the east?"


    "Yeah. Compared to the villagers on the west side, which is where the Reyes Kingdom rules, they aren''t as resourceful."


    "Why doesn''t the King use the same method as the Fat Empress if she''s that rich?"


    "Oh, he did, but people revolted because they didn''t want their freedom to be limited. So he gave up the idea shortly after."


    "Ah¡­"


    The East is governed by the Fat Empress.


    The West is ruled by the King of the Reyes kingdom.


    The South is home to the most powerful monsters, also known as the black mountains.


    The North is desolate where the ones without any choice go.


    The middle live the elves and are safe under the protection of their Goddess Lea.


    "Thanks. Do you know anywhere where I can find a butcher shop?"


    "The Kingdom of Reyes has a few. Other than that I don''t know."


    "Darn. How about wood? Where can I get that?"


    "Lumber mills I believe. The Kingdom of Reyes also has a few of them."


    "Well I better leave then. Here, for your troubles." Will gave the soldier one silver coin for his advice.


    "Well, thanks." The soldier accepted it and placed it in his pocket.


    Will left the stand there and left the village soon after. He put on his exotic armor and sat with Adaline in thought. He took out a map that was bought from the village before he left.


    "The east is richer. I know that now. But, that''s too far. Even if I want to go there with Adaline and with her new speed, that''s a 3 day trip and it will take another 3 days to come back. Not to mention all the monsters we''d face on the way. Is it worth it?" Will was thinking.


    Leaving his base unattended for a week was not a smart option. He had too many valuables there, gold, wood, exotic items, rare gems. He could afford to leave it for a day at most but any more than that didn''t feel safe.


    His plan to have people work for him did not seem to work.


    "No, I refuse to believe that this won''t work. Come, Adaline, let''s go to the kingdom of Reyes. They probably won''t know me if I am sneaky enough."


    Then, his pocket started glowing. Jasmine was messaging him from his communication stone.


    Will saw how Jasmine was telling Jack how happy and excited she was to meet the great sage.


    Will shook his head. It''s like an ordinary teenage girl fangirling about a popular singer.


    {And also, Will, thank you for this. If it weren''t for you I''d never been able to talk to him.}


    Jasmine remembered that they all shared the same communication stone.


    {Well at least you didn''t tell them about me.} Will responded.


    {About that, the Great Sage read my mind and he already knows about you.}


    {Aw, come on!} Will was angry. So much time he spent trying to hide his identity, and now the Great Sage knows about him.


    "He still doesn''t know about my hero identity. But the fact that he even knows me a little bit is troubling. So going to the Reyes Kingdom is never gonna be an option again." Will said.


    {Sorry about that, there wasn''t anything I could''ve done. But he did say that he will take off your wanted posters and you won''t be a known criminal anymore.}


    {It''s¡­ fine, whatever. But now you owe me 2 times. One because I gave you the evidence, and two because now the Great Sage knows me because of you. Does anyone else know about me?}


    {No one else. I didn''t say anything about you. And sure, if you need a favor, ask me. It''s the least I can do for you.}


    {Good. Jack, you there?}


    {Hey, Will.} Jack messaged him.


    {I need help. is there a lumber mill or butcher shop in your village?}


    {We know a guy who''s a butcher who sells us leather. Blacksmiths use them to make armor.}


    {You do? How come I''ve never seen you use leather in your shop?}


    {People don''t use leather much for hunting monsters, but for hunting animals for food or sport. It doesn''t sell well, so we b?r?ly make leather armor.}


    {Where do I find this person who sells leather?}


    {It''s near my village. With Adaline you can arrive there in half an hour or so. You''ll recognize the shop because it''s the only shop there that sells meat. As for the lumber mill, I have no idea.}


    Will smiled. It might not have been his plan to trade with villagers but this works too.


    {Thanks, Jack.}


    Will rode on Adaline and made their way to Jack''s village once more.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Grace had just finished absorbing the exotic flower. The flower beside her had turned completely black and died.


    For a moment, Grace was glowing just like an exotic flower, but that glow soon faded.


    "I think I''m done." She said while still covering herself with towels.


    "Has the exotic flower withered?" Silvas asked.


    "Yes."


    "Okay. Go on the back and change. But don''t go near the exotic seed, the exotic trees will attack you if you do."


    Grace did what he asked and changed into her clothes first, but dried off her wet body.


    "Done." Grace still felt like she was n?k?d so she was a bit embarrassed.


    "How do you feel?" Asked Arbor.


    "Not that different. But I do feel refreshed."


    "That''s good. It means it worked. Now you have a longer lifespan." Silvas clapped for his granddaughter''s success.


    Grace smiled, but she remembered that her parents haven''t absorbed a single flower yet.


    "But, my mom and dad."


    "It''s okay, Grace. Your mother can wait 100 years until the next exotic flower appears." Arbor said. He wanted his wife to have the exotic flower before him.


    They exited the forbidden forest, not before Silvas thanked the exotic trees for their help. It didn''t do anything, but he was still grateful for them.


    "So, what are you two gonna do now?" Asked Silvas.


    "I need to go back to check on Adaline. I trust Will with her, but it''s not safe if they continue living in the deserted lands. I plan on convincing them to move a little closer to the elven kingdom." Arbor said.


    "I also need to go back to Will, he did trade us that flower and I still need to keep our end of the bargain." Grace said.


    "Seems you two have plans. Grace, let me change your appearance." Silvas used his staff and changed the appearances of the two elves by making their ears look like a human''s.


    Grace now looked like her true self, the only difference was the ears.


    "Um, why the ears only?" Grace asked.


    "Because you''re now a wanted criminal. If you walked into a village and someone recognized you, they''d attack you on the spot." Silvas pointed out.


    "Couldn''t you change my appearance into something different."


    "..."


    "You didn''t think of that?" Grace asked.


    "I didn''t think of that."


    "Then change my appearance to something different."


    "Can''t. I cannot change the appearance of the same person consecutively. You''d have to wait at most a week."


    "But¡­ great." Grace said.


    "Sorry."


    They headed back to the village, to their surprise, a few elves were waiting for them.


    "Why are you helping the heroes?" Radix asked. He''d been waiting for them.


    "What?" Asked Silvas.


    "We know that you found the 100th hero. And we know that you plan to give them these." Radix showed them bags full of seeds, gems, everything that Will asked.


    "Mom?" Grace looked at her mother.


    "I promise I didn''t say anything." Grace''s mother, Joyce, said.


    "The trees told us. Why were you trying to keep him a secret? And why are you helping him?" Radix asked very seriously.


    "We owe it to him." Arbor said.


    "You can always back out on whatever agreement¡­ wait, is this the one who tamed the Adalis? Is he holding it captive?"


    "No! He''s a¡­ I guess he''s a friend." Grace said.


    "Friend? We cannot be friends with heroes. It''s already a huge stretch that the Great Sage is a friend of you, Silvas, but this hero? We can''t trust him." Radix said.


    "You''re right. I don''t know him, you don''t know him. But Grace and Arbor know him. The Adalis you speak of is also fond of him. If this hero is not our enemy, then there''s no reason why we shouldn''t ally with him."


    "Ally? We should kill them all when we have the chance."


    "He saved me from the soldiers, and also helped 2 more elves escape before we were enslaved by the humans. He had a chance to run away by himself but he protected us." Grace stood up for Will.


    "Wait, I have an idea." Rias added herself to the conversation.


    "Yes, Rias?" Asked Silvas.


    "According to what the trees told us, this 100th hero is unique right? I really want to know why he hasn''t teleported like the other heroes."


    "Why would you want to know that?" Arbor asked.


    "Because, if we could mess with the heroes summoning circle, we could trick them into teleporting them here the next time there''s a hero summoning. If we know why this happened to him, we could make it happen to the next batch of heroes."


    Rias thought about it. Will was not summoned like the other heroes, which meant there has to be a flaw in the summoning circle. If they could exploit the flaw and use it for their own personal gain, they could make the heroes allies of the elves instead of making enemies out of them.


    "Oh! That''s not a bad idea, Rias." SIlvas commented on Rias'' idea.


    Radix didn''t say anything at all.


    "Then we should go back. But I''ll also take this with me." Arbor took the bags and placed them inside a ring.


    "When did you get a magical ring?" Asked Radix.


    "A group of humans once wanted to kill our hero friend and Adaline, but we managed killed them all. The leader of the group had this so I took it." Arbor was referring to Jim.


    "Adaline?"


    "Oh, that''s the Adalis'' name."


    "Oh."


    "Can I come as well?" Asked Rias.


    "Why?"


    "Because this was my idea to exploit the summoning circle''s flaws. And it would give me insight on what this hero is capable of. As far as we know we''re probably the only ones who know about his true identity."


    "You could come. But there isn''t enough space for 3 elves to ride Sten." Grace said.


    "Use my mount." Silvas whistled. Moments later a large, flying organic creature gently landed beside them. It looked like a hybrid dragon, but with 8 wings and two tails. It was very tall, strong, and big, and could easily carry over 10 elves.


    "Drake!" Grace petted the flying organic creature. She was familiar with him ever since she was a kid.


    "He''ll take you to wherever this hero''s base is." Silvas patted his mount.


    The elves mounted the organic creature. Even Radix joined.


    "Why are you here?" Arbor asked.


    "I also care about the Adalis. And I also want to see if this hero is trustworthy or not."


    "Hmm¡­" Arbor was a little skeptical but he let him join the ride anyway.


    "Be safe." Grace''s mother said.


    "We will."


    The mount flew off with the elves on his back.


    "Will they be okay?" Joyce asked.


    "I hope so. Although I worry about Radix, hopefully he doesn''t do anything that will screw this up. If he doesn''t and learns from this, he''ll become stronger." Silvas went back to being a king and also practiced his bowmanship.


    Joyce sighed. She too wished she could be with her husband and daughter.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will arrived at the village Jack told him about. After asking for directions, he made it.


    The village was a little different compared to the other ones. This village was just as big, but was almost covered in trees. There was a row of trees in the middle of the village. The ground was always covered in leaves.


    Will liked it, it looked nice. He put on his exotic armor and mask. Hopefully no one would know about him. If he''s going to buy a large amount of leather, people would label him as a fat sheep. It''s better to hide his face.


    "Woah, that''s some cool armor you have." A teenage boy said.


    "Thanks. Do you know where the butcher shop is?" Will asked after giving the boy a silver coin. The boy''s eyes shined like stars. It''s free money. Who doesn''t like money?


    "Oh, right over there. Across the village you''ll find a butchery filled with cows, horses, basically a lot of animals."


    "Thanks." Will headed straight for the butcher''s shop.


    When he entered the place smelled like raw meat. It was to be expected. There were animals, blood, dead animals, skinned animals, animal insides.


    "What can I do for you?" Asked a buffed man. He was not only over 6ft tall, but was tanned and looked serious. He had blood on his apron and carried a butcher''s knife.


    "I''d like to buy all your leather."


    "Leather? Are you a blacksmith?"


    "Actually, I am."


    "I don''t recommend using leather for armor. It''s not as good as-"


    Will placed a few gold coins on the counter.


    "But, if you insist. You said you wanted to buy all the leather I have?" He asked to be sure.


    "All of it."


    "Good thing I never throw it away. Ever since people started using synthetic fiber, selling leather just isn''t as popular anymore. Come to the back. I have your leather."


    Will followed him but was still wary. He kept his gun and armor on at all times. There was also the energy shield that protected him.


    There was a storage full of leather from all kinds of animals.


    "Are you sure you can afford off of this?" He asked.


    "How much is it?"


    "Let me count." It took him a while to count all of the leather, not missing a single one.


    "This is a lot of leather. I estimate about 17 gold coins. I rounded it down to 16 for you."


    Will handed the man the money.


    "Thank you, sir. Shall I have someone send it to you to your home?"


    "Nah. I''ll take it with me." Will placed all the leather inside a ?h?st. The butcher was surprised.


    "A magical item?" He asked.


    "Something like that. How much leather can you produce for me in a week?" Will did not think that this amount of leather was enough. He also needed a stable source of leather, and a butcher shop seemed like the perfect idea.


    "Um¡­ no more than 20. But I know some people who are also butchers, they also have a ton of leather. If you can come back here in a week, I''ll have more leather ready for you."


    The butcher cannot let this opportunity go. Almost no one was willing to buy leather anymore. He could attack WIll to get his money, but he didn''t want to lose the people''s trust, his job, and go to prison.


    His plan was to buy the leather from other butchers at a cheap price, and sell them to Will at a normal price. He''d make a killing if his plan goes smoothly.


    "Sounds good. I''ll be back." Will proceeded to walk out of the store.


    "Can I know your name?"


    "No."


    Will teleported from the side of the building and went towards where Adaline was.


    "Let''s go home.." Adaline rode back to the base with Will.

 Chapter 38 - Super power source generator

    Shout out to SAD-ist on youtube. Her animatic Dream SMP videos are one of the best I''ve ever seen, very inspiring as well. Check it out especially her newly updated video.


    *********


    A giant flying organic creature flew above the forest. Anyone would think that it was a small dragon. On top of the organic creature, were 4 elves.


    "Why did this idiot of a hero set up his place in the middle of the damn deserted lands! Isn''t that suicide?" Radix asked.


    "I asked him that same question, his response was that after Adaline was attacked, she became too scared to leave that area. He had no choice but to stay there, even though he wanted to leave." Grace said.


    "Sounds like he really cares about her. To live in such a deserted and dry place for her, and even build a safe place for them." Rias pointed out.


    "They care about each other." Arbor was a little sad. Adaline didn''t care about him as much as she cared about Will.


    "We''re here!" Grace shouted.


    They could see the base and greenery from above. The grass keeps on expanding every day.


    "Did Will add something new? I don''t remember seeing those things on top of his walls." Grace pointed to the sentries guarding the walls.


    "He did. But why are there people dead in front of his base?" Arbor saw 2 corpses lying there. It didn''t make sense, as Adaline would''ve used those bodies to make soil, or Will would''ve already buried them in a hole since he cares about how his base looks.


    Once they got closer, the emerald sentry was the first to notice the giant organic creature, emerald sentries have the second most range right after diamond sentries, but Will hadn''t made one yet. It pointed itself at the creature and started firing.


    "CRAP! FLY DRAKE!"


    The organic flying creature reacted quickly and flew upwards, it swung its body around as it did making the bullets miss him.


    The sentry noticed that it was out of it''s range of attack, so it stopped firing.


    "Why is he shooting at us? Didn''t you say that he can be trusted?" Rias asked scared for her life.


    "So I was right! We need to kill him!" Radix said.


    "That doesn''t make sense, Does he now view us as an enemy?" Arbor couldn''t believe it.


    "But I didn''t see him fire whatever that thing is. I don''t see Adaline either." Grace said she too did not believe that Will would attack them.


    "Grace, your arm, it''s bleeding." Rias pointed at her arm.


    Grace noticed that a bullet grazed her arm.


    "It''s fine."


    "No, it''s not fine. Give me your arm." Arbor took out some medicinal herbs and applied it to Grace''s arm. Seconds later it healed itself. He came a little more prepared thanks to the ring.


    "Even if it wasn''t him, he still had something to do with this. I won''t forgive anyone who hurts my daughter." Arbor''s view of Will went downhill fast.


    "Like I said, kill him!"


    "Let''s land first. This can all be explained¡­ I hope." Grace also knew this had something to do with Will. But, would he try to kill them?


    She didn''t want to think that the first time she trusted a human that he would betray them soon after.


    Drake landed far from the base.


    "Doesn''t look like he''s here. But those things will shoot us if we get close to it." Rias said.


    "Let me see what these things are made of." Radix pulled out his enchanted bow and shot at one of the sentries, but it merely bounced off like it was nothing.


    "Strange, not even a dent. My arrows can even pierce through stone but not those things?"


    The sentries are more resistant than most metals.


    "Let me see how close I can get." Arbor took his enchanted blades and walked slowly towards the base. When he got close enough, one of the turrets started firing.


    Arbor deflected those bullets but backed away.


    "I''d say about 40 meters?" Arbor said.


    "About that much, yeah. But, that''s an amazing weapon. I never heard of something like those." Rias was amazed by Will''s technology.


    "I believe they call those mini guns? It can shoot at an extremely fast rate and carry a load of bullets. But I never heard that it can shoot on it''s own." Radix said.


    "I guess, but who uses mini guns these days? They''re heavy, and expensive to make. Against an agile monster they''re basically doomed carrying around all that weight."


    "So wait, mini guns are a thing in this world?" Will asked.


    "Yes, Will¡­ Will?!" Grace and Arbor backed away and so did the other two elves.


    "Woah, what''s going on?" Will instinctively raised his hands. He was on top of Adaline. Once he saw the elves standing there, he took off his exotic armor to not give away the exotic seed''s existence.


    "Your mini guns shot us and hurt Grace." Arbor said.


    "He said that your machines injured Grace." Rias translated.


    "It did? Are you hurt?" Will got down and inspected Grace. He noticed that her 300 HP increased drastically.


    {HP: 12000/12000}


    ''So she absorbed the exotic flower I gave them.'' Will realized.


    "It was just a scratch. Father already healed it." Grace was relieved to see that Will cared and did not want them hurt.


    Arbor was a bit relieved but still a bit angry.


    "Sorry about that. I did leave a sign. Didn''t you read it?" Will pointed at the back.


    Like he said, there was a wooden sign that read ''Grace, Arbor, do not go near the base. It''s too dangerous. Wait until I come back.'' Will wasn''t an idiot, he knew that they would come back soon so he left a sign right before he left.


    "We didn''t see it. We were flying." Rias said as she pointed at Drake.


    "Oh¡­ I did not expect that. Wait, who are you?" Will asked Rias and Radix, two elves that he had never seen.


    "This is Rias, and that''s Radix. They''re both elves. Rias has questions for you. And Radix is just here."


    "Well¡­ hello." Will was feeling conflicted. Was his base a place where elves can hang out now?


    "Hi." Rias said.


    Radix looked at Will with his bow still in his hand. He looked at Will like he was trying to skin him alive.


    "Did I do something to him?"


    "No, he just despises humans in general, especially heroes." Rias said.


    "... I don''t know how to answer that."


    "But, Will, what are those things on your base?" Grace asked.


    "They''re called ''sentry turrets'' does this world not have them?"


    "No, the closest thing they resemble are mini guns."


    "Huh, neat. Well, not neat since I hurt you, Grace."


    "I''m just glad that you didn''t do it with the intention of hurting us."


    "I only placed those to keep intruders like those two out of my base." Will pointed at the two corpses there.


    Will got closer to his sentries and so did Adaline.


    "Those things can distinguish between us and them?" Rias placed her finger on her lip.


    "It''s like they''re intelligent or something." Arbor added.


    "You mean they''re alive?" Radix asked.


    "Don''t know. Like we mentioned before, his abilities are weird. I don''t think even he knows what he''s capable of."


    Radix looked at Will very seriously. A hero with so many abilities, and strange ones, it reminded him of one person, the same one he hated most, the Great Sage. He too possesses many abilities, some of them that can one shot an Apex monster.


    Radix gripped tightly on his bow in anger. Will reminded him too much of the Great Sage.


    "Okay, it''s safe now. You can come." Will waved at them.


    They were a bit skeptical. Arbor walked closer, upon reaching the 40 meter mark, the sentry did not shoot him.


    The elves walked and like Will said, it was safe.


    Once they were in range Will added them to his {Allies} box so the sentry turrets won''t attack them.


    "Those things kinda scare me. Especially when we''re in the center of their firing range, and there are four of them." Rias said. Her experience with guns isn''t the best.


    "As long as I''m here they won''t attack you. Unless I command them to." Will said truthfully.


    "Hahahaha¡­ you''re not joking, are you?" Rias gulped down her saliva.


    "Not even a little bit."


    "Oh Lea, protect us."


    Arbor came up to Will and dropped bags in front of him. He left soon after to talk to Adaline.


    "Is he mad because I hurt you?" Will asked Grace.


    "Yes."


    "I understand." Will knew that Arbor was mad at him and didn''t blame him. Arbor knew that Will didn''t mean it, but if that shot had been a little closer to Grace''s body, it wouldn''t have been just a graze but lethal instead.


    Arbor was not going to get over the fact that her daughter almost died. He will come to forgive Will, but it will take time.


    Rias made her way to the sentries and examined them. She found new things fascinating. Once Will gave her the okay to examine them, she felt relieved and studied them to her heart''s content. Will didn''t mind because he didn''t think that elves could produce those sentry turrets.


    Arbor was with Adaline, he brought her some food only for organic creatures that he got when he was back at the elven kingdom.


    Radix sat by the door of the base''s entrance. He didn''t feel like coming close to the Hero, as if he was a contagious disease.


    Drake was outside on the grass sleeping.


    Grace was giving Will all the stuff he asked and telling what they were, gems, metal-grass, herbs, seeds. Will was delighted.


    "I am so glad I made that trade." Will counted over 80 diamonds, over 100 emeralds, rubies and sapphires. And thousands of herbs, seeds, and more.


    And there was also gold, over 600 ores.


    "I didn''t expect to get so much gold." Will was cool on the outside but cheering on the inside.


    "Gold is useless to us. When we mine it we usually throw it away." Grace said. Trading gold with humans wasn''t a smart idea anyway, for one they could betray them any time, or the humans will kill the ones who trade or socialize with elves.


    "Elves mine?"


    "How else do you think we gather the gems to enchant our stuff?"


    "I see. That''s great."


    Will was fascinated by the amount of vegetable and fruit seeds. So many choices to choose from. But there were also so many flower and seeds that could be used in crafting various potions;


    "Now I have over 500 gold ores. But I still need to find cobalt." Will had a new goal to mine deeper than ever before. He needed 500 gold ores and 100 cobalt bars to craft the {Inventory} which he needed.


    Radix paid attention to everyone. He realized that everyone was distracted. Rias was studying, Arbor was with Adaline, Grace and Will were talking, no one was paying attention to him.


    "I need to get rid of him now."


    Radix aimed his bow at Will and shot the arrow at his head with the intention to kill him. Will did not have his armor on. And he did not expect an arrow to come at him. His energy shield was planted on his exotic armor, meaning that he had no way to protect himself.


    Arbor saw Radix shoot the arrow, and he hurriedly ran to stop him.


    "RADIX!!!"


    Grace and Will turned and for a split second, saw the arrow before it pierced Will''s head, and his body dropped on the ground.


    "WILL!!!" Grace yelled in fright. She went to check if he was alive.


    Will may have more HP now, but a head shot can still kill anyone. Like those annoying skeletons in RL craft.


    Arbor pushed Radix back to the wall.


    "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Arbor was angry.


    "He was a hero. He needed to die. I don''t care what punishment you give me, because I managed to kill him before it was too late." Radix said calmly and satisfied.


    "Dammit, Radix! You screwed up! You just couldn''t control your damn emotions!" Arbor punched the wall and almost punched Radix''s head. Arbor left him there.


    Adaline however was raging, she rammed her body right at Radix and tore down the stone wall as well. Radix ?r??n?d in pain when he felt the force of her impact shatter his ribs and bones.


    "Oh, damn, that hurts." Radix said while groaning in pain.


    "What¡­ the¡­ actual¡­ fu?k."


    Will was alive not surprisingly. But he was pissed.


    Radix saw Will''s figure through the hole in the wall.


    "Wait, you''re not dead?" Radix didn''t believe it. It was a head shot. Heroes might have regeneration abilities, but they can still die like any other man.


    Will was really pissed right now. He welcomed them to his home, and one of them killed him?


    "Will?" Grace said concerned for Will. Will picked up his cloth of teleportation and made it into a cloak.


    Rias was amazed. Will''s body disappeared, and he re-appeared all of a sudden and was alive and well. She clenched her hands tightly as if she found something important.


    ''Finally.'' Rias thought.


    Radix took his bow and the few arrows he had left, ignoring the pain, he pulled his string and fired at Will.


    Before the arrow reached Will, he teleported from that spot and re-appeared closer to Radix. Radix kept firing but no arrows were hitting their intended target.


    Arbor, Grace, Adaline didn''t do anything. They had never seen Will this mad, except when Jim hurt Adaline.


    When Radix was out of arrows, Will stood in front of him, towering over his body.


    "I see you have chosen¡­ death. Sentry mode {On}" Will also took Radix off the {Allies} list.


    The turrets all aimed at Radix but did not fire. Radix could not even flee if he wanted to. Will kicked his bow away.


    "Will, are you gonna-" Grace said. Will looked at her.


    "Grace, when I hurt you, that was an accident. But he had every intention of killing me. If his aim had been bad, he would''ve killed you."


    "I know, but¡­" Grace looked at her father.


    Arbor closed his eyes and shook his head. He told Radix he screwed up because Will cannot die. There is a reason why he told Grace before they arrived that they should never mention Will about his reincarnating ability, he wanted to see if Arbor was capable of killing him.


    That''s why Arbor was skeptical. He knew that Radix would never miss a chance to kill a hero.


    "He lasted longer than I expected." Arbor said to himself.


    "Wait, can you spare him?" Rias said loudly. Radix did protect her while they were in the village, if it weren''t for him, she would''ve been a zombie or dead either way.


    "Why would I?"


    "If you do¡­ I''ll give you this." Rias showed him a wooden bracelet.


    "Why would I need a bracelet?"


    "This is a magical bracelet. It can store various objects like a magical bag."


    Will looked at the bracelet and back to Radix.


    "Let me see that."


    Rias threw the bracelet at Will and he caught it.


    "How do you work this thing?"


    Radix grabbed a hold of Will''s foot, but Will stepped on it.


    "Just, touch the bracelet. You''ll know."


    Will touched the bracelet and took out a very revealing dress, it was green, see through, most likely they were pyjamas


    "Oops. I forgot about that." Rias clenched her fists in embarrassment. She didn''t expect Will to take out her sleepwear.


    Will put it back, it was rather easy to use. Will placed a full ?h?st inside the bracelet, and it worked. With this it would make carrying these easier.


    "Alright, I''ll spare his life." Will said.


    "Thanks." Grace and Rias sighed in relief.


    "But, he''s not allowed within these walls again."


    "Wait, but."


    "I said that I was gonna spare his life. I never said I was gonna keep him in my base. If anyone helps him, you can''t ever come back within these walls. Sentry mode {Off}" The sentries stopped aiming at Radix.


    Will was a man of his word. But what Radix did was unforgivable. Either he''ll die by thirst in the deserted land, or heatstroke, whichever one comes first.


    Will didn''t believe that Radix would survive long. He was injured, broken, had no water or food. Most likely he will die before he even reaches the nearest village.


    He could understand if it was an accident, but it wasn''t.


    Grace finished translating for her father while Rias translated for Radix.


    "Tell him if he tries to break in, I won''t be as forgiving anymore." Will pointed at the sentries telling her that they would kill Radix.


    Rias translated to Radix, but he was seething with anger and pain.


    Will went back inside his base and fixed the wall, leaving Radix alone. But, he also took his enchanted bow and arrows, in case he had any more funny ideas.


    "Dammit. Those are mine!" Radix couldn''t move from his spot, Adaline did a lot of damage to him.


    Rias looked over the walls. She wanted to help him.


    "Like I said, if you leave these walls to help him, I will not let you back. Understood?" Will said angrily. The pain of the arrow piercing his head was giving him a slight headache.


    Grace finished translating to her dad. Arbor shook his head.


    "Damn Radix." Arbor said. If someone shot his daughter or him he too would be pissed. He was still angry at Will, even though it was an accident and a graze.


    "Grace, now that I think about it, did you do something to your face?" Will just noticed that Grace''s face looked different, more elegant like an elf.


    Everyone went back to their own lives. A few hours later the tension in the air disappeared.


    Will expected Radix to leave, but he was sitting outside the wall, tending to his wounds as best he could.


    Will realized he would''ve done the same thing. Travelling through the deserted island with no food, water, mode of transportation, injured, there was no way he was gonna live.


    Will didn''t do anything about Radix. As long as he doesn''t cause trouble or break in his base, he can stay outside for all he cares.


    Rias had more questions for Will, but seeing how he looked at her, she didn''t feel safe. Will didn''t trust Rias at all. If Radix was willing to kill him, who''s to say that Rias wouldn''t either? He made sure to keep a close eye on her. Adaline did the same.


    At one moment, Will walked up to her with a bucket of water, and some soap.


    "These are your chores for today." Will said.


    Rias was taken aback. Suddenly a thought flashed before her eyes.


    "You want me to wash you?"


    "No."


    "You want me to wash myself?" Rias smelled herself.


    "Once again, no."


    "You¡­ want us to wash together?" Rias covered her ?h?st with her arms in embarrassment.


    "Tempting offer, but no. Your chores starting from now on are those camels." Will pointed at the herd of camels.


    Rias made the connection.


    "Starting from now on, you will be washing every single one of those camels every day."


    "Wait, why me?" Rias asked.


    "Ohhh? You really didn''t expect to live here for free, right?" Will got closer to Rias.


    "Actually¡­ I kinda did."


    "Living in a dream, aren''t you? Now, get cleaning, or else you will have to join your friend outside."


    "Fine, I''ll do it!" Rias grabbed the soap and water and washed all the camels.


    Will wanted those camels clean, because he didn''t want to eat dirty camel meat and get sick. Since he didn''t want to do it, and Rias was starting to leech off him, he thought he''d put her to work.


    "Maybe I should hire maids to clean up this place." Will noticed that his base was getting messier, from breaking stone, to killing camels, cleaning out bodies, mining, foraging, it was bound to make a mess.


    But he shook his head. This place is too important to let strange people in.


    Arbor and Grace didn''t help because he didn''t ask them to. They helped him protect this place from Jim and his group of goons. Without them this place would''ve been taken over by them.


    "Didn''t I need the gems for something? What was it for again?" Will looked at the list of crafting recipes, and remembered why he needed the gems.


    {Super power source generator}


    This is an even better way to make enchantments. It was faster, and could add stronger enchantments to his items. The best part, he could actually pick the enchantments instead of relying heavily on luck.


    Of course he did just that. He made the super power source generator thanks to the abundance of gems he had at his disposal.


    The super power source generator looked different than before. It was a bit bigger, somehow made out of glass but still looked like a musician''s stand. At the tip were four different gems floating in the air around, as if they were dancing.


    He touched the super power source generator and a new list appeared, it had all the enchantments it could produce. The strongest enchantments could go up to 5 levels, the highest level enchantment he''d ever seen was at the 3rd level.


    It used to take 8 hours for the bar to reach 100% now he needs to wait 4 hours.


    Will was ecstatic. His power can actually rise once again. But, he unlocked a new crafting recipe.


    {Cursed power source generator}


    {Faster enchantments, stronger as well. Unlocks a new list of enchantments that are deemed ''cursed''}


    {Crafting materials required: Super power source generator}


    {Crafting materials required: Dragon heart}


    {Crafting materials required: Cyclops eye}


    "Well¡­ fu?k."

 Chapter 39 - Cliche

    "Ah whatever, I''ll worry about that later. But first." Will checked all the list of enchantments.


    Many of them caught his eye, fire protection, freezing protection, basic protection, strength+, fall damage immunity, fire enchantment, shock enchantment, etc. There were so many of them it was unreal.


    There were 5 different categories for each one.


    Level 1 enchants: Requires 1%-49% power


    Level 2 enchants: Requires 50%-99% power.


    Level 3 enchants: Requires 100% power.


    Level 4 enchants: Requires 100% power + gems.


    Level 5 enchants: Requires 100% power + more gems.


    For example, let''s say Will wanted some fire protection, he could get fire protection I or II or III meaning that he could choose the enchantment he wanted as well as the level.


    Of course the higher level it was the more it costs to enchant. But there were several exclusive enchants on the 5th level.


    This made Will appreciate gems more. Without them he cannot make powerful enchants. Of course gems could also be used as a fuel to raise the enchantment bar like last time.


    "Jack said that magical items are almost impossible to enchant. Let''s put that to the test." Will took his cloth of teleportation and tried to put it in the enchant, but it didn''t work.


    {Unable to enchant: Requires higher grade power source generator than the one you''re using}


    Will rubbed his chin.


    "So it is possible, but I am still not good enough." Will smiled because this gave him hope.


    There is one enchant that is perfect for this gun, infinite ammo. Infinite ammo is an overpowered enchantment if used correctly. It was on the 5th level.


    When he jammed the pistol turret inside the box, it spat it out.


    {Unable to enchant: Already enchanted: Use a unique method known only to the user to add more enchantments}


    "Damn. I forgot about that¡­ wait, unique method?" Will placed the pistol turret aside. And went into deep thinking.


    "Unique method?" Will took a look at the screen, it doesn''t say anything else that could help him.


    "There''s a method to enchant enchanted items? Like in minecraft¡­ if I remember correctly."


    "What is that gun made of?" Arbor asked.


    Will got spooked a little since he didn''t hear Arbor.


    "What?" Will didn''t understand what he said.


    "He said what is the gun made of?" Grace asked.


    "Oh, it''s just an ordinary gun, nothing special." Will knew he had messed up. The gun he was holding had exotic wood in it to raise it''s overall performance.


    "Can we see it?" Grace asked. Arbor noticed something about it and so did Grace.


    "Of course." Will handed him the gun, it would''ve made it even more suspicious if he declined.


    Once Arbor inspected the gun, he looked around the area.


    "Is something wrong?" Will pretended to be ignorant.


    "It''s just¡­ this material looks like something from the forbidden forest."


    "Forbidden forest?"


    "It''s nothing." Grace didn''t want to give too much information to Will. She handed the weapon back to Will.


    Arbor looked around the base, talked to the trees, and did not find what he was looking for.


    Will knew that Arbor was looking for the exotic seed, he''s glad that he hid it underground behind a wall.


    "Is there something weird about my gun?" Asked Will.


    "No¡­ there''s nothing." Grace didn''t say anything else and left.


    "Dad, are you sure that it''s made out of exotic wood?" Grace asked after they distant themselves from Will.


    "I am not too sure anymore. It can''t be possible that Will got exotic wood from the forbidden forest, it''s too well guarded. Unless if he had an exotic seed, then maybe it''s possible. But I don''t see the exotic trees or the seed like we did last time." Arbor said.


    If they accused Will of stealing without properly investigating, then Will would lose their trust.


    "It could be another material that looks like exotic wood." Grace said.


    "Maybe¡­" Arbor said.


    They went into their room and rested.


    Rias was still cleaning the camels, it wasn''t an easy task. Camels tend to spit, bite, kick.


    Radix was still outside. He got hungry and started eating the grass, he''s wounds were a little bit better, but probably infected already.


    After they entered their room, Will sighed in relief.


    "Seems they''re suspicious of me. They probably think that I have another exotic seed. Good thing I hid it."


    Will went back inside the underground cave. When he saw no one there, he teleported back into a hidden cave.


    "Man, having this cloth of teleportation comes in handy. I don''t even need to make a doorway." Will checked on how the exotic flower was doing. Still nothing had happened, apart that the seed grew more and more like a flower.


    "Maybe there''s not enough trees." Will planted more trees to be sure. Afterwards he left and sat in his bed.


    "Unique method to enchant enchanted items. What am I missing here?" Will closed his eyes to think about it. Before he realized it, he was already asleep.


    Then, Will dreamed that he was in a white space. As if he was in a building but with no signs of an entrance, exit, doors. Just pure white everywhere.


    "Man, your progress is very slow. I''m surprised you haven''t had your soul destroyed yet."


    Will didn''t see it, but there was a man sitting on a couch building something out of thin air. His face and hair was greasy, his clothes were blue like a long robe, his eyes were black as if he hadn''t slept in days.


    "Where am I?" Asked Will.


    "That doesn''t matter. But you should know me, I am the one who gave you the system." The man put the weird object away and got some papers.


    "System? You''re the one?!" Will was fuming. He suffered so much because of him.


    "Let''s see. Will Connor, born July 9 2000. Lived a somewhat ordinary life, good friends, good girlfriend, rich parents who are both successful scientists, great life overall. But that all changed in 2019, when your friend died, correct?" The man read the paper word-per-word.


    Will wanted to punch the man, but found that there was some sort of invisible shield from advancing.


    "Why did you send me here?! Why?! Who are you? God?" Will had so many questions to ask.


    "Nah, but I do know him. Now then, you were destined to die on July 26 2020, right before you were summoned to this world. Shame, really, I''ve probably never met someone with an unfortunate ending like yours. If it weren''t for me you''d already be in heaven or hell." The man threw the papers away.


    Will did die before he was transported to this world. If it weren''t for the man in front of him, this story would not be what it is today.


    Will didn''t know what to say. The man walked closer to Will and stopped in front of his face.


    "I can only take a break every few years since I am busy with something important. So don''t blame me for keeping important information about the system''s abilities from you. That''s how I do it with the other users, to see how far they can go by themselves."


    In truth, when one starts a minecraft world with no prior information on the game, they''re left no choice but to figure out the goal themselves, but they could always go to the internet for help. Like Will right now has no prior knowledge of this world or his capabilities, he needed to figure it out by himself.


    "Other users?"


    "Did you really think you''re the first one to have a system? You''re not the first one and you certainly won''t be the last."


    "So¡­ why? Why am I here?"


    "You are here on a mission."


    "Mission? What exactly is it? What is my purpose? What is my end goal?" If Will complained about all the crap he had to go through it wouldn''t change anything. The best he could do right now is to get as much information.


    "Right now your goal should be to get stronger, that''s all you need to know for now. But, your progress is quite slower than I had hoped. Until you get stronger, I''ll tell you."


    "Slow? I''ve been in this world for 3 months, and I have suffered so much, and I have accomplished so much, is that still too slow?"


    "Yes. Many users before you by this time have gotten stronger gear, made bigger and advanced machines and buildings."


    There was a silence for a moment. Will didn''t know what to say.


    "William, I have a few minutes left before my pizza arrives, so I''ll make this quick."


    "..." Will.


    "Everyone''s life is set in stone. No matter what you think or do, it''s all decided by a higher being than you, a being equal to me. But, system users like you are not bound to fate. I do not know how far you''ll make it in this life. I just hope you won''t fail me like many before you."


    "But why me?"


    "Why were you chosen? Do you really want to know? The answer might not be what you expect." He asked to be sure.


    "Yes, I do want to know."


    "Very well. You were chosen by random luck, nothing else. Imagine those scientists that bring lab animals to test on them, they might think they were chosen because they were special, but really it''s nothing."


    Will listened and got angry.


    "So, I am just a test monkey?"


    "Well, yes and no. There is nothing special about you before I picked you. But, depending on yourself, you can become something much more with this system." He said and sat down on his chair.


    "That doesn''t make me feel better at all or explain much."


    "No, not really. But then again I don''t have to explain anything to you."


    "And that about sums up the entire time I''ve been here." Will said.


    "Basically, yeah. Look at that, my pizza is here. So, Will, continue making progress in this life. I''ll come back in a few years to check up on you¡­ if you''re still alive that is."


    "Wait, does that mean that the other 99 heroes have sys-"


    The man waved his hand and Will disappeared from his sight. Will didn''t even get to ask him an important question.


    The area around him changed into a modern home. In front of him were various games he was playing with.


    The man let out the longest sigh in his life.


    "Why must these people be so slow? If they only knew what they were up against. If I told them the reason they''re chosen, they''d be scared shitless."


    "10 large, pepperoni pizzas with stuffed crust?" Some random pizza delivery guy shouted at his door, he didn''t want to even knock on his door due to covid.


    "Yum."


    Will woke up in his bed. Many hours had already passed.


    "Was¡­ was that a dream? Or was it real?" Will didn''t know that answer. He had no idea to confirm what he had just dreamt was real.


    "Even if that was just a dream, I still have to get stronger. After all there has to be a good purpose as to why I am here¡­ and if there''s a way to contact my family."


    Will had been thinking recently of contacting his family. They were so good to him even though he disappointed them. He couldn''t even recall the last time they spoke without acting like total strangers.


    The least he could do was bid farewell to them properly.


    Will came out of his hole, and saw Rias sleeping on the grass covered in soap, injuries from bites.


    "What happened?" Asked Will.


    Rias woke up but was scared because she had a nightmare.


    "The camels! The camels are after me! They''re spitting at me!" Rias waved her hands frantically while yelling in elven tongue.


    "I should''ve made her a small room." Will said to himself. Will went inside his room where he makes potions, which he calls his ''alchemy room'' and brought back a potion for Rias.


    "Here, eat this."


    Rias took the potion and her injuries healed.


    "Thanks."


    "Why did you come here?" Will never got the chance to ask her. Now that his rage had been quelled after a good night''s rest, he felt like asking her.


    "For you." Rias didn''t lie.


    "Me?"


    "Yeah, you''re a hero. I want to know about the heroes, especially about their world!"


    The heroes of the past have spread their knowledge to this world. Machines, guns, lifestyles, everything that they knew.


    "You want to know about my world?"


    "Yeah!"


    "It''s complicated."


    "Try me." Rias said.


    "Ever heard of a PS5?"


    "A what now?"


    "Exactly. I don''t have time to tell you anything about my world. I''m sure that the other 99 heroes will be more than glad to share that knowledge with this world." Will got up and tried to leave.


    "Wait, there is a good reason why I am here. Something we elves want to know." Rias didn''t hide it anymore.


    Will stopped in his tracks, his heartbeat was getting faster. Did they know about the existence of the exotic flower? If they did, there''s no telling what they would do to Adaline or him. It''s because of that seed''s existence that these two races are basically at war.


    "What is it?" Will asked calmly.


    "Why didn''t you teleport to the Reyes kingdom like the other heroes? As far as anyone knows, you''re the only hero to have failed at being summoned."


    "Oh, that." Will let out a breath of relief.


    "Truth is¡­ I died."


    "You¡­ died?"


    "Hit my head against something hard, and died on the spot. The summoning circle was bright and it caught me off guard so I tripped, and died, and that''s what happened before I was summoned."


    "That''s it?!" Rias didn''t want to believe it. The reason she was here is because she believed that there was a critical flaw with the summoning circle.


    But, if what Will said is true, then there is no hope for them to alter the summoning circle to their advantage.


    "Basically, yeah. Is that everything?"


    "No, there has to be something else. What did you eat before? How was your diet? How much did you sleep?" Rias needed more answers.


    "Somehow I feel those are irrelevant questions."


    "Darn it." Rias hit the grass with her fist.


    Will left Rias to her own devices. What he didn''t see was that Rias smiled a bit without being seen.


    Few days passed in a blink of an eye. Will was getting bored already. He''d spend the majority of his time mining, building, crafting, experimenting, making exotic potions. There wasn''t much to do now. He also wanted to make that {Cursed power source generator} but waited until Jasmine was done doing her job, he felt like he needed her help killing a cyclops and a dragon.


    Will realized that he had missed something important in minecraft, enchantments using books. In that game one can enchant books, and fuse it with an enchanted weapon, and that weapon will also have the same enchants as the book.


    Will tried using books, but it failed. He wanted to add more enchants but didn''t know how.


    He later figured out when he added enchantments over the 4th level there was a slight chance of adding more enchants to it. But his luck with getting good enchants was terrible lately.


    Arbor and Grace studied Will more than usual. Their thoughts about that exotic gun he used was bothering them. They secretly looked everywhere, even in the cave, and found nothing.


    Rias was now in charge of washing the camels. Will expected her to go home already, but she would rather stay for some reason.


    Radix was getting worse due to his injuries. When the sun would rise it would get hot. He would try his best to use the shade from the walls for some cover, but it b?r?ly helped. Will was not going to forgive him any time soon.


    The new seeds that the elves brought were starting to show results after Will expanded his crop farm. There was now wheat, which meant bread for them. More vegetables, more fruits, they didn''t need to worry about food ever again.


    Will expanded his base once more, but the sun was getting a bit bothersome due to how bright and hot it got.


    He felt like adding a roof to protect them, but there wasn''t a permanent light source he could use apart from the exotic wood he got, but that would give away the existence of the exotic seed.


    That is until he saw one of the flowers that the elves brought.


    {Night flower}


    {Glows brightly in dark areas}


    Night flowers had a long stem with bright pedals, they can glow brightly for months even after their stem was removed. Elves used these to light up their homes. It could even be grown like crops.


    The best part about these flowers is that they can change colors by adding colored liquids to them which they can easily absorb. If you add some red colored liquid to it it''ll change red, blood works too. If you add some water, it glows a clear color. If you add some yellow pee, it glows yellow, Will experimented that last one himself because he was bored.


    Will build an entire roof over his base, only leaving the crops and trees to the sunlight. They needed sunlight to thrive. The night flowers couldn''t produce enough light for them yet and they didn''t need the sun.


    He was glad he made a roof. It was now cool, refreshing, and he liked being in the dark. If they wanted heat, he could start a fire or go outside into the sun. With the new roof added, that meant that he now had a second floor.


    "Hero! What exactly are your powers?" Rias asked, her clothes were covered in water and soap.


    "I feel like people are gonna ask me that every time I show them my abilities." Will said annoyingly.


    "Because they''re curious. And why wouldn''t we want to know?"


    "Good point, Rias." Will had come to learn her name.


    "If it''s not too much trouble, can you build something?" Rias asked.


    "Depends if I feel like it."


    "Can you build a pool?" Rias felt disgusted after having to clean the camels.


    "A pool? Now that you mention it that sounds like a good idea."


    Will had thought of making a pool, but couldn''t until now. The sun would heat up the water until it was somewhat boiling, so it wouldn''t make much sense going into the water if you want to feel refreshed. By night it would be cold and who wants to sleep while they are freezing?


    And he actually made a small pool in the cave, but it would always get filthy with all the dirt flying around, might as well swim in mud.


    He already made a shower using pipes to dispose of the dirty water to another part far away, almost like a sewer pipe, the same went to the bathrooms he made for each household.


    Will tried to look for the source of the infinite water underneath his space, but it seemed like there was no end to it. If he was lucky, the water source might just be infinite.


    "But, then I would have to get rid of the water after using it. It seems like a waste of water and time." Will said.


    "Leave the cleaning to me." Rias said. If it meant cleaning herself more, she didn''t mind having to do more work.


    "That''s all I needed to hear." Will took out his pickaxe, shovel, smooth stone, and began making a fancy pool.


    "Hero, another thing." Rias said.


    "What?"


    "Can I give my friend outside some food, at least something to help his wounds?"


    "Of course." Will smiled brightly.


    Rias was happy her mouth opened a little.


    "But, once you do, you will never come back here."


    "Oh¡­" Rias felt dejected. She saw the awful state Radix was in but couldn''t help him.


    The time came when the noble was being executed. People of the Reyes kingdom, and from around the kingdom, all came to see him die.


    The noble stood on top of a wooden platform, there was a rope tied around his neck. He had his hands and feet tied up with enchanted cuffs. Beside him were nobles in enchanted armor, as well as soldiers, many sorcerers, and the Great Sage.


    The people were cursing him, throwing food at him. Many of them cried because he had killed their children.


    The King was by the end of the platform explaining the various sinful deeds the noble committed over time.


    Jasmine was also there. Sitting by the side. Since the king invited her to watch the execution she had no choice but to stay and watch.


    "The noble Stein is now revoked of his noble status. He shall receive the death penalty by hanging."


    The noble was crying, there was nothing he could do to save his life.


    The king was speaking through a tube that made his voice reach all people in the kingdom. It was like talking through a speaker but not really.


    "Many families have suffered, many children have died because of him over the years. We also found a secret room that led to a basement¡­ unfortunately, the bodies¡­ cannot be identified. Just know that all the families here that your children now have a proper burial. We can all rest properly knowing that the man who caused it all is now going to die."


    The King couldn''t bring himself to say what he saw in that room. It was too disturbing.


    "KILL THE BASTARD!"


    "HANG HIM!"


    "BURN HIS BONES AND FEED THEM TO THE DOGS!"


    "THIS DEATH IS TOO GOOD FOR HIM! LET HIM BE RAPED BY MONSTERS TO DEATH!"


    "I''M GOING TO DANCE ON YOUR GRAVE YOU FAT BASTARD!"


    The King raised his hand and the crowd was silent. He turned to speak to the noble.


    "You, Stein, are worse than a monster. May your trip to the underworld be not a pleasant one."


    *ROAR*


    A dragon came to the kingdom unexpectedly. It started firing at the crowd of people but a shield protected them. The dragon couldn''t pass through.


    Soldiers, nobles, sorcerers all lined up to protect the kingdom, the king, and its people. Jasmine got her staff out to attack it. Monster attacks on the kingdom are more common than one might think, but it''s heavily protected.


    "An Apex dragon! Roy?" The King looked at the Great Sage.


    The Sage aimed his staff at the dragon, but a valley of powerful fireballs, that almost looked like meteors, hit the dragon. The dragon didn''t expect such powerful destructive might, it''s wings got torn off and it fell outside the kingdom''s walls. Sorcerers and nobles reacted quickly and flew or ran towards the dragon to subdue it.


    The Great Sage looked at who it was that shot those powerful fireballs.


    "It''s okay, I got this."


    It was a young kid. His skin was white. His hair was black and shiny. He had full enchanted armor, used an enchanted wand with a diamond on the tip. He was about an average guy. Just think about the most cliche, isekai, goody-two-shoes character you have ever seen in an anime/manga/novel.


    "It''s the hero, Josh Jones!" someone said. And people started clapping and cheering for him,


    "I WANT YOUR BABIES!" A man said.


    "Ugh, don''t make it gay, Roger."


    Josh nodded his head as he looked at the crowd pleased with it.


    "I could get used to this life."


    Josh then knelt before the king.


    "Great work, Hero Josh Jones. Did you already finish your training with the Hero Shaun Quincy?" The King asked.


    "Thank you, your majesty, and yes I did.


    "As expected of a hero with the most destructive powers we have ever seen. Your goodness knows no bounds."


    "Thank you, your majesty, I only did it for the people. May I ask something of you?"


    "State your wish."


    "I know that a dragon''s body is valuable. If you can, instead of giving me the money, can you give it to the children''s families who were killed by this thing?" Josh pointed at the fat noble.


    "Of course." The king agreed.


    "EEEEEH! He''s so generous!" One of the women fainted but her husband caught her before she fell.


    "Marilyn?" Her husband looked at his wife who fainted.


    "Sir, it seems we''ve encountered a problem with the dragon. It''s a mutant." A 5-striped sorcerer said.


    "A mutant apex dragon!" The king said surprised.


    Mutants are called that for a good reason, they defy the common sense that they''re used to.


    Some mutant monsters have different mutant abilities for example: more heads, teeth, taller, faster, shiny body, it depends.


    Such monsters are rare, especially on the Apex level.


    "Yes, but this one is weird. The dragon transformed into a¡­ little girl." The 5-striped sorcerer felt awkward saying that.


    "Little girl?" Josh''s eyes opened wide. He jumped from the platform over the kingdom''s walls in a single leap.


    "Your majesty, what about him?" One of the nobles protecting the king pointed at the fat noble.


    "Execute him."


    The lever was pulled and the fat noble died when the weight of his body and the rope snapped his neck.


    Josh landed near the dragon was supposed to be. But, the dragon was replaced by a little girl.


    The girl had at least clothes that looked like a fluttery, dark, long dress. She had large dragon horns. Small dragon wings. And a long dragon tail. Her hair was short and blue. Her skin was white and looked soft. Imagine the most cliche, isekai story where a monster transforms into a loli just cause.


    Josh Jones was captured by the little girls'' appearance. As if he wanted to pinch her cheeks right there, pat her head, basically ?ssault her in every cliche way possible.


    The little dragon loli was unconscious.


    "Should we kill her?" One of the nobles asked.


    "Well, according to the official laws, this dragon belongs to the one who brings it down, so it''s now yours, Hero Josh Jones." A sorcerer said.


    "You''re in luck, Hero Josh Jones. A mutant Apex dragon like this can really go for a lot in the market. It can compensate those families who have suffered 100 times over."


    "Yeah, yeah. I''ve decided, I''m keeping her." Josh Jones princess carried the dragon loli into his arms and left.


    "It''s okay. No one will hurt you anymore. From now on you''ll be my maid." Josh said as if he already decided her new role for some reason.


    "Oh, my god, did you see that? Hero Josh Jones spared the dragon''s life!"


    "Truly a hero among heroes!"


    From far away, Will felt as if he was losing brain cells but didn''t know why.

 Chapter 40 - Favor

    The world was a little bit more at peace knowing that the child killers had been killed. Many had thanked the King, and the hero Josh for some reason for capturing the noble.


    Jasmine did not want to spend too much time in the kingdom. After the Great Sage promoted her to 3-stripes, gave her a reward, she left. Unknown to her, someone was tailing her secretly.


    Will finished building 2 pools, both of the pools were in a round shape instead of the square shaped pools. Will thought that this shape made the pools seem nicer. One of the pools was smaller and was connected with the other pool.


    For lights, Will successfully placed some night flowers in the walls on the pool to light it up.


    "Man, I am good." Will was starting to see that his building skills are progressing. Compared to the first time he built a small house, he is now an expert.


    "Weee!" Rias dived into the pool and made a little splash.


    "..." Will.


    Rias began swimming around the pool without a care in the world.


    "Aw man, this feels nice. Could you perhaps build a-"


    "No!" Will said immediately.


    "But I didn''t even ask-"


    "Don''t care."


    Will left to go mining once more. He needs to find cobalt so he keeps mining deeper and deeper.


    "What about the exotic seed?" Will almost forgot about that. When no one was looking, he teleported to his secret hideout.


    The exotic seed changed. It was as if it was turning itself on and off repeatedly.


    Will got curious and looked a little closer.


    "What does this mean?" Will touched the exotic flower seed, and the flower fell on the ground.


    "Crap! Did I kill it?!" Will was scared, this exotic seed was rare and it was one of the few methods he used to increase his HP.


    {Exotic flower}


    {Exotic seed}


    "Thank goodness." Will sighed in relief. He thought he killed the seed, but in reality he got another exotic flower.


    Will made sure to put another potion-making stand inside this secret place, so the elves would not find him coming out of nowhere.


    {HP: 1000/1000}


    "Yes!"


    Will celebrated a bit. His HP had gone over 1000. It''s a huge leap compared to his measly 50 HP from the beginning.


    Then his pocket glowed brightly.


    {Jasmine?} Will asked.


    {Yes, it''s me. You said you needed my help with something?}


    Jasmine owed Will 2 favors, she needed to repay him.


    {I do need your help. I want you to help me kill a cyclops and a dragon.}


    {Um¡­ a cyclops at the 3rd layer I can handle, but a dragon? I just got promoted to 3 stripes so killing a dragon is still too difficult for me.}


    {I really need to kill those two. Besides I also need to test some new weapons I created.}


    {Oh yeah, I forgot, you''re a blacksmith like Jack.}


    {Yeah, so will you help me?}


    {I guess. I still need to learn to kill stronger monsters above the 3rd layer. It''ll help improve my skills.}


    {Remember that village where you killed the Taker?}


    {Yeah, I know where that is. Meet you there?}


    {Meet me there tomorrow.}


    {Sounds good. So when does the noble''s execution start?}


    {It just happened. Right in the middle of it, an Apex dragon attacked the kingdom, but a hero successfully killed the Apex Dragon easily.}


    {An Apex¡­ by himself?}


    {Basically. Hero''s are very strong, especially him.}


    {JASMINE!!!} Jack messaged her.


    {Jack?} Jasmine.


    {Can you please tell me more about this hero?!} On the other side Jack''s eyes were sparkling like stars. It''s the first time he''s heard of a hero that isn''t Will.


    {Yeah, tell us Jasmine.} Will too got curious. It''s the first time he''s heard of a hero appear. But since it wasn''t his ex-girlfriend, he wasn''t as curious as he should be.


    {Okay. So here''s how it went...}


    Jasmine explained to them about the Hero Josh Jones.


    Will shook his head, he knew who that was.


    "Didn''t think he''d have an ability like that. Josh Jones."


    Will knew that Josh is an average man with good looks. His parents were wealthy like him. But, Will and him b?r?ly ever talked, they did exchange a few words over the years in school.


    "To be able to kill an Apex dragon like that, it seems that heroes are not a joke. I don''t know if I can even kill a dragon yet with my abilities." Will frowned, he was weak.


    Will wasn''t born with the same physical abilities as a hero, he''s not faster, stronger, able to regenerate, he''s just basically a normal man with a system.


    Then again his system is not based on being able to deal such destruction like Josh can.


    {Oh, and he took a little dragon girl as his¡­ I don''t know. He just took a little dragon girl who''s on the Apex level.} Jasmine wrote down but felt awkward.


    {Wow! To be able to tame an Apex dragon! Josh is so cool.} Jack wrote down.


    {Jack... If you think that taming a little girl like that is cool, then we won''t be friends ever again.} Will wrote down. Was he the only one who thought that that was wrong on so many levels?


    {Aww¡­} Jack pouted. But he thought that Will was jealous because he was praising the other hero instead of him.


    Will put away the communication stone and teleported away. While he was lost in his train of thought, he noticed that 2 elves were looking around his cave and found him, Arbor and Grace.


    "Umm¡­" Will''s heart skipped a beat. Did he accidentally give away the existence of the exotic seed?


    "Where were you?" Asked Grace.


    "Mining. I need to find cobalt and mine it." Will said with the best poker face he could, but his heart was beating fast, and he was sweating a bit.


    Grace and Arbor knew that Will could teleport now after he acquired a magical item that lets him teleport.


    "Are you hiding something?" Grace asked a bit seriously.


    "Of course I am." Will said.


    "?" Grace didn''t expect such a straight answer.


    "My hero abilities are too many to count. It''s nothing weird if I have a few secret abilities I''m hiding."


    "I don''t mean that."


    "So what if I am hiding something? It''s certainly got nothing to do with you two. Everyone has their own secrets, especially heroes."


    "That''s true. But the gun you showed me, it was made from a material that is impossible to get, only my grandfather can get it."


    "So what are you saying?" Will looked at her face directly, his poker face was getting better.


    Grace looked at her father, and she sighed.


    "Do you have an exotic seed?" She asked the question.


    "Exotic seed? You mean the same seed that your grandfather is guarding? The same one that all humans are looking for? The same one that can make exotic flowers?"


    "Yes, that one!"


    "Wow, Grace. And I thought you were smart." Will shook his head.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Do you really think that I can somehow get an exotic seed? That''s literally impossible. First of all the only exotic flower seed to exist is guarded heavily by the elves, and your Goddess. Wouldn''t the whole forest know that I stole your exotic flower seed? And wouldn''t it also know if there was another exotic flower seed to exist?"


    "Um¡­ but, your abilities, they''re¡­"


    "Grace, I know I have many abilities, but do you really think I can produce exotic flower seeds? Really? You two have been with me for some time now, surely you two would have already noticed that."


    "That''s¡­"


    "And also, what the hell would be the point of me using a flower seed or an exotic flower? That''s dumb! One, I cannot consume it because it''ll poison me to death like last time, or two if I sell it to other people they will come for my head, and I already got attacked by them twice. So tell yourself this, Grace, why would I keep an exotic flower seed to myself!"


    As Will continued to talk the louder and angrier he became.


    Grace didn''t answer that. They never thought about that.


    "I''m going to sleep now. Try the pool." Will entered his room which he made underground and lied on his bed.


    Arbor and Grace were left there.


    "So¡­ does he have it?" Asked Arbor.


    Will just felt relieved that his acting played out.


    "Man, they should cast me in a movie." Will laughed to himself, but he can now be at peace knowing that the two elves are no longer suspicious of him anymore.


    An entire day went by and he didn''t do much today, he just rested. Out of all the time he''d been here, he felt like today was his least productive day.


    Will woke up to a bright light emanating from a stone.


    {I''m almost there. Are you there yet?}


    "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot." Will yawned as he remembered that today Jasmine promised him to hunt down powerful monsters.


    {When do you arrive?} Asked Will.


    {In about 2 hours.}


    {I''ll be there soon.}


    Will only needed at most 30 minutes on Adaline to arrive at the village.


    He took a quick shower, ate some food, placed his weapons and armor inside an iron ?h?st. He also now carried some low health potions, which could come in handy.


    But first, he made a powerful weapon.


    {Exotic-metal-grass turret pistol: Modified: enchanted}


    Will crafted another turret pistol using the metal grass the elves brought him, and also added exotic material to it.


    What he wanted to test out most was the new enchantment he added.


    {Enchantment: Infinite ammo V: You will never have to reload or run out bullets ever again}


    {Enchantment: Piercing III}


    Will needed to see just how powerful this gun is with the infinite ammo enchant. He couldn''t wait to try it.


    If it''s worth it he thought of enchanting more items. But, in order to have powerful enchantments, he needed to craft the {Cursed power source generator} maybe that could possibly enchant magical items like his cloth of teleportation, or his magical gun that he hasn''t used in a while.


    "Will." Grace walked to him.


    "What?" Will pretended to be annoyed and angry with her, to make her feel guilty about prying into his business.


    "Sorry about that. We didn''t think about it logically. There is no reason why you would keep an exotic flower or exotic seed."


    "As long as we''re clear." Will said.


    "Where are you going?" Grace noticed that Will was ready to leave.


    "Somewhere, so take care of the place while I''m gone, my sentries are on right now so you don''t have to worry about a raid. Also, I''m taking Adaline with me. Where is she anyway?" Will realized that he hadn''t seen Adaline much in the past few days.


    "Adaline? But, that''s too risky."


    Will ignored her and went outside his base. The first thing he saw was Radix sitting by the wall getting some shade.


    "You''re still here?" Will was surprised.


    "Hmm¡­ must kill heroes." Radix was sleep talking, he''s a heavy sleeper.


    "Okay¡­"


    Will looked and saw Adaline playing with the flying organic creature known as Drake.


    "So, she made a friend." Will smiled. No wonder he hadn''t seen her, she was probably with Drake most of the time, since she hasn''t seen her kind in a while.


    What Will didn''t know is that Radix asked Drake to carry it back to the elven kingdom, where he can be treated.


    But Adaline changed Drake''s mind and now both of them think that Drake doesn''t deserve their help.


    "Let''s go, Adaline. We''re leaving." Will threw Adaline a piece of scorpion meat which she ate happily.


    "Good girl!"


    Will got on top of her, but Arbor stood in their path.


    "What''s wrong?" Will asked.


    "Dad says that it''s too dangerous for Adaline to go into the forest. She''s not ready yet to confront humans." Grace said.


    Will would have agreed with him. But, Adaline is his fastest mode of transportation, and with her new exotic form, she can protect herself. Besides, Adaline is so powerful in the forest, she probably cannot die when she faces a monster when they''re surrounded by trees.


    "Tell your dad that I appreciate that he''s worried for her sake, but she''s not afraid anymore. She is very strong." Will patted Adaline''s head gently.


    Grace translated to her father, and she translated back to Will.


    "He says that he''s been meaning to talk to you about her. He said that he feels it is safer to build a home closer to the elven kingdom."


    "Build¡­ that actually doesn''t sound too bad." Will thought about it and it made sense.


    His main base will always be the one in the deserted lands. But, it wouldn''t hurt to make other bases in case something happened and they needed to hide or rest.


    And he''s been meaning to do something about using Adaline as a mount, when he thought of her more of a friend. He''s been thinking about making secret tunnels where he can make railroads and minecarts to quickly arrive at certain places.


    "Tell him I''ll think about it when I come back. Run, girl."


    Adaline ran around Arbor at full speed and they left the elves behind.


    Arbor screamed at Will and Adaline but they ignored him.


    "To Drake!" Arbor said.


    "Dad, maybe it''s fine if we let them go."


    "Let them go? Adaline could get hurt!"


    "She''s with Will. And we both know that he cares deeply about her. He wouldn''t want to harm her."


    "I know that." Arbor responded, "But, you should know as well as I do that anything can happen. The zombie, Adaline being taken, finding the 100th missing hero!"


    "Dad¡­"


    "Stay here, I''m going to make sure that Adaline is fine." Arbor got on top of Drake and he flew towards Adaline.


    "Arbor, take me with you¡­" Radix pleaded weakly, he woke up too late to ask for Arbor to give him a lift back to the elven kingdom.


    Grace sighed and entered the base.


    "Grace¡­ help." Radix pleaded.


    "I can''t. Those things are watching us." Grace pointed at the sentry turret, there was more this time.


    Will added a few more diamond and emerald turrets after he had so much to spare.


    Grace didn''t know how smart those sentry turrets are, but she didn''t want to underestimate them. And besides, she still felt bad when Radix killed Will.


    When she entered the base, she saw Rias snooping around Will''s stuff.


    "What are you doing?" Asked Grace.


    "Snooping. There has to be something that the hero is hiding." Rias looked more like she was looking for something specifically.


    "I don''t think he''s hiding anything." Grace said.


    "Let''s see, guns, more guns, metal, mining tools, ores, armor, wood, potions, clothes, food, more food, seeds. Nothing, but if I were hiding something I wouldn''t leave it out in the open. Wanna help me look?"


    "I don''t feel comfortable anymore prying into his business."


    "It''s okay, he''s not coming back soon." Rias kept looking and finally went down the cave.


    "Ugh¡­" Grace followed her.


    Meanwhile¡­


    The King of Reyes was exhausted today. People didn''t stop talking about the execution. And the new hero, Josh, was also getting attention.


    The King liked the attention, but due to his old age, he''s beginning to get tired faster.


    "My King!" Josh came to him and knelt.


    "Yes, Hero Josh Jones?"


    "Can I have permission to go to the south?" Josh asked. Behind him, was the little loli dragon and a blonde girl. The loli had some sort of enchanted color on her neck.


    "You''re planning on killing monsters?"


    The south is dangerous, where only the strongest monsters live. Only heroes and powerful sorcerers have dared to venture there.


    "Yes, your majesty. May I have your permission? I already have my team ready."


    Josh pointed at the loli, and beside the loli was another girl. This girl was young, skinny, had huge br??sts, long blonde hair.


    "Who is she?" The King asked.


    "My King, my name is Felicia. Hero Josh Jones saved me in an alleyway when I was ?ssaulted by bandits. I owe him my life." Felicia bowed before the king. She was just an ordinary girl with no special abilities, aside from knowing the basics of cooking.


    "Oh¡­ I guess that''s fine." The King had no idea why the Hero would want to take such a useless character, but if the hero wanted to take her he couldn''t see why not.


    "Thank, you." They bowed once more and left the kingdom of Reyes. It''s the first time Josh had seen the outside world after several months of training.


    Heroes, when they are first summoned to this world, cannot leave the kingdom at first due to many reasons. Which is why they are put under strict training to get to know their abilities, weakness, capabilities, and so on.


    And also, if they let unprepared heroes venture out, then they would most likely die.


    "Sir, another hero has completed his training." A soldier said.


    "Really? Send him in." The King commanded.


    The soldier went to pick up the hero.


    A young shirtless male bowed before the king. He was tanned, had very short, black hair. But he was ripped.


    "Ah, Hero Bruce Man."


    Man is his last name.


    "King, I have a request, let me leave the kingdom."


    "Any reason?"


    "Yes, I have read many reports of terrible monsters and people who are terrorizing this world, Taker is just one of them. If you could, I want to bring down these people before they spread more chaos to innocent people." Bruce said.


    "Indeed, spoken like a hero. But you will need to take at least one teammate with you. I cannot have a hero dying on me."


    "I see. One of my hero friends, Sandra, has almost completed her training. With her and your permission, could we bring justice to those criminals?"


    "Very well." The King approved.


    Meanwhile...


    While Will was on top of Adaline, he couldn''t help but think of the heroes, more specifically his ex, Sandra.


    "I wonder if we will ever meet again.. If we did, how will that turn out?" He asked himself.

 Chapter 41 - A fake hero?

    Will successfully arrived at the same village where he and Jasmine agreed to meet. So far Jasmine hasn''t arrived yet.


    Arbor had been tailing Adaline using his father''s flying organic creature, but Adaline''s speed was far superior, Arbor soon lost sight of Adaline.


    Adaline has a special ability that lets her regrow trees that she tramples on. She''s part of and loves nature, so whenever she runs through a thick forest she automatically repairs the trees.


    {When do you arrive?} Will wrote to Jasmine.


    {Give me 20 minutes}


    Will shrugged and laid by the village. He put on his exotic armor because this forest was dangerous, and not wearing his armor is giving the monsters to possibly kill him in one shot.


    Just like Radix shot an arrow through his head, he needed to protect himself at all times or else he''ll die again. To him it was getting really annoying having to deal with death.


    Will got bored and decided to check out the village one more time.


    "Adaline, stay here."


    Adaline nodded and camouflaged herself within the forest.


    Will noticed as soon as he entered the village, there were more people in it than before. At least 5 times the size. There was no reason why people would live here, it was a good village but it''s a little on the poor side.


    "Sorry, we will need to see some form of I.D." A soldier stopped him at the entrance.


    Will didn''t feel like giving this man his I.D. he didn''t want anyone to know his true identity behind this mask. It made him feel cool and mysterious, like Batman.


    "Why are there more people here? I was here a couple days ago and all of a sudden the village grew." Will asked.


    "Oh, didn''t you hear? This is the village where Taker was last seen before he was captured."


    "Yes, I have heard of that, but I still don''t understand."


    "Ever since the child killers were killed, this place has become a tourist attraction."


    "...what?" Will didn''t believe what he was hearing. Was this real?


    "Yeah, people are selling shirts, mugs, cups, all kinds of stuff saying things like ''We killed Taker'' or ''Child killers no more'' or something like that. It''s a happy celebration indeed. All the money that people make here goes to the families who lost their children. I even bought a bracelet." The soldier showed Will a wooden bracelet.


    Will sighed, he thought that they were using Taker''s death to earn money for their own selfish reasons. He had no problem if people made money, but using the deaths of those kids to earn money? That was low. He was glad that they didn''t do that and instead gave it to the families.


    "It seems not all villages are rotten to the core." Will muttered under his breath.


    "Pardon?" A soldier asked.


    "Nothing."


    "Wait, your description sounds awesully familiar." The soldier squinted his eyes as he was trying to remember where he heard about a man wearing weird, glowing armor.


    "Bye."


    Will ran back in the forest and Jasmine for Jasmine.


    Moments later Jasmine arrived at the entrance.


    "Jasmine!" Will called out to her.


    "Oh, Will. Why are you there?"


    "Waiting for you."


    "But, you can wait inside the village."


    "They''ll recognize the armor that I wore when I rescued those kids."


    "So take off the armor."


    "There are monsters nearby."


    "Where? After Taker was killed near here, this village is now under the protection of the kingdom. If there was even a goblin scout nearby, everyone would know." Jasmine pointed out.


    "Oh." Will took off the armor and entered the village with Jasmine.


    "Why did you want to meet here?" Asked Will after showing the soldiers his I.D. He changed his clothes behind a tree before so the soldiers wouldn''t recognize him.


    "To plan this out. We can''t just travel to the south and hope to find a wandering cyclops or Dragon. That would be a waste of time and dangerous." Jasmine said.


    "I see. So do you know where we can find some Dragons or Cyclops?"


    Will was planning on not just making 1 {Cursed power source generator} but to make a bunch of them. That way he can enchant more items at the same time.


    It is costly to enchant items over the 4th level, but the 3rd level and below was basically free and they also carried good enchants on them. He planned on experimenting with enchants, and leaving the best enchants to his most used and powerful items.


    "Some, but they''re mostly taken." Jasmine sat down by a bench and Will sat beside her.


    "Taken? By who?"


    "Most likely other sorcerers like me. Being able to kill powerful monsters is something most sorcerers should be able to do, and every sorcerer is aiming for the spot of a kingsguard. So for every monster they kill, it gives them a better chance to earn that spot."


    "Ah. So, do you know any other good places? Like I remember you killing a cyclops when we first met. Actually, now that I remember correctly that was me."


    Jasmine got irritated when she remembered that part.


    "That was merely a wandering cyclops, they usually wander around because they were kicked out of their group because they''re weak. If you want to face powerful monsters go to the south."


    "Then let''s go."


    "Why are you so impatient? Are you that eager to die? Dragons and cyclops aren''t the only things we should be wary of, like poisonous insects, swamps, plant monsters, other monsters."


    "So, what do you recommend?" Asked Will. He didn''t care where they went as long as he killed some cyclops and dragons. Personally he wanted to slay a dragon to get back at them.


    "Plans, lots and lots of plans."


    "Plans?"


    "Yes, like escape plans, attack plans, plans for everything. We need to be careful."


    "How long will that take?"


    "A few hours. I also need to know your weapons, enchants, strengths, basically I need to know everything about you before I can get started."


    "Um¡­"


    Jasmine did want to be a sorcerer and get stronger as quickly as possible, but there was no point if she''s going to die.


    But Will didn''t want to tell Jasmine everything, that would give away his true identity.


    "Well, I am sorta strong. Adaline is also very strong. And I have a few weapons I modified."


    "Modified? Are you an expert blacksmith now?"


    "Something like that."


    "That''s good."


    Will explained many things to Jasmine, but also left many things out.


    "I guess I can somewhat understand what you''re capable of, although I can''t say about your marksmanship."


    "I''m decent when shooting a gun."


    "Seeing is believing. Let''s go kill some cyclops first."


    "Sweet."


    As they were leaving the village, Will saw the same little girl, Kat, who he had rescued. Kat and her dad helped sell stuff to help the other families who weren''t as fortunate as they are.


    Jasmine noticed what he was thinking and smiled.


    "You see? Because of you, those kids are alive. They get to be happy. Sure, some of them might be emotionally scarred for life, but they''re home safe and sound."


    Will didn''t say anything and left the village with Jasmine. He wasn''t going to start solving everyone''s problems starting now, that was just a one-time-thing he did, and also because he felt like it.


    "Hold my hand." Jasmine said.


    "Why?"


    "Where we''re going is pretty far. Flying is the fastest method I have of travelling, plus it helps avoid most of the monsters on land."


    "I have a better idea. Come out, Adaline."


    Adaline showed itself before Jasmine and Will.


    "Woah! I didn''t know organic creatures could camouflage." Jasmine was a little jealous that Will got such a great mount without much effort.


    "She''s a special one." Will patted Adaline''s head.


    "But you''re gonna have to leave her. Most land creatures can''t run as fast as I can fly, especially when they have to go through such a thick layer of forests."


    "Okay, you fly and we''ll follow. Lead the way." Will got on top of Adaline. He put on his armor quickly.


    Jasmine shrugged and flew away.


    "This way." Jasmine said.


    "Adaline, follow her."


    Meanwhile¡­


    Arbor was flying around looking for Adaline, but found was far behind.


    "How can she be so fast?" Arbor asked himself. Every time he had no clue where they were, he''d make the organic creature fly down, then he''d talk to the trees, and resume following them.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Rias was looking around Will''s cave searching for some specifically.


    "What are you looking for?" Grace asked. She wasn''t helping her look, but stood on the side as a mere spectator.


    "Something."


    "That''s not helpful. What exactly are you looking for?"


    "Like I said, something."


    "But."


    "Grace, princess, I also don''t know what I am looking for exactly, but I am looking for it." Rias responded.


    "That doesn''t make any sense."


    "No, not really."


    Grace had no idea what Rias was looking for. She already examined the sentries, but there''s little chance she can even replicate those weapons. Rias almost found a zombie cure but ran out of zombies to test on, so the chances of finding the complete cure in Will''s base are zero.


    "Grace, please help me here."


    "Like I said, I don''t feel comfortable prying into his things."


    "I thought you despised humans, not as much as Radix but you were getting there." Rias stopped looking and talked to Grace.


    "I still do. But I''ve come to learn that not all humans are terrible as I imagined."


    "Huh. Maybe it''s a good thing you changed." Rias resumed to look for something.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Well, this could be a good chance to get Will on our side."


    "Our side?"


    "Yeah, the elves side."


    "I still don''t get what you mean by that."


    "Look, Grace, I may not despise humans as much as Radix, in fact I am more curious about them, especially heroes, but they are dangerous. Remember how we suffered 300 years ago because of them?"


    "I don''t remember. I wasn''t born yet. But, you were." Grace said.


    "Yeah, I was merely a child when it happened, I was about 20 years old."


    Elves have a different definition of ''child'' compared to humans. By the time they reach a certain age they will stick to that appearance for most of their life.


    "Point is, Grace, if we found the missing 100th hero, can you imagine how long it''ll take until others find him? If we''re lucky, years. It might not be my style, but getting Will to join our side is better than him joining their side." Rias said.


    "True, and we have done that in the past before. But I don''t think Will has any plans to join the kingdom or the Empire. I think he''s more on the neutral side."


    "I can see that. But, if Will doesn''t join them, he''ll be labeled as a ''fallen hero'' and everyone will hunt him down. Best case scenario they''ll kill him and he''ll revive. Worst case scenario, they''ll control him using a slave enchant on him."


    Grace frowned.


    In this world, slavery exists. Of course not all slaves are willing to be ''slaves'' but there is a method to control them, a slave enchantment.


    It''s how some sorcerers tame mounts. Some take their time grooming them, feeding them, bonding together, but that takes too long and it''s not guaranteed to succeed in doing so. So the fastest method is to control them using a ''slave'' enchantment.


    But, apart from torturing the slaves into obeying them, they have a more ''humane'' method to control them, adding a slave enchantment collar on them.


    "Now help me find the thing I''m looking for." Rias said.


    "Not until you tell me what you think you''re looking for."


    "...fine, but I don''t know if this is true or not, it''s merely a theory of mine, but I am looking for his method to revive himself from the dead." Rias answered truthfully.


    "What? How does that make sense? How can you find the method that lets him revive himself. That''s an ability he has, the ability of a hero."


    "Grace, these past few days alone I''ve seen Will do so many things that none of the other heroes have ever been able to accomplish. Only the Great Sage has that many abilities or maybe less, but not the other heroes after him. The other heroes are only born with one special ability, sometimes two. Which means that Will must be hiding something."


    The reason the Great Sage is so powerful is because of his variety of powerful spells.


    "Wait, you think Will is not a hero, but uses magical items that give him these abilities?" Grace asked.


    "Not exactly magical items, but something else. My best guess is that he found the ''cave'' when he was mining here."


    "That''s not possible. Humans and elves have been searching for that ''cave'' but haven''t found it, not since Kleo found it 300 years ago."


    The reason the summoning circle exists in the first place is that 300 years ago, a man named ''Kleo'' found this cave full of powerful items, but only took back the summoning circle for some reason to help save humanity.


    Kleo, unfortunately, sacrificed himself for the greater good to summon the first three heroes. But he never told the location of the cave before his death, only that it had more powerful items like the summoning circle. Since then, many have tried looking for it to find those other powerful items to claim their power as their own.


    "What you''re saying that hero isn''t a hero but a fake¡­ that makes sense now that I think about it." Grace admitted.


    A hero is born with only one natural ability or 2 but never more than that. But they can also make that ability grow.


    For example, a cleric healer can heal one person at the beginning and run out of energy completely. But, if they practice for years, they can heal 100 people and not break a single sweat. But Will has displayed many, many abilities even till this day it seemed unreal now that she thought of it.


    No one really knows why that''s a thing. But that''s how it''s been for 300 years now and they''ve gone to accept it. The only exceptions are Will, the Great Sage, the Witch, and the other hero no one talks about.


    "Great, now let''s get mining." Rias handed Grace a pickaxe and started mining away.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jasmine was flying south, Will was slightly behind her. Jasmine was surprised to see that Adaline was able to catch up to her.


    ''Man, I''m envious of him. If only I had a flying mount or even a normal mount. That would be nice.'' Jasmine thought.


    As Jasmine was lost in thought, she saw Adaline stop as Will was flailing her arms to her and yelling.


    "CYCLOPS!"


    Jasmine was confused at first. But, through the corner of her eye, she saw the giant figure looking at her from below.


    This figure was a cyclops at the 3rd layer. It looked at Jasmine and shot a laser out of its eye.


    Jasmine fortunately b?r?ly avoided it, but at the cost of her staff being sliced in half.


    "Crap! I let my guard down at the worst possible moment." Jasmine said, without her weapon she''s weak.


    "Get down from there!" Will yelled.


    "AHHH!" The cyclops roared and shot another laser at her. Jasmine avoided it and flew down with Will.


    "Will, that laser of his is dangerous. It''s easy to fight them on the air as their attack patterns are easy to read. But on the ground it''s dangerous. We need to run!" Jasmine hurriedly said in fear for their lives.


    "Adaline, we''re in the middle of a forest, you know what to do." Will ignored Jasmine''s warnings.


    Adaline nodded.


    The cyclops ran through the thick trees, the trees didn''t even slow him down as he trampled on them.


    But, the trees and vines coiled his arms and body. He could easily break it using his own brute strength, or using his laser eye to cut it, but more of them appeared to bind the cyclops.


    "Infinite ammo enchant, don''t let me down."


    While the cyclops was distracted, Will pointed his turret-pistol at it and let out a barrage of bullets.


    "AAHHHH!" The cyclops in a desperate attempt cried out in pain and anger, and spammed his laser attack everywhere.


    Not long after the cyclops entire face was covered in holes. The bullets were so strong and powerful that they exited the other side of his head. It died.


    "Huh, easier than expected. But that''s thanks to you, Adaline." Will patted Adaline''s head.


    His pistol also had a piercing III enchantment, those bullets could even pierce through metal, not to mention the skull of a cyclops,


    Jasmine''s mouth was opened widely.


    "What gun is that?" She asked. She''s never seen a gun like that.


    "It''s a pistol sorta. I already told you about it before." Will said as he collected the cyclops body and stored it into his ?h?st and magical bracelet.


    "It''s a good thing I have this bracelet." Will was happy to make that trade with Rias.


    He got on top of Adaline and slowly walked towards the east. It was better if they didn''t run as to not attract the attention of another monster like that.


    "Let''s keep going, Adaline."


    But, Adaline used her vines and gave Jasmine back her broken staff.


    "Aw, bummer." Will pitied Jasmine, he too knows how painful it is when an important tool or weapon breaks like that.


    "That''s okay. I can still go without a staff." Jasmine was upset but she didn''t let it bother her too much.


    Will took the broken staff from her hands. Not a second later did the broken staff fix itself before her.


    "What?!" Jasmine didn''t believe it, Will fixed her weapon in an instant by merely touching it.


    "Be more careful next time. If it breaks into pieces I don''t know if I could fix it again."


    Will said he fixed it, but that''s not entirely true. The staff had low durability now. He needed better materials to restore it back to its proper self.


    This was only possible due to having his universal table, which can allow him to craft and fix weapons without needing to place an anvil.


    Jasmine didn''t question it. She sat on top of Adaline.


    Ever since she saw Will she knew he was full of mysteries. And she got curious every time she saw him.


    No one has ever found Taker until he did. No ordinary expert blacksmith could create such a deadly and weird gun that isn''t magical. Of course she first thought that it was because he owned a magical item, but unless he carried over a dozen magical items, then it had to be something else.


    ''Is he¡­ the 100th¡­ nah, couldn''t be.'' Jasmine didn''t think much of it anymore. The odds that Will is the 100th hero is slim to none. No one really knows if the 100th hero was even summoned in the first place.


    And also, Jack would''ve most likely known by now because he''s so into the whole hero thing, and he would''ve told her long ago.


    While she was in thought, Will smiled. The fact that his modified gun could kill a cyclops that easily made him smile.. This meant that with this system alone he could become overpowered if he kept going at this rate.

 Chapter 42 - Far over the mountains

    "Aim for the eyes! Cyclops greatest weakness are the eyes!"


    "NO! Those plants are poisonous! Oh¡­ Adaline took care of them!"


    "CRAP! A HORDE OF ORCS! Um¡­ I guess randomly shooting them is a good strategy."


    Jasmine helped Will kill the many monsters that appeared before them. When they faced a cyclops or more, Jasmine would fly up and provide support and use herself as bait. That moment Adaline and Will would kill them as quickly as possible.


    Orcs are also dangerous, because they travel in groups which is troublesome. They are huge, grey, and are strong. Most of them carry heavy blunt objects which can easily break Will''s energy shield.


    The plant monsters that they faced were mostly taken care of by Adaline. Will even collected those plants for himself, since they could be useful potions somehow.


    "Why haven''t we seen any goblins here?" Asked Will.


    "Goblins used to live in the south, but with so many powerful monsters living here goblins would get killed or eaten, so they naturally migrated to the west and east."


    "What about slimes?" Will remembered he once got killed by an ice slime.


    "Slimes? I''m surprised you don''t know that, they''re extinct." Jasmine responded.


    "Extinct? How?"


    Apart from goblins, slimes are one of the most common type monsters in video games that are used to level up the MC early on in the game.


    "Because of humans, but mostly heroes. Slimes were one of the easiest monsters to kill and provide experience when killing them. But, after killing them so many times, they vanished from the face of the planet."


    "So, it''s as dead as a dodo." Will didn''t believe that they were actually extinct, after all the first time he came to this world he encountered one.


    "Dodo?"


    "Never mind. So why do people kill monsters? Is there something I don''t know?" Will asked.


    "You''re an expert blacksmith and you don''t know?"


    "What does being a blacksmith have to do with it?"


    "I''ll tell you, but it''s not just being a blacksmith but it also affects potion-makers. We use the corpse of monsters to suck out their ''essence'' which in turn can be used to transform a magical item."


    "Monster corpses can be used like that?" It''s the first time hearing this so it surprised him.


    "Indeed, but it''s a long and expensive process. Like that bracelet you''re wearing, it''s a magical bracelet that is used to place stuff inside, right?"


    "Uh huh."


    "That bracelet is made from monster parts. But the process is random."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Simple. Let''s say you take out 10 different cyclop essence and make 10 magical items with it. Chances are that those 10 magical items will be different from each other."


    "Oh, so it''s by chance." Will understood.


    "Exactly. It''s the same for enchanting."


    Will frowned once again. Luck isn''t his greatest strength especially when it comes to these sort of things.


    Like in video games, some ''luck'' mechanism exists like unlocking that Special. Super Ultra Rare, Mega, Limited, Overpowered, Platinum SSS-rank waifu hero.


    Will is one of those guys who will spend 100 dollars on a game like that, and would be lucky to get the highest ranked summon 1 time, rather than 20 or more times like normal people unless it was guaranteed.


    It''s not like he''s super unlucky as sometimes he gets lucky, but he has learned to never rely on his luck in these kinds of situations.


    "What about potion-makers? What does harvesting a monster''s essence have to do?"


    "Simple, they can make-"


    *ROAR*


    A dragon flew above them and let out a loud roar.


    Adaline quickly camouflaged herself and hid Jasmine and Will.


    "That dragon." Jasmine whispered. "It''s on the 2nd layer. We can''t fight it."


    Will also thought the same.


    {HP: 15,000,000/15,000,000}


    He remembered that he once saw a dragon during the black sun, but it was only 1 million HP. This dragon however was not only much bigger, stronger, but tankier. Will didn''t think that even if he used his modified gun in this situation he''ll be able to kill that dragon.


    "We should go." Jasmine said.


    "Agreed."


    As they were headed back, another dragon with the same size as the other one clashed and started fighting. The destruction these two dragons caused was massive.


    "Fall back. If we''re caught in the middle of their fight we will die." Jasmine said. They didn''t expect two dragons to appear above them.


    Adaline quickly ran as far as she could.


    Will felt very afraid of those dragons. Who wouldn''t in this kind of situation?


    As they ran away, they noticed that the dragon''s seemed to follow them.


    "Are they following us?" Will asked.


    "No, they''re still fighting. They''re dragging the fight our way."


    "Adaline, run in another direction!"


    Adaline did as she was told, but it didn''t seem to do much. No matter what the dragons did they kept going in their direction.


    "They''re doing it on purpose!" Will shouted annoyingly. It seemed like they were fighting each other while tailing them.


    As their thunderous roars echoed, fire spread out, their clashes were shaking the forest, it was all affecting Will and the others.


    "Will, as long as we can shoot one of their wings it''ll take away their ability to fly."


    "Good idea. Switch places with me." Will teleported behind Jasmine very carefully and aimed his gun at the dragon''s wings.


    He got a little too trigger happy and blasted the dragon''s right wing. It didn''t expect somebody to shoot it and it crashed in the forest. The other dragon took this moment to bite on its neck and tear it''s head off using his mouth alone.


    Adaline successfully managed to get away. She didn''t stop until she ran out of breath.


    "Jesus, that was terrifying." Will said while wiping off the sweat with his arm.


    "It was. I have never seen a dragon that close, not to mention 2 dragons on the second layer."


    "Where are we anyway?" Will didn''t recognize the area, it was just a thick forest that seemed uninhabited by men.


    "Lost, most likely." Jasmine said.


    Will shook his head because he can''t get lost, not as long as he had his super map with him.


    Taking out the map, he saw himself on the map. And his heart sank.


    "Jasmine, just to be sure, the south is home to the most terrifying monsters, right?"


    "Yes."


    "Then we better get out of here."


    "What do you¡­ oh no."


    "What?"


    Jasmine didn''t answer, but pointed at a certain area.


    The place where she pointed were extremely tall mountains, that are black, sharp, pointy, shiny, it went all the way up further above the clouds. It was far away that merely it''s figure could b?r?ly be seen from a distance.


    "The black mountains!" Jasmine said fearfully.


    Even though it appeared far away it wasn''t some place where they would ever want to go or see.


    *ROAR*


    Dragons were flying everywhere on the black mountains, they merely looked like small flies. They were all on the apex layer and the third layer, which is the lowest. The south was home to the monsters, but the black mountains are home to all the dragons.


    Not far away, were cyclops fighting against the dragons, all of them were as big as the dragons. Even more clashes could be heard as faint rumbling shook their very bones.


    "Will¡­ whatever you do... do not¡­ freak out." Jasmine slowly and calmly said. Her years of training required her to always remain calm. It was like a bomb squad unit who''s been trained to remain calm no matter what.


    Will nodded slowly but was still afraid. The monsters in this world shouldn''t even exist by their health bars alone. One of his greatest fears are gigantic monsters, especially underwater monsters. Thanks to subnautica he has feared those terrifying things.


    There were many dragons and cyclops, but two stood out the most. A dragon that was literally golden.


    {Dragon: Mutant}


    {HP: 900,000,000/900,000,000}


    The other monster that stood out was a cyclops that had three heads, 4 legs, 6 arms. Two of the heads were large in size, but the head in the middle was smaller than it''s hand. Each head and eyeball wielded a different special ability.


    {Cyclops: Mutant}


    {HP: 860,000,000/860,000,000}


    Mutants are another type of monster, it varies from each monster. Like the Apex dragon before it could turn itself into a loli. There were different types of mutants for monsters.


    Those two appeared to be the leaders of their group, clashing and trying to kill each other. For some reason, their HP did not diminish.


    *ROAR*


    Another dragon flew above them and joined its flock. It was the same dragon from before. It had long noticed Will and the others, but since they were so weak, he treated them like ants, not even sparing a single glance their way.


    "Adaline, get us out of here."


    No matter what it didn''t seem like he would be getting a dragon''s heart today. Although he only killed 2 cyclops at the third layer, it was enough for today.


    Adaline both of them back while avoiding any other monsters on the way.


    Hours of running away, Adaline was dead tired from all the running and dropped herself on the floor.


    Jasmine and Will both sat down and sighed in relief. They were mere spectators, but this scene was probably their scariest experience yet.


    "I''ve heard how the black mountains were terrifying¡­ I didn''t think there could be that many dragons in one place. No wonder even heroes cannot exterminate that place." Jasmine said softly.


    In the past, a hero''s greatest achievements were either killing fearsome monsters, or saving the lives of people. But, the one achievement they all yearned to get, is to fully conquer the black mountains. No one has ever been able to come close to this.


    The Great Sage said he could try, but didn''t want to.


    The reason is because the black mountains are home to the most powerful monsters, especially dragons. If they were to get rid of their homes, the dragons would migrate to other places owned by humans, and they would all face a major catastrophe.


    It was better to keep those dragons in one spot rather than having them spread out all over the world.


    "Why were those cyclops and dragons fighting each other?" Will asked after recollecting his thoughts.


    "Cyclops and dragons are natural born enemies. Aside from that, they want to claim the black mountains as their own." Jasmine responded.


    "Why is that?"


    "Beats me. Maybe because it''s a mountain the cyclops want what''s inside? No one really knows for sure."


    "Well there is no way that we are ever going back south ever again. At least until I''m more confident in my strength." Will looked at his modified gun.


    This modified pistol is by far his best weapon, even so it was nowhere near enough to kill those dragons before they could kill him. And his 1000 HP is only laughable compared to those monsters.


    In the beginning of Terraria, players would often face powerful monsters that they could only hope to kill. But, after grinding, repeating, and planning it out, they can easily kill those monsters that they had trouble with before.


    "That''s the spirit, Will. I''m hungry. Let''s go eat." Jasmine said and got on Adaline.


    "I thought this would scare you a little bit." Will said.


    "It was scary. But my training is paying off. Besides, it''s not the first time I''ve seen an Apex dragon. But, I am surprised too. Most people right now would be shaking in fear, but you don''t seem affected. Must because of the mask that I cannot see your expression."


    "No, I am afraid too." Will looked at Adaline and patted her. He was indeed afraid of dragons, but what he feared most was losing Adaline.


    It''s not the first time he''s encountered a dragon, he got eaten by one in the beginning.


    ''I gotta make sure to never bring her back here ever again.'' Will thought.


    Now that he knew the dangers of travelling to the south, he needed to find a way to travel back here alone without using Adaline.


    They got on Adaline and went to the nearest village.


    "Will, I''ve been meaning to ask you, where are you from?" Jasmine asked. She did not know where Will lived, if he had any family, nothing at all. It was like he appeared out of thin air.


    "Somewhere far away."


    "Being mysterious I see. Where do you live?"


    "On the deserted lands with Adaline."


    "Sure." Jasmine didn''t believe him. Organic creatures cannot live without water, just like any other living creature. She knew he would never put Adaline through such dangers.


    Only a fool with nowhere else to live or go would live in the deserted lands. And she knew for a fact that Will had places to stay.


    "Why did you ask for my help?" Asked Jasmine.


    "Because you owe me two. But now I guess you owe me one favour."


    "No, not that. I meant you could have sent out a letter asking the black tower for help from other experienced and powerful sorcerers."


    "I can do that?" Asked Will.


    The black tower is built inside the kingdom of Reyes. It is the place where the Great Sage lives. It is also the place where sorcerers go to earn money when people send requests to them. It was like a guild but such thing doesn''t exist in this world.


    The Great Sage built this tower so sorcerers can do good in this world. It''s been going on like this for nearly 300 years.


    "Yes, how do you not know that?" Jasmine was starting to get suspicious of Will. He doesn''t even know basic information which even kids know.


    Heroes are also like this since they came from another world, it was only natural that they would be ignorant of their world.


    "I¡­ forgot." Will realized he has messed up. He was indeed ignorant of this world and doesn''t know much yet.


    ''I need to learn more about this world. Or else people will figure out my hero identity.'' thought Will.


    "I''ve been meaning to ask you, are you a hero?" Jasmine asked very seriously.


    Will''s heart skipped a beat. He needed to come up with a plan.


    "If I said yes, would you fall in love with me?" Will said smoothly. But he immediately cringed because this is the first thing that came to his mind.


    "Um¡­ what?" Jasmine felt creeped out all of a sudden.


    "I mean, you''re attractive. But I know that you and Jack are a couple so there is no way that I can ever do that to him. Sorry to say this but I am not a hero."


    ''What the hell am I even saying?! Whatever, as long as it avoids the topic of me being a hero.''


    "I am not¡­ Jack and I aren''t¡­" Jasmine blushed at the thought of that.


    Will''s eye shined behind the mask of his. It worked? He didn''t have much hope at first but it seems his gamble paid off.


    "So you aren''t together? But I can tell that you like him, right?"


    "I don''t have to tell you anything." Jasmine resumed to her normal expression but was still blushing.


    "Okay, but I can help you two get together if that is what you two want."


    "How?" Jasmine immediately blushed further, she basically just admitted to liking Jack.


    "I may not look like it but I have experience in being in a relationship."


    "You do?" Jasmine found that hard to believe. When she met him she thought he was a lucky loser. But now he seemed more competent because he had grown the past month.


    "Of course. It lasted 3-4 years though."


    "Lasted? So you aren''t in a relationship anymore."


    "Yeah, but that was my fault entirely."


    "What happened?"


    "Not important. So listen, I may not know Jack as long as you, but I can be your guys''s wingman."


    "Wingman?"


    "A guy who helps a lonely pair hook up when the time is perfect."


    Will smiled as he thought of Alex. Alex was his wingman which is how he managed to have a girlfriend who was out of his league.


    It may be weird, but Jasmine was getting too curious and suspected him of being a hero. She still has doubts because what are the odds of meeting the 100th hero? No one knows.


    If she went back to the Great Sage and he reads her mind, he''ll find out that he''s the 100th hero, and many problems are gonna head his way.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Where could it be?"


    Rias was mining the entire cave without rest. Her puny arms and lack of arm strength didn''t let her make much progress.


    Grace stood by the side while leaning on a pickaxe.


    "Maybe we can accept the fact that Will is a hero and nothing else. If he did find the cave we would have already known." Grace said.


    "We can never lose hope!"


    Grace found it weird that Rias was looking for something that may not be there, as if it depended on her life.


    This went on for a while until Rias accidentally let go of the pickaxe, her arms were trembling with pain.


    "Why do you want to find it? Even if what you''re saying is true why do you need it?" Asked Grace.


    "It''s¡­ personal. Please understand, Princess, only I know. And I need to find it!" Rias picked up the pickaxe and continued mining.


    "Now that I think about it, he did appear out of nowhere last night. Right about¡­ here." Grace pointed to the wall. She did find it weird that Will appeared in front of this wall.


    They knew of his teleporting item, but it had its own limits. She never thought about it much until recently.


    Grace began mining that wall. Her strength cannot be compared to others, especially Will who could mine this wall down in seconds thanks to his system. But she was making steady progress.


    Seeing Rias''s determination to find something made Grace want to help out her own kind. If it wasn''t there it would put Rias''s mind at ease. If it was there, then that would change everything.


    Hours of mining made a ton of progress.


    Grace pierced through the granite, and there was a blue light that came out of a small hole.


    "Did you find it?" Rias asked after noticing the blue glow illuminating the cave.


    "I don''t know. But the light seems familiar. Help me out."


    Both of the elves mined the wall down. What they saw were a bunch of exotic trees, in the center was a small blue-purple glowing flower.


    "What?" Grace didn''t believe it. For a moment she thought her eyes were playing tricks with her.


    "What are exotic trees doing here? This doesn''t make sense." Grace was trying to figure out what was going on.


    "Nice trees. You think that this could be the source of his powers?"


    Rias walked slowly towards the flower.


    She has never heard or seen the exotic trees or seed, Silvas made sure to keep it as secretive as he could even from his own elves, as to not give him a chance to exploit the exotic seed''s weaknesses and strengths. Rias had no clue what it was.


    "Wait, if these are exotic trees and that''s the exotic flower¡­ RIAS! DON''T GET CLOSE TO IT!" Grace yelled but it was too late.


    One of the exotic trees sensed immediate danger and whipped one of it''s branches at Rias cutting a bit of her shoulder.


    "AOW!" Rias screamed in pain.


    Grace pulled her over before the trees could finish her off.


    An exotic tree''s only purpose is to protect any intruders from the seed. If it senses hostile intentions, it will kill. If a wandering fool comes close with no mal intentions, it attacks them but does not kill them, it was more like a warning sign for them.


    "Stay here, fortunately the cut didn''t too deep. I remember we brought Will some healing herbs. I''ll go get some for you." Grace ran up the cave and came back down shortly afterwards.


    Rias ?r??n?d in pain but it was later gone.


    "Thanks, Grace." Rias looked at the exotic trees a bit fearful.


    "Better now. Whatever we do, we do not go near those trees." Grace said seriously.


    "You know what they are?"


    "I do. But I don''t know why Will has it."


    "What is it?"


    "I cannot say either. Like you have your own reasons to not tell me, I have my own reason as well. For now, help me cover this up and any holes you might''ve made. We need to wait until my dad comes back."


    Grace started collecting the granite from the ground and started covering up the holes that they made. It wasn''t gonna be perfect at all, but they needed to stall for time.


    Rias looked at the exotic trees and softly said "dammit, it''s not here." Rias cried a little bit and helped out Grace cover the holes.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will and Jasmine were peacefully eating something inside a village, mostly meat.


    Adaline, who was lazing around, felt the exotic seed being disturbed despite the large distance between them.

 Chapter 43 - Banned

    Meanwhile¡­


    The dragons on the black mountains were merely resting as they watched their own kind and cyclops fight each other to the death. The ones who rested were usually the injured or the weak ones. Mostly the Apex dragons fought against the ongoing battle against the cyclops.


    A familiar dragon stopped to rest on top of a giant platform. This dragon was the same one that Will had encountered earlier.


    "Noitcifnaf ym daer. (So you killed your brother)" A pink dragon asked him in an ancient language. The pink dragon was also at the second layer.


    "Gop. (It was easier than I expected}" Responded the dragon.


    "Gniyfsitas tub drah si gnitirw. (If a feud between dragon arises, the only way to solve it is by making one side submit to the dominant figure. But you didn''t even give him a chance to give up)"


    "D''iakesi gnieb fo maerd a evah also I. Reverof enog eb lliw loohcs yad eno taht maerd a evah I. (I know. Next time my other brothers or other dragons will think twice before they think they can touch my mate!)"


    "Efil si ilol, evol si ilol. (Yeah, whatever}" The pink dragon closed her eyes and went to sleep for a bit.


    Then, a black dragon that is bigger than them flew down beside him. This dragon was at the Apex layer.


    "Rohtua eht esiarp. (Roydus!}"


    Both dragons and all the dragons nearby lowered their heads before him out of respect and fear. His name is Roydus, the second strongest dragon.


    "?htaed ro ecnadnepedni. (I smell gunpowder on you. There were humans here?)"


    Back when Will shot at one of the dragons some gunpowder spread to him. This dragon has a very keen sense of smell that not even the strongest dragon could match.


    Seeing as how Roydus was asking him, this dragon sweated coldly but still responded.


    "Elatyh. (I did see some humans nearby, but they ran away. I didn''t put too much thought into it since they are mere weaklings, I b?r?ly paid any attention to them)"


    Roydus opened up it''s huge mouth and bit on the dragon''s neck. Next it flung him off the black mountains and right into the ground.


    "Yadhtrib yppah. (Are you an actual idiot? If you see a human nearby you kill them immediately!)"


    "Efas yats. (They aren''t that strong, I ?ssessed them. Although one of them is a sorcerer, that human was so weak that it made me feel sorry for them. It would be a miracle if they make it out of this area alive)"


    Of course he left out the part where it was because of them that he managed to kill his brother with relative ease.


    "!drac part ym detavitca uoy. (I am not willing to take that risk. What if they saw something they weren''t supposed to see?! Find them, bring them back, or else forget about ever coming back here again!}"


    "Deod diputs sa si diputs. (Yes, sir!)"


    The dragon flew away while retracing back it''s steps and tracked Will, Jasmine, and Adaline down.


    Meanwhile...


    "Sorry we couldn''t get that dragon you wanted, Will." Jasmine said while eating. "You could always send out a request to the black tower."


    "How much would that cost?" Asked Will.


    "A dragon on the third layer costs about¡­ 76-99 gold coins per corpse. The second layer is twice as expensive or even more. Not to mention the Apex layer, only a few sorcerers dare to take on such a monster."


    "Hmm¡­"


    Will thought about it, it did seem like a good idea to hire sorcerers. And he doesn''t need super powerful dragons, only their hearts, even a dragon on the third layer would do.


    "Can you send out a request for me? Tell them I only accept dragon corpses on the third layer. I''ll pay them 100 gold for each dragon corpse."


    Will had over 500 gold coins, which he thinks it''s good enough. And with the extra gold he made from the trade with the elves, he basically had over 800 gold coins now. He needs to save 500 gold ores to make an inventory.


    Gold coins are basically useless to him since he can literally build anything or craft anything he wants as long as he has the materials. He didn''t lack food, shelter, or weapons. But since the gold coins are taking up space, he thought it would be a good idea to use it properly. It was his plan anyways to spend money on things that will benefit him.


    "Sure. What about the time limit?"


    "A month would be good enough, But the faster it is the better. I''ll buy as many dragon corpses as possible."


    "Does the body need to be intact?"


    "Yes, but I understand if it''s a little ''broken'' as long as the heart is good I am fine with it."


    Although Will only required the heart, he needed to see if other parts of the dragon could be used to craft materials. So far he had crafted dragon armor made out of bones. What other crafting choices could there be?


    "Um, sure. I''ll send you a message when someone completes your request."


    "Thanks, Jasmine."


    Before he could finish his meal, he felt several roots coil around his waist and pull him back to Adaline.


    "Adaline?!" Will got scared for a second, Adaline has never dragged him forcefully like this.


    Jasmine looked at those two running away and sighed. How she wished she had a good mount.


    Will knew that Adaline had a reason to drag him. So he didn''t question her and let her take him wherever she wanted.


    Not long after did he realize that Adaline was headed back to his base.


    "Did something happen to Grace?" Will felt a bit fearful. If something happened to her it meant something must have happened to his base as well. The first thing that popped into his mind was another raid.


    He quickly put on his armor while riding Adaline.


    Half an hour later they arrived back at their base, and it looked the same as he left it. Radix was still outside the walls clinging to his poor life.


    Will took out his gun and forcefully entered his base while aiming his gun everywhere.


    "What do you sense, Adaline?" Asked Will.


    Adaline quickly ran down the cave and so did Will.


    They saw Grace and Rias trying to patch up the holes that they made. The two elves didn''t expect Will to come back so early.


    Will frowned. His secret entrance to the exotic trees and seed was discovered by the two elves. There were also several holes around his cave that he knew weren''t there before.


    The reason he left them by themselves is because he trusted Grace to not go snooping around. If Rias was curious he was hoping that Grace would defend his privacy. He did this so Grace wouldn''t think he was hiding something, but that failed.


    And also, he noticed that he was still wearing his exotic armor. It didn''t matter anyway as they already knew his secret.


    "Um¡­" Grace was at a loss for words.


    "So, you found it."


    Will was seriously thinking about his next course of action, to kill or not to kill. The existence of the seed is too dangerous for others to know, it''s the only thing elves and humans want because it prolongs their lifespan.


    He didn''t want to keep prisoners here for many reasons, it was better to kill because like the saying goes ''dead man tell no tales'' however, this is different.


    Grace and Arbor both helped him and Adaline when Jim invaded his base. If it weren''t for them, he would have lost everything. Not only that but Adaline has bonded with them. And also they''re both descendants of the king of the elves.


    He feels grateful to them, which is why it was difficult to make a choice right now.


    "Grace, why?" Asked Will.


    "Wait, I made her do it." Rias stepped up.


    "I know, Grace wouldn''t have decided that by herself. But, Grace, why would you help her?"


    "I didn''t think we''d find anything. Especially this." Grace pointed to the exotic trees and seed.


    "That''s not an excuse. You betrayed my trust."


    "But you lied to us. You said you didn''t have any more before you left."


    "I did lie, but for a good reason. That seed right there, is the reason why elves and humans are at war. The less people know about it, the better. It''s already bad enough that more elves know about my true identity, now this?" And also because it helps him raise his max HP.


    "If you''d told us, we would help you."


    "I trust you, well I trusted you. But I know fully well that I cannot trust ALL of the elves, right?" Will pointed to the outside of his cave, more specifically to Radix.


    Some elves, like Radix, hate humans to the core, especially heroes. Once they find out he''s a hero they will kill him or worse. And if anyone else finds out that another exotic seed exists, they will stop at nothing to get to him.


    After all, it is much easier to kill him than to invade the elven kingdom.


    Rias was confused as to why that place is so important.


    "I will not deny that, but, you can trust me with this! My father will understand."


    "I wish I could. But now I can''t. What I am saying is that I don''t trust you anymore. Leave this place, now." Will stepped aside.


    "Will?" Grace could not believe what she heard. Was he kicking him out?


    "I am banning all of you from this place. Leave, before I change my mind and I make sure both of you never leave this place."


    Will didn''t think it would be wise to kill them or keep them captive for many reasons, Arbor, and the fury of the elven kingdom. If they found out that 4 elves suddenly went missing, two of which are related to Silvas, they would come to this place and raid it.


    They already knew of his base''s location. Either way it seemed like he had no way to escape.


    "Wait, Will, this isn''t her fault. I made her do it!" Rias added.


    Rias could tell that Grace trusted Will and even saw him as a friend. But, because of her, she broke their trust and friendship. She felt responsible for what was happening.


    "Doesn''t matter. Both of you leave now!" Will took out his gun. He was furious. The first ones he took into his home, they come here and betray his trust. He can never be safe knowing that these two are here in his base.


    It''s true he did lie to Grace about the exotic seed, but did it for a good reason. It''s too dangerous if more people knew about its existence, but it was too good to destroy it when it can raise his HP.


    Adaline was turning her head as she was scared and nervous. She saw them all as friends or family, this was heartbreaking for her.


    Grace looked at Will closely, and could tell by the tone of his voice that he wasn''t kidding, he was dead serious. She felt terrible all of a sudden. She walked out of the cave with her head down. But. before she left, she stopped beside him and said.


    "Sorry. This probably won''t change your mind, but I am going to keep this a secret from my family and others, so that they won''t cause you trouble. I''ll make up some excuse to my father so he doesn''t come back. But, this isn''t his fault, he sees Adaline as a daughter, they shouldn''t be split up because of something we did. Bye."


    Will closed his eyes and didn''t respond to her.


    Grace and Rias left the base. They took Radix with them who was almost dead at this point. Rias first applied him some healing potions and fed him some food and water.


    "Grace, I am so sorry!" Rias started crying, this was all her fault and she knew it.


    "I know you didn''t mean this. It''s all good."


    Grace smiled at Rias. As soon as her back was turned to her, Grace let out a few tears. The first human she trusted, she betrayed his trust. Now that she thought about it she could have done this differently and it wouldn''t have ended up like this.


    Throughout most of her life she has never trusted humans, and even thought that Will would''ve betrayed her, not the other way around.


    Will sat down and didn''t say anything. He just sat there staring at the cave he was in.


    Adaline sat down beside him while she rested her head on his ??p. She too was sad.


    "It''s just us both again." Will patted Adaline''s head. The only ones he could trust right now are Adaline, Jack, and maybe Jasmine.


    "Hmmmm¡­" Adaline let out a small sound, a sound that Will has never heard come from her before. Like how some dogs whimper when they''re feeling bad, this is her way of expressing her emotions.


    The next few days this happened:


    Will fixed the cave and collected more exotic flowers, turned them into potions, and increased his HP once again. It felt a little but lonely now but he didn''t let that bother him. He enchanted bullets this time and tested it out on the turrets, and it worked splendidly.


    Grace, Rias, Radix, all three elves walked across the deserted lands. A few days later Arbor found them and took them back to the elven kingdom.


    Grace made up some story that didn''t expose the second exotic seed that Will had. And she also made up a lie on the spot to make her father not go near Adaline or Will for now.


    Arbor was feeling distraught right now. This meant that he couldn''t see Adaline anymore. He trusted his daughter and let it be for now. But there is no way he''s gonna let Adaline stay away from him for too long.


    Will realized that Adaline felt a little bit down, either from loneliness or boredom. He made sure to spend some time with her to liven up her mood.


    A week has gone by since then.


    Jasmine had already sent out a request for the dragon corpses. Not many lined up for the offer as she already expected, since dragons are too dangerous.


    Will returned to one of the villages and bought all the leather the butcher had. It was well over 1000 leather pieces, it was somewhat pricey but he could afford it. The butcher was never more happier to be a butcher.


    As Will was going across the bags that the elves gave him, he saw a thick book.


    Will was confused as he never asked for a book. He read what was inside first.


    "Learn how to talk and write in elven tongue for beginners." Will understood now.


    Grace was teaching him to speak their language for some time now, but she didn''t have time to tutor him all the time. When she was back at the village, she asked her father to bring Will a book that teaches them to speak and write in their language.


    Will took the book and started studying it when he had spare time.


    The rest of the time he mined, built, crafted, experimented, he was glad to see that he was progressing. The only bad thing is that he still didn''t get a chance to craft his inventory, or his cursed power source generator.


    No matter how deep he dug, there didn''t seem to be any cobalt. Either he needs to go deeper or there is another way to find cobalt. Fortunately for Will he didn''t encounter any more scorpions or creatures.


    And one day, he crafted his {Hot belt} which was his second most d?s?r?d item to make, next to the inventory.


    It depleted half of his leather as it required a ton of leather to craft. He stored the rest away safely.


    "Sweet." Will smiled.


    He later realized how it worked. It worked like a small inventory space, he could store items inside including weapons. He placed dirt, and his gun inside the belt to test it out further.


    Not long after did he figure out how it worked. With a mere thought he could make his items from his hot belt appear in his hand in an instant, like a magic trick. This would save him lots of time and possibly catch his enemies by surprise in the middle of a fight.


    Meanwhile¡­


    In the elven kingdom, Grace was practicing with her bow by using trees as target practice. She was looking for ways to distract herself.


    Silvas, who was giving her some tips, could sense her terrible mood.


    "Want to talk about what happened?" Silvas asked.


    "I already told you, I did something terrible to him, and he doesn''t want to see us anymore." Grace responded quickly.


    "I know that. But if there is one thing I know is forgiveness."


    "I don''t think Will is going to forgive me any time soon. Not after what I did." Grace said.


    "He will in due time. Like I said I know about forgiveness."


    "What did you forgive?" Asked Grace.


    "I have forgiven Lea, our Goddess, for killing your grandmother."


    "What?" Grace thought she heard wrong.


    "I never told anyone this, but it seems to me like you need to hear it. Over 300 years ago, before the era of heroes, your grandmother gave birth to your father. She was weak, I knew she wouldn''t survive the pregnancy."


    Grace didn''t say anything, but this story wasn''t new to her.


    "When she died after giving birth, I blamed Lea for it. I cursed at her, insulted her, said and did everything that no elf should do."


    "You did?" Grace couldn''t believe it. Her grandfather is the most calm and gentle person she knew, and extremely loyal to their goddess.


    "The plan was that the exotic flower would have bloomed before she gave birth, I knew that it had to bloom by then, and I would have given it to her, it could''ve saved her life."


    Silvas started to tear up eventually.


    "That was the entire plan. I didn''t expect her to be gone like that. But, for some reason, the exotic flower bloomed 20 years later. I didn''t know why my calculations were so off. All I could think of was that Lea was at fault, that she made the exotic flower bloom later than it was supposed to."


    "So you forgave Lea?" Asked Grace.


    "I did, but it took me years to forgive her. But, I realized why your grandmother died."


    "Why is that?"


    "Because of the heroes. The Great Sage has done a good job protecting us for over 300 years, even now he still does. Because of him, and because we gave him the exotic flower, he was able to protect us from monsters, humans. I forgave Lea for that, because in a way your grandmother saved you, your father, and countless elves. I believe that Lea knew this would happen, and so¡­ she made the exotic flower bloom later than it should have."


    Grace wiped a tear off her eye.


    "Point is that if I could forgive our Goddess for taking your grandmother from us, I am sure that Will can forgive you when the time comes. As long as you didn''t kill someone important to him, it should be fine."


    "I guess. But I don''t think he''ll ever trust me again. It''s funny. I had a hard time trusting humans for 20 years now, and the first time I trust one, I break that trust."


    Silvas and Grace had a long chat after that.


    Meanwhile¡­


    The second layer dragon, who was sent to kill Will and Jasmine, was flying around the area.


    ''How could this be? They couldn''t have survived, right? Gah! Had I known that this would''ve happened, I would''ve killed them when I had the chance.''


    The dragon was tired of looking, he''s not a good tracker, and he keeps attracting attention to him because of his enormous size.


    Then, out of nowhere, multiple fireballs crashed on his body and he was badly damaged. This dragon didn''t expect it and failed to protect itself.


    The fireball barrage didn''t stop there, it continued until its body was roasted dark. A huge portion of its wings were missing. He was missing limbs as well. It died seconds later without knowing who or what killed him.


    "Well, would you look at that, easy money." A familiar man said.


    The man was none other than the hero Josh Jones. Beside him was the cliche loli dragon, a cliche useless female character whose only purpose in life is to cheer for the hero or call for help when trouble rises. And there was a new member on his team.


    A seductive woman, with an hourglass figure, tall, huge br??sts, who looked very s?xy in her tight, blue robes. This woman is a 5-striped sorceress.


    "My, you are really powerful." The sorceress woman got very clingy on Josh, who was also enjoying the feeling of her soft, bouncy br??sts, her warmth as well.


    "Indeed, Josh Jones is an amazing hero!" Felicia, the useless girl, took Josh''s other arm and hugged him tightly. Her figure was nothing compared to the sorceress.


    ''I am living the life!'' Josh thought. Like every cliche hero, they start out their adventure with a harem, and it will grow from here on out.


    The loli dragon stood back, and tried to pry the collar off her when she could, but a special enchantment kept her from breaking it. Her strength was like a dragon''s, very powerful indeed, but now she was a slave to the hero in front of her.


    And now she needs to stand back to see her own kind being roasted alive by him, and there was nothing she could do about it.


    "You said that someone was paying good money for these dragon corpses, right?" Josh asked.


    "Indeed, but he did ask in the request to keep it as intact as possible. I don''t know if he''s willing to accept this. Plus this is a dragon on the second layer, he said that he''s only buying dragons on the third layer." The sorceress said.


    "Welp, we can always sell it elsewhere. Let''s keep hunting for dragons!" Josh led his harem through the south to hunt dragons, earn money, grow his harem, this is his goal ever since he was summoned to this world.


    The sorceress touched the dragon with her staff, and it disappeared from sight.


    The dragon loli, stood there and followed them against her will.

 Chapter 44 - Encounter with a hero

    1 week later.


    Will was mining in his cave, going deeper and deeper. Adaline has remained by his side and helped mine. She has really helped him a lot this past week.


    The deeper they got, the more Will noticed that they dug more rare gems and ores.


    He had found so much gold it was unbelievable, including gems even diamonds. The weird part is that there were no new ores or gems to be found, not even monsters.


    "Am I missing something here?" Will stood in a spot and went into a deep thinking.


    In both Minecraft and Terraria, it was obvious that the deeper you mined the more treasure you would find. But it seemed that no matter how much he dug down, the only thing that changed was the number of ores and gems.


    He couldn''t complain about grinding since that''s what he likes to do, but he dug down so deep that it took him an hour just to reach the bottom of his cave, not to mention going upstairs.


    "I tried crafting a steel minecart to travel easier, but that doesn''t seem to work." Will sighed.


    When he crafted a minecart to travel through the mines quicker, the first time it flung him off the cart and he crashed on a wall, if he didn''t wear his armor he would''ve been seriously injured.


    He tried many, many times to make the minecart useful to him, but it was to no avail. He gave up trying for now, but he really did need a better way to travel through his caves, it started taking up a lot of his time.


    "Maybe I can somehow exploit the system''s bed, place it here, and when I kill myself I''ll spawn right here. But I don''t like dying. And I can also think of a few good reasons as to why that wouldn''t so well. Hmmmmm."


    Will looked at his enchanted, exotic pickaxe. It is his best pickaxe by far, and that''s most likely because of the enchantments it has.


    {Enchanted, Exotic, Metal-grass pickaxe}


    {Enchantment: Mining speed+ III: Increases your mining speed significantly}


    {Enchantment: Durability IV:}


    {Enchantment: Loot miner I: Increases your chances to earn double the drops from mining ores or gems}


    The loot miner enchantment is what caught his eye most, it''s like the fortune enchantment from minecraft, but this one works on all the ores and gems he mines. The only bad thing is that he could only apply enchantment level I, most likely he needed a better power source to raise the enchantment level.


    Will abused this pickaxe as much as he could, kept all the gems safe and hidden, and when he could make that cursed power source generator, he is going to go all out on enchanting.


    He got really lucky with this pickaxe, since he didn''t expect to get such good enchants. Unfortunately, the method to apply more enchants to an item is still unknown to him.


    "Good thing I also enchanted this too." Will looked at his mask and the new enchantments he applied to it.


    {Enchantment: Night vision I: Allows you to see in the darkness}


    This mask was indeed useful now, but Will felt that he got unlucky to get such a good enchantment but nothing else. Until he gets his cursed power source generator, he won''t spend any more gems. The only exceptions are his sentry-turrets.


    {Will, you there?} Jasmine wrote to Will.


    {I''m here}


    {Good, you need to go back to the kingdom of Reyes as soon as possible.}


    Will''s heart skipped a beat, he didn''t want to go near that place because there is a HUGE chance that the Great sage will somehow find out his true identity, or come across a hero who knew him. But that last one is highly unlikely.


    {Why?}


    {I was contacted by the black tower, they said that someone had already completed the request you sent them. They managed to bring back over 10 dragon corpses all of which are at the third layer, and one from the second layer.}


    {Over ten?!} Will was impressed, luckily for him he had mined enough gold to afford it easily and still have enough to craft his inventory.


    {Yes. I don''t know who the one who completed the request is, but you need to get there.}


    {Can''t you do it? I''ll pay you the money.} Asked Will.


    {I don''t have that much free time to do all your biddings, Will, I still need to practice to become a kingsguard.}


    Jasmine right now was honing her skills without rest, which is why she didn''t want to do all these little things that anyone else can do.


    {...fine.}


    Will felt that he couldn''t keep relying on Jasmine like this and treat her like a chore boy. But the risk was too high.


    {If you''re worried that someone will recognize you, just wear another mask.} Jasmine was referring to the ''Mr Scary eyes'' profile, the kids named him that because of his mask that glowed. Will did not like that name.


    {I will then. Thanks anyways. Tell the one with the dragon corpses that I''ll be there in two hours.]


    Will didn''t wait for a response, he placed the communication stone down and rubbed his forehead.


    "Fine, I''ll do it, I really need those dragon hearts. But what should I wear?"


    He needed to wear something that didn''t let him stand out too much as to not attract attention, but also cover his face in case someone knew who he was, it was better to be safe than sorry. He wore his armor underneath just in case but not the mask.


    Will ran off and grabbed a ton of gold coins, even more gold ores and converted them to gold bars. Gold bars are worth way more than gold coins, this way he didn''t need to waste so much gold to make coins.


    "If someone saw me with this much gold on me, there''s no telling what they''d do to me."


    He teleported to the exit of the cave, which took him some time since he can only do short-distance teleportation. It was way faster and less energy consuming compared to running.


    Adaline was sitting there, then someone was already on top of her.


    "Sentry mode {on} attack mode {on}" Will activated his sentries, which are now over 20 and all of them are diamond sentries.


    "Come on, girl, let''s go to the kingdom of Reyes!"


    Still too tired, and yawning while stretching her body, Adaline dashed out of the door and headed at the direction of the kingdom of Reyes. She also liked it when she headed to the forest because there are more trees there.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Woo, we''re finally done." Sam wiped the sweat off his forehead. The gun in front of his was a shotgun that was heavily modified and enchanted.


    "You did most of the work, uncle, I didn''t do much." Jack felt a bit terrible that he had to stay by the side and watch his uncle, as he gave him some tips and tricks as well.


    "To be fair, you''re still an apprentice. With enough time you can become a great blacksmith." Sam consoled Jack since he too knows how it feels to feel useless.


    "I hope so."


    In the room was another shotgun that was hanging on the side of a wall. It is the same shotgun that Will made and gifted it to them. This shotgun was the best shotgun they''ve ever seen, it was too good to sell it.


    "Anyone there? I''m here for my shotgun." A familiar voice called out to them.


    "Kyle? Man, his timing is rather perfect." Sam chuckled a bit. They brought the shotgun over to Kyle.


    "Hey, here''s your gun. It''s rather great if I do say so myself." Sam scratched his forehead once again.


    "Yeah, that''s good." Kyle didn''t react much at all but stored the shotgun inside his ring.


    "Something wrong?" Asked Sam.


    "Yeah, a little bit, as you know the heroes have just-"


    "Oh, I''m sorry, Kyle." Sam interrupted him mid-sentence, "I think I gave you the impression that I actually care." Sam smiled but left the store. He had better things to do than to listen to his problems, he didn''t like Kyle anyways.


    "..." Kyle.


    "You mentioned something about heroes?" Asked Jack.


    Kyle might be weird to him, but Jack cannot resist when he hears the word ''heroes'' he just admires them so much.


    "Yeah, I did. You know how the heroes usually train for a few months after being summoned? And then afterwards they are allowed to go outside and kill powerful monsters and bring down criminals, right?"


    "Yeah, I''ve read the stories and that''s how it usually goes. Is there something wrong about that?" Asked Jack.


    "A little, well a whole lot. Ever since this hero Josh Jones came out, he''s been killing dragons, and other powerful monsters left and right. He even took over some of my favourite hunting spots." Kyle scratched the back of his head due to nervousness.


    "Is that bad?"


    "No, but for us sorcerers, yes. If we can''t hunt down monsters and let other heroes do the job for us, it''ll make us look weak, this goes for Jasmine as well. And my family, as well as other important and powerful people, especially nobles, have begun trying to make connections with him. They even gave him some of our hot spots for hunting monsters just to get him on their good side."


    "Oh." Jack frowned a bit, this would without a doubt affect Jasmine''s progress of becoming a kingsguard.


    "You know, I''ve heard something weird, want to hear it?" Kyle changed the topic.


    "Uh, sure."


    "I''ve heard rumors that the 100th hero is actually in this world, but is hidden."


    "HIUP!" Jack almost forgot to breathe after hearing that sentence.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Nothing, just, a muscle spasm." Jack collected himself and remained calm.


    "Yeah, I know you like heroes, so I knew you would like to hear this."


    "Is there any¡­ evidence that the 100th hero is here?" Jack needed to know. It involved Will''s secret identity.


    "No, not really. Like I said, it''s a baseless rumor. Although it would be nice if it was true, then I would be friends with him. Imagine being a friend of a hero, that would without a doubt help my future."


    "Yeah¡­ where did you hear this rumor?"


    "I heard my family talking about it. And I think that I heard them say that this hero can''t die? Or was that reincarnation? I don''t know, the details are very vague."


    "Oh, that''s a really cool hero ability to have."


    Jack doesn''t know about Will''s ability to respawn. So he didn''t think it could be Will since Jack thought he could only make and craft stuff.


    "And I also heard that he lives up north in the deserted lands, but no one is stupid enough to live there, especially a hero, am I right?" Kyle laughed a bit.


    "Ahahahahahaha!" Jack''s mouth was moving but his eyes were not moving at all. Will obviously lives up there.


    "Yeah¡­ anyways, tell your uncle that I am grateful about the gun. And thanks for listening to me, Jack." Kyle left the store. He had already paid for his gun in advance.


    Kyle left the store. Not long after did Jack run up the room as fast as a cartoon character, and decided to contact Will about the rumors he heard.


    "Wait, Jasmine can also see the messages I write down. I need to be vague about this." Jack told himself and began writing.


    {Hey, Will, Jasmine, have you heard rumors about the ''100th hero'' right?}


    Will, who was riding Adaline, saw his communication stone glowing. He frowned when he saw that message. It was obvious that Jack was making it vague because Jasmine doesn''t know his identity.


    {What rumors?}


    {Oh, you know, that he is hiding, and that he lives up north, and that he can reincarnate and such. You know¡­}


    Will almost let go of his stone. That rumor is not a rumor but true. He hasn''t even told Jack about his reincarnation ability.


    "How could they know? Does the kingdom have a psychic¡­ no, if that was true then Taker wouldn''t have evaded them for so long. And the only ones who knew of my identity are the¡­ elves."


    Will shut his eyes tightly.


    "It has to be them. Most likely it''s not Grace since she hasn''t told anyone about the exotic seed, or else I would have already been raided. Arbor? He wouldn''t want to bring Adaline into trouble by troubling me as well. It''s either that other female elf, or that other elf that pierced my head with an arrow."


    Will couldn''t do anything much anyway about the rumor, since it had already spread. He could only hope that no one is crazy enough to check this rumor to see if it''s real.


    "I spared their lives, and this is how they repay me? Next time, I won''t be as merciful." Will told himself.


    "Adaline, once I gather what I need from the Reyes kingdom, we''ll come back to the base as quickly as possible."


    If someone was crazy enough to confirm those rumors about him, then they will soon know that it''s true, and all his efforts into hiding would''ve been in vain.


    Adaline nodded.


    Jasmine, who read the message, frowned when she read Jack''s message.


    "Deserted lands? Didn''t Will say that he lives there?" Jasmine asked herself. Everyday she thinks that Will''s true identity is the 100th hero, but she doesn''t want to do anything until she is absolutely sure.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will finally arrived at the Reyes kingdom. It has been a while since he came here. Adaline stayed outside and camouflaged herself to the surroundings.


    "Here." Will greeted the two soldiers by giving him his papers. He did not wear his armor or cloth for now, because they won''t let anyone who covers their face enter for obvious reasons.


    "Proceed." The soldiers let Will enter the kingdom. The giant, wooden gate opened and let him inside.


    Will wondered how it was possible to make such an amazing gate like that. All he has is a small wooden door, nothing too grand.


    The reason why the kingdom let them inside the kingdom without checking if he had weapons or not, is because they are that confident in their ability to guard the kingdom at all costs.


    Every corner and every street had a solider in enchanted armor and tools, it would be suicide to try to commit any crimes within the kingdom, not to mention they have heroes and sorcerers as well. Not even an Apex dragon could cause any damage.


    Will went inside one of the public restrooms, put his armor and cloth, and teleported out of the restroom without being seen.


    He let out a huge breath, this is the riskiest thing he had ever done.


    "I just hope that the Great Sage doesn''t find me and read my mind. But then again I do have this."


    Will held an important item that he brought with him.


    {Black ball: Enchanted}


    {Enchantment: Blocks telepathy}


    This is the black ball that Taker used to avoid the Great Sage''s telepathy. Taker was a very careful man, and acted quickly, which is why no one found him until Will did, and the only reason Will found him is due to luck and Adaline.


    Will headed towards the black tower, which is the place where the requests are made, as well as the place where the Great Sage lives.


    But, looking closely at the tower, there didn''t seem to be a way to enter it. It had no doors or exits, not even windows.


    "Um, hello?" Will knocked on the black tower but his hand went through it, as if there was nothing there.


    "Woah, that is amazing." Will''s eyes sparkled like a star, he wanted this on his base.


    Will entered the black tower, and inside was way different than he thought it would turn out.


    The black tower from the outside was very tall, but it''s width was small. But the inside of the tower was massive, as if there was an entire castle within it.


    It''s like the box from the ''Doctor Who'' show. It might look small on the outside but it''s bigger on the inside.


    The first thing Will saw was an old lady, who had 5 stars on her robes.


    {Sorceress}


    {HP: 20000/20000}


    That was the most HP he had ever seen in a person. He couldn''t imagine how much HP the Great Sage must have.


    "Yes?" The lady asked in a gentle voice.


    "I''m here because someone completed my request." Will said.


    "Which one?"


    "Um, dragon hunting."


    "Oh, was Jasmine the one who requested it on your behalf?"


    "Yes."


    "Your buyer is in the VIP room. Take this." The lady handed Will a VIP badge. The badge was made out of obsidian, just like the black tower. But the letters were engraved in gold and were bold.


    The book glowed brightly. When he touched the obsidian badge he got new recipes related to obsidian..


    "Keep this on your person when inside the tower at all times. You can come back here and visit the VIP area any time you want."


    "Thanks, I guess." Will didn''t understand why he got a VIP badge, but he didn''t complain about it.


    "Marilyn!" The old lady shouted.


    "Yes, grandma!" A young sorceress, who had some identical features like the old woman, ran up to her.


    This sorceress is merely 2-stripes and was younger than Jasmine. Sorceres working here is not uncommon.


    "Show him the VIP lounge number 3."


    "Number 3!!!" The young lady was surprised.


    Will tilted his head in confusion. Was that lounge haunted or what?


    "Yes, go now, we can''t keep him waiting."


    "Of course! Come, uh¡­ may I know your name?"


    "No." Will responded.


    "Just, come." The young lady took his arm and dragged Will across the room while flying.


    While Will flew, he could see how the inside of the tower was enormous. Many sorcerers were here working, taking requests, fighting, betting.


    The area was well lit by electricity, and had expensive furniture, as well as high-classed food and drinks.


    All of the sorcerers had either enchanted or magical gear. Some of them were a little poor and couldn''t afford to own such expensive items.


    The people around him started to look at him weirdly as they got closer to the room.


    "Is the one who took my request that important?" Will asked the young sorceress.


    "It''s not weird that you don''t know. Just wait till we get there." The young sorceress responded.


    Will could not think of anyone that was important, apart from the Great Sage, the king, but that wouldn''t make much sense.


    "Wait, if it''s not the king or the Great Sage, then that could mean that it''s either a kingsguard, a 5-stripped sorcerer, or most unlikely, a he-"


    "We''ve arrived. Hero Josh Jones! The one who requested the job is here!"


    They both landed in front of this room with the door opened wide. The room was different and much more luxurious compared to the other rooms, most likely because it was VIP.


    Josh, and his harem sat in this chair that was long and was built in a ''U'' pattern with a table in the middle. There was expensive food on the table as well.


    "Ah, finally."


    Josh Jones got up and so did his harem. The dragon loli stood by the chair and table.


    Will was frozen in shock. This is the one scenario he didn''t want to come true. Out of all the odds, a hero, from his world, had taken the request. And he was standing in front of him!


    "I''ll take my leave." The young sorceress bowed and flew away.


    "Aw, she was cute. Oh, well. So, where''s the money?" Josh asked hastily.


    "Where is the money? We''ve been waiting here for hours!" The seductive sorceress asked in a loud and annoyed tone.


    Will was still frozen, not thinking at all.


    "Hey! We asked you a question!" The seductive sorceress said in a loud tone and snapped her fingers at him.


    "Oh!" Will was back in reality.


    "Ah, you were shocked because you didn''t expect someone as amazing as a hero to be here, right?" Josh asked.


    "Uh, uh, yeah¡­"


    Will knew who Josh Jones is. They were merely classmates, but they''ve been in the same school for years. If he takes off his mask, Josh will recognize him. Although Will''s appearance changed drastically since the beginning, there was still a chance of him being recognized.


    ''Keep calm. He doesn''t know who you are as long as you cover your face.''


    Will took a good look at the heroes HP.


    {Hero}


    {HP: 121,000/121,000}


    Josh has been in this world as long as him, and yet his HP was over 100,000. If all the heroes were like him, it''s no wonder they''re considered the strongest.


    "So listen, uh¡­ what''s your name?"


    "My name¡­ doesn''t matter. I only came here for the dragon corpses. You can have the money after I''ve confirmed it." Will gave up the idea of running away, he had already come this far.


    "I know. Maid, give him the ring and the other item as well."


    The dragon loli, against her will, handed Will a special ring and another item.


    Will looked at the loli''s HP.


    {Dragon}


    {HP: 90,000,000/90,000,000}


    {Cursed: Enslaved}


    To him, the status bar above their heads showed him only a few things, their race or title, HP, and other effects like poison, curses and such. This is the first time he''s heard of a cursed item.


    And even though this dragon was in disguise, Will could see through it thanks to his system. This also worked when Arbor and Grace changed their appearances to a human, but Will knew that they were elves the second he saw them.


    Will looked at the tool in his hand, it looked like an enchanted magnifying glass.


    "You can look inside the contents of the ring using this tool. The black tower uses these for situations like this." The seductive sorceress said.


    It wasn''t wise to take out what was inside the ring because of many reasons. If Josh took out the dragon corpses inside the black tower, many obvious problems would arise.


    People use such items to look inside the magical items like the ring which worked like an inventory. It is also used to identify the type of enchantment a tool has.


    Will examined the enchanted magnifying glass.


    {Magnifying glass: Enchanted}


    {Enchantment: Observe III: Identifies the item by looking through glass. It can tell many things that the holder can''t see}


    Will knew about the enchantment already but deemed it useless, because his system had a similar ability, but it was much better.


    The system can indeed tell him what is inside the ring without using the magnifying glass, it was the same when using his ?h?sts, otherwise how can he tell what was inside the ?h?sts when they were all identical?


    Too bad for him, he didn''t realize this function until much later.


    Will pretended to use the magnifying glass and scanned the inside of the ring. It seemed good.


    "I don''t believe I asked for a dragon of the second layer. I only asked for the third layer only."


    "Yeah, I know, but you could pay me a little extra for it."


    "I''ll give you only 50 gold coins for it." Will said.


    "Really? Only 50? Come on dude, this is a dragon on the second layer."


    "I know it is. But I asked that the bodies be intact as much as possible, this dragon was brutally destroyed, it''s even missing some wings and limbs."


    "Uh¡­" Josh forgot about that.


    "The scales are also badly damaged, which is not good. I also guess that it was injured internally. If it was fully intact I''d gladly give you much more, but this is broken. It''s like buying a broken toy, who would pay for that?"


    "Hold on, this is a hero you''re talking to! Don''t forget that." Felicia and the seductive woman said.


    For a second, Will forgot about it. But he composed himself.


    "Money doesn''t grow on trees. And I also only asked for dragons on the third layer not the second."


    "Okay, fine, we''ll take the 50 gold." Josh said.


    "But, Hero-"


    "It''s okay. We already killed over 10 dragons on the third layer. That''s already 1000 gold right there. But you better pay up."


    "Yes, you better! We earned that money"


    "You better pay up or else."


    His harem got a little too forceful, aside from the loli who couldn''t speak their same language. Will was starting to get annoyed by them.


    "Here."


    Will handed them 800 coins and a few gold bars. It appeared on top of the table and entirely covered it.


    "Gold bars?" Josh Jones asked but his eyes were shining brightly.


    "Each gold bar is worth 20 gold coins. I didn''t expect someone to come here with 10 dragons."


    "Oh really?" Josh turned to his harem, the sorceress nodded.


    "Okay, that''s not bad. Hahahaha! This is amazing! 1000 gold coins on the spot! Easy money!"


    Josh and the other two celebrated, they''ve never seen so much money in their lives. The loli however was mad, that money was made because Josh hunted down her own kind.


    "Come on, dance as well!"


    The loli began dancing like a robot. This was the effects of the slave enchantment.


    Will sneaked away while they were dancing and celebrating. It was better if he left quicker or Josh would find out who he is.


    The people were looking at him weirdly. Will left the black tower as quickly as he could.


    "Oh my god. That¡­ was." Will didn''t even finish his sentence, he was just glad that Josh never found out his identity.


    "I need to go back home as soon as possible. Now that I have what I wanted."


    "Hey!"


    Someone called out to Will.


    Will turned and saw someone he didn''t recognize. His status bar is what caught his attention.


    {Half-noble, Half-elf}


    Half nobles, they are the descendants of heroes who had off-springs with non-heroes.

 Chapter 45 - Heroes

    The half-elf half-noble, also known as Morgan. He was in charge of tailing Jasmine and finding out her ''friend'' who killed Taker and owned the teleportation item. The king needed it since magical teleportation items are very rare.


    Morgan followed Jasmine for days now without being caught once, which proves that his stealth is fearsome.


    But, when Jasmine went to the south, Morgan did not follow. No matter how stealthy he was, a dragon could smell him and kill him on the spot, as if crushing an ant.


    Morgan reported it to the king, and the king was disappointed in Morgan and even gave him a harsh punishment for not trying hard enough.


    Until he found the Mr. Scary Eyes person and took the teleportation item from him, the king will not free him from his punishment.


    When he heard Jasmine came back to the kingdom using the king''s network, he ran back and tailed her. After following her for so long he connected a few dots together, and waited for Will to arrive.


    And now that Will was here, he is not going to let him go. Even though the king told him to never be seen, Morgan just wants to be free of his punishment.


    "What?" Will asked, he didn''t recognize him but he knew that he was a noble. Nobles have a huge influence in this kingdom, it would be unwise to do anything rash to him, even if he was just a half-noble.


    "I am getting straight to the point here; I am acting on orders from the king. He said that he''s willing to give you 5000 gold coins for your teleportation item. The one you took from Taker."


    Will raised his eyes unintentionally. This meant that someone did recognize him, even after he did his best to hide his face.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about."


    Will could never let go of this cloak, because it was awesome and useful. Besides, money isn''t worth much to him anyways.


    "I know you are the one who killed Taker, Jasmine''s friend."


    Will frowned. Jasmine must''ve been followed by this guy without her even realizing it.


    "And if I say no?"


    "Then I will do nothing." Morgan shrugged his arms.


    Will didn''t trust him one bit, he now had a hard time trusting people. And also Morgan has been tailing Jasmine for over a week, it didn''t seem like he would give up after a simple ''no'' coming from him.


    He remembered how Jim tried to kill Adaline to sell her corpse to earn money for his people. It''s the same right now but for selfish reasons instead.


    ''If I run away, they''ll find me through Jasmine, and they will find out about Jack. I don''t want to put him in trouble because of me.'' Will thought. And he cannot kill him because they were in the middle of the kingdom, and the last thing he wanted was to cause attention.


    ''Maybe if I kill him in secret it''ll be fine. I''ll try to lure him into a trap outside of the kingdom.'' Will was about to go with that plan, but something unexpected happened, it made his heart stop.


    "So? What will it be?" Morgan asked.


    "How about ''no'' Morgan." A voice could be heard inside Morgan''s head. He felt a heavy presence behind him going through his spine.


    The one behind him was none other than Roy Morgan, the Great Sage.


    Will, however, was horrified seeing this man''s status.


    {Hero}


    {HP: 100,000,000/100,000,000}


    His HP was 100 million! Only Apex monsters could achieve something like that.


    {Cursed: Dead men tell no tales: Cannot speak all, tell, or mention anything about a specific topic, or else death will be immediately cast on the victim}


    [Status: Exotic: Increased your lifespan after consuming an exotic flower}


    It was indeed shocking to see the Great Sage appear in front of him, especially after Will tried his best to avoid him at all costs.


    Will would have ever have thought that the Great Sage would be cursed. It looked like a very powerful one as well.


    ''Was this curse from the Witch?'' Will thought and it made sense to him, but he could be wrong.


    "Go back to the king, and tell him that if he makes another move on him or anyone else like this, I will have to take measures on my own hands, understood?"


    Morgan nodded. No matter what, the king wasn''t held as highly as the Great Sage. People could always replace him, but the Great Sage is irreplaceable.


    Roy touched Morgan''s head and Morgan disappeared from the spot.


    The people around him started to surround the Great Sage. It''s a rare sight to see him out in public.


    "Much better now. How are you-... hello?"


    The Great Sage didn''t notice that Will had disappeared before his very eyes.


    When the Great Sage was busy with Morgan, Will took this chance to instantly teleport himself out of the kingdom as fast as possible. He cannot confront the Great Sage right now, or probably ever.


    "Adaline, run back to the base!" Will got on Adaline and she ran at a terrifying speed.


    But, they saw an old man waiting for them already. It was none other than the Great Sage himself.


    "What?!" Will was scared, he was sure that he made a quick escape, but the Great Sage already caught up to him.


    Adaline stopped in front of him, she was trembling as she could sense an extremely powerful aura within him.


    "Ye are¡­ you are quite in a hurry." The Great Sage chuckled a bit, he was still levitating while his legs were crossed in a lotus position. And he always held firmly onto his staff, as to not give anyone a chance to steal it from him.


    Will didn''t speak or move at all. Out of all the people he didn''t want to encounter, he was at the top of his list.


    "Hmm¡­"


    The Great Sage circled around Will and Adaline, as if he was analysing them.


    "Well, it''s finally nice to meet you, Will."


    "..."


    Will looked at the Great Sage with fear. Will couldn''t hear him because the Great Sage was using telepathy to speak to him, and Will carried a special item that lets him block telepathy.


    "?" The Great Sage was confused but realized something.


    ''Ah, so that''s how it is.''


    The Great Sage took out a weird item from his robe, it looked like a metal ball that fit the palm of his hand, it looked like it was something like play doh from all the different types of colors it has, the colors were different and didn''t fit together.


    Then, a voice came from it.


    "Nice to meet you, Will."


    Will''s eyes opened behind his mask. How did he know his name when he was blocking his telepathy? And why was he talking through that object?


    "Don''t fret, I knew your name when I read Jasmine''s mind. This device allows me to speak to a group of people at the same time, since it''s troublesome talking through so many people using telepathy. I made it myself."


    When the Great Sage speaks to people using his telepathy, he can usually communicate with one person at a time, sometimes a few more. But, when the number of people gets to a point where he can''t handle it, it''s hard to communicate with them since they are all thinking of something, and he cannot make word of what was going on.


    It''s like trying to watch 100 movies at a same time, or watching a reaction video mashup on youtube.


    "Oh." Will found that weird but didn''t question it.


    "You have done a wonderful deed for us, some people would refer to it as a heroic act."


    "I only did¡­ what I had to do." Will responded calmly. He got used to the tension little by little.


    "Did you like my present?"


    "Present?"


    "That obsidian VIP badge. It''s not something I hand out to just anybody, even nobles don''t have the privilege to receive such a gift."


    Will now realized why he was given a VIP badge, he didn''t know it''s true value so he didn''t put much thought into it.


    When the Great Sage read Jasmine''s mind when she filed out a request, he knew that Will had to come since she was constantly thinking of honing her skills, which gave her no time at all to come back.


    "Then¡­ I guess, thank you?"


    Will did not appreciate the gift entirely, as he didn''t plan on coming back to the kingdom ever again unless he had to.


    "You can even use it to enter the kingdom and the guards will treat you better."


    "Um¡­ sure."


    Once again, he didn''t care about that.


    "What a powerful beast you have there. I haven''t seen an Adalis since my late 50''s or was that 60''s?"


    Adaline backed away a little bit from him, she didn''t trust strangers, especially when the one in front of her is considered one of the strongest heroes in existence.


    "Now, Will, I will get straight to the point, you''re not from this world, are you?"


    "Um¡­ what?"


    Will started to get cold shoulders. He didn''t want anyone else to know his true identity, especially him.


    "When you caught my attention when you took down Taker, I started researching you since not even I was able to track him down. So far, you have no prior records, no family records, birth certificates. I checked everything there is about you, leaving no stone unturned. Coincidentally, or it''s not a coincidence that you didn''t exist until 2 weeks after the heroes summoning, am I right?"


    Will needed to make an I.D. for his blacksmith badge, and to enter other villages without having to break it. He thought it would be helpful, but it basically gave away his identity.


    "And it looks like you didn''t even try your best to hide your identity, I read a few of the heroes'' minds, and 1 one of them, a girl, kept thinking about you, Will Connor."


    "Cass¡­"


    "Cassandra." The Great Sage added.


    Will closed his eyes and took a long breath. It looks like it didn''t matter how well he hid his identity from him, because he already knew.


    ''I knew I should''ve changed my name, but that isn''t a guarantee that it would hide my identity. Maybe I should''ve never taken the initiative to take down Taker¡­ no, those children that I saved would''ve died by now, many more could''ve died from his hands. And this cloth of teleportation was too good to pass.''


    Will secretly gripped his gun, he wasn''t going down without a fight. Even if his opponent is the Great Sage, he is going to fight him.


    "Looks like I was right, you are the missing 100th hero."


    "Yeah, I am." He admitted.


    "Okay, that''s all I needed to know. Goodbye."


    The Great Sage slowly floated back to the kingdom.


    "Wait! What?!"


    "Hm?"


    "You aren''t gonna force me to go with you?" Will asked in a very confused tone. He was absolutely sure that he would take him to the kingdom of Reyes where the other heroes are.


    "Why would I?"


    "Because I''m a hero."


    "You are indeed a hero, but what of it? I am also a hero."


    "Yes, but, I thought that you were going to use my abilities for the kingdom''s sake, work me to death like a slave."


    "Ah. You''re mistaken kid, I am only letting you go because you saved my friend''s granddaughter. You might know her as Grace."


    "Grace." Will didn''t expect that.


    "Silvas and I have been friends for over three centuries now, I care about the elves as much as I care about others, including animals." The Great Sage was referring to Adaline.


    Will secretly put his gun away after hearing that he had no intentions of taking him to the kingdom.


    "So that''s it? You''re gonna let me go away?"


    "I am. The other reason I''m letting you go is because so far you''ve done better than most people would expect. Most heroes would die if they found themselves alone in this world, but to me it looks like you don''t require my protection."


    What he didn''t know is that Will is only alive because of his system. If it were anybody else, they would have died within the first week.


    Will thought that the Great Sage had another reason to let him go, but he didn''t want to tell Will about it. Will didn''t even want to mention him about his curse.


    "Hold on, before you said that Sandra was thinking of me?" Will asked. Sandra is Cassandra for short.


    "Indeed, she does. She thinks about you all the time, your well being and such. She even asked the king and me if it was possible to send you and her family a message, no matter what price she has to pay, but obviously that isn''t possible and she feels horrible. Not even I am able to do something like that."


    The Great Sage felt a bit bad, but this isn''t new to him. Many heroes have been in the same situation as Sandra.


    Will, however, felt guilty. He had all this time to tell her, but he didn''t act on it.


    ''I cannot tell her that I am here. I don''t want anyone from the kingdom to know who I am. I was lucky that the Great Sage is an understandable guy.'' Will thought.


    "Can you give her a mess-"


    "It''s not my place to tell her anything." Great Sage interrupted Will as if he knew what he was about to say.


    "If you want to see her, then you have to do it on your own."


    "Hm¡­ that''s fair." Will understood, the man in front of him is the strongest in existence, he''s not a messenger. And besides, it would be better if they saw each other in person instead of giving her a message. But that time isn''t today.


    "Come, Adaline, let''s go back home¡­ and thanks, for letting me go and keeping this a secret." Will got on top of Adaline and they sped off.


    "No problem."


    As the Great Sage was about to leave, a giant red lizard wearing enchanted armor, on top of it was a man.


    ''A messenger of the Empire.'' That is the first thing that popped into his mind. The Fat Empress uses lizard mounts since that is the most common monster found where she rules.


    Dragons are also technically lizards, but these types of lizards can''t fly, and are more suitable on the ground. And also, it is much safer to tame a giant lizard than a dragon.


    "The Great Sage!"


    The messenger man didn''t expect the Great Sage to be outside of the kingdom. He hurriedly got off of his mount to give him a letter with an engraved sign attached to it.


    "This is to the Empress from the kingdom of Reyes to the men. Wait, no."


    He was very nervous right now which is why his line didn''t make much sense, as if one was reading a third rate cultivation manga/manhua/manhwa with a crappy translator who never went to any school and still somehow flunked all his classes.


    He''s merely a messenger, he''s nothing compared to someone as powerful as the Great Sage.


    "Hm."


    The letter flew from the man''s hands and it appeared in front of the Great Sage''s face.


    "I''ll took mine left then." The messenger got on his mount and left as fast as he could, even now he can''t speak clearly without messing up his wording.


    ''Let''s see¡­ I wrote this letter to let you know in advance that I am headed to the Reyes kingdom to talk about a business proposal. Signed, Empress Valerie.''


    The letter folded multiple times in front of him and it disappeared from his sight.


    ''That''s not good.''


    The Great Sage can only think of one thing that the Fat Empress wants, the heroes'' summoning circle.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Adaline began running again back to the base. The rumors are a thing, and it''ll be a matter of time before people realize the truth.


    "I need to blend my base so nobody can spot it. And I think I know how."


    Will''s base stood out. It was basically a stone building surrounded by grass. Ever since he and Adaline began living there, the surroundings had changed drastically. What was once a plain field was now a grassy-plain field.


    But, he had an idea on how to cover his base, by using a system exclusive craft.


    {Blueprint}


    This exclusive craft can basically /copy and /paste like in a minecraft game with commands added. However, he needs the crafting materials to craft it.


    For example, if he wants to build 100 wooden houses but doesn''t want to put in the work, he just needs to copy down one wooden house and make another one using his blueprint craft.


    But, he cannot craft something out of nothing. In order to make that exact same wooden house, he needs the exact same materials that he used to craft that house, on hand. Otherwise it won''t work.


    The blueprint craft cannot only make buildings, but also different types of structures.


    "Luckily for me, I know exactly what to build. However, I need a lot of wood to make that blueprint crafting recipe, which I lack."


    Will was going to chop down all the trees he has on his base, use it all up and turn it into paper. If he''s lucky, he''ll have enough to make a blueprint.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Inside the kingdom of Reyes at the training grounds, were over 20 people training, one of which was training them. Most of which showed to have various unique powers.


    These individuals were none other than the heroes that were summoned. Not all of the heroes are training, some of them were in their rooms, and some were doing their own little ''training'' according to the powers they were blessed with.


    The training ground was massive in size, which is understandable since this is the area that all heroes use to train when they are first summoned in this world.


    There were many objects scattered everywhere, shields, armor, swords, guns. There were also other people there who are doctors sort of, they are in charge of making sure that when the heroes are injured they are there to apply medical treatment like potions and such, even though heroes are born with natural regeneration.


    "Why are you working yourself to death, Sandra?"


    The one in charge of their training was none other than Shaun Quincy, the hero that was summoned before them.


    Shaun was wearing what looked like a military uniform like the ones that the U.S.A wears in the military. He was even standing in a tall and firm manner, like a military officer. On his back, was a magical spear.


    "I don''t want to be here for too long." Sandra was sweating and breathed heavily, Shaun however looked calm and cool.


    "I guess I understand, you want to see what this world has to offer, am I right?"


    "Not really. I want to find the way to go back home." Sandra has a belief that she is able to go back home, to see her family, to see Will.


    Unlike most people, some of them, like Sandra, had a life that they cherished, a life that they would never trade for.


    "I already told you, that isn''t possible. Not even the Great Sage, the hero who''s been here longer than us, is able to do that."


    "As long as there is hope, I will not rest until I find it." Sandra didn''t let that take away her hope of returning back home.


    "Then I wish you good luck, soldier!" Shaun put his hand over his forehead like in a military salute.


    "What?"


    "You have proven yourself long ago that you are ready to leave. I only kept you here a little longer because I want you to have experience when it comes to fighting for your life, which is inevitable the moment you set foot outside these walls."


    "Thank you." Sandra said.


    "What was that?"


    "Thank you, sir!" Sandra stood upright with her hand on her forehead like a military salute.


    "Better. Now, the rest of you lazy sons of bastards, stop jerking off and give me 100 pushups!" Shaun turned his attention to the other heroes.


    Sandra wiped the blood off her lip. Then her mouth curved into a smile.


    ''If there is a way to come here, then there has to be a way to go back. I will not rest until I find that way. To see you, mom, dad, brother, but also you¡­ Will.. Just wait for me, and I''ll be there.''

 Chapter 46 - Bruce

    "Adaline! Gather as much stone as quickly as you can!" Will said.


    No sooner when they arrived at their base, did they start working, especially Will. While he cut down trees, Adaline gathered all the stone that they had stored them in ?h?sts..


    After an hour of cutting down trees, Will was able to b?r?ly gather the amount of paper he needed to make a single blueprint.


    "So much for teamtrees¡­ now how the hell does this even work?" Will looked at the blueprint.


    The blueprint was basically a blue piece of paper, there was nothing special about it. If someone were to inspect it they would think it''s just ordinary paper.


    "I have an idea on how to cover my base, but I have no idea how to work this- gah! This is getting really old and repetitive!"


    It was a never ending cycle. When he finds something new about his system, he doesn''t know how it works, then he figures it out, then repeats.


    "Let''s see."


    Will remembered something, the system''s pencil. Since the very beginning he has had a brown book that had helped him see all of his crafting recipes that he had unlocked. But, there is also a pencil in it, however that pencil was useless.


    There was no use for this pencil other than writing down his own little definition on things like Adaline, or rare crafting recipes that he hasn''t been able to craft yet. It''s basically for writing extra details about the things that are in his book.


    "Maybe this pencil is meant for this?"


    Will took out the pencil, the pencil was part of his system, if he threw it away it''ll just reappear in his brown book.


    "This is why I failed art class." Will reminisced about the past but put it behind him.


    When he drew that imperfect circle, nothing happened.


    "Maybe this doesn''t work. But the fact that I was able to write on this blueprint has to mean something."


    If Will used the system''s pencil to draw on anything else, it won''t show. The fact that it worked on the blueprints meant that he was on the right path.


    "So this means that I am on the right path. What if I do this?"


    Will wrote down ''stone'' on the blueprint with a little arrow pointed at the imperfect circle.


    Contrary to his expectations, something appeared out of the bluescreen.


    {Would you like to make this structure?}


    {Yes} {No}


    "Wait, what? That''s pure B.S. Does this mean I need to make more blueprints in order to make more unique buildings!" Will got frustrated but pressed ''no'' now he knew how this worked at least.


    "That''s weird, I only specified what it was made of. I never specified how tall or big it should be." Will was even more confused than before. This system gave him more questions than answers.


    "I really hope this works."


    Will drew down what looked like a hill. He wrote down ''stone'' and pressed ''yes'' this is his plan.


    "If I can blend my stone castle with the surrounding area using these stone hills, no one should notice. Even my roof is made of stone should anyone fly over it."


    Will took his blueprint and held it like an ipad, but nothing happened.


    "...this is gonna be a long day."


    Meanwhile¡­


    Back in the kingdom of Reyes, two people had recently come out of the castle.


    Nothing much stood out from Sandra as she came out of the castle, she looked like a normal person wearing expensive armor. The only thing that stood out was the sniper rifle weapon on her back.


    "Are you ready?" Sandra looked at the person beside her.


    "Ready as I''ll ever be."


    This man is Bruce. He wore no armor, carried no weapons of any kind. The only thing he was wearing was his clothes that were gray, made out of cotton, but were tight but just enough for him to move around without feeling restricted.


    "You know you don''t have to come with me." Sandra said.


    "I know." Bruce was busy doing stretching exercises.


    "I still don''t understand why you decided to go with me."


    "Because a hero cannot go alone, he or she needs to take a companion with him to ensure their survival. And also, I really hate all of our classmates, except you. You''re the only one I trust."


    "No, yeah, I definitely understand you. But I wouldn''t say I hate them, more like¡­"


    "We just can''t tolerate them."


    "Exactly." Sandra chuckled because it was true.


    "Now, where should we go?" Bruce asked.


    "Shaun gave me this map. It lists out all the villages nearby."


    "Maybe those villages need our help. We should visit them all." Bruce said.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I want to help people, and the only way I can do that is by bringing these criminals to justice." Bruce took out a pile of wanted people list.


    "Oh, so that''s what you want to do?"


    "Indeed. Ever since I heard what that noble had done to those children, I couldn''t help but feel angry that people like him exist and are still out there."


    "Didn''t think you''d have a sense of justice."


    "Of course I do! It''s something my teacher told me to do. ''If I ever see someone in trouble, help them.'' "


    "He sounds like a good teacher." Sandra said.


    "My teacher is a woman. And she is the best! But, she also said ''before you can protect others, you need to learn how to protect yourself'' and he is correct."


    "When you say teacher, exactly what did she teach you?"


    "I met her since I was a kid, but she has taught me B.J.J. karate, taekwondo, wrestling, kick-boxing, muay thai."


    "Oh yeah, I remember now, you won a lot of medals. I remember our classmates telling me about your accomplishments."


    "Yeah, it was nothing much. I will never forget the day I won my first gold medal, when we were still in high school." Bruce got a little sentimental when he thought about that moment, as if it was more of a gloomy memory than a joyful one.


    "We should probably go before people recognize us. Where should we go?" Sandra examined the map once more.


    "Oh, I think I know where. This village over here." Bruce pointed at one of the villages on the map.


    "Why there?"


    "Because of them." Bruce showed Sandra two wanted posters, one was a normal looking girl. The other poster showed a man with a dragon-bone helmet covering his face.


    It was obvious who these are, Will and Grace.


    "Where did you get these?" Asked Sandra.


    "The garbage. Apparently someone ordered to take down all of these posters a few days ago, I think it was the day Taker got killed when they were taken down. They said that they took down these posters because we don''t have to worry about them anymore. They were really vague about it. Meaning that these two villains are still out there somewhere."


    "You want to take these two criminals down?"


    "I do. They''re both elves, they managed to kill many innocent people right before the soldiers could catch them. I cannot let people like them roam free and keep killing innocents."


    "Just these two? Aren''t there any more criminals out there?"


    "Surprisingly, no. Not that many. Usually bandits are taken down by either monsters, sorcerers, or guards. Any terrorists are immediately taken down by sorcerers and in some cases the Great Sage takes action. Taker was evaded everyone for so long because he acted fast, had a powerful magical item, and managed to escape long before anybody can report a missing child."


    "So, just these two then?" Asked Sandra.


    "No, there is also someone else named ''Clement'' who kidnapped the Princess. But I thought it''d be easier and much faster finding Bonnie and Clyde first." Bruce said with determination in his words and eyes.


    Despite all this time, no one has been able to find Clement and the princess.


    "Our hero abilities aren''t the best at tracking down people. Can I see that picture for a bit?" Sandra pointed at Will''s picture.


    "Sure." Bruce handed her the wanted poster sheets.


    "Hmmm¡­" Sandra took a good look at the poster.


    ''It looks like Will but not really. It''s hard to tell because of that dragon-bone helmet he has covering his face. And also, this poster states that he''s an elf, and also tanned. Will is certainly not tanned or an elf. If he was here, I know he''d come to see me as soon as possible.''


    Sandra''s eyes got watery, and tears formed and dripped onto the wanted poster.


    "Something wrong?"


    "No, nothing."


    "Oh my god! IT''S TWO MORE HEROES!" A little kid, who was with his mother, the same one who sold a picture to Will, over-dramatically yelled at the top of his lungs.


    The busy crowd of people heard him, and they all swarmed Bruce and Sandra. Nobody recognized them until the kid pointed them out.


    "O.M.G. can I have your autograph?" The woman asked Bruce.


    "With what ink and paper?"


    "Wait, I want to draw their faces!"


    "Draw a poster with me and them."


    "STEP ON MY GENITALS!"


    The crowd kept asking for weird and tiresome tasks.


    "We took too long." Bruce said.


    "Yeah¡­"


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Work! Work goddammit!" Will was having the toughest battle of his life, it was against none other than the annoying crafting system.


    "Is a simple instruction manual so much to ask? How do you expect me to figure this out all by myself?" Will got angry and started yelling at the sky.


    Adaline was watching Will acting like a psychopath. If she could say anything, she''d tell him ''get a girlfriend'' and that''s it.


    "Well, this blueprint is a complete bust! So many trees wasted."


    Will looked at and noticed the sun was setting down.


    "At least it''s getting darker. Perfect time then. I am gonna do something I haven''t done in a while."


    Will gathered all the stone in his hands, stored most of it in his bracelet and his ring that he had.


    When he made that trade with Josh, Will forgot to give back the ring to him. It wasn''t his intention, but he''d much rather keep it to himself than to give it back.


    "Spending all nighters building. This is gonna be boring as hell! Oh well."


    Will covered his entire base with stone. By the time he was done, it looked like a giant hill.


    "No, no, no, no! This is WAY too big and it looks unnatural. Didn''t think my base would be bigger than I expected."


    Will wanted to make several identical stone hills, and much other smaller hills to make it seem natural. Only a small hole was open to let sunlight hit the camels, apparently they needed the heat of the sun to survive, and couldn''t use anything else as a form of substitute.


    If he were to make other several identical hills, it would take him days due to its enormous size and the amount of time it took him to build one.


    "And this idea was so good in my head. Not only that, but I wasted my blueprint on this, and I DON''T EVEN KNOW HOW IT WORKS!"


    Will grabbed his blueprint, and out of anger he attempted to crush it, but it wasn''t ordinary paper. It could indeed crumble up, but later it would revert back to its original form.


    "Why won''t this work! I NEED YOUR HELP!"


    Then, to his surprise, an exact replica of what he drew appeared in his eyes.


    What it looked like to him was like this: Will would only see the blue linings from the drawing in his blueprint. The size however was much smaller than expected. The hill that he drew was no bigger than his foot. Think of it as if it was a hologram from a movie, but only Will can see it.


    "How did I do that? And why is it so small?"


    Looking at it carefully, the drawing that he drew on the blueprint was gone, as if he had never drawn anything on it.


    The blue linings that appeared beside his feet disappeared and reappeared on the blueprint.


    Will examined the blueprint once more treating it nice and gently compared to five minutes ago.


    "Wait, don''t tell me." Will failed to realize something, it was so simple.


    Will touched the blueprint with his finger, and it appeared in front of him again.


    "I''m done. I''m a failure to humanity. I''mma go hang myself. Adaline, take care." Will threw the blueprint and went to kill himself for not realizing this sooner.


    Adaline was beside him and kept looking at him weirdly. Even if what he said was true he''d just respawn back.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Ahahahah! SO MUCH FRIGGIN'' MONEY!" Somebody was enjoying his wealth today,


    Josh Jones and his harem were parading around the kingdom as if they owned it.


    "It was definitely a good idea to take that job. Not a lot of people are willing to pay that much for dragon corpses." The Sorceress smiled. Dragon corpses are expensive.


    "It''s all thanks to hero Josh Jones for taking down those dragons."


    "Indeed, this calls for a celebration. Here, you take these. You deserve it." Josh handed his harem over half the gold coins he earned. It was inside another magical ring that the kingdom provided him.


    "Wait, but why? This is so much money?" Felicia couldn''t accept so much money, especially from a hero who saved her.


    "You guys helped me out so much, it''s only right I do this. Buy whatever you want, clothes, food, jewels, go crazy."


    "Then, we thank you." The Sorceress did not reject the offer and took Felicia and the dragon loli with her.


    Seeing them spending his hard earned money brought a smile to his face, like a typical hero cliche.


    "I''m so glad to be here." Josh said to himself.


    Felicia, who was dragged by the Sorceress, didn''t like the idea of spending his money.


    "Naveah, we literally didn''t do anything! It isn''t right to spend the hero''s money when he did all the work." Felicia said very guilty about it.


    "Felicia, you poor, innocent girl, the hero gave us this money, there is no reason to reject it.'' Naveah, the seductive Sorceress, smiled at her and she played around with a magical ring that let her carry around a bunch of stuff.


    "It just doesn''t feel right."


    "Think about it, wouldn''t it be insulting to the hero, a legendary figure, if we were to reject his kind offer?" Naveah got closer to Felicia''s face.


    "Ah. You''re right!" Felicia didn''t think about that. Rejecting his generosity is like spitting on his face.


    "And besides, it''s not like we didn''t do anything, we did the most important thing." Naveah said.


    "Really? What''s that?"


    "Of course we were there for moral support. Didn''t it feel great to cheer him up every single time he killed a dragon?"


    "It actually did. Maybe you''re right. Maybe what we did was good enough for the hero to give us half of his hard earned money.(It''s not)" Felicia completely agreed with Naveah.


    "Then let''s spend this money!"


    "Now that I think about it, doesn''t it seem cruel to have killed many dragons in front of Maid?"


    The Dragon loli was dragged by them, but she couldn''t understand a word they said, because they spoke two different languages.


    "Nah, she doesn''t seem to mind it, right?" Naveah looked at Maid.


    Maid merely stood there and didn''t say anything.


    "See? When she''s silent and has a deadpan expression, it means that she agrees."


    "Wow, Naveah, I didn''t think you could read dragons so easily!"


    "What can I say? I am that amazing. And I know she''s enjoying being a part of the hero''s companions, like you and I."


    And so the useless harem began spending the money, while dragging the poor dragon loli.


    Josh was staying still and thinking about something.


    ''I am worried about Maid, doesn''t seem like she''s enjoying spending time together with a hero. Man, what did I do wrong? Shouldn''t she already be begging to be my slave by now like those mangas that I read? Maybe it''s because we can''t understand each other. I wonder if there''s a way. I should ask the king if there''s a way.''


    "O.M.G. Another hero? Josh Jones? What is with our luck today?!"


    The same kid from earlier yelled at the top of his lungs, and everyone began swarming Josh Jones.


    "Hero Josh Jones! You were so amazing when you took down that Apex dragon!"


    "Is it true that you have a 5-stripped sorceress accompanying you?"


    "Can you solve my math problem?"


    "Lucas! The respectable hero doesn''t have time to do your homework!"


    Josh however enjoyed the spotlight.


    ''I am so glad to be alive.''


    "Josh?" A man''s voice called out to him.


    The swarm of people made a path connecting Josh with Sandra and Bruce.


    "Bruce? Cassandra? Did Shaun let both of you go?" Josh didn''t expect them to come out.


    "He did. Just now."


    "Strange, I expected maybe Pete, Henry, Victoria, or Britney to have been released sooner."


    "Yeah, those four, and you, have the most destructive powers out of the other heroes."


    "My power is indeed destructive. It''s simply amazing, combined with my other ability it''s simply overpowered." Josh liked his powers so much purely because of how powerful it is, it can even kill dragons with ease.


    Josh has the most destructive power that it''s almost unheard of. What made him different from those 4 is simple, he has a second ability, a large stamina pool.


    All heroes have one special ability, some have copies of others like healing powers. But, in some cases, some heroes are born with a secondary power.


    Josh could spam so many of his fireball attacks that it was unreal, thanks to his large stamina pool. If he wasn''t born with that second ability, he could never produce such a massive number of destructive fireballs without years of practice.


    "Wait, Bruce, you changed your last name to ''Man'' right?" Asked Josh.


    "I did. After my idol ''Ip Man''"


    That''s a good idea! Why didn''t I think of it? I should perhaps change my name to ''superman'' that sounds cool."


    "Do you want to get sued?" Sandra asked.


    "Yeah, you''re right. Maybe ''gasp'' ''The invincible superman'' that sounds so much cooler."


    "That name is also taken." Sandra said.


    "Really? By who?"


    "Hayato Furinji."


    "Who the hell is that?" Josh has never heard of him.


    "He''s from a popular manga. A friend of mine, Alex, may his soul rest in peace, recommended this to me. And my brother and father are also into this sort of stuff so yeah..." Sandra said.


    "Well¡­ how about¡­ Harry Potter."


    "Really?"


    "Why not? It''s a different world, and I got a wand!"


    "Is that why you asked the blacksmiths to make you a wand instead of something else?" Bruce asked.


    "Well, yeah. Who doesn''t like Harry Potter? Wait, I had an idea: Why don''t we form a team?"


    "No, that''s fine."


    "Are you sure? Because I already have several companions accompanying me to an epic adventure."


    "No, just us two is fine." Bruce and Sandra denied his request.


    "If you say so." Josh shrugged his shoulders.


    "Hero Josh Jones!"


    Naveah, waved to Josh and said, in front of a crowd, "We''re going to try out new clothes! Why don''t you help us pick them?! We can even try out swimsuits if you want!"


    "Why did you say that in front of a group of people?" Felicia was embarrassed.


    "Because."


    Josh''s formed a creepy, perverted smile.


    "Excuse me, but booty- duty, calls!" Josh ran to them. While the majority of people followed Josh Jones, since he is more popular than the other heroes.


    "Looks like the only epic adventure they''re venturing to is in their pants." Bruce smirked at his own comment.


    "Doesn''t he feel anything at all?" Sandra said.


    "What do you mean?" Asked Bruce.


    "Doesn''t he miss his family? It''s like he completely threw out the life he had on the garbage because he was dragged into this world."


    "Indeed, I miss my teacher, my family. But, what else can we do? No hero has ever been able to go back to our world." Bruce said.


    "Bruce, as long as there is hope, there is still a chance." Sandra will not lose hope.


    "I know." Bruce didn''t know how to feel to be honest.


    Most heroes don''t know how to feel about being transported to another world against their will. Are they just to accept it as it is?


    Bruce did like his old world, his teacher, family, but this world opened up a new world of possibilities.


    ''I don''t know how to feel about this. At least, when Sandra realizes that going back is impossible, maybe she can forget about Will and perhaps move on over¡­ to me.'' Bruce thought.


    If he had to thank the gods about one thing, is that Will didn''t teleport with them. This way he has a chance.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will was sitting in the dark with a smile on his face.


    "I actually did it."


    The entire area around had completely changed. What was once a grassy-plain field, it was now a new terrain of hills. The hills spanned a radius of several kilometers. There was no way that anybody, even a sorcerer, who could fly, would be able to find his base.


    Adaline would grow plants and trees over the hills, that way she could sense someone approaching. The trees were only possibly because Will planted acorns in those spots.


    "But it''s not enough. I need to keep expanding it. At least until the rumors die down."


    When the sun rised he finally rested.

 Chapter 47 - Cursed Enchantments

    "Are you sure it''s here?"


    A group of sorcerers, 3 men, two of which were young, and 1 young woman, were flying around the deserted lands searching for something or someone. The weakest of them was only 2-stripes. The strongest was 4-stripes. Their robes were fluttering due to the speed they were flying right now.


    "This is where the rumors state he lives. Where exactly does he live? I have no idea. The deserted land spans over millions of kilometers." One of the men said.


    "Why was I even dragged with you three? I have better things to do than debunking false rumors." The young sorceress said.


    No one truly believed that the 100th hero would willingly live here. But there are always those who believe in such baseless rumors and would go as far as to search for it themselves.


    "We know, but can you imagine what we would get if we find the 100th hero? That is if the rumors are true."


    "Yeah, it is tempting, but logically speaking, why would a hero hide and live in the deserted lands? That makes no sense."


    Having the identity of a hero they are guaranteed riches, fame, power. Who would give all that up to live in seclusion?


    "Who knows. Heroes are from another world that differs from our own. We can''t comprehend their way of thinking."


    "We''ve been flying for hours now. This is like the time years ago when you heard rumors of a certain n?k?d woman living in the forest, who looked a lot like the princess Harmony."


    "It was worth a shot!" The one leading them shouted in anger.


    "No, no it wasn''t. We found nothing! Nothing!"


    "So what? I have a little crush on the princess, is that weird?"


    "No, not at all."


    "If only that damn Clement didn''t kidnap her, I would have still been able to see her from a distance. Poor, Harmony. Who knows what kind of perverted, twisted, vile things that son of a bitch is doing to her." He clenched his fist in anger as he teared up.


    Meanwhile¡­


    In a certain part of the lands, were two people riding a horse that was frollicking. No monsters or any other signs of wildlife could be seen nearby..


    "Are we there yet?" Asked Harmony in a singing and happy tone.


    "No."


    "Are we there yet?"


    "NO."


    "Are weee there yeeeeet?"


    "NO!"


    "Are. We. There¡­.. Yet?"


    "NO!!!"


    This went on for hours non-stop.


    Meanwhile¡­


    As the sorcerers were flying, they spotted something abnormal on the ground.


    "Grass? Growing in the deserted lands?"


    They flew for hours and have never seen a blade of grass. And now there were several patches and even more as they continue to fly..


    "With the intense heat of the sun, they should have dried up long ago." The sorceress found this a bit interesting.


    "Did you forget? The deserted land wasn''t always like this. A few hundred years ago, this was once a beautiful land filled with life, it looked no different from a paradise, or so I''ve heard. Maybe it''s finally changing back after so long?"


    "I''m guessing it''s global warming."


    "But this doesn''t make sense. The intense heat from the sun is too much for anything else to handle. We can handle it because of the enchantments we are wearing protect us, but that doesn''t mean anybody else can live here."


    Before they came, some of them left their mounts behind so they wouldn''t suffer from the intense heat.


    "Correct if I''m wrong, but isn''t the deserted lands known for having plain lands, homeless people, and intense heat?" The young sorceress asked.


    "Yeah."


    "Then where did those hills come from?"


    The hills in front of them were numerous in numbers. Some were small, some were as tall as a small mountain, it varied in sizes. Most of the hills now had freshly grown grass growing on top of it, as well as trees.


    "That is strange. Then again does it matter? It''s just hills." One of them didn''t put much thought into it.


    "We should rest here for a bit, and get some shade."


    "Good idea."


    The sorceres flew down and sat behind one of the biggest hills. After venturing through a long and dry journey through the deserted lands, they were tired.


    "You think the 100th hero would actually live here?" One of them asked.


    "I really doubt it. I cannot even imagine a hero living here under these conditions. Normal people would have run back to seek the kingdom for refuge."


    "Many people have already lost their homes from bandits and monster attacks, but mostly from monsters. The kingdom cannot give everyone refuge, which is why people have no choice but to live here."


    "It''s sad really. The kingdom and the Great Sage do their best to protect the villages, even making more villages for people to live in and granting them more protection, but that means that we occupy more space, and that means less space for monsters and then those monsters attack the villages and destroy them."


    "Not to mention the black sun caught people off-guard, and it caused numerous deaths and destruction."


    They began chatting non-stop.


    Not too far from the group, a certain individual was looking at them from a distance. This is Will.


    Adaline informed him that several people had recently arrived near his base. Will made a small hole on the ground and peeked through it. The group of sorcerers had no idea someone was there with them.


    "Looks like hiding is the only thing I can do for now. I''ll hide underground until those rumors about me start dying down."


    Will did a good job at hiding his entire base. The only problem was the camels who didn''t feel like living underground. But at this moment Will didn''t care about his livestock, hiding his identity was more important.


    "Adaline, keep a close eye on those sorcerers. Tell me when more arrive or when they leave."


    Adaline nodded.


    Will did not place any sentries outside his base since that would obviously give away his location. All of his sentries were still at his base. But they would only attack if someone were to somehow break in the base.


    "Now, for the moment I''ve been waiting for."


    Will made sure to make a giant cave big enough for dragons to fit it. It was hidden right under his base.


    He got his bracelet and took out a corpse of a cyclops. There were no more than 9 in his bracelet but only took out one because they were too big to fit in his hidden base at the same time.


    "This is how many I killed when I ventured in the south. Plus some orcs, plant monsters, and ogres."


    Will took out a giant, enchanted knife. This knife is meant for carving monsters, like how hunters skin animals.


    {Gold-knife: Enchanted}


    Since a monster''s skin is tough, especially dragons, it required something much more than an ordinary knife, and this knife was perfect.


    It was called a knife but it''s more like a blade, it was purely made out of gold except the handle, which was made out of exotic wood. The blade was as long as Will''s arm.


    Will could have made a knife made out of steel-grass, but he wanted to see how each blade does, this includes iron, copper, steel knives. He needed to know which metal is the sharpest, most durable, and performance overall. And also because he was bored and just made some enchanted knives because he felt like it.


    Will took the hearts of all the cyclops one by one. When he finished with one, he stored the meat and bones in the ?h?sts and proceeded with the next one. He gave a few of their corpses to Adaline who enjoyed devouring them.


    "I can never get used to that smell. God it''s so gross!" Will found the smell of a cyclop''s insides disturbing, it made him shiver in disgust.


    "I remember Jasmine said something about monster essence. Which is how magical items are made, from using the essence of monsters. But, I have no idea how to extract a monster''s essence."


    Will has come to realize long ago that magical items are indeed overpowered in their own ways, his magical gun that he stole from Clement, a ring and a bracelet that acted as a sort of inventory so he could store his items inside including the ?h?sts. His cloth of teleportation was another magical item. They were all useful and powerful.


    "I also need to fix this magical gun. But I have no idea how to get the last material in order to fix it."


    {Handgun(magical)]


    {Crafting recipe: requires: 20x iron bars, 30x-low tier mana ore, 10 steel bars}


    Mana ore is something he has never come across. The only reason he knew about this new ore is because this gun was made from it, which meant that the moment he touched it he had unlocked materials related to this ore.


    But, he never bothered looking at it mainly because he had absolutely no idea how to get it. He had forgotten about it until now which is why he never mentioned it to anybody.


    "Cobalt, mana ore, man I need a lot of stuff to advance further. Oh well."


    Will took out only one dragon corpse out of his ring out of all the ones he bought from the hero Josh Jones. But, that would prove to be a mistake on his part.


    Once the dragon popped out of his ring, it fell on the ground making a large *thump* noise that the sorcerer''s outside heard. Will stood still from fright, he was looking forward to this so much that he had forgotten the sorcerer''s outside.


    "Did you hear that?" Asked the young sorceress.


    "Probably my stomach. I''m starving."


    "No, not that, listen." The group of sorcerers quieted down but heard nothing.


    "I hear nothing. What did you hear?"


    "A faint noise, like as if something heavy hit the ground."


    "Something heavy? Axel, I think your mom fell and she caused a huge earthquake that could be heard all the way from here."


    "Oh ha ha ha, very clever." Axel laughed sarcastically and then splashed a cup of water at his friend''s face. They then began having a small water fight between them.


    "Don''t waste water!"


    Will didn''t move an inch for a while. Once he realized that they didn''t bother to pay attention to what the sorceress heard, he resumed to what he wanted to do, take out the heart of a dragon.


    "This sort of reminds me of RL craft, where I''d kill a dragon and take its scales and whatever else I could harvest. Too bad that I have to do it by hand like this. It''s much more tiring, and more disgusting. Eugh! Never knew that dragons could smell so bad."


    Will did his best to ignore the pungent odor of the dragon''s corpse. Using the blade in his hand he carved the dragon''s heart out. Merely using that blade wasn''t enough so he had to use a steel-grass type blade with a level 5 enchant to help him cut down the dragon''s scales out of its body, which can be used as a type of armor or shield.


    Finally, he was able to harvest every little part of the dragon''s body. It only took him 6-8 hours due to its size.


    "Whew, finally done. Next time I''ll just do the heart." Not willing to go through that again, Will planned on taking out the other dragon''s hearts another day.


    And then he combined the dragon''s heart, and the cyclop''s eye, and the super power source generator to finally make the {Cursed power source generator}


    The new power generator formed on his hands. It looked honestly creepy, as if it was something out of a lovecraft story.


    The power source used to resemble a bit of a small music stand but with all types of jewellery embedded on it. Now it had an eye on the base, it was alive since it was looking directly at Will. And also, one could hear a faint heartbeat coming from it.


    "Wow, that''s very disturbing. I did not expect this at all."


    Will was more amazed than scared at the moment.


    "Do my powers originate from lovecraft¡­ nah, no way. Although if I think about it it does have the word ''LoveCRAFTianhorror'' in its name, and I do have the crafting system, and there was also that time with Herobrine being a thing that used to scare the shit out of kids back then including me¡­ not only that but Terraria also had those Cthulhu monsters like the eye of Cthulhu, the Brain of Cthulhu, the fish of Cthulhu¡­ Holy crap now that I think about it it might just make sense and I am just completely overthinking this and should stop now."


    There was no way that those two could ever be related, only the names are familiar but that''s about it.


    However, that does not change the fact that this cursed power source generator did look ominous.


    "Can you understand me? Blink twice if you do." Will asked the cursed power source generator.


    But the giant eyeball did not blink at all. It merely stared at Will.


    "Alright then."


    Will touched the cursed power source generator to see what new enchantments it could offer him. And sure enough, new and powerful enchants were added, including a new section called {cursed enchants}


    Will scrolled through all of the new cursed enchantments.


    {Curse of blindness: Grants blindness}


    {Curse of diabetes: Constantly grants diabetes}


    {Curse of strength: Deprives strength}


    {Curse of boundness: Bounds something to the target}


    And the list goes on.


    "Ew, diabetes? Really? On second thought that might just be pure evil. But how do these enchantments work?"


    Will wasn''t sure how these new cursed enchants work. Let''s say if he were to put {Curse of diabetes} on a sword, would the curse affect the one holding the sword, or the one who the sword cuts down?


    Or if he wears armor and applies the same enchant, would that affect the one who wears the armor or the one who attacks him while wearing the armor?


    "Only one way to find out."


    Will made a sword out of pure stone merely because he had a lot of excess stone left from blending his base with stone hills.


    He then hesitated on applying a cursed enchantment on the stone sword.


    {Curse of cringe: Constantly recall cringey moments in one''s life}


    "Ya, this won''t work, just by reading the description I''m already recalling cringey moments in my life." Will clenched his eyes shit upon recalling a certain memory from his past.


    Many years ago¡­


    Inside of his house, Alex entered the basement where Will had just finished watching a movie.


    "Hey, Alex!" Will said.


    "Yeah?"


    Will wore a sombrero hat because it''s the only hat he could find, and also closed his left eye.


    "Do ya fear death-ah? Do ya fear that dark abyss-ah!" Will said in a weird and raspy accent for some reason.


    Alex looked at Will for a moment, trying to process what he was doing.


    "Davy Jones? From Pirates of the Carribean?"


    "YES! THANK YOU!"


    Years later Alex always brought up that moment whenever he could.


    Back to the present¡­


    "Why did I have to show that to not only Alex, but also Sandra?" Will cringed at that thought.


    "Then again, those two were probably the only ones who recognized that movie. No one else did when I asked them. Man, those were good times."


    Will then decided to apply the {Curse of blindness} to the sword, because anything else seemed too cruel, or disgusting to go through.


    However, something stopped him from progressing.


    {Requires soul stone to apply cursed enchantment}


    "Soul stone? What the heck is a soul stone?"


    Not sure what it was, Will looked it up on his book. And he actually found what a soul stone was. Apparently when he crafted the cursed power source generator, new things were added to his book soon after.


    {Empty Soul stone}


    {Unlike its name it does not have anything to do with a soul. Kill any living beings while holding this stone, it also works if you store it in your inventory, once you do the soul stone will fill up. The stronger the target you kill the faster it''ll fill up}


    {Crafting materials required: Diamond x1}


    The soul stone in the book looks like a shiny human skull.


    "Oh great. More killing means more work for me. At least they''re easy to craft since I can now find diamonds easier¡­ wait."


    Will was flipping the pages, when he saw another type of stone.


    {Empty: Enchanting stone}


    {Enchant this stone with any enchantment you want, it can hold up to an indefinite number of enchants at once, but the more enchants it has the more it costs to apply. You can then apply the enchants that are inside this stone to any weapon, armor, tool you want}


    {Crafting materials: Diamond x1}


    The enchanting stone in the book looks like a shiny star with 9 small pointed arrows.


    "Wait, this is the method to add more enchants to my weapons? But, that doesn''t make sense! I clearly went through this book page by page, not missing a single thing, and yet this enchanting stone pops out of¡­ nowhere."


    Will realized something, it''s not like he missed this page, but rather it was just added at the same time the soul stone was added.


    "When I find the one who gave me this system, I will punch his face."


    If he had known about this earlier it could have saved him so much pain and trouble mining and killing.


    "I wish they added this when I first got my first power source generator and not AFTER I got this cursed power source generator."


    If he had known about this sooner, he''d already have maxed out his armor and weapons with enchants.


    "But that does require a lot of diamonds. I need diamonds to make a soul and enchanting stone, as well as use them to enchant stuff. Well, back to mining it is."


    Seeing as how he was going to need a lot of diamonds and minerals, he was going to start mining to find as many diamonds as he could.


    "But first, I need to enchant my pickaxe with all the mining enchantments I can possibly add."


    An evil smirk appeared behind his mask. He was going to abuse this power however he wished. It''s like having an unfair advantage over people in a multiplayer server in any game, but there was no GM or owner to block his progress.


    {Metal-grass pickaxe: Exotic: Enchanted}


    {Enchantment: Mining speed+ V}


    {Enchantment: Durability V}


    {Enchantment: Loot miner V: Increases your chance to multiply the loot you mine by 5x}


    {Enchantment: Super drill V: Increases how much you can mine at once every time you swing your pickaxe}


    {Enchantment: Auto smelter I: Smelts the ores you mine with this tool as soon as you mine it}


    Will got a bunch of mining enchants and applied the most powerful ones to his pickaxe.


    Sometimes his enchantments would have a level I enchant instead of a V even though it''s technically a maxed out enchant, like the infinity ammo enchant he applied to his gun. Will doesn''t know why that is but that''s how it is. But it made sense to Will, what would be the difference between a level I or V infinite ammo enchant? Most likely because there is no difference.


    Not only that, but his pickaxe looked very different now, as if the blue-fire glow that is surrounding it is brighter, and fiercer than before.


    It might be due to the high level of the enchantments and also because he applied a ton of enchantments to it. According to what Jack and Sam told him, in this world it''s impossible to enchant a weapon more than once.


    "Man, this pickaxe is looking more badass than before. Adaline, want to help me test out this new pickaxe?"


    Adaline shrugged her shoulders and went down the mines with him.


    "Okay, let''s see how this goes."


    Will gently tapped the granite layer, and a huge portion of it was gone. More than a two meter radius of that granite was gone and it all dropped on the ground.


    "..." Will.


    "..." Adaline.


    "Holy¡­ this is amazing!" Will exclaimed in shock. Not even Adaline could mine that much in such a short amount of time.


    "Oh ya, I am definitely going to abuse this pickaxe for a LONG time." Without giving it more thought Will began mining and mining deeper and deeper. His speed right now improved vastly compared to before, there was simply no comparison.


    Even Adaline, who could have mined faster than him before, could only stand back and watch because she could never catch up to his mining speed.


    Will watched as all the minerals and ore he mined also multiplied and dropped on the ground, he ignored those for now and continued mining.. Grinding is one of his greatest p???sur?s.

 Chapter 48 - The ambition of an elf

    A few days later.


    Outside of a village, two people, a man and a woman, got off their horse and headed to the village that was doing well. Since this village still hasn''t been recognized as a part of the kingdom there were no soldiers standing guard.


    They covered their faces using hats, face masks, and 2 different pairs of sunglasses.


    "I''m hungry." The woman, also known as Princess Harmony, held her grumbling stomach tightly with her hand.


    "Like that isn''t the 100th time you''ve said that. Now, whatever you do, don''t-" Clement was interrupted.


    "Take off my mask, talk to others, or try to escape, I know, and don''t worry. I won''t." She happily and tightly held onto his arm.


    Clement didn''t know how to feel about Harmony''s state of mind. This is not how he wanted this to go. It wasn''t within his expectations that she would develop a severe case of Stockholm syndrome. At most times he thought about dumping her back to the kingdom where she belongs, but then all of his actions, the hard work that he had put on his for some time would have been all for naught.


    Upon entering the village, people were awfully cheery as if there was a festival going on, music played, people were dancing, laughing, eating, playing. There were even soldiers patrolling the area.


    "We better go." Clement did not want to go into a village with guards, because there is a chance they will recognize him despite covering his face.


    "But the nearest village is at least half a day''s travel with Esmeralda, and it''s already under the protection of the kingdom. And besides, I don''t think anyone would suspect that you would enter a village with soldiers on it."


    "Hm, you have a point. Nobody would think that."


    More and more villages are being built each time, and each of those villages are being granted protection by the kingdom. If a new village is built, it won''t take long for them to be forced under the protection of the kingdom.


    Lately most of the new villages have been almost instantly granted protection due to many reasons, a few of them being: collecting tax money from the villagers, protecting people from any danger, but most importantly Clement.


    The king thought that if all of the new villages were to be kept a close eye on, then that would limit Clement''s resources and ability to move freely. With most of the villages under his rule it would back Clement into a corner.


    "You both came to the festival for the cause?"


    Clement and Harmony were both met by a young girl, this girl would be familiar to Will as it is one of the girl''s that was kidnapped by Taker, but was saved by Will, her name is Kat.


    "The cause?" Harmony asked.


    "Since Taker and the noble who committed those killings are dead, we''re raising money to help those families who lost their children. People here can pay to eat, play, dance, and all the money that we earn here goes to those families."


    "But, that was some time ago. People are still doing that?" Clement was confused, but if that''s what they wanted to do then sure, why not?


    "Yup. My daddy, and mommy, and their friends helped set up this so we could help them."


    "Kat, don''t run away like that." Kat''s father, picked up her daughter and carried her back to the pregnant lady who is due to have a child any minute now.


    Kat''s parents, when their daughter got kidnapped, they prayed and prayed to God, or someone to help them. Religion is not a thing in this world because the Great Sage forbids it since it could cause a lot of unnecessary problems. However, heroes after him have taught people to pray to give them a sense of comfort and faith.


    Kat''s parents prayed and asked that if their daughters returned to them safely, they would do anything to help those families who suffered because of Taker. And sure enough, they kept their end of the deal.


    "That''s nice, isn''t it?" Harmony smiled behind her mask.


    "It''s wrong." Clement stated.


    "Why is it wrong?"


    "No, not this. The kingdom has the resources to compensate the families, but all they did was kill a noble, and they weren''t the ones who brought him down, it was a sorceress who did their jobs. It''s just like them to not take responsibility for their actions."


    Nobles are the descendants of heroes, and are also a part of the kingdom. Whatever good or bad deed they do, it reflects on the kingdom.


    Harmony didn''t say anything. It''s true what he said, her parents, the king and queen of that kingdom, did not compensate their families because they had many excuses.


    For example: The heroes need better gear. A mutant dragon recently attacked their kingdom. A possibility that the Empress might visit the kingdom and have to be prepared, and so on.


    It was many, many families who suffered over the years. And those families demanded compensation from the kingdom since it was their noble who basically planned it all. However, the king wasn''t willing to spend so much of his resources on his people, but would rather spend most of their resources on the heroes.


    The black tower, where the Great Sage mages his income from various requests from people, does not belong to the kingdom but the Great Sage instead. No one knows what he does with that money other than pay the ones he employs in his tower.


    "Well, let''s just eat. Do not split up from me."


    "I promise!" Harmony, with a smile on her face, clings tightly to Clement''s arm. Her bountiful br??sts pressing his arm.


    "Welcome. To stay or to go?" A male servant came up to them, it was an old man who was fairly tall, had a good build despite his age.


    "We''d like it to go. Give us whatever we can afford with this." Clement places a few silver coins on the table. It was his entire fortune for now.


    "Running a little low on funds? Well, even this little does help the cause." The old man smiled and took the money.


    "Do you not have any money left?" Harmony asked with a concerned voice.


    "I used it all up to buy the materials I required to kidnap you, it wasn''t cheap. Most of it I had to spend on bribes."


    "Aw, you''re willing to spend your money like that on me?"


    "Not what I meant."


    "Hey, waiter! A table for four please!"


    "And bring us something cold to drink!"


    Clement tipped his hat downward to hide his face, while he hid Harmony behind him. Harmony took this chance to hug Clement from behind without being pushed back by him. Clement didn''t care and slowly dragged her to the corner of the room.


    "Axel, this is the last time I am ever going to follow you to confirm false rumors!" The sorceress angrily said.


    "Same here."


    "Count me in!"


    "Come on guys, this was worth a shot." Axel said sadly.


    "No, not worth a shot. This is like the time with the Princess Harmony thing all over again!"


    "Well, on the bright side, this wasn''t as bad as that time, right?"


    "It was! It was just as bad! Only this time all of you were idiots enough to waste the water like you were kids playing in a pool!"


    "Yeah, we''re idiots." One of them agreed.


    "If it weren''t for Melanie bringing some more water beforehand, we wouldn''t have made it this far."


    "Well, there was grass and trees growing in the deserted lands, we could have found water there if we dug." Axel said.


    "Oh, you mean water that is probably contaminated? Yeah sure, let''s risk our lives and health drinking dirty, contaminated water and possibly die from a disease. MARVELOUS IDEA, AXEL!" Melanie sarcastically said.


    "Well, now we know that the hero isn''t there as the rumors said. So we''re not going back there again." Axel said.


    "Good."


    Clement was listening attentively. He hasn''t heard of the rumors because he''s been on the run lately. However, this gave him a new lead on finding Will. After all, Clement is one of the few people who knows Will''s hero identity.


    "But, there is this place where I''d like for us to go." Axel scratched his head in embarrassment. He knew that they were mad at him now but he needs to ask them about this.


    "Where to now?" Melanie asked in an annoyed tone.


    "I heard that there is a dragon under the black mountains, sleeping, like a king of dragons. We should go there and check it out."


    "..."


    "That idiot. That rumor about a king of dragon''s living underneath the mountains has been going on for years now. No way that''s true." Melanie said.


    The rumor about the dragon living under the black mountains has been going on for ages ever since the black mountains were discovered. There were many rumors as to why the dragons and cyclops were fighting over the black mountains.


    The old waiter came to Clement and Harmony with a bag of food.


    "I added a little something extra just for you two." The waiter winked at them and went to serve the other guys.


    "Let''s go." Clement didn''t want to waste another second in the village. The longer they stay the more likely they''ll get found out.


    "''Kay ''kay." Harmony attached herself to his side and walked side by side like a couple.


    Axel, who was just kicked out of the restaurant by his friends, could only stare at envy at those two.


    "Damn. That''s how I envision myself with Princess Harmony. Clement, someday I will find you and take back Harmony from your vile and perverted hands." Axel cried tears thinking that Harmony is being tortured as they speak, but don''t know where Clement was hiding her.


    Unbeknownst to him, Clement and Harmony were literally in front of his face.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will, was peeking out of the tiny holes to the outside world. More and more people kept coming to this place in search of the 100th hero.


    The people varied from soldiers, ordinary people for some reason, sorcerers, and so on. Not many of them were willing to stay in this place for far too long thanks to the sun, so they returned back to their homes where it was fresh, comfortable, and had a roof over their heads..


    "Seriously, don''t they have better things to do with their time? I can''t even build anymore thanks to them!" Will said, annoyed.


    Over 60 people have come to these hills, and probably hundreds more are scattered throughout the deserted lands. Many of them were willing to go travel through the deserted lands to find the 100th hero. After all, this is the first time a hero would have failed to be properly summoned.


    "If I ever see Arbor, or Grace, or any of those other elves, I am gonna make them pay."


    Will blamed the elves because who else would know of his identity? Jack does but even he hasn''t told his own family, why would he suddenly tell everyone about him?


    Clement also knows, but who would actually listen to a wanted criminal? And what would he gain from telling everyone about him?


    "Well, too late for that now. I can only hope no one finds me and that those rumors die down. Still, I am glad I found this during the time I was mining deep underground."


    Will held up a silvery-blue ore, this was cobalt, the one ore he needed to craft the inventory function. Thanks to his pickaxe he was able to find this ore at last.


    {Cobalt x2}


    The downside is that this was very rare to find, the only reason he has two ore is because it multiplied the moment his enchanted pickaxe mined it. Afterwards he came back up and collected whatever else he had mined.


    Another downside is that every time he got deeper, the longer it took for him to go up and go down. It was too time consuming.


    Will thinks that there will be a time when he will have no choice but to live deep underground to continue mining. Or else the only thing he''ll accomplish during the time he wants to mine is cardio due to how much he has to run.


    "I probably should''ve stayed down and continued finding cobalt ore. But I had no choice."


    Will had many things to do in his base, tend to the camels, tend to the crops, check up on Adaline, make sure that nobody found his base, consume the exotic pills that he makes to increase his HP. Mining is important to him, but there were many other things he had to attend to that were just as important.


    "Hiss!" Adaline comforted him after sensing how down he was feeling at the moment. She rubbed her giant head on his ?h?st.


    "Heh, thanks girl." Will smiled as he patted her head.


    Meanwhile¡­


    In the middle of an enchanted forest, Grace was honing hrt bowing skills using wooden dummies as a target practice. Being taught by her grandfather on using a bow, she had to go under his strict training. Right now she was learning to shoot a bow without relying on her eyesight. She tried enhancing her other senses, but it was a complete failure. No matter how hard she tried none of her arrows could hit a wooden dummy.


    "Come on, at least hit one." Grace gripped her bow tightly and released another arrow but it missed the test dummy by a mile.


    "AAHHH!" The sound of a woman screaming was heard.


    "Oh no, did I hit someone?" Grace immediately took her blindfold off and ran towards the source of the scream.


    "Rias! I am so sorry!" Grace said.


    "Nonono, that''s okay princess. It was my fault. I should have been more wary of my surroundings." Rias acted strange and nervous when talking to her, and it was not because Grace almost killed her.


    Grace, noticed something weird about Rias. She wore black clothing, even covering her ears and face with a type of scarf. And she also carried a sword.


    "Where are you going?" Asked Grace.


    "Hunting. Why else would I bring this sword?" Rias said.


    "Hunting?"


    It was forbidden for elves to eat any kind of meat as they will lose their connection and protection of the forest. But, they sometimes use the fur of animals to make items like weapons, armor, or clothing.


    However, to Grace, Rias wasn''t the type to hunt, especially alone with a sword


    "Yup, hunting. Well it''s more like a vacation for me, you know to explore the world a bit, and learn more about it. I''ve been doing this for years now, Princess. Even king Silvas told me it was okay to take a vacation once every few months. But, unfortunately I cannot come in contact with any humans. He granted me this vacation!" Rias began trying to defend herself.


    "Oh, okay then." Grace found it even stranger that Rias was suddenly being overprotective of her vacation, like she would die if she didn''t go.


    "Thank you, Princess. And also, please don''t try to kill anyone." Rias smiled and ended the conversation there.


    Rias left the enchanted forest. Grace watched her but didn''t say anything and continued practicing.


    After several hours of walking, seeing that no one was following her, Rias took out a small tube that looked like a size of a small flute, it was made out of bamboo. She sat near a thick tree near some dirt road. She patiently waited for someone or something.


    Not long after, this young man, walking through the forest on a dirt road. It didn''t look much like a forest because there weren''t as many trees in the area.


    This young man was leisurely walking as if he had nothing to worry about. Of course he carried a gun in case something does go wrong.


    ''Young, healthy, sorta plump, he''s perfect.'' Rias thought after observing him for a bit.


    Once the man''s back was turned against her, Rias pulled her tube and blew on one tip and it released a small needle and struck the man''s back.


    "Ow! Damn bugs." The man felt the sting but thought it was a bug bite.


    A few seconds hadn''t gone by until he fell face flat on the ground. Not because he died, but because he was paralyzed. The arrow needle was tipped with a powerful paralyzing drug that can even paralyze cyclops in seconds.


    The man couldn''t move, speak. It became hard to even breathe.


    "I am so, so sorry about this." Rias looked awfully guilty doing this, she didn''t find this amusing or pleasurable at all.


    She took out her blade and swung it and liberated his head from the rest of his body. Rias took the head and wrapped it around a black cloth.


    "Oh goddess Lea, please give this man a proper burial. Let him know I am sorry about this, but also thankful."


    The roots from the trees took the entire body and buried it deep within the earth. There were no traces of that man at all.


    Rias hastily took the head with her inside a secret cave. One could easily miss this hidden entrance to a cave even if he were near it. It''s because the entrance was blocked by vines, as well as the entire surrounding area of the cave, making it almost impossible to detect by normal people. Most notably, there were no trees nearby.


    The cave was dark, moist, but spacious. The cave went somewhat deep underground. Rias stopped at a certain point at the cave. She held a night flower which b?r?ly luminated the cave.


    "I''m back. I even brought you¡­ food." Rias couldn''t say that sentence without feeling disgusted by it.


    *Growl*


    A deep growling noise could be heard meters in front of Rias. As well as the sound of metal chains rattling, and iron bars.


    Rias took out more night flowers from her pocket and laid them gently near the source of the noise.


    Iron bars could be seen. Most of it had begun rusting already due to how long it''s been there for.


    Behind the iron bars, was no other than a zombie, an elf zombie. The skin of this zombie was falling or turning grey. Its hair was mostly gone, only a few of its long strands remained. Several iron chains were on his neck and limbs which stopped him in place.


    "Dad¡­" Rias could never get used to this scene. It seemed like every time she visited her dad, it became harder and difficult to keep seeing him in this state.


    Rias rolled the head to him, and he began eating it by first breaking it open with its b?r? hands like a coconut. It began feasting on it, especially the brain.


    "Dad, I am so close to finding a cure. I can feel it. I tested a few things on some zombies, but it ended in failure till the end but I made great progress." Rias said.


    The zombie ignored Rias as it continued munching the severed head.


    Then, Rias suddenly started crying a river of tears.


    "I am so *hic* sorry. I thought I had *hic* f-found a cure to bring you back *hic* when I met Will, who I thought had a *hic* powerful item that can bring back the dead. But I was wrong!" Rias was crying so hard she started hiccuping.


    The zombie ignored her and continued eating.


    "Wait for me dad, I''ll find a cure for sure. Even if it takes me another 300 years."


    Rias stayed for a few minutes, but left eventually. She wanted to keep him company, but the last time she did that, things didn''t go so well.


    When Rias first heard of a zombie breakout in Jack''s village, she became scared and ecstatic. Scared because she thought it was related to her dad and somehow spread the disease, but thankfully for her that wasn''t the case. Rias became ecstatic because she can use this opportunity to test some of her possible theories of curing the undead on other undead.


    There had been many times she thought of using test subjects to use the ''cure'' on them and not on her dad, but she couldn''t let the disease spread around the world like last time. Otherwise the same chaos that shook the planet 300 years ago would once again repeat itself.


    No one knows about her dad, not even Silvas.


    Rias sat beside the cave for a short while. Watching the clear-blue skies as it gave her a sense of comfort.


    Then, she remembered something from 300 years ago.


    She was merely a kid, only 24 years old at the time, but she already looked like a fully grown woman.


    It was a dark night, probably the darkest night of anyone''s life.


    Right above her, were what looked like 3 gods were fighting each other. It was 2 men and 1 woman, these were the first three heroes. Their battles shook the earth itself and even changed the topography of the area she was standing in.


    Rias didn''t know what to think or do in this situation, she couldn''t even think rationally and run away. She was only studying some flowers, minding her own business, when suddenly this fight dragged here out of nowhere and endangered her life.


    "Rias, run!" Her dad, who was with her, grabbed her arm and dragged her with him. Both of them started running as fast as they could. This wasn''t a battle that ordinary elves like themselves should ever intervene in.


    Rias''s father looked back trying to see if they were actually gaining some distance, because that fight was being dragged everywhere.


    The Witch, who he could only perceive as a womanly, dark-shadow like figure from afar, screeched like a banshee and hundreds or even thousands of dark, pointy objects, that were spears and swords that were made out of some sort of dark energy, produced out of her own body and flew out everywhere.


    Rias''s dad saw that. Out of pure instinct, he grabbed his daughter and pushed her down in front of him, using his own body as a shield protecting her from any harm. Multiple dark spears and swords pierced through his body. The entire area was covered in those two weapons.


    Rias didn''t know what happened. One moment, everything seemed fine, everything was normal. But, one second she sees these 3 gods fighting, next she sees her dad in front of her smiling at her, then spears and swords impale his body.


    He was only smiling for one reason, because he knew that his daughter was safe, for now at least.


    "I love you." Those were his last words before he drew his last breath and died.


    Rias started to cry.


    "D-dad?"


    The three heroes dragged their fight elsewhere but Rias could still hear them.


    Rias, got up, took out the foreign objects that impaled his father out of his corpse. She then dragged her father''s corpse throughout the forest.


    Filled with sadness, anger, guilt, her only thought was her father was only injured and not dead. Her mental state. For elves, those who were 80 years of age or less were still considered children. Right now, Rias was no different from a 5 year old child with the intelligence of an ?du?t. Yeah elves are kinda confusing.


    "Help him, someone help my dad."


    Rias stopped in her tracks when she felt her father''s grip tightening around her hand.


    "Dad?" Rias said.


    *Growl*


    Rias''s dad eyes were entirely white. He started to growl like an animal, or a hungry beast. Rias''s dad pounced on her like a tiger.


    "AAAHHH!" Rias covered her face and screamed and fell on the floor. Noticing that nothing happened, she opened her eyes to look at her father.


    Her father was still a zombie and tried to eat his daughter. But, several trees and roots grabbed hold of him before he could even touch her.


    "No, please, don''t kill my dad! He''s hurt!" Rias tried to pry the roots from her dad. But a root gently coiled around her arm. She heard whispers coming from those trees.


    After coming to her senses, Rias plopped to the ground at the realization that her dad had become a zombie.


    "Please, don''t kill him. Don''t take him from me. I''ll find a way to bring him back, just please, don''t take him away from me." Rias pleaded to her goddess.


    Coming back to the present, Rias shook those thoughts away.. Ever since then her strong ambition to find that cure has never wavered not once.

 Chapter 49 - Dance

    Outside of the kingdom of Reyes, were two lazy guards standing by the gate. One was talking about his life to pass the time.


    "You see, people call her a hoe, but I call her a ''whore'' huh?"


    "Yeah, that''s not much of a difference." The other guard beside him said.


    "Are you talking about your mom again?" Another soldier stationed a bit further away overheard his chatting.


    "No, that was 40 minutes ago. I''m talking about your sister!"


    "Hey! You are currently married to my sister, remember!"


    "Oh¡­ right. Please don''t tell her I said that."


    "Ohoho, trust me, I won''t." He was most definitely going to tell her.


    *Ding* *Ding* *Ding*


    Above the castle walls, a heavy bell was rung 3 times in a row.


    "The alarm bells?!"


    Many of the people living within the castle''s walls hurriedly ran back to their homes as soon as they heard the bells.


    The King, the Great Sage, and the other Heroes reacted to the alarm bell.


    "It''s the Fat Empress! Everyone be ready!" A general on top of the walls shouted and lined up all the soldiers.


    Not far from their kingdom, they saw many tamed monsters with men on top slowly headed their way. Many of them were giant lizards which varied in sizes and colors, some were red, white, black. Those animals were all wearing enchanted armor suited for them.


    Their armor and carriage all had the same symbol. A black circle with a red ''+'' and a red ''x'' and a red ''v'' symbol overlapping on top of each other.


    The monsters stopped meters away from the castle walls.


    Someone came out of the black carriage, it was a tall, slim, woman.


    She wore enchanted armor that had a bit of gold in it, but was mostly made out of mythril that covered her entire body, but it gave her a type of charm. Her hair was in a bun position, her hair was also red. Her eyes were also red. Red is obviously her favourite color.


    On her ear she had an enchanted earring that was shaped like a diamond, but was made out of ruby, the outer layer was shielded by diamond and gold.


    On her hip, was a longsword, It wasn''t enchanted, just the sheath, but the sword was a magical weapon.


    Behind her, 8 men stood near her, all of them wearing heavy, enchanted armor, as well as shields, guns, and swords.


    Every soldier in the Reyes kingdom stood there frozen in fear.


    "Why are you all surprised to see me?" The Fat Empress spoke in a confused manner.


    "The Great Sage." The Empress didn''t bat an eye when seeing him, but was surprised that he showed up.


    However, the soldiers and even the lizards behind the Empress were feeling very scared right now. This man is the strongest man in existence, and he was standing right in front of them.


    The Great Sage was carefully observing her, checking if she wasn''t carrying any destructive weapons on her.


    The Empress was asking herself one question, why did the Great Sage appear before her like a loyal dog?


    Everyone knows that the Great Sage lives in the kingdom, but he has never taken orders from anyone else, not even the king nor many other heroes. The kingdom has no power over him. The only reason he lives in the kingdom is because of the summoning circle and the heroes it summons.


    Despite that, she was staring at something that was over his head. When she saw it, she uncontrollably let out a smirk.


    "The king invites you inside the kingdom, Valerie." The Great Sage said.


    Valerie is the Empress''s name. Most people refer to her by her own title. Very few dare to call her by her real name.


    "Thanks." Valierie, and her bodyguards, which were now no less than 20 entered the kingdom with her.


    "I believe you already know why I''m here, correct?"


    "You''re here to propose a business trade of some sort." The Great Sage responded. He had already vaguely guessed what she wanted to trade.


    "Hm."


    As they strolled through the kingdom, the citizens hid in their homes. Some dared to peek out to stare at the Empress from their windows.


    Valerie was looking at all of those people, but was mostly staring at something that was on top of their heads, something that only she could see.


    Minutes later, the Empress was inside the castle along with her bodyguards. They were in the dinner hall, in front of them was a large dinner table that was exaggeratedly long, it also had a lot of high-classed food that was prepared by their best chefs.


    The King sat in front of the Empress, behind him were 2 kings guards, the Great Sage, and Hero Shaun Quincy,


    The king wasn''t as envious as he should be, in fact he was glad that the Empress was here. Now that the 100 heroes were summoned (technically 99) he could finally shove something in her face.


    No one had the thought of attacking the Empress right now to claim her empire and wealth. It''s like a code of honor to respect the guests and will not attack, unless they attack first.


    This was more like an unspoken rule that the Great Sage created. If all they did was pillage, destroy, and conquer, then could they honestly call themselves heroes?


    The empire wasn''t the first major powerhouse in this world. There had been many kingdoms who were created by heroes in order to expand their power, but those kingdoms did not last long due to monster attacks, or when the hero who created the kingdom died and the kingdom they''ve built over the years went into complete chaos..


    There was a long awkward silence lingering in the room. Valerie kept eyeing something that was on top of their heads despite seeing nothing.


    "Empress, I read your letter, and you said you had a business proposal?" The King spoke first getting straight to the point.


    "I am indeed. I came here because I am willing to make a trade."


    "What kind of trade?" The King took some grapes from the table and ate a handful of them.


    "I am trading half of everything I own, money, resources, soldiers, weapons, except my magical, enchanted item."


    "PFFFFT!!!" The King spat out his food but composed himself quickly. The others behind him were equally surprised.


    The Great Sage could read minds, but there have been many people who have been able to counter his telepathic ability. It was annoying to him. The King did not want to own such an item because he''s afraid that that would put the Great Sage on his bad side.


    "Half of everything! Are you serious?!" The King felt like that was too good to be true.


    If they could actually own half of what she owns, then that would put the kingdom at a greater advantage in terms of power. They could easily take over the Empire with it.


    There is a reason why this kingdom is not doing as well as the Empire in terms of resources, it''s because of the heroes. For many obvious reasons, the king places the heroes safety and health first before everything, so more than half of the resources they accumulate goes to the heroes. It''s the 100 years worth of resources that gets poured onto those heroes.


    After all, heroes only happen once every 100 years. It would be a great waste and shame if they happened to die before they could contribute to this world.


    "But, if I am willing to give you half of everything, I also need something in return." The Empress smiled seeing his expression. She knows how he envied her infinite pool of resources.


    "Right¡­ what do you want?" The King asked.


    "If I am willing to give you half of everything, I expect to get half the heroes in return. I''ll take 49 or 50, either is fine." The Empress sipped on some tea that was on the table, one of her body guards checked it beforehand to see if it was poisoned.


    "Not happening!" The King responded quickly.


    No matter how rich she is, the Heroes can only be summoned every 100 years. It''s something that only happens once in a lifetime. By the time the next heroes are summoned, most of them would be already dead or very old.


    "Ok, fine, I''ll do 40 heroes but I get to choose."


    "I won''t be giving you any heroes. So you can keep dreaming."


    "After your kingdom has faced so many problems lately, I thought you needed this. After all, Clement, your best gunmen, kidnapped your daughter."


    "That''s just one thing."


    "Your child kidnapper was just recently killed AFTER he managed to kidnap hundreds of kids over the years from your kingdom."


    "He''s already dead."


    "Thanks to a young Sorceress, it turns out that she found out that a noble was the cause of those children''s deaths. How do you know that the other nobles or half nobles aren''t as corrupted?"


    "Well¡­"


    "The black sun killed many of your people, not mine since our empire is always ready for the worst. I heard that many talented blacksmiths and potion makers died, am I right? If I heard correctly, that was because they threw a party to celebrate the heroes arrival, however that only included the potion makers and blacksmiths who helped the heroes."


    "About that¡­"


    "And not only that, but you''re a hero short, even though those 10 willing ''participants'' paid their lives to summon the hero, he or she didn''t show up."


    It takes 10 willing people to sacrifice their lives to summon a hero.


    "That was out of our reach. The summoning circle has never failed before."


    "Yes, ''before'' perhaps next time the summoning circle won''t even summon a single hero at all. Maybe after hundreds of years of summoning heroes, the summoning circle is starting to break?"


    The King''s face darkened, he too thought of this.


    When the 100th hero failed to be summoned properly, this brought fear into their hearts. It was just one hero, but what if that was just the beginning? Wouldn''t that mean that it could fail them next time and not summon a single hero?


    "Regardless of that, we still have 99 heroes, the Great Sage, and the century hero. I won''t be ''trading'' you any of my heroes, not now, not ever!"


    "Shame, really. But, I heard a rumor. About the hundredth hero, the missing hero, is actually here but is in hiding." The Empress said while carefully observing the faces of the king and the two heroes behind him.


    "They''re merely rumors. It''s nothing new. Like that one rumor that the Witch is still alive to this day, which we all know is impossible." The King said.


    "If these rumors turn out to be true, and I find him first, I am not going to give him to you. After all, finders keepers. Perhaps I should search the deserted lands, since many rumors claim that he lives there."


    "Good luck with that." The King didn''t believe that the 100th here is actually hiding, as he believes that it would be a stupid move. Why live in a wasteland when they could live inside a kingdom where there''s food, clothes, water, and people who admire them?


    The Great Sage was the only one in the room who knew about Will.


    "Hm." The Empress watched their expressions and she knew that they weren''t lying.


    "This has been a waste of time. I shall take my leave then."


    The Empress left elegantly with her bodyguards protecting her at all times. The Great Sage was confused, as he was certain that she came here for the heroes, unless he was wrong.


    "Strange. She''s not someone who backs down like that. I was certain that she was going to do so much more in order to obtain the heroes or the summoning circle." The King said.


    Many others thought the same.


    "I find it strange that she''s been staring at our heads most of the time." Shaun said, he and the Great Sage both noticed that but couldn''t figure out why.


    "If I had to guess, it''s probably because of the magical enchanted item she owns." The Great Sage spoke inside their heads.


    They were talking about the earring she was wearing. No one knows what it actually does, as the Empress is the only one who knew of its uses. Not even her closest friend knew anything about it.


    The Empress left the kingdom, went inside her carriage, and left for her Empire.


    Not far away, was basically an entire army waiting at her command. They were all wearing enchanted and powerful items and weapons. It was clear that they were preparing for war.


    The Empress''s magnificent carriage stopped. Another woman, roughly the same age as her, ran up to her carriage to talk to Valerie.


    "Valerie, we await your orders." This woman wore similar clothes to Valerie. Her hair was long, tied up in a fashionable way that made her seem more charming, and was also blue.


    "We head back to the empire." Valerie said calmly.


    "So we attack¡­ oh. Okay." The woman waved her hands and the entire army turned around and headed back home. Most of them were disappointed but they still followed her orders.


    The woman went inside the carriage to talk to Valerie.


    "Does this mean that the king actually gave in to your demands?" She asked.


    "No." Valerie smiled and responded gently.


    "No? Didn''t you say that you would get those heroes and the summoning circle no matter the costs?"


    "I did say that. But that was before." Valerie gently ??r?ssed the earring that was dangling on her ear.


    "Before what?"


    Valerie smirked at the thought of seeing that invisible thing that was on top of their heads. She looked at the top of the young girl in front of her.


    On top of the girl, were these numbers that only Valerie could see.


    55:09:1:21:55:30.


    "Before I realized how little time the Great Sage, and so many people, have left to live."


    Above them, almost as high as the skies, was the Great Sage looking down on them. He was making sure that they had no ulterior motives, and as far as he can tell, it seemed like they were actually going back.


    ...


    Two people were walking on a dirt road, a man and a woman. At first glance these two people looked like ordinary travellers. But, within the kingdom these two are very powerful and important figures.


    "Sandra, what do you hope to find in that village?"


    The one talking is Bruce, one of the heroes that has been recently summoned.


    "Something. We cannot lose hope." Sandra said.


    The last two days have been slow for these two new heroes, who knew nothing about this world.


    When Sandra saw that wanted poster of Will, she thought that it might be him. Some might call it a woman''s intuition, and they''re right.


    Bruce followed her without question. Instead of being shirtless, he wore what appeared to be a plain black gi, which looked nice and new. This was like a karate uniform, it was handmade by expert tailorists that were hired by the kingdom.


    Sandra and Brice stopped dead in their tracks when they saw two cloaked figures blocking their way. Both of which had weapons on them, a knife and a gun.


    "Hello there. What''s a pair like you doing in the middle of this, abandoned, secluded part of the forest?" Asked one of the cloaked figures.


    Bruce got in a defensive stance.


    "What does it matter to you?" Sandra responded, she also thought that these two were gonna attack them.


    "It matters to us because it''s dangerous here and you might get hurt." One of the cloaked figures took off his hoodie and revealed the face of a young man.


    "He''s right, many monsters like goblins and trolls live around here. It''s better if you find a village before it gets dark."


    "..." Bruce. Were this guys actually giving them helpful advice? Did his knowledge of these bandits from movies fail him?


    "We''re looking for a village. We don''t know the name, but it''s supposed to be somewhere around here." Sandra said.


    "Near here? Oh ya. The nearest village got raided by 2 elves not too long ago. Sad really, so many people died. Tsk, tsk, tsk."


    "That''s the one we''re looking for."


    "Oh. Just keep going in that direction where the sun is, and in about an hour or two of walking you should be able to reach it." One of the figures pointed at a specific area.


    "Wait, why are you guys here?" Bruce asked, this was way too suspicious.


    "Because."


    "..." Bruce.


    "I guess that''s an answer." Sandra walked to where those strange men pointed at with Bruce following behind her.


    "Don''t you find that a little bit suspicious? I bet it''s a trap of some sort. They seem really sus." Bruce said. Something told him that this was way too sus..


    "If this is a trap, then it''s the worst trap I''ve ever seen. And yeah, they are pretty sus."


    They looked back and saw those two men were waving goodbye to them.


    When Bruce and Sandra left their sights, the two hooded figures began hid behind a large tree where nobody could see them.


    "So, you were gonna show me?" One of the two men asked the other one with anticipation in his eyes.


    "Yes, and remember, you cannot show anyone else this. It''s considered sacred since it came from the heroes. You must swear an oath that you cannot tell or show another soul what I am about to show you."


    "I swear."


    "Good, now what I am gonna show you is simple but VERY important."


    "I''m so happy right now!" The man was practically filled with joy.


    "Okay, so what you''re gonna do is follow my lead. I believe the heroes called this a ''fortnite'' or ''fortnight'' dance move. It starts by swinging your arms and knees like this." He started doing a dance move which most people on Earth should have seen at least once in their lives.


    "And you''re sure that this came from the heroes?"


    "Positive. My uncle''s friend taught my uncle, who was taught by his brother, who was taught by his cousin, and then by his friend, and finally his brother-in-law, who works with the heroes, who was told and taught by the heroes personally of this sacred dance move that practically everyone in his world knows."


    "That sounds amazing!"


    And the two men started to dance in the middle of the woods just to keep it a secret from the rest of the world. But, this dance was slowly spreading throughout this world, like a plague.


    Will, who was staring at a wall, was thinking about something. Beyond that wall that he was staring, were so many people there looking for the 100th hero, which is him.


    So many people have started to look for him when the rumors started to spread. It was like those people suddenly decided to throw a party above his place for some reason.


    Many even saw this as a business opportunity and brought various foods and drinks to sell to these people. It sold well since the deserted lands are scorching hot. But at this rate it won''t be deserted anymore.


    "This can''t be happening. This is not happening." Will repeated that sentence to himself various times.


    He didn''t want people to find him. Ever since he came to this world he''s been in hiding, trying to hide his identity and powers from the rest of the world. The heat should have prevented people from willingly trying to live in this place, but the grass and trees Adaline is growing around the area has started to attract people to live here.


    Some don''t like the heat at all and went back home. However, others stayed because they actually liked the heat, or because it was a much safer place to be in compared to the other lands where dangerous monsters exist.


    If they had to choose between the intense heat or monsters and dragons, they would much rather live with the heat.


    Some of them had even forgotten why they came here in the first place.


    The people above his place were all chatting and discussing various things. Some of them even made some wooden roofs to provide shade to protect them from the sun.


    "Man, searching for this hero is tiring." A random man wiped the sweat off his forehead and started to drink a cool glass of water.


    "Even if the rumors are false, this is actually a good place to live." A young woman with freckles and short brown hair rested her head on that man''s shoulder.


    "It is. It''s safer, there''s green here, it''ll be a matter of time before other types of wildlife start living here."


    "The way I see it is that maybe if the kingdom could find a nearby water source, make a few buildings, it could possibly make this place safe for us to live in a few years."


    "That''s what I thought as well."


    This idea was shared amongst the people and they all somewhat agreed to start living here. They even had the bright idea to start building. Most of them had family they wanted to take care of, and living here would give them a sense of comfort and peace.


    However, Will did not want that. He wanted to get rid of those people without being seen. And he knew exactly how. It''s not because he wants to deny them the comfort of living a peaceful life, it''s because the last time he came across groups of people, they all thought about killing Adaline or because they thought he was an elf, and he cannot take that risk again. It''s the main reason he doesn''t want to affiliate himself with a bunch of people like many other MC''s in other stories.


    In short, they owe him nothing, and he owes them nothing.


    "Adaline brought them here, and now she''s going to get rid of them. Adaline!"


    Adaline, who was asleep, woke up startled.


    "Can you stop watering the greener and trees outside of the base?" Will asked.


    Adaline nodded.


    "Okay, I want you to stop watering all of it, except the exotic trees and crops." Will had to make this hard decision. Wood is a very important resource for him. Without it he can''t make most of his tools. Luckily, he had a bunch left in his ?h?sts.


    Adaline didn''t want to get rid of the greenery, it took a long time to keep that greenery alive. But she could understand why Will needed it gone, for now.


    "I know that this is a difficult choice to make. But, once those people stop looking, you can grow it back." Will could sense how Adaline feels about it. He too would be disheartened if someone asked him to destroy his hard work that he put so much time and effort into.


    Adaline went back to sleep seconds after. It looked like she didn''t do anything, but now she stopped caring for the greenery outside of the base.


    Will lied beside her and stroked her head gently.


    "I swear I''ll make it up to you. I don''t know how, but I will." Will promised her. Adaline was a being of nature. Asking her to do that is like asking her to kill a part of herself. This made his heart ache in pain as she did that because of him.


    Many hours later, the grass that was growing on the deserted lands started to slowly dry.

 Chapter 50 - A hidden temple (Part 1)

    "You know, Bruce, you don''t have to follow me. I''m only doing this for personal reasons. I''m not even sure if what I am doing is correct." Sandra felt bad that Bruce tagged along with her all this time. But then again it''s not like she asked him to.


    "Yeah, but like I said, we need to stick together. And I also want to go back home. I''m worried that my teacher and family will worry about me when she finds out I''ve been missing."


    As much as people wish to be summoned to another world, not everyone wants to. They missed their old lives, that includes good food, internet, great entertainment, and monster-free.


    "Ah, but no hero has ever been able to return back home. But then again we were summoned to this world, so it''s possible that we can be re-summoned back. But ''how'' is the question." Sandra said.


    "So, you think that this poster is actually Will?" Bruce looked at the wanted poster on his hands.


    "I don''t know. But, there is a chance it could be. Most of our schoolmates in our grade have been summoned, just like in those mangas my brother and father reads. And Will was in our classroom, and the 100th summon failed to summon that one person. The summon might''ve worked but he was summoned in another place."


    "But, Sandra."


    "Yes?"


    "N-nevermind." Bruce didn''t say what he was thinking.


    Their school had over hundreds of students in their grade alone. Not to mention that several other students from other grades were also summoned. Bruce didn''t want to tell her that because it might make her depressed.


    "I know what you wanted to say, and you''re right, the odds that Will was actually summoned, out of everyone else in our school, is pretty slim." Sandra didn''t show it, but for a second a tear escaped from her eye but she wiped it off.


    "Sorry. I know this isn''t any of my business, but what happened between you and Will that made you two break up?"


    Bruce was never good friends with Sandra or Will, so he didn''t know much about their affairs. And Bruce is the type of guy that doesn''t like to use social media like facebook, instagram, or snapchat. Youtube is the only social media he uses.


    "He¡­ broke up with me."


    "Why?" Asked Bruce.


    "He was hurt. He was in pain. He had lost his best friend during a store robbery, and he blames himself for it. I probably know Will better than he knows himself. The reason he broke up with me is because he was afraid that he would hurt me, too, and he couldn''t let that happen."


    "Oh. He pushed you away just so he could avoid the pain of losing you, like he lost his friend." Bruce understood.


    "Something like that."


    "But, I don''t think he considered that pushing you would also bring you a great amount of pain. Am I right?"


    Sandra stopped dead in her tracks, and only gave him a light nod.


    "Y-yes." Sandra''s voice cracked due to her sadness.


    "Sorry for bringing it up. I didn''t know it would make you-"


    "It''s okay. I''m fine." Sandra interrupted him.


    Bruce kept his mouth shut after that and never brought up that topic again.


    "I tried to help him, you know. But, he locked himself away from everyone, both physically and emotionally, he even distanced himself from his parents. I gave him his distance so he could mourn. But I wonder if I should have tried harder to be there for him."


    "I''m sure you tried your best."


    "I don''t know about that."


    "You know, one time I was also in great pain so I can understand how Will must''ve felt. I have received various wounds from fighting in tournaments and fights, but this one hurt me the most. My teacher, who is the best teacher in the world, taught me how to overcome this pain. Thanks to her, it made me stronger, not weaker. Perhaps what Will experienced then would make him stronger."


    "Like that one saying goes, ''what doesn''t kill you, only makes you stronger.''"


    "Exactly like that. Perhaps the next time you see him, he''ll be healed completely from those emotional scars" Bruce said.


    "I never thought of it that way. This pain that you said you received, can I know what it was and how did it happen?" Asked Sandra.


    "I remember it clearly. I was 18 or 19 at the time. It was the day of my first jiu jitsu tournament, who were all black belts. I''ve been taking jiu jitsu classes since I was a kid. It was a great experience." Bruce smiled when he remembered that time, probably his most memorable one yet.


    "Let me guess, someone hurt you during the tournament, right?" Sandra guessed.


    "No, actually it was after the tournament when I got hurt. Just so you know I got the gold medal."


    "Someone jumped you after the tournament because you got a gold medal?"


    "No, nothing like that."


    "Then what happened?"


    "Let''s just say¡­ I was a second too late."


    "???" Sandra didn''t know what he meant by that.


    And finally, they had arrived at the village.


    "This is the place." Sandra said.


    They had just arrived at the village where Will and Grace escaped from. The village was still in shambles, but after some time had passed, they had somewhat mended the wounds almost destroyed them. It''ll take longer for the villagers to recover emotionally from the damage they received.


    If one didn''t know before, they wouldn''t tell that the village was attacked.


    "You think that Will was here?"


    "Only one way to find out. Excuse me!" Sandra called to the first person she saw which was a young woman who was obviously abused mentally and physically, but showed signs of healing.


    "Eep!" A young woman jumped in fright.


    "Are you okay?" Sandra and Bruce noticed the state of the woman and were concerned.


    "No, no, I''m fine. I''m good." She unconsciously stepped back due to fear and nervousness.


    "Okay¡­ could you tell us what happened here?" Sandra asked.


    "You mean, like, the guys who attacked our village?"


    "Hm." Sandra nodded.


    "Does it matter? They were killed. We''ve been served justice."


    "Oh, I se¡­ wait, wait, wait, killed? They were killed?" Sandra thought she heard wrong.


    "Mhm. People from the kingdom personally came to our village a few days ago, they said they found the ones who raided our village and were killed after resisting arrest."


    "But, that can''t be." Sandra had a hard time believing this.


    "It''s true. The Great Sage said so, at least according to the messenger."


    "Did they tell you about this?" Asked Sandra.


    "They might have. I didn''t think that they would be dead. The one who I showed the wanted poster to said that ''don''t worry about it anymore'' I didn''t think he meant this. I thought it was something else entirely." Bruce said.


    Sandra looked at the wanted poster carefully. Was it real?


    "No, I cannot lose hope! I will not stop until I see it with my own eyes!"


    "Is something wrong?" The young woman asked.


    "Ah, yes, we forgot to mention that we came from the kingdom." Bruce said, "and we would like to know what happened here, why these two elves attacked the village, and if they were actually elves."


    "Does it matter? They''re both dead. And yes they are both elves without a doubt."


    "What makes you so sure about that?"


    "Oh, because I was the one who overheard them talking about protecting the elves. You see I was kidnapped by goblins, along with some other village girls, and also two elven women who were also kidnapped. Once we were free, I immediately told my parents and everyone what I heard, and informed the guards about the presence of the four elves."


    "..." Bruce.


    "What...?" Asked Sandra in a lower voice.


    "It''s true. And yet, for some reason they attacked us, one of them even used a machine gun."


    "Let''s get out of here." Sandra said and Bruce agreed.


    They didn''t even enter the village and just left.


    "No wonder that happened to them. They had it coming. The ''elves'' only defended themselves." Sandra said.


    "I don''t like cursing people, but if they betrayed the people who saved them, then yes they had it coming."


    "Hm."


    According to what the king told them, when they were first summoned, is that they were at war with the elves, and that they had abilities that they should watch out for. They don''t hate elves since there is no reason to hate them, but they are wary of them.


    "But Sandra, do you think Will could actually kill? I don''t know much about him but I don''t think he is the kind of person to do something like that."


    Bruce is a fighter by heart, but even he cannot bring himself to kill people in cold blood like that.


    "Good point. I don''t know anymore. It wasn''t until I while ago that we realized that there is another world that exists that has magic and dragons. Now I believe that anything is possible. I guess our only clue now is talking to the Great Sage about this." Sandra said confidently.


    "What? You think he knows something about Will?"


    "I am almost positive. I mean, the Great Sage doesn''t even bother to search for the princess, why would he suddenly care about finding two killer elves and secretly report it without providing any proper evidence?"


    "You''d really go to great lengths for Will."


    "I would, and I will. Not just for him but for the people I love."


    Thus the two heroes went back to the kingdom again to confront the Great Sage.


    Meanwhile¡­


    A group of familiar people were strolling through the park. It looks like they were all wealthy because they were all wearing and carrying expensive stuff like weapons, armor, clothes, jewelry, and so on.


    These groups of people were none other than the Hero Josh Jones and his loyal flock of sheep, plus a loli dragon.


    "Man, having money is the best. I haven''t had anything that good since I was first summoned to this world, and also the many other times I was living in my own boring world with my parents." Josh rubbed his full belly in pure delight.


    Josh may not look like it at first, but back in his world his family was really rich, not the richest but definitely rich enough to afford expensive meals once in a while.


    "Out of all that money we got from hunting dragons and other monsters, we still have over 200 gold coins left." Naveah, the sorceress said after counting whatever savings they had left.


    "But, it wasn''t long ago that we had over 1000 coins. How did we spend so much money that we only have a little over 200?"


    "Beats me." Naveah shrugged her shoulders while the jewellery in her body swayed. She also had a new, expensive staff that she didn''t have before.


    "Who knows." Felicia also shrugged her shoulders but her brand new dress was being swayed by the wind.


    The loli dragon stood by with a deadpan expression. But touched her stomach after eating well. Dragon''s have large appetites and require a large amount of food. A large chunk of their money went to her as well.


    "Weird¡­ oh well."


    "Excuse me, where do you think you''re going?"


    Two familiar hooded figures came out of the woods and got in front of them. These two hooded figures looked like bandits, but they were the same two guys that Bruce and Sandra came across not too long ago.


    "Bandits! Die!" Josh knew exactly where this cliche scene was headed, and before he could give the ''bandits'' a chance to attack, he launched a single fireball that caused a mini explosion and injured the two bandits. They even caught fire.


    "AAAHH IT BURNS" The two hooded figures were in fire and obviously in a great amount of pain. They couldn''t think properly to extinguish the fire.


    "No! Naveah, please help them! They don''t deserve to die." Felicia asked the sorceress for help.


    Naveah looked at Josh, and he nodded his head slightly. And while taking her sweet time, Naveah used her staff to produce water and extinguish the fire from their bodies.


    "Gah¡­ why." One of the hooded figures asked weakly. Both were suffering greatly from second degree burns.


    "That''s what you get for trying to rob us. Next time, if I see you doing any more ''vile'' stuff like robbing, killing, and raping innocent girls, I''ll turn you all into mashed potatoes."


    "But we weren''t, we didn''t do¡­" The two hooded men were merely just dancing. They did nothing of what Josh just said.


    "Spoken like a true bandit, always lying through your perverted teeth. On second thought, I''m gonna just kill you both right now so you can never hurt another person again!" Josh raised his wand upward and conjured up a giant fireball.


    But, a figure quickly got in front of him, it was Felicia.


    "Please, hero, give these two criminals a chance. We need to learn to forgive even those who have committed vile acts." Felicia pleaded sincerely for the two ''criminals'' with all her heart.


    "But, Felicia¡­ fine." Josh was quick to change his mind and he canceled the fireball.


    "Let''s get out of here before their ''bandit friends'' show up. But, if I ever see you again, I won''t be as merciful." Josh, and his harem, left the two injured men who clearly need medical attention.


    Felicia gave them some healing potions and followed the group afterward.


    "Are you okay?" One of the hooded men asked the other hooded man in a soft and weak voice.


    They were never going to attack that group, only offer it directions to the nearest village in case they were lost.


    "No, I''m not. We need to go back to the village. These healing potions aren''t doing much for these burns."


    "We better hurry then¡­ before the sun sets."


    The two injured men crawled slowly to the nearest village.


    "How did you know that those two were bandits?" Naveah asked.


    "It''s pretty simple: why else would two men be out in the woods, if not to steal from unsuspecting victims!"


    "Oh, I get it¡­ but couldn''t they also be doing something else? Like hunting monsters, collecting herbs, or something?" Felicia asked.


    "Oh, Felicia. You''re so naive. Back in my world, the main character will always face these kinds of situations. This is meant to be. It was only a matter of time before bandits would come knocking on the front door."


    "Oh¡­ okay." Felicia didn''t know what he was talking about but agreed anyways.


    "Hero Josh Jones, didn''t you say that we would be going to the south?" Naveah asked.


    "I did. But that looks like a long walk. And I''m not sure we have the time to walk there, fight some dragons or cyclops or both. I mean, why shouldn''t we take it slowly? This is a new world! Who knows what this world has to offer."


    "We could always get a mount." Navaeh recommended.


    "Oh right, Naveah, you have a mount, correct?"


    "Yes, but she''s having children and cannot accompany us."


    "What was it, again?"


    "A wyvern. It''s like a dragon but smaller, with only two legs."


    "Huh, what''s the best mount to have? You know, to flex on everybody!"


    "Flex?" Naveah and Felicia didn''t know what that meant.


    "To flex is another word for ''showing off''"


    "Wow, your world has everything." Felicia said.


    "Except for magic, monsters, heroes, magical items, and everything else this world has. So, Naveah, what is the best mount to have?"


    "If I had to guess, a mutated dragon. Like Maid over there." Naveah pointed at the dragon loli.


    "I don''t want to see Maid in her dragon form! She''s perfect as she is! And I also don''t want another dragon in our team!" Josh hugged the little loli but the loli was seething with anger, rage, killing intent.


    "Hmm¡­ perhaps a rare type of creature would be a good way to¡­ flex. For example, I once heard of a lizard that is able to spit acidic poison. It was a rare breed of lizard, not a magical one."


    "Lizards? Hmm¡­ well I guess lizards are cool in a way. But they''re reptiles, just like dragons. I''m looking for more variety. Any more ideas?"


    "In the north, there were also these giant scorpions, but those went extinct years ago."


    "I don''t like insects. Next."


    "Cyclops, or ogres, or goblins."


    "Next. Too ugly."


    "Organic creatures. They live in the forest."


    "Organic creatures. Huh. Are they strong, fast, agile?"


    "Not particularly, no. They''re very weak to fire, and with your destructive fire power I don''t think it''s wise to keep one. They are connected to nature like the elves. And are also-"


    "Woah, woah, woah, wait¡­ this world has elves?" Josh couldn''t believe what he had heard.


    "Yes, they do. Didn''t you know? I know that the king told all the heroes after all 99 of you were recently summoned to this world."


    "Did he? My mind must''ve been elsewhere." Josh''s mind was in a state of confusion when he first entered this world, it''s not weird that he didn''t listen to the king.


    "We can forget about the mounts! Honestly, who cares about them? I have decided that we are going to add another member to the team, a s?xy elf!"


    "But be warned, Hero, elves are protected by their godd-"


    "Yeah, yeah, do elves have a king and queen?"


    "Royalty? Yes they do."


    "How about a princess? Do they have one of those?"


    "I heard that they have a princess indeed. She should be like about 20 or so years by now."


    "Even better. Where is the elven kingdom?"


    "Nobody really knows. No human, or hero has ever been able to see the elven kingdom."


    The Great Sage was the only hero to go to the elven kingdom but he never told anybody about it.


    "Then that means we''ll be the first. Come! There is no time to waste."


    Josh led the group to the forest and explored as deep as they could go. Using his knowledge about elves from his past life, he guessed that they lived in the middle of the forest.


    But he never stopped to think why no hero or man has ever been able to see the elven kingdom.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will, carefully looked outside the walls. There were now fewer people than before. Thanks to Adaline, they were all leaving the area for good.


    "That''s good. In a few weeks the rumors should die down. Unless the elves open their mouths again and start spreading more rumors. If they do, I will give them a piece of my mind."


    Adaline was merely walking around in circles for some reason. Then she got comfortable and lied down again.


    "Thank you for doing this, girl. You were a great help, like always." Will patted her head gently.


    Adaline rubbed her head against his ?h?st, as if she was telling him that there were no hard feelings, and she resumed sleeping again.


    "I''ll keep mining. You stay here and rest."


    Will took his pickaxe and left to mine. It took a long while to reach the end since it was such a long hole. Thanks to the night flowers that Grace brought him, he could see clearly. Of course his night vision enchantment that he applied to his mask helped as well.


    Will continued to mine to find more cobalt while singing a catchy song.


    "I am a dwarf and I''m digging a¡­ I wish I had brought my phone. My entire playlist was there. Shame. What other songs did I know? Oh right. ''Creeper, aw man. So way back in the mine, got our pickaxe swingin'' from side to-gah!"


    While he was dozing off, he accidentally fell in a hole when he mined an entrance to it. It wasn''t a long drop, but he was all wet not because the hole had running water.


    "Unspoken rule of minecraft: never dig straight down."


    Will got up and looked around the hole. Thanks to his exotic armor he didn''t feel a thing.


    "At least there''s more water here. It doesn''t matter since it seems I also have an unlimited supply of water up in my base¡­"


    Will noticed something weird about this hole. It wasn''t merely a hole, it was more like a passage. And it didn''t look like it was a natural cave, but was man made instead.


    The cave was way too symmetrical and perfectically squared. And also, there were these iron bars hanging on the wall, which looked like they were meant to hold torches.


    "Someone made this cave? Who would be crazy enough to mine all the way deep down here¡­ except me."


    Will got way too curious about this. So he followed one of the paths, specifically the direction where the water is flowing towards.


    "If someone was crazy enough to mine all the way deep here, it means that they must have been really bored out of their minds, or they must have had something to hide, something very important."


    Greed invaded Will''s mind, and now he wanted whatever treasure this person was hiding, if there is any treasure in the first place.


    After 20-30 minutes of walking, Will came across these doors. The doors were literally the size made for giants. At least 11-12 feet tall, perhaps taller. The doors were made out of iron. One needed a giant key to unlock the door. But it seemed a tiny bit rusted, and old, covered in dust. These doors had been here for a long time.


    "Jesus, those are some awesome looking doors. Man, if I only had the key to see what lies beyond this door¡­ is what I would say if I was an idiot."


    Will took his pickaxe and collected the doors for himself. Upon doing so, behind the doors the first thing that happened was that a pile of stones fell upon him. Apparently the doors were holding a bunch of heavy stones.


    "If it weren''t for this armor, that would have hurt." Will used his pickaxe and got rid of all of the stone by collecting it and storing it safely.


    After collecting all the stone, Will saw something he didn''t expect.


    A hidden stone temple, behind the door. The stone temple was made out of pure, white, smooth stone. It stood at an impressive 20 feet. The length of the temple was at least 12 feet. It would have looked amazing, but most of the stone temple collapsed, at least one part only. As if someone tried to destroy it from the outside but failed miserably.


    "Seriously, what the hell did I find?"


    Will entered the stone temple. To his surprise, there was nothing.


    "Did someone else find the temple and robbed it all?" Will touched the smooth stone floor, analyzing it. Many large cracks were formed on the floor.


    Out of instinct, Will began to destroy the stone temple''s floors. After mining a bit, he found something unexpected.


    Bodies, no, various skeletons of people were laid present in a large room.


    "It''s cold here." Will could feel a chill coming from that room. The room was fairly large. There were stone chairs and benches, as well as beds.


    On the far end of the room, was another skeleton. This skeleton was sitting on an iron throne. Beside it was a large, copper shield, that was rusted.


    Will jumped inside the room.


    "It seems like these people died from natural causes. It''s like they all chose to die voluntarily. But why?"


    Will was careful not to step on their skeleton remains. Will also noticed on that skeleton, the one who was sitting on the iron throne, had a worn out book on its side.


    Will placed his pickaxe down and carefully opened the book.. It was written in english. Then he read what was written¡­

 Chapter 51 - Hidden temple (part 2)

    "My Diary¡­ March 27, year 1920.


    I remember what happened in my world before I was dragged to this foriegn world. I must write in this book what I remember, or else I will forget. I remember that we won the war, but such chaos affected the world¡­ you''re a hero." Will realized that the skeleton in front of him was that of a hero from 100 years ago. It was something he did not expect at all.


    Will knew what he meant by ''war'' there was one war he could think of at that time, world war I.


    He continued reading what was written in this diary.8


    "I was 14 years old when it started, in 1914. I was 18 years old when it ended. And I was 20 years old when I got dragged to this world. My parents died during the war¡­"


    Will skimmed through the pages. He gets it, there was a war, people died, it was terrible.


    "Yada yada, suffered, pain, boring history stuff, blah, blah. Damn, there''s like 20 pages in here about his pain and suffering on Earth¡­ Now that I think about it, does that mean that the heroes before us were world war I survivors? Most definitely." Will realized an important fact but didn''t think too much about it anymore.


    "Let''s see¡­ 1924, the northern lands are abandoned by all, there is no water there, no crop that can withstand the heat, and no animal daring enough to live there. And also there are those scorpions that easily tower over men, especially those queen scorpions whose tails could pierce through steel, and their claws that can crush groups of men at once with ease.


    I thought of making a change in these lands, vanquishing the scorpions from the lands, changing the topography for the better so we could live safely. It won''t be easy. But if I learned anything from this world, is that anything is possible."


    Will skipped through the pages once more. Most of the pages had stuff written down like ''we made some progress'' ''I managed to kill many scorpions and their queens'' and so on.


    "Now it''s 1932, it took me 8 years, but I figured it out, I managed to find out why the northern lands were so hot and desolate, it''s because while I was hunting for scorpions, I found their temple, which is weird since this is the first time I''ve found a temple of any kind, it laid deep underground. It was then I found out something shocking, the scorpions had one true leader, a mutated scorpion queen, I call her or him ''the scorpion king'' not only was it bigger, stronger, faster, but it''s intelligence was not something to laugh at.


    The temple which the scorpions guarded, inside it contained a magical item that could control the weather. I don''t know how it got there or who made it, but it was the sole reason that the northern lands were like this. By the time I am writing this I had no idea about the magical item yet. I am writing this AFTER I successfully killed the scorpion king. I asked my companions, the heroes, for their help, but they rejected my plea since I wasn''t sure if we could kill it before it kills us. What a bunch of weaklings! Shaun Quincy was the only one who offered to help me, but I ignored him since his hero ability was the weakest among us, and I feared that he would die even though he had proper military training in the past.


    After killing the scorpion king, and obtaining the magical item that controlled the weather I used it to change these lands for the better, I was glad no one else knew about it. This kind of power can change the lands, it could make the kingdom into a literal freezing hell, or the eastern lands, which is home to the lizards, it could destroy their natural habitat and cause chaos.


    I hid this information from everyone, and somehow even managed to fool the Great Sage for many, many years. Sometimes I think that he knew, but never said anything. I am not too sure, but I did not afk him in fear that if he really didn''t know I would have accidentally let him know about it. I could not trust anyone with this information at all."


    Will was amazed by this story. A magical item that can control the weather. Now that is something he didn''t expect.


    "It is now 1935, I did it, I finally goddamn did what nobody else dared to do, I created a tropical paradise for people to live in. Water, food, homes, it was perfect. Many people have started to migrate to the northern lands, including some of the heroes. The first one to migrate to the northern lands was a woman, Katy, who is only 1 year younger than me, but I knew that when I first saw her, it was love at first sight. Best part is that she was single. We started seeing each other many times since that day.


    One day, I gave her an enchanted, crystal rose, that worked like a hair pin, it was like a bridal gift, to convince her parents to let me marry her. And the gods must have been on my side that day, because they agreed to let me marry their daughter. In return, they gave me a copper shield. It was an ordinary copper shield, but it is a family heirloom that has been in their family for many generations. They were poor to begin with, but I paid no mind to it. I only wanted Katy''s love."


    "1942, I am now 42 years old. Happily married to the woman of my dreams. Our son, Cain, named after my late father, is now 5 years old. I haven''t been writing anything since I was busier than any of the other heroes. Not one of them helped me make this tropical paradise that I created, and they expect me to implant taxes on these people, especially that one annoying hero bitch who had healing powers, she overcharges people and they become in debt to her, and those heroes expect some sort of payment despite having done none of the work. I told them to piss off! Their brains are starting to fall apart because they can take down powerful dragons and monsters. They forget that I too can take down those monsters.


    Morons, the lot of them. They were all banging each other since they were summoned, and producing many children left and right like wild rabbits. Makes me think I am the only sane one out of the group, and also Shaun is the only decent guy in our hero, never gave me any trouble. Luckily for those children, although most of their parents didn''t want them, the kingdom took them in, mostly because of their hero heritage, they were all given the statuses of ''nobles'' or ''half nobles'' from birth. And luckily for me, the kingdom has never tried to claim these lands as their own. I do not know why that is, but I am grateful it hasn''t happened."


    "1950, one of the heroes, Paul Blimond, died after being defeated by a dragon. He was younger than me, but his old age has started to affect his performance in battle. There is a notable difference between a 47 year old man and a 20 year old. That same year, that greedy, old bitch got what she deserved, she died in the hands of sorcerers and nobles after stealing gold and valuable items from the kingdom''s vault. As it turns out, her healing powers were outshined by a man who created the very first ''potions'' nobody wanted to pay her anymore, which is why she was desperate for money. I can tell those potions will have a huge effect in the future. I have much respect for the man who created the potions."


    "1968, my wife died¡­ her heart was weak. I buried her corpse as deep as I could so no one could mess with her tomb. I created her a temple with the help of a friend who is good at keeping secrets. It was the first time I''ve ever dug that deep, but it was worth it, for her. I miss her to this day, and I will continue to love her till my deathbed."


    "1977. My son, my only son, Cain, died in the hands of a lone scorpion that dug itself out¡­ somehow I missed to step on that bug and it killed my son... Cain died protecting a young girl, he took the scorpion with him. I could not sense it coming¡­ I could not protect my son¡­ I buried him next to my wife."


    "1981. Rumors say that there is an empire being built in the east. But I don''t believe it."


    "1982. This is the last time I will be writing in my diary. I cannot go on like this. My heart aches to join my dead family, I am weak, I have lived and seen everything there is to life. I have no regrets but one, failing to protect my son. Some hero I am. I can feel my end nearing, death itself is coming for me. I must prepare¡­


    I took that magical item and hid it from the world, nobody will know where it is, I took the information I knew to my grave. In the wrong hands it will be deadly. Not even the Great Sage, the strongest hero, can alter the weather to his own d?s?r?, there had not been another hero or magical item that could have controlled the weather, but I could. I came to this temple, and sat down in a chair, waiting for death to come. I destroyed the entrance to the temple and the passage, no one can find it. The other bodies are from my in-laws, and my best friend, who also died.


    It wasn''t long until I realized I was truly all alone in this world.


    If you''ve read this, I don''t know how many years it''s been since I have died. A few years? Decades? Centuries? All I ask is that if you respect this tomb, do not touch the remains of my family. There is nothing here valuable to steal. The magical item that you seek is not here. I purposefully changed the weather back to how it used to be, scorching hot. I did it because I fear that other heroes, or other powers in the future would do whatever it takes to conquer the northern lands, and they would find out about this magical item that I possessed for so long. I hope you can understand why I had to do this.


    Signed, Hero Christopher Lawrence."


    There were many more pages after that book, but they were all blank. That page was truly the last thing he wrote.


    "Christopher Lawrence¡­" Will said his name while looking at the skeleton in front of him.


    Beside him is the copper shield, the same one that was mentioned in the book.


    "I never would have guessed that you found a magical item that can control the weather. I''ll respect your wish, but I realize that I need to find the magical item. I promised Adaline I would find a way to make it up to her, and that magical is the only way I can think of."


    Controlling the weather is something he needs, and wants. Something told him that being in control of this magical item is important to him.


    "But it looks like he hid it. And he never gave any details on its appearance. It could be a rock, a weapon, anything. But if he managed to hide it, it must have been small, and light. That doesn''t help my case at all."


    After thinking about it, Will left the book beside the skeleton. After searching around the tomb he left the temple and resumed mining.


    "Where could it be¡­ hmm¡­"


    Jack was lazing behind the counter, selling weapons and buying materials to make weapons and armor.


    "Slow day today." Jack told himself.


    Then, his right pocket started to glow. Will sent him a message.


    {Jack, is there a way to find or identify magical items?} Asked Will.


    In this world, magical items have no distinct features that can tell them apart from other regular items.


    You could have 2 iron swords, made from the same blacksmith, look the same, but one of them is a magical item. But no one can tell from a single look which one is which.


    Will thinks that there has to be a magical item, or something that can find or identify other magical items.


    {Find or identify¡­ hmm¡­ I remember my uncle saying something about that. I''ll tell him, just give me a minute.}


    {Thanks, Jack.}


    {Hey Will, what do you think about the ''rumors'' of the 100th hero?} Jack asked. He was trying to be vague since Jasmine could read their messages.


    {Annoying. But I think it''s dying down, I hope. If you hear any more rumors about the 100th hero, let me know.}


    {I will.}


    {Hey, Will, it''s me, Jasmine.}


    The writing style changed, it was Jasmine''s handwriting.


    [Oh, hello. Have you become a king''s guard yet?} Will asked.


    {No. You never told me how it went when you collected the dragon''s bodies.}


    {It went better than I expected. I didn''t expect that the one who completed the missions turned out to be a hero.}


    {A hero? Must''ve been Josh Jones, he was the only hero who was outside of the kingdom that day. It actually makes sense now that I think about it.}


    {YOU MET A HERO?!?!} Jack responded quickly.


    {You never told me.}


    {I was busy.}


    {Oh, yes, right. Anything else happened?}


    {Nothing much.} Will couldn''t tell them that the Great Sage found out his identity, and that he found the temple of a dead hero who was summoned before them.


    {And Jasmine, what do you mean that Josh Jones was the only one who was outside of the kingdom that day? Does that mean that there are other heroes who left the kingdom?}


    In this world, when heroes are first summoned, they are to be trained in order to give them a better chance to protect themselves from danger. It''s why only a few heroes have left the kingdom of Reyes until now.


    {Yes, two more heroes have left the kingdom to venture out into the world. To my understanding, one is a red headed female hero, accompanying her is a man wearing a weird outfit. I don''t know their names.}


    "Redhead¡­ Sandra." There was only one red headed girl who was summoned in this world, his ex, Cassandra.


    "So she''s actually¡­ hm." Will fell into a deep thought. Mixed emotions flooded his mind when he thought about her.


    {How?} Will asked.


    {According to my uncle, it''s a magical type of item that finds and locates other magical items. However, there is only one in the kingdom, and it''s in the possession of the Great Sage.}


    "Great¡­ so much for that plan." Will cannot ask the Great Sage about this. He didn''t want anyone else to know what he was planning on using it. Sure, they''ll guess that he''ll be looking for a magical item since that is it''s only use, but he didn''t want people to know that he is looking for one.


    {But, he also said that the Empire has a few of those. They''re very resourceful and have many powerful magical items.}


    {The empire is too far. Are there no other ways?}


    {There is one, making a magical item on your own. But according to my uncle, one needs the essence of Apex monsters to create such a magical item. Even then the chances of making one is very low.}


    In this world, using the essence of a monster is the only way to make magical items. But, the stronger that monster''s essence is, the more likely and powerful an item will become.


    When using the essence to craft a magical item, there is a large chance that the item could break apart into tiny little pieces.


    "So¡­ the Empire. Even when riding on Adaline that''s at most a week of non-stop riding to arrive there. And not to mention riding back also takes a week. It''ll take me half a month to accomplish my goal. I cannot leave my base alone for that long."


    There is a small chance someone could stumble upon his base, and find the rare items he has worked hard to keep hidden from the world. The item he fears someone would find is the exotic seed.


    "I also don''t know the method to make magical items. I need to find a way. Right after those rumors about me die down."


    Will put away the communication stone and resumed mining for cobalt.


    So far now he has created a mental list of goals he needs to accomplish.


    First goal: Get enough cobalt to unlock {inventory}


    Second goal: Find that magical item that alters the weather.


    Third goal: Find a better mode of transportation.


    Ultimate goal: Figure out the real reason he was sent to this world.


    He mined and ignored the ores that dropped on the ground behind him. In order not to waste too much time, he decided to collect all the ores he dropped after he was done mining. There is no way he will ever ignore valuables on the ground after working hard to obtain them.


    2 days later¡­


    Will, after mining non-stop, dropped all the cobalt ore he found on the ground. The amount exceeded over 100.


    "Finally. After two days of endless grinding. If it weren''t for these enchantments that I applied on my pickaxe, it would''ve taken me weeks to gather 100 cobalt."


    During his mining spree, he had found over 100 cobalt, and a hell of a lot of stone, granite, and ores.


    "I needed 500 gold ores and 100 cobalt ores to craft the {inventory} and I finally have enough."


    Will gathered the necessary materials, went on his {Exclusive crafts} and bought the {inventory} at last.


    "Oh, thank god. That makes me feel that all my hard work was actually worth it. Inventory."


    A blue blue box appeared in front of him, but there were also 10 darker, smaller boxes inside the box.


    "If I remember correctly, this is {Inventory I} meaning that there is bound to be an {Inventory II} which means that I can place more stuff inside, but for some reason I haven''t unlocked it yet. Either way, I am okay with this."


    Will messed around with the inventory first, testing it out how it works. The best thing about the inventory is that whatever is inside it, it cannot drop upon death.


    First he tested it by placing his magical bracelet inside, but it was rejected unexpectedly.


    {Cannot place items carrying items inside the inventory}


    Will then tried placing an iron ?h?st full of stuff in his inventory, but it also failed and the same message popped up in front of him.


    {Cannot place items carrying items inside the inventory}


    And lastly, Will placed another iron ?h?st inside, but this time it was empty. However this time it worked.


    "I was just making sure. So I cannot place items that carry items. But can I stack them?"


    Will placed more iron ?h?sts inside the same slot, and it actually stacked.


    "So, I can place 10 different types of items, but I can put a bunch of the same item in one slot. Just like in every sandbox game."


    "Now, what to do, what to do."


    Will started to think about his next course of actions. But nothing came to mind.


    "Adaline, what do you think we should do?"


    "Hiss." Adaline responded.


    "That could work. Problem is I can''t because even after a few days have passed, people are still looking for me. Do they have nothing better to do!" Will was also angry. He wanted to build a castle, but was forced to retreat underground.


    "This is like quarantine all over again."


    Will looked at his HP.


    {HP: 1825/1825}


    It was slowly rising. Every day Adaline produced 2-3 exotic flowers. And his exotic flower seed produced a single flower when it felt like it. Regardless, this was way better than his measly 50 HP when he first started.


    Just right outside of his base, 2 people and a horse had arrived. These two were Clement and the Princess, Harmony.


    "Good girl, Esmeralda. Just a little bit longer." Clement gave his horse some water to keep her hydrated.


    "This place is really hot." Harmony took Clement''s cowboy hat and wore it over her head to provide her some shade from the sun.


    "Really? I hadn''t noticed." Clement sarcastically and angrily said. As if it wasn''t obvious.


    "I don''t like sarcastic people, Clement." Harmony pouted.


    "Why do you think I''m trying to be sarcastic?"


    "In that case, every time you say something sarcastic, I''ll give you a kiss."


    Clement didn''t respond and took out some thick tape from his bag.


    "I''m kidding. I was just kidding." Harmony backed away slowly.


    "You better be."


    "Do you really think the 100th hero is here? No one knows if he even exists."


    "He exists. Trust me." Clement said confidently. He knew because he was the first person Will met, and also the first one to discover his hero identity.


    "I remember I read a book about a hero, it was a story about a hero who made the deserted lands into a tropical paradise. Back then they used to call it the ''northern lands'' neat, right?"


    "I read it, and it wasn''t a story. Christopher Lawrence was the only hero to make it happen, until he died 40 years ago, and after that the tropical paradise turned back into a scorching, deserted land."


    "Yeah, and his remains were never found. Many people looked through the deserted lands, but no such luck. People say he didn''t even die in the deserted lands, but was eaten by something."


    Far ahead, they see several distant, dark figures slowly walking towards them.


    "Cover your face." Clement said as he covered his own face with a mask, so did the Princess.


    The dark figures were merely ordinary people trying to find the 100th hero. But like everyone else, they had failed to find him.


    "And here we thought it would''ve been nice to live here. But who would have known that all the greenery would have died." A man said while a woman clung tightly onto his arm. It was the same couple from last time.


    They saw Clement and Harmony riding a horse while hiding behind a mask.


    "Hey, hey you two." The man called out to Clement and Harmony, "It would be wiser to head back. There is no point in coming here. There is no hero here. The green here is already dead or dying."


    Clement tipped his hat down a bit to avoid eye contact.


    "I''ll keep that in mind. Thank you." Clement and Harmony continued on their way.


    "Well, we tried." The couple continued walking back to their homes.


    "The green is dead or dying?" Clement repeated what that man said. Then, he noticed strands of dried up grass poking out of the cracks of the ground. He examined the grass carefully.


    "Something wrong?" Harmony asked.


    Clement played around with a fistful of dried grass.


    "Isn''t it strange? These blades of grass looked like they recently dried up."


    "Well, that''s common sense. Of course they would dry up with this intense heat."


    "What I am saying is, why is there grass here? There hasn''t been a speck of green in these lands for 40 years. And now, there''s a bunch of it, and they had recently dried out not too long ago. Meaning that the grass has started growing here for quite some time now."


    "It sure seems that way."


    "He must be here. Will Connor." Clement remembered Will''s name perfectly.


    "It''s just grass, right? Nothing too important."


    "Oh, no, little princess, this is evidence, evidence that the 100th hero is here. There has never been any form of grass or green in these parts, and now there is. And now the grass is drying up, on the same day that the rumors of the hero began. Isn''t that a lovely coincidence?"


    "It could mean a lot of things."


    "Tell me one time that there has ever been green in these parts of the lands, that a hero had nothing to do with it."


    Harmony opened her mouth, but didn''t say anything because she couldn''t think of anything. It''s true what he said. The only time this place had any grass growing in it was when the hero, Christopher, somehow made it possible.


    "Good point. But still, if this hero does exist, then it''ll be near impossible to find him. The deserted land spans for millions of kilometers. How are we going to find him?"


    "We''re not. We''re gonna wait for him. Let''s go, Esmeralda." Clement took his horse and the princess back.


    "Wait, aren''t we going to find him?" Harmony asked.


    "You''re right, it would be a waste of time to search for him in the deserted lands. So I will wait for him to come out. He cannot stay there forever. He''s bound to come out eventually. It''s like trying to find a needle in a haystack. So, we''re gonna be smart about it and use a magnet to find it, instead of looking for it straw by straw."


    Clement had no choice but to wait for Will. They had no magical item that could track him down. And searching for him on the deserted lands is suicide and dumb. Their only option was to wait for him to come out.


    "That''s smart. As expected of the man I-"


    Harmony got her mouth shut by Clement''s mouth.


    "We''ll wait at the nearest village from here. It''s only logical that if he lives here, he''d go to the nearest village for some food or water, since he can''t grow or have that in this place for too long."


    It would''ve been a smart move on Clement''s part, but he did not know Will''s system, which can grow food, and he had an endless water supply. He''s not going anywhere any time soon.


    "I thought you also said that it''s not wise to stay in the same spot for too long." Harmony said after rubbing her lips, Clement was squeezing them too hard.


    "Indeed, but I need the gun that he stole from me."


    "It''s just a magical gun."


    "It''s more than that."


    "Oh, right, I remember that you lost¡­ oh." Harmony understood why Clement wanted that gun back.


    The rest of the way was silent. No one spoke or uttered a word.


    Clement took out a pocket watch that was on his pocket that opened and closed by pressing a bu??on on the top of it. The watch was cracked and broken. But in the case, was a picture of him, a woman who was his wife, who had long, black hair, and in front of them was their son, who was about 10 years old. This picture was taken many years ago, and by now his son would''ve been a grown man.


    He closed the pocket watch and kept it safely in his pocket.


    "Someday, I will avenge your death, son.. By taking, no, destroying everything that the king holds dear, and I''ll make him watch it all and make him understand my pain."

 Chapter 52 - Enchanted forest

    Will continued to mine and mine, it seemed like he was stuck in an endless loop, doomed to repeat the same action over and over again. But then again that is the very definition of ''grinding'' in video games.


    Sitting down while leaning against a stone wall to rest, Will was thinking about his life.


    "This is not working out. I need to find a method to mine without having to do any of the work¡­ Slaves are the only answer I can think of."


    The fact that he hasn''t taken a rest in a while made his eyes droopy. Then, he fell asleep in an uncomfortable position.


    Will, in his dreams, was on a sidewalk, waiting for the light to turn green so he could obviously cross the road. Right now he was only 15 years old. He was holding a video game case called "Bloodborne."


    Ever since playing Dark Souls, he has been looking forward to this game ever since he saw the trailer on youtube.


    Ecstatic to play this game, when the light turned green, Will didn''t waste a second and quickly rushed to get to the other side of the road to play the game in his home.


    However, at that very same time, a truck, who''s driver was distracted when he was changing his music playlist, did not stop and was about to crash into Will.


    Will forgot to look both ways before crossing the road. When he looked at the truck, it was as if death was coming towards him, and he couldn''t do anything to stop it.


    "Not today, truck-kun." A voice resounded behind Will.


    Will felt someone pull his sweater from behind, and was b?r?ly able to escape the truck. Not being able to hold on properly to the game, it was crushed entirely when the truck ran over it.


    The truck driver just noticed the red light in front of him, and several cars were already crossing to the other side. The truck driver pressed the brake pedal as hard as he could and swerve to the right. The truck tipped over its side and feel right in the middle of the road. Thankfully no one was killed, aside from the truck driver who only received minor injuries, and possibly jail time and a huge fine.


    Will found it hard to breathe at all due to the sudden shock, and fear that enveloped his body. He almost died. He was sitting on the ground and couldn''t find the strength to get up, or think properly.


    "Are you okay, kid? You almost got yourself isekai''d in the most cliche way possible."


    Will looked at who was calling for him.


    Will could not tell properly who that person was, as the sun was right behind the figure, shining brightly, making it difficult to tell his features.


    It was none other than Alexander Anderson.


    "GASP!"


    "I haven''t¡­ thought about that in so long." Will gently massaged his forehead. But, he felt his wooden mask over it. Taking off the mask, he began massaging his eyes.


    Then, he noticed he was shaking uncontrollably.


    "Damn¡­ why am I shaking?"


    After a while he stopped shaking.


    Looking up, was a roof filled with various types of minerals. However, Will likes to think that Alex is somewhere up there, in peace.


    "I really hope that there''s anime where you are right now, Alex. It''s the one thing that you loved wholeheartedly." Will said after smiling for a bit.


    Will swunged his pickaxe and continued mining. It wasn''t until a few seconds later that he found something, a type of new ore. This ore looked oddly familiar to what the Great Sage has at the tip of his magical, enchanted staff.


    "What?" Will mined it with his pickaxe, it multiplied into two and dropped on the ground. He touched it and examined it. His brown book glowed to tell him he had just unlocked something new.


    {Low-tier mana ore}


    That was the entire description. Nothing else.


    "Mana ore?" The mana ore glowed a type of pink and light-blue color, but it was a very dim color. Even in the dark one could b?r?ly see it dim glow.


    "It''s ''low tier'' so maybe there must be a higher tier."


    Will took out the brown book and scanned for what new crafting material he could create.


    "Let''s see¡­" Will looked at the crafts he could create with this new ore.


    {Mid-tier mana ore}


    {Crafting materials required: 10x low-tier mana ore}


    {Mana staff low-tier}


    {Very beneficial for sorcerers}


    {Low-tier mana crystals}


    {Barely boosts the power of mana of sorcerers when holding onto this item}


    {3x low-tier mana ore, 1x diamonds}


    {Low-tier mana bullets}


    {Bullets made from mana are nearly impossible to block. Also carries a sort of destructive might}


    {1x low-tier mana ore, 100x bullets(of any kind)}


    Will was surprised. Most of the crafts were related to sorcerers. The same went for bows, arrows, swords. But there was not a single type of armor piece he could craft using low-tier mana crystals.


    Flipping the pages to see if there were any more types of crafts, Will found something that instantly caught his attention.


    {Low-tier golem core}


    {10x low-tier mana ore}


    "A golem core? Wait, is this like the golem from minecraft?" Will went into a deep thought.


    Everyone who has played minecraft should know of those iron golems. Although they are very powerful, they aren''t the best to use when fighting.


    "Does this mean I have to make my own golems? I never made one but I guess I could give it a try. But should I even bother? If it''s not strong I shouldn''t bother making them¡­ ah, I''ll decide until AFTER I''ve built one."


    Will looked at how many mana ores he mined from that little spot, only 4, and it''s the first time he''s seen this type of ore, meaning that they must be extremely rare.


    "Welp, back to more mining, oh boy!" Will fainted joy as he was being sarcastic. Mining turned out to be boring, but if he doesn''t do it no one will. He''d rather do something else.


    "Not fun. This. Is. Not. Fun. At. All." Will complained all the way while he continued to mine frantically without pause.


    Meanwhile¡­


    In the middle of a forest, a group of people, consisting of 1 sorceress, 1 girl, 1 hero, and one loli dragon. They were purposefully heading deep into the woods for one reason only, to find the elven princess.


    "How much further?" Felicia asked, they''ve been walking for hours now.


    "According to this map, we''re almost there." Naveah said, "But, Hero Josh Jones, there is something you need to know about the enchanted forest, it''s not safe for us to get too close-"


    "Relax, if I see something attacking us, I''ll be sure to rain down fireballs on their faces! Hahahaha!" Josh laughed like a madman.


    "Is Hero Josh Jones okay?" Felicia whispered to Naveah.


    "I think he lost all reason when we mentioned the elves and elven princess to him."


    "Of course I didn''t." Josh overheard them with his acute hearing. "The reason why I am acting like this is because it''s all coming together!"


    "What do you mean?" Felicia and Naveah asked.


    The little dragon loli stood by the side following them against her will.


    "You see, before I was summoned to this world, I had a very, very, difficult, harsh life."


    "Aw." Felicia felt sympathetic for him. But she doesn''t remember asking him for his life story.


    "My parents were the worst. Every day they made sure to drive me home to school, which was one of the best and expensive schools in the state. Every morning, I would put on my most expensive and newest clothes, right after being served a nice, healthy, and large breakfast."


    "Aw¡­ wait." Felicia found something odd about that story. Was it supposed to be tragic?


    "Every day, they would make sure I would study, and always kept me clean and warm. Restricted my freedom to be with my friends because my parents thought that they were a ''bad influence'' I don''t remember the last time I went to a party. Like 2 weeks before I was summoned here. I had to sneak out for that party but somehow my parents found out and gave me the punishment of a lifetime. How cruel they were." Josh started to cry for real a bit.


    "..." Felicia didn''t know what to say anymore. Isn''t that normal for any loving parent? If their child had vanished all of a sudden and found out he had sneaked out of their house, they''d be pretty scared, angry, and confused.


    "And then, when I came across these amazings, fun books called ''Harry potter'' ''Lord of the rings'' and also manga, and anime in general, it was the best thing to have ever happened to me. But, my parents would either restrict my free time to study just so I could become a great lawyer, or take it away because I didn''t study enough. They were truly the worst and I hate them for it."


    "Hero, you have truly lived a harsh life." Naveah faked a sobbing tone. When she saw Naveah was standing there processing what she had her, she nudged her shoulder with her arm.


    "Ah, yes, you truly have lived the ''worst'' life of any other hero." Felicia said. They were clearly su?k?n? up to him.


    "It''s fine. But now all of that has changed. Because this is my world now. I am the main character of this world! Hahahaha! I can''t wait! My harem is coming together! Elven princess, please don''t wait any longer, here I come, your knight in shining armor is here to release you from your chains or whatever."


    Naveah and Felicia looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.


    If the dragon loli could say anything to them in their language so they could understand her, she''d call them ''morons''.


    "But, hero, wouldn''t you settle for an ordinary elf? I heard that elves who eat meat are much easier to ''capture'' compared to the princess." Felicia asked.


    "NO! I won''t settle for cold, sloppy seconds. There is nothing that turns me on than a princess¡­ which reminds me, after this we need to find the princess who was captured. She''s actually very beautiful, according to the pictures and drawings I saw."


    Then, they stopped dead in their tracks. There was what appeared to be a 5ft wall blocking their path, it was made entirely out of roots, vines, leaves, fruits, vegetables, it was all natural. In fact it was even slightly moving, as if it was alive.


    "What is this?" Josh didn''t expect something like this.


    "Huh, you''re lucky, Hero." Naveah said with amazement.


    "Why is that?"


    "If I heard correctly, those who seek to harm the elves, protected by the goddess of this forest, shall be harmed. Those who are lost, will find themselves guided out of the forest by the same goddess. The fact that we can see this wall means that the forest wants us to find the elven kingdom¡­ I think."


    "You never mentioned anything about a Goddess."


    "I tried, believe me I tried." Naveah did indeed try, but Josh always kept interrupting her mid-way.


    "Nothing turns me on more than a Goddess. Where is she? Is she hot? And also, why am I lucky?" Asked Josh in a confused manner.


    "This is the entrance to the elven kingdom. If you were to cross this wall, you will find the elven kingdom. Then again this is something I heard long ago. I do not know how much of it is true."


    "Great! A measly 5ft wall made out of nature won''t stop me!" Josh prepared to jump over the wall. With his hero strength, he can easily jump over the kingdom of Reyes''s walls in a single jump.


    "Wait! I also heard that those who forcefully try to cross the wall, the forest will att-"


    Of course, Hero Josh did not bother to listen and jumped over the wall. But, very quickly, faster than Josh could see, a thick, vine came out of the ground behind the wall and bitch slapped Josh back to his side.


    "Ow! What the fu?k was that?"


    One could see a red make on Josh''s face. It was painful for him but he also felt warm on the spot where he got slapped.


    "Like I was gonna say, those who cross the wall will find themselves under attack by the forest." Naveah said.


    "Is that so? Well then." Josh extended his wand towards the wall and attempted to conjure a fireball.


    "Stand back! This won''t take long." Josh said menacingly. Nothing is gonna get in this way to add the elven princess to his harem.


    "Hero, fire won''t wor-"


    "FIREBALL!" Josh yelled. Yelling out ''fireball'' is unnecessary, but he just thought it made him look cool when he did.


    The fireball caused a mini explosion on the wall, and several branches and leaves flew all over the place. A small cloud of smoke enveloped the area.


    "Haha! No matter how strong this Goddess is, it cannot withstand my fireball! Ahahaha!" Josh began laughing maniacally as he thought he succeeded.


    But, once the smoke settled there were no damages to be seen on the wall. Either the wallregenerated that fast, or it absorbed the impact and fire of the attack and that''s why it didn''t take any damage.


    "Um¡­ what?" Josh has never faced this problem before. He is known to have the strongest offensive ability compared to any other hero, aside from The Great Sage. He could even take down dragons with ease, but it could not destroy a single wall made out of complete organic material.


    "Hero, there is a reason why it''s called ''the enchanted forest'' and why no man has ever set foot in the elven kingdom." Naveah said.


    "Wait, do you guys hear that?" Felicia asked.


    "Hear what?" Josh asked.


    "The forest¡­ it''s gotten quiet¡­ too quiet." Naveah noticed. During their whole entire time walking through the forest, all they heard was the sounds of the critters and wind, but now it has gotten eerily silent.


    Even the loli dragon, who has shown no signs of emotion the entire time, walked backwards due to the immense fear she felt. Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably. Sweat dripped down from her forehead, her breathing got heavier and faster.


    "What''s wrong?" Josh noticed the dragon loli quaking in fear.


    Then, the thickest root of all time came out of the ground and circled around Josh''s legs. At first one would think that this vine was a monster''s tentacle.


    "THE HELL?!?!" Josh couldn''t even react in time, even though one of his hero perks is having amazing reflexes.


    The vine around Josh''s legs coiled and tightened, and began whipping him around the air, slamming him on the ground with great force, treating him like a rag doll,


    Josh focused whatever he could and launched a fireball attack at the vine. But it did absolutely nothing to it.


    "HELP ME!!!?" Realizing that it would not work, he decided to call out for help to his group.


    "Quick, we must save the hero!" Naveah started casting a spell, but a loud, painful, awful cry could be heard coming from a hero.


    "AAAAAAAOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!"


    The vine around his legs crushed it completely, like how an anaconda would do to its prey.


    Josh''s legs were completely broken, and that was the most painful experience in his life.


    Felicia, the ordinary girl, couldn''t do anything at the moment. She''s not a dragon, a hero, or a sorceress. What is an ordinary girl like her going to do to protect a hero?


    "Come on, please work." Naveah conjured her most powerful spell, a water spell and released it to save Josh. It might sound like a simple spell, but she had poured so much mana into it that it was extremely pressurized, and once released, it acted like a powerful cutting machine that sliced part of the vine.


    But, it wasn''t enough to completely destroy the vine. It only managed to cut a tiny part of it.


    "I thought that would work." Naveah said.


    Then, a tree behind her, bent down, as if it suddenly sprung life, and used its entire body like a baseball bat to hit Naveah and launch her far away, like a baseball ball.


    A few of the broken branches she landed on impaled her limbs, and the impact of the hit broke a few of her bones. It was so quick and sudden, she couldn''t even breathe nor speak properly because of the pain.


    "Um. um, um." Felicia was freaking out right now. She has never felt this scared in her life.


    Josh, was completely it pain. No matter how much he tried he couldn''t break free from that vine. All he wanted was to add an elven princess to his harem, but it did not go as he expected.


    Meanwhile...


    Inside the elven kingdom.


    Silvas was casually sipping some tea as he was taking a break from training. In front of him was his son, Arbor, sitting behind a table thinking seriously. They were playing a round of chess to pass the time.


    "I think the forest is telling us that an intruder attempted to break into the elven kingdom. Should we go check it out, or have someone else check?" Arbor said.


    "Probably not important." Silvas casually said.


    "Hm."


    Back with idiot intruders who were completely unprepared.


    "That''s right! Maid! Help the hero!" Felicia ran up to the loli dragon.


    However, the loli dragon hid behind a tree, not daring to go against that. The reason she didn''t heed her command despite wearing a slave collar is because she can only take orders from Josh, no one else.


    But, Josh suddenly lost consciousness from all the beatings that he took. His wounds were recovering at a fast rate, or else he''d be in a much worse state. But the pain was too unbearable for him to handle. As someone who has never known the meaning of ''pain'' this much abuse would be too much for anyone to handle.


    "Wait, where am I?" Josh woke up just in time.


    The giant vine flung the hero far off into the sky, like Team Rocket. It didn''t want to ever see him again anywhere near here.


    "AAAAAAAHHHHHHhhhhh...." His voice got softer and further by the second.


    "HERO!!!" Felicia cried out to him for some reason.


    The vines retracted and went back into the ground. It did not bother attacking Felicia nor the dragon loli, since they were the only ones who didn''t act violent towards it.


    "Felicia¡­ help." Naveah weakly asked. She too was injured heavily.


    "Naveah¡­ hold on, I have some healing potions with me." Felicia took out a few red pills from her pocket and fed Naveah. Her wounds healed relatively quickly.


    Felicia even had to take out some of the branches that impaled Naveah. Luckily for her it wasn''t fatal, but it must have hurt a lot.


    "Wait¡­ why didn''t those vines attack you?" Naveah asked the first thing that came to her mind.


    "I don''t know. But, what matters now is that we need to find Josh."


    "Where did he go?" Naveah realized that Josh was indeed not with them.


    "The vine flung him off like a thing. Over to the west."


    "I hope he''s okay. Heroes don''t die easily. Let''s leave this forest as quickly as possible, otherwise this forest won''t be as merciful." Naveah dragged Felicia with her.


    "Wait, where''s Maid?" Felicia noticed that the dragon loli was gone.


    "Oh, no¡­ she escaped." Those two had made a grave mistake of letting the dragon loli escape. She was the hero''s favourite one out of the three of them.


    As they said, the loli dragon did not spare a second. The moment they were occupied, she took this chance and ran off as fast as her little legs could carry her.


    She tried taking off the slave collar from her neck, but as expected it didn''t budge. Something was impeding her some using her full strength, the strength of a dragon. It could be because she was stuck in this form, because one of the hero''s commands was to ''never transform into your dragon form unless I say so'' this is mostly because if she were to transform into her true form, the collar would break into several pieces.


    The loli dragon took a rock, or whatever hard object she could find and tried to pry the slave collar off. It was a desperate attempt to get back home. And right now, she had no better ideas. Turning back into her dragon form is the only way to guarantee her survival, otherwise she''s no different than a helpless kid.


    Josh never commanded her to never take off the collar, that''s because he thought it would be wise if he didn''t restrict her freedom too much so their relationship would grow. But he was an idiot. Turning others into their slaves doesn''t exactly mean they recieve much freedom to begin with. And she would never willingly be a slave, like those other female lead characters in other mangas.


    The sun was setting down. When she noticed he dashed off to the forest to seek some shelter. Staying in the forest too long is suicide for her. Even a merem goblin would pose a threat to her.


    Meanwhile¡­


    The Great Sage was sitting atop of his black tower, watching the heroes practice and gaining fighting experience.


    Looking at his wrinkly, old, hands, he sighed deeply.


    "This will be the last time I will ever witness another hero summoning. These will be the last heroes who will protect the world long after I''m gone. Only Shaun can continue my work and protect them and this kingdom."


    ",,,aaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"


    A voice could be heard getting louder and closer by the second. His body was headed right to his black tower.


    "Now what?" The Great Sage asked in an annoyed tone.


    Josh started to float in mid-air, literally a few centimeters away from destroying the tower.


    "I''m¡­ I''m actually flying?" Josh was too scared and confused to notice the Great Sage standing in front of him.


    "No you''re not." The Great Sage deactivated his skill and dropped Josh on top of his tower. He didn''t even move a muscle to save Josh from crashing into his tower.


    "Sage?"


    The Great Sage noticed the wounds on Josh''s body, and it was rapidly healing as expected of a hero''s natural regeneration.


    "Did you go to the enchanted forest?" The Great Sage read Josh''s mind.


    "Yeah¡­"


    "Then you deserved it. Did I not tell you all that you should never mess with the elves, only avoid them?"


    "But the king said that¡­"


    "I don''t care what he said. Unless thou¡­ unless if you don''t value your life anymore, then do not set foot on that place again."


    According to the king, he said that they are at war with them. And they should kill them or capture them if they were to see one.


    But the Great Sage knew better and warned the heroes not to act rashly against the elves, especially in their territory.


    The Great Sage waved his hand and flew Josh off from his tower. Josh then landed on the middle of the road. Luckily no one was hurt but him.


    "Ow¡­ why?" Josh asked, then got up. The pain that he received from the forest still lingered on his body, but it wasn''t as bad as before.


    The Great Sage is friends with the King of the elves. And after reading Josh''s mind of adding the elven Princess to his harem, he got a little mad at him.


    "Oh my god, a hero almost landed on my head, that''s so awesome!" A grown up man said.


    A group of people gathered around the hero, and started murmuring amongst themselves.


    "Wait, Maid, and¡­ the others, they''re still back at the forest." Josh jumped over the castle''s walls, leaving an even larger crater on the ground.


    Josh reached for his wand, but it wasn''t there.


    "Hold on, where did my wand go?" Josh searched his whole body for that wand. It was his only offensive magical item, which complimented his fireball ability.


    "Don''t tell me¡­ I dropped it when I was in the forest." Josh wanted to cry. He was one of the fews heroes to receive a magical item, due to the kingdom''s limited resources they could not give every single hero a magical item.


    After all, making a magical item is expensive and risky.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Rias was coming back to the village after feeding her dad who''s a zombie.


    "..." Rias.


    Whenever she comes back, she feels terrible, terrible at the fact that her father is infected, and that she has to kill people in order for her father to survive-ish.


    As she reached the elven kingdom''s walls, one of the vines reached out to her. It was holding a wand.


    "Um¡­" Rias didn''t know what to say. It''s the first time she''s received something from the forest.


    Rias slowly took the wand from the vine. It soon went back into the earth.


    "Thank you, Goddess Lea."


    Expecting the wand what she first thought was a stick, it started to pique her curiosity.


    "It''s a wand.." Rias placed the wand inside her pocket and entered the elven kingdom.

 Chapter 53 - Close

    A few hours had passed since the last chapter.


    Atop of the black tower, was the Great Sage having a relaxing meal.


    "Ah¡­ just like how mom used to make." The Great Sage was enjoying himself with some corn soup, something that he used to eat 300 years ago back in his home world.


    He began eating, not before being interrupted by a Sorceress. His mood got worse by being interrupted.


    "Great Sage, sorry about-"


    "Let them in." Great Sage responded in her mind. He read her thoughts beforehand and didn''t want to waste too much time chatting.


    "Ah, yes, I will!" The Sorceress respectfully bowed to him and left.


    "Great Sage. We need to talk to you."


    Two people came to talk to the Great Sage, Sandra and Bruce.


    "No." The Great Sage responded.


    "What?" Sandra asked, confused.


    "I know what you are going to ask, and no I am not helping you find him. You both need to figure it out."


    "I know you know something."


    "No you don''t. You ''think'' you know something, but all you have is baseless evidence."


    "So¡­ he is here." Sandra said.


    "I didn''t say anything." Great Sage responded while eating his food.


    "When I first asked you if it was possible to go back, you made it very clear that it was impossible. But, before I could even ask you about Will, you said ''you won''t help me find him'' when you could have said ''it''s not possible to find him because you can''t go back'' like before, meaning that he is actually here, am I right?" Sandra asked seriously.


    The Great Sage stopped eating and looked at her.


    "You''re sharp. You''ll definitely outlive most of your classmates."


    "So, he is here."


    "He is."


    "He''s been here all this time and you didn''t tell me?" Sandra asked angrily.


    "I only found out recently. And it was none of my business to tell you."


    "None? It actually is! Because of you and the King, we were dragged here against our will. How is that not a part of your business?"


    "Because it''s not. Will had all this time to tell you, but he didn''t. Yes, we might have dragged you here, but Will knew you were here all this time, but he never said anything to you."


    Sandra did not think about that. He was right. Why didn''t Will tell her anything?


    "Where is he?" She asked.


    "You''ll have to find out yourselves. You already made it this far, why not go the extra mile?"


    "Let''s go, Sandra. He''s not going to tell us anything about Will." Bruce said calmly.


    "Oh, and also, from now on do not go to the enchanted forest."


    "Why? Does that mean that Will is in the enchanted forest? The place where elves live?" Sandra asked.


    "No. He''s not there¡­ I think. Just don''t go there. Your friend, Josh, went there recently and almost got himself killed. That idiot..."


    "Are the elves that strong?" Bruce asked.


    "Not the elves, nature itself. Those who try to break into the elven kingdom will be killed by the Goddess of nature, Lea."


    "So¡­ does that mean that the forest is protecting the elves or something?"


    "Didn''t Shaun tell you anything about Lea?" He asked them in a confused tone.


    "No." Bruce responded.


    "I''ll pay him a visit after this."


    "If that''s true, why wasn''t Josh killed?" Sandra asked.


    "Lea, the Goddess who protects the elves, found out that Josh is a hero, so as a warning to any other heroes, he sent him flying back here to scare the other heroes away. Next time, I can ?ssure you, she will not be merciful. It''s nothing new. She''s done this to the heroes before you. It''ll be wise for you two to NOT mess with the elves. Just steer clear from that area."


    Like he said, the only reason Josh is alive is to show the other heroes that the elves are protected by their Goddess. This is so the other heroes won''t have any ideas related to the elves.


    Sandra and Bruce left the tower.


    "Finally¡­ peace and quiet." The Great Sage resumed eating his food.


    "I didn''t think that Will could actually be here. Looks like you were right, Sandra." Bruce said, not knowing how to properly react to this. He''s not angry nor thrilled to hear this news.


    "At least we know that. But, I don''t know why he never tried to contact me all this time."


    "I find it strange that the Great Sage knew but never said anything about him, I bet that not even the king knows about Will."


    "Knowing him, he''s not gonna say anything else. We''re lucky to have gotten a few answers out of him."


    "Then let''s go find him. But it will be difficult." Bruce said. He wanted to find Will because that is what Sandra wanted.


    "Poor Will. He probably suffered a lot in this world. Right now our only goal is to find him and protect him. Nothing else matters." Sandra said.


    "Okay¡­ where do you think he''s hiding?"


    "...I don''t know¡­"


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will continued to mine, and then he mined, and again, and again¡­ it was a never ending loop of mining.


    "I swear¡­ this golem core better be worth it."


    Will, like most people, has a list of things he hates, especially in video games: Beggars, scammers, leechers, and wasting valuable items that he worked hard to obtain. If this golem isn''t worth it, he''s going to cry.


    {10x low-tier mana ore)


    "This pickaxe¡­ I am SO glad I gave it these maxed enchantments. Otherwise It would have taken me days to gather 10 of those low-tier mana ores."


    Then, he crafted the low-tier golem core. The golem core was b?r?ly the size of his palm. Like the ore, it had a bit of light-pink glow in it but it b?r?ly gave more light than the ordinary low-tier mana ores.


    It was perfectly round. It almost looked cute to look at.


    "Hm¡­ neat. Okay how does this work, book?" Will looked at his brown book, but it only unlocked more crafting materials.


    {Mid-tier golem)


    {10x mid-tier mana ores}


    {Or}


    {10x low-tier golem cores}


    "I can already create better golems? I haven''t even tested this one yet. Wait, are both of those choices the same quantity?" Will racked his brains for a useless answer


    Yes, both the 10x low tier golem cores and 10x mid-tier mana ores are of the same quantity.


    "Ah, I''ll figure it out later¡­ math is hard. No wonder I failed math class¡­" Will cringed at the thought of that, so he moved on.


    "It says here I need to create my own golem¡­ but how?" Will started to look at his crafting book, and there doesn''t seem to be a crafting recipe for golems.


    "Okay, let''s think about this¡­ It''s like in minecraft. Making those golems, or even the wither boss, you don''t build them from a crafting table, you have to make them yourself by building¡­ ohhhh¡­"


    Will looked at the golem core in his hand.


    "Now it all makes sense. This is like the pumpkin head, I just need to build the body to create it, to give it life. I was getting tired of mining anyways so this is the perfect distraction¡­ oh god, how deep down did I mine?"


    Looking at the path he came from, it looked like a never ending tunnel.


    "Look at the bright side¡­ at least I''m exercising¡­ never thought I''d say that."


    Will began trudging up those steps, it was basically endless at this point.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Sandra and Bruce were eating at a restaurant. After running back and forward all day they hadn''t gotten a good chance to take a break. They were surrounded by people who were admiring them for being heroes.


    Sandra, paid them no mind and examined a map that was in front of her.


    "So, this is the village where Will attacked that village with that elf. After that no one has seen him since." Sandra said.


    "If he was smart, he would most likely change his appearance. Using that bone helmet is way too eye-catching." Bruce said while eating some chicken.


    "That''s what I thought, too. My guess is that he attacked this village not because he was under the influence of an elf, but because those villagers mistook them for elves, and attacked them. My guess is that he was only protecting himself. Like that village girl we talked to.."


    "Huh, that might be¡­ actually, speaking of eye-catching helmets, I think I remember something. But I don''t know if this is related to Will or not." Bruce put down his chicken and started to rack up his brain.


    "What?" Asked Sandra.


    "I think¡­ do you remember Taker?" Asked Bruce.


    "The infamous child kidnapper?"


    "Yes, him."


    "I do. He died. And so did that disgusting noble who was behind all this."


    "Ya, but, I remember hearing something about a Mr. Scary eyes person, who is actually the one who took down the Taker."


    "Mr¡­ Scary eyes?" Sandra has never heard of a more stupid name.


    "I heard that when the Taker was discovered, this man, who was wearing a scary mask, killed Taker and rescued like 10 or so children. He never gave his name so the kids called him ''Mr. Scary eyes'' because of the mask he wore."


    "Wait, I heard that it was a Sorceress who brought those two criminals down."


    "She only provided the evidence. While you were still training with Shaun, I overheard from this high ranking guy, who was at the scene at the moment, who told the story that the children told him. Weird enough not only was he never mentioned before, but it seems that everyone has forgotten about him."


    "Hmm¡­ now that would make a lot of sense." Sandra looked at the map and wanted a poster of Will.


    "How is that?" Bruce asked.


    "I wondered why the Great Sage would ever help Will in the first place. At first I thought he took down the bounty on his head because of Will''s hero identity, but if this Mr. Scary eyes guy does exist, and he took down Taker, a criminal responsible for so many childs deaths, and someone even the Great Sage had trouble catching, then perhaps-"


    "Will and Mr. Scary eyes are the same person." Bruce figured it out.


    "Exactly¡­ you were right, he did change his appearance right after the wanted posters came out. Where was the village where Taker was caught?" Asked Sandra.


    "I¡­ don''t know."


    "We can just ask around."


    "I''ll do it. I need to use the bathroom anyway." Bruce got up and left.


    Sandra was left alone. Before she noticed even more people showed up to admire her ''heroic greatness'' they were all watching from afar, afraid that they might sully her mood.


    Sandra was not used to such attention. She looked away while using her hand to shield her view from them.


    Minutes later, Bruce came back. The expression on his face was worse than before.


    "Did you find anythin-"


    "He''s hiding in the deserted lands." Bruce cut her off mid-sentence.


    "How do you know?"


    "I asked some people, then they told me of rumors that the 100th hero is hiding in the deserted lands¡­ coincidentally, both of those villages, that Will visited, are near the deserted lands."


    "So¡­ we could have known the answer all along if we had just asked around?" Sandra said calmly.


    "Basically¡­ yeah."


    "Well, I guess we both know where we''re headed then. But if I remember correctly, the deserted land spans for thousands or even millions of kilometers. It''ll be difficult to find him. Especially if it''s a scorching, hot desert."


    "You think Will was blessed with a powerful hero ability that lets him survive in the intense heat?"


    "I don''t know. We''ll find out soon enough." Both Bruce and Sandra ran outside the kingdom''s walls and headed straight to the deserted lands.


    "Watching heroes running like that is so cool." A grown up man said.


    "Honey, please find a more, productive hobby. Preferably one that actually pays you. It''s weird that you keep watching these heroes."


    "No!"


    Meanwhile¡­


    Rias was in her own room. It was basically inside a large tree, but the size of an apartment. Around her apartment were several papers and studies about zombies, the heroes, and so on.


    Rias was bust examining the wand in her hands.


    "It''s the first time I''ve been given a gift by Lea. What could this mean? Is it a way to help my father? Is it like a ''thank you'' gift? But, that wouldn''t make sense. And even when I tried asking her several times, there were no responses."


    Rias was in deep thought. Nothing she thought made any sense.


    "It''s without a doubt a magical item, and not just an ordinary stick. But what does it do? Hmm¡­ if only Silvas wasn''t busy with that item, I could know."


    "Rias?" Arbor called out to her behind her door.


    "GAh! Yes?" Rias panicked and almost dropped the wand.


    "Can I come in?"


    "Of course!" Rias hurriedly hid the wand underneath her clothes for no good reason.


    Arbor came through the door, his was the worst it had ever been.


    "Something wrong, your highness?" Rias couldn''t help but notice his dark mood.


    "Yes, there is. You were there with Grace and Will, the last time we were there, right?"


    "Ah, yes. I was. Radix was there, too." Rias started to sweat, she knew where this was going.


    "I know. Ever since that day Grace has been doing everything in her power to stop me from seeing Adaline. Do you know why that is?" Arbor asked as he got closer to Rias.


    "I, um¡­ funny you should mention... '''' Rias found it difficult to say a phrase correctly.


    "What happened with Will and Adaline? Why does Grace not want me to see Adaline or Will?"


    "Because¡­ it''s¡­"


    "Did¡­ Will... make advances on my daughter?" Arbor never thought of that, and the idea made him angry.


    "What? No, no, no, nothing like that."


    "Then what is it?" Arbor asked.


    "It''s¡­" Rias closed the door slowly after making sure no one was watching or listening.


    "Okay, I''ll tell, but Grace cannot know it came from me¡­ oh, who am I kidding? Only I, Grace, and Will knew what happened. It won''t fool Grace." Rias scratched her head frantically.


    "Rias!" Arbor held onto her arms firmly. Rias stopped moving.


    "Look me in the eyes, and tell me. What. Happened. That. Day."


    "It¡­ it was my fault." Rias said.


    "Your fault?"


    "I¡­ when Will and you left that day, I immediately started to look through his things. I was curious to see what secrets he might''ve been hiding. Grace tried to stop me, but I didn''t listen, and instead convinced her to help me look. He came earlier than we expected, and he found out, and he was mad, and he banished us from his base."


    "Oh¡­ that doesn''t make sense. Are you telling the truth?" Asked Arbor.


    "I am!"


    "Then why would my daughter try to prevent me from seeing Adaline? I would understand if he was mad at you and her, but what does that have to do with me and Adaline?"


    "Maybe¡­ because she feels so guilty that¡­ she doesn''t want you and Will to meet?"


    "That makes even less sense than before¡­ Was he hiding something? Something Grace doesn''t want me to know? Is that why she doesn''t speak of it?"


    "Actually¡­ I have no idea. We thought we found something, but it turned out to be nothing."


    "Um¡­ you thought you found something, but it was nothing?" Arbor asked in a very confused tone.


    "Exactly."


    "Come with me." Arbor exited the door while dragging Rias with him.


    "Your highness?!" Rias didn''t expect to be pulled by Arbor.


    Then, Arbor whistled so loud it echoed throughout the forest. Moments later, a flying organic creature, Drake, landed in front of them.


    "Grace! Come here now!" Arbor''s yell echoed throughout the forest.


    "What, what is it?" Grace hurriedly ran up to him. She was still carrying her bow and arrows from practicing.


    "You two, on Drake, now!" Arbor commanded.


    "Dad, what''s going-"


    "I said, now!" Arbor said in a commanding tone.


    Grace and Rias immediately sat on top of Drake. They knew he was angry and serious. His tone made them fear him.


    Arbor sat on top of Drake''s neck.


    "Drake, to the deserted lands." Arbor said.


    "Deserted lands? Father we can''t go-"


    "Do not talk to me!" Arbor said firmly, and it made Grace shut her mouth.


    "I was worried all this time that Will had done something to you or Rias, so I respected your wishes and stayed away from Adaline because you wanted me to. But, then I find out both of you caused this problem with him. And I have to stay away from my other child, because the both of you messed up?"


    Grace looked at Rias. But, at least she knew that Rias did not mention anything about the exotic seed that Will had. Otherwise her father would react in a different way. Most likely it was because Rias did not know about the exotic seed.


    "Both of you are going to apologize to Will. Did you two even apologize?"


    "I did." Grace said.


    "Properly?" Asked Arbor.


    Grace and Rias looked down.


    "I thought so. Will is a hero, so you two, especially you, Grace, are one of the few people he''s come to trust since he was summoned here. If you betrayed his trust like that, it will be hard to recover it."


    "Dad¡­"


    "Trust is like glass, Grace. It''s very fragile. You can break it, and you can also repair it, but it will never be the same. Trust is how relationships last. Any relationships: Friendships, family, any."


    Grace didn''t say anything.


    Drake carried the group of elves and flew with him to the deserted lands.


    While they were flying, Grace was thinking of a way to keep her father from learning the existence of the second exotic seed. She''s trying to protect Adaline and Will from letting anyone else know. If she told her father about the seed, he''d without a doubt tell Silvas, who will tell the trees, who will tell the elves, who will tell the humans.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Stairs¡­ so many stairs. Legs burning." Will was tired from running up all those stairs. Adaline was staring at him.


    After drinking a cup of water, he felt refreshed.


    "Adaline, do you see any people outside? Or have there been any ''visitors'' lately?"


    Adaline shook her head.


    "Not as much¡­ that''s good. We''ll keep hiding for a few more days just to be safe. Once we can be sure that no one is looking for us anymore, we''ll leave this base and do something fun." Will had come to understand Adaline, even though she can''t speak, he could more or less guess what she said.


    He, like many other people, would know how boring it is to stay in one spot for too long.


    "Do you want to build a snowman?" Asked Will.


    "???" Adaline had no idea what that was.


    "Wait, no, that damn song is stuck in my head again. Do you want to help me build a golem?"


    "???" She also did not know what that meant either.


    "Oh, you don''t know what that is either. Want to help me build it anyway?"


    Adaline nodded her head.


    "Okay. Get me all the stone you can find, and wood. Actually let''s experiment with everything we have. Bring me all the gold, silver, steel, everything. I am gonna try to make a golem out of everything I got. Also because I am bored and have nothing else to do."


    The duo gathered all the materials they had gathered.


    And so, the golem creation began.

 Chapter 54 - Writing

    "Hm¡­ I think it looks great." Said Will, looking at what appeared to me a human sized statue of poop. Unless one paid careful attention to it, they would never think that this was a golem, but a giant deformed, golden poop.


    It was made out of gold. There were other types of ''poop'' statues behind it, some were made in silver, copper, dirt, stone, Each one worse than the other.


    "Now¡­ for the test." Will took out the low-tier golem core and placed it on top of the golem''s head, but the golem core rolled over.


    "I thought that would go differently. Welp, live and learn."


    Will carved a tiny hole inside the statue''s head. Then he properly placed the low-tier golem core inside the head, and covered the hole using more gold ore. He had so much gold to spare it was insane.


    "Stand back, Adaline, just in case." Will placed himself in front of Adaline to possibly protect her from any harm.


    He doubts that this golem would harm him, but he has learned to be prepared for the worst.


    "Hmmmmm."


    A low vibrating noise came from the gold statue. It made Will jump a bit from fright. Honestly speaking he didn''t think it would work.


    The statue sprung life, and started to move in an unnatural way, like a penguin would walk. This was because it''s legs weren''t properly functioning.


    {Golden golem}


    {HP: 1444/1444}


    "IT''S ALIVE!" Will cried like a mad scientist would.


    The statue continued to walk like a penguin and stopped in front of Will. Adaline was growling, preparing to attack it at any moment. She didn''t know what that was, but if it was dangerous she''d destroy it.


    "Hmmmmmm." The statue let out a deep vibrating noise.


    "Can you understand me?" Will asked.


    The statue did not move an inch. It merely stood there.


    "The book did say that it would be dumb, so I expected some intelligence¡­ I''m an idiot! I didn''t add a mouth!" Will said.


    He touched the golden statue with the tip of his finger. Additionally knowledge about the statue appeared on a screen in front of him.


    {It''s b?r?ly functional, can''t even be called a golem, more like a disaster}


    {It will heed the command of only the system user, the one who created it. It will do anything you tell it, even if it means destroying itself. The golem core is the heart, and soul of the golem. Destroying it is the only way to completely destroy it. Make sure to properly guard it at all times. It''s more fragile than it seems}


    "So, it''ll heed my every command. Golem, walk over there." Will pointed to a wall.


    The golem very slowly and awkwardly walked to the spot where Will pointed.


    "Faster." Will said.


    The golem did go faster, but it tripped and fell over. It couldn''t even get up and struggled to walk, it was missing proper functionable limbs.


    "Looks like I need to make a few, tiny adjustments to your body. Hold still." Will commanded.


    Like Will said, the golem stopped moving.


    Will took out the low-tier golem core from it''s head. The numbers and letters that were floating on top of its head disappeared.


    "This definitely beats mining. It''s WAY more interesting. Still is it worth it? I have to put a lot of work and effort into building one golem. I don''t even know to properly make one. And if I want to make more, I have to go down the hole and mine more mana ore, which is boring and tiring as hell. If only I had someone else do it¡­ for me."


    Will had an idea. Looking at the statue, and the mining hole, a brilliant idea came to mind.


    "The answer was right in front of me this whole time! YES! Golems are awesome! It''s like those minions in Skyblock Hypixel. They will work for me without ever complaining, or having me pay them or worry about their health. They''re the perfect slaves! Should I call them slaves? Nah, golems sound better."


    Adaline watched from afar how Will was acting like a lunatic, talking to himself.


    And then Will began seriously working on the statue. Making improvements on it. However soon he will learn that was easier said than done.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Josh, somehow made it back to the enchanted forest where he lost his group. But made sure to keep his distance in case it tried to attack him again.


    "Maid? Felicia? Sorceress? Where are you?" Josh yelled.


    "Hero?" A familiar voice called out to Josh. It was none other than Felicia and Naveah.


    "You''re both alive! Wait, where''s Maid?" Josh didn''t see his favourite one there with the others.


    "She fl-"


    "Died. Maid died." Naveah cut Felicia off completely.


    "What, what, what? Died?" Josh couldn''t believe it.


    Felicia only looked at Naveah with shock, and confusion in her eyes. Is she actually lying to a hero?


    "The forest, I think it knew that Maid was a dragon. So it killed her, because it was afraid that Maid would injure the elves." Naveah said in a serious and sad tone.


    "No, it can''t be. Felicia? Is this true?" Josh asked to be sure.


    "Um¡­ Felicia looked at Naveah and Josh.


    "Yes, it''s true."


    "Goddamn it! Where am I gonna find another loli dragon? And just where I thought we were actually progressing our relationship!" Josh punched the ground hard. He had heard that the odds of a loli dragon appearing before him is basically almost 0% meaning that he was very, very, very lucky to have found Maid.


    This might be what made him think he was the main character. Since most if not all main characters in these kinds of scenarios stumble on fortuitous encounters, like a powerful companion, a powerful weapon of some kind, or something else.


    "We''re sorry, hero. We couldn''t protect her." Naveah said in a convincingly sad tone.


    "No, this forest it''s too strong. If it could even beat me, a hero, the main protagonist, then a bunch of side characters like you two would never be able to hurt it.''


    "It''s true. We''re nothing compared to the heroes." Felicia and Naveah nodded. It seemed like a few of them had a superiority and inferiority complex.


    "Well, never thought I would say this, but I would have to settle for a regular elf. Ugh. Where can I buy one?" Josh said as if buying a life is something you would find in a convenience store.


    "Ssshhh¡­ Hero, if the forest hears you, it''ll attack us again!" Naveah said, very scared.


    "Oh, shit, you''re right. We''ll discuss it when we go back to the kingdom!" Josh and the two others left the forest as quickly as possible.


    A few hours later.


    Will, wiped the sweat off his head. He was carrying many, many tools on his hand that weren''t there before.


    Hammers, nails, sledgehammers for some reason, chisels, rasps, banker, grinder, many tools that were required for sculpting.


    "Oh wow, it''s coming along nicely." Will said.


    Looking at his marvelous creation, he wasn''t satisfied one bit. Somehow, he made it worse than before.


    "Is what I would SAY IF I WAS BLIND!" Will began kicking the golden statue to release his pent up anger.


    "These sculpting tools are useless. I should have known better than to have gotten my hopes up. I was never good at making things. If I remember, Sandra was the one who would build those amazing buildings and structures when we played minecraft and Terraria. And Alex would kill everything he saw. Ah, good times."


    Will sat down, looking at what no different than a lump of gold, he took a huge piece.


    "Maybe I should just start with the head. It''s not like I can do any better."


    First, he was able to mold it into an egg shape using his portable crafting table.


    "Oh, hey, that worked. Shame I can''t properly build a statue or golem or whatever it''s called using this. It has to be by hand."


    Will took some of his sculpting tools, and carved out some eyes, a nose for some reason, and a mouth.


    This took him hours to make. He had to restart over again multiple times in order to get it right.


    "I guess that''s okay." Will looked at the statue''s head. It''s eyes, nose, and mouth, and even the shape of the head was out of place, but definitely an improvement compared to the first time.


    Will inserted the low-tier golem core inside the head, and placed it on the ground in front of him.


    The head actually sprung to life. It''s face started to move.


    {Golden Golem-head}


    {HP: 222/222}


    "Can you understand me?" Will asked.


    "Master!" The golden statue head said in a sort of raspy tone.


    "Woah! Didn''t think you could actually talk. Can you say anything else?" Asked Will.


    "Master!" The head responded.


    "Guess not. Just hold on for a while, I''ll make you a body once I learn how to."


    Will took the low-tier golem core and proceeded making the other parts of the body.


    He started with the arms, he used his own arm and carved one as an example.


    "I should make the limbs a bit thicker and stronger than mine. I bet that way he will be able to mine faster and better than I could."


    Will continued to experiment with the rest of the statue''s body.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Dad, maybe we shouldn''t-"


    "We will and we are."


    The two who were talking are Grace and Arbor.


    "Grace, I''m sorry, I had to tell him." Rias apologized, after all she was the one who created this whole mess.


    "It''s fine." Grace said.


    ''At least you didn''t tell dad about the exotic seed.''


    "We''re¡­ here?" Arbor said in a very confused tone.


    Looking at the spot where they last saw Will and Adaline in that huge base, it was now gone and empty. The hills and dead greenery were the only thing they could see.


    "Did¡­ they move?" Grace said.


    "Drake, go down." Arbor said.


    Drake landed on the ground. Once it did, Adaline heard it. She immediately became ecstatic.


    "Adaline, are you okay?" Will noticed the sudden mood change in Adaline, like a happy puppy running around.


    "Oh, you''re bored. Hmm¡­ fine, we can go outside." Will put the golem core inside his inventory in order to not lose it.


    "Sentry mode {On} Attack mode {On} set the perimeter to only within these walls." Will learned a fun feature from these sentries, you can adjust how far they can shoot targets. He had to learn this feature by himself because the book did not tell him about it for some reason. Nothing new. This system is more about him figuring out its functions by himself.


    There were now more sentry turrets compared to last time. Over 50 this time, all of which were diamond sentries. It was all thanks to Will''s endless grinding that let him have enough to make so many sentries, and still have enough left over.


    It might seem like a waste of resources to craft that many turrets, but Will couldn''t see why not?


    "Let''s see. Guns? Check. Pickaxe? Check. Armor? Check. Adaline? Check. Healing pills? Check? Seems about everything. Adaline, is there anyone outside?" Asked Will.


    But Adaline kept running back and forward near the walls.


    "I''ll take that as a no."


    Will made a hole on the wall using his pickaxe.


    Arbor, Rias, and Grace were examining the area.


    "You don''t think something happened to them?" Grace asked.


    "I don''t know. This dead grass cannot be a good sign. I think Adaline must be in trouble." Arbor said very worried for Adaline. He wasn''t as concerned for Will since he could respawn when he died, but Adaline couldn''t.


    Then, they heard a loud noise coming from the giant hills. It was Will and Adaline.


    "Will?" Grace said.


    "Grace?!" Will was surprised to see Grace and the others.


    "Adaline." Arbor happily said.


    "Arbor? And¡­ Rias, I think? What are you doing here?"


    Adaline ran outside and immediately started playing with Drake, like a couple of children.


    "Didn''t I say I didn''t want to see any of you here again?" Will said.


    "You did, but."


    "Grace, Rias, apologize to him. I want you two to settle this right now."


    "We''re sorry." Grace and Rias said apologetically.


    Will was confused. Why bother apologizing?


    ''It seems like Arbor doesn''t know about the exotic seed. So Grace didn''t tell him. That''s good.'' Will thought.


    If they were here for the seed, Arbor would have most likely proposed a deal like last time.


    "Don''t bother apologizing. I only came outside because Adaline was bored."


    Will saw Adaline having fun with Drake, but Drake was sitting around doing nothing. It looked like a tired ?du?t and a child who was only annoying him.


    ''Then again it would be cruel of me to take her away from the only friend she''s made.'' Will decided to stay out for a while.


    "Will," Rias said, "I know what I did was wrong. I don''t want there to be any tension between you, Grace, or Arbor. Just stay mad at me."


    "Hmm¡­ no."


    "But, Will."


    "No buts¡­ Rias. You or that other elf who shot me with an arrow are the sole reason I had to hide my entire base."


    "Wait, what?" Grace asked unsure of what he meant.


    "Don''t tell me like you don''t know." Will said in an annoyed mood.


    "No, I don''t know."


    "After I banned you and the others from this place, no sooner than later did rumors about me start to circulate. And these rumors were WAY too accurate. It can only mean that someone who knows about me spread those rumors."


    "Rumors? But that can''t be. We made sure not to tell anyone¡­ oh, no." Grace slapped her face, and Rias came to a realization.


    "I already knew it was you or some other elf, Grace, who spread my information."


    "Not us directly¡­ it was most likely our Goddess, who did." Grace admitted.


    They made sure to force Radix to never utter a word about Will. However, Arbor told Silvas about Will''s abilities long before, most likely during when Grace was absorbing the exotic flower.


    And since Silvas is the king of the elves, he must have told the forest, the forest spread this news to the other elves, and those elves who had connections to men most likely told them what they heard. But without proper evidence, they were only stated as ''rumors'' by everyone.


    "Either way, it''s your guys'' fault. All that hard work I put into hiding would have been all in vain." Will said angrily.


    "But-"


    "Will, isn''t there a way to pay for my mistakes? Like you forgave Radix when he shot that arrow on your head." Rias cut Grace.


    "I never forgave him. I only spared his life¡­ for now."


    "But, is there nothing I can do to, you know, like you humans say, bury the hatchet?"


    Will went into a deep thought. Rias offered him a magical bracelet that has worked well for him even till now. Perhaps she can do it again.


    "I can forgive you, Grace, but I can never trust you again. I am only doing this because it would be cruel to separate Arbor and Adaline." Will looked at how Arbor was making conversation with Adaline, just happy to see each other.


    ''Alex would have killed to have a loving dad like that. Who am I to take that away from her?'' Will thought.


    "Thank you, Will. That''s all I asked." Rias said thankfully.


    "Yes, but I haven''t forgiven you yet, Rias."


    "Pardon?"


    "There is actually something I need. Do you by any chance possess a magical item that can find or locate other magical items?" Asked Will.


    If they have one, it''ll save him the trouble of spending half a month away from his base in order to travel to the Empire. He needs it to find the magical item that can control the weather, as he read about it in Christopher''s diary.


    "A magical¡­ my grandfather does, actually." Grace said.


    "Good, I need that. Bring it whenever you can." Will walked towards Adaline.


    "But, that magical-"


    "Sshh." Grace interrupted Rias.


    "It''s okay, Rias. I don''t want to create any more tension between us. I mean look at my dad and Adaline." Grace pointed at her father and Adaline.


    They were all happy, like a family.


    "I guess. But, are you sure your grandfather will give it to you? It''s one of his most valuable magical items."


    "I know he will. But, do not say anything to him or my father, okay? Not one word." Grace said in a serious tone.


    "I promise you I won''t say a word."


    Will was keeping an eye out, in case people were still trying to see if the rumors about him were true.


    ''It''s not wise to stay out here for too long. It''ll give away the location of my base, my identity, and quite possibly put Adaline and the others in danger.''


    Meanwhile, not too far away, were two people running at this location at an amazing speed.


    "What do you expect to find, Sandra? It''s not like anybody can build a house in the middle of this hot desert. I don''t know if Will is even capable of surviving in this part of the world even if he is a hero." Bruce said.


    Right now they''re in the deserted lands, and were basically running around in circles to find Will.


    "You might be right, but it''s the only lead we could find about him. If I don''t search under every single stone here, I might regret it." Sandra said not to lose hope.


    "I think it might be faster if we split up. We''ll cover more ground." Bruce recommended his idea.


    "Hm, good idea. Do you have your communication stone?" Sandra took out a whole stone from her pocket.


    "I do. The king gave us ones before we left." Bruce took out another stone.


    They both touched stones and a small glow enveloped their stones for only a second.


    "We''ll both let each other know if we find something." Sandra said.


    "I know. Be careful."


    "You, too."


    The duo spread to find Will faster.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Okay, guys, we all need to get out of here." Will said as the mood died down.


    "Why? What''s wrong with this spot?" Asked Rias.


    "People keep searching these deserted lands because they think that I live here. Adaline and I have been living underground for the past few days now in hiding. I don''t want people to see us."


    Will made sure to cover the hole in the hill he made where he came out from.


    "We flew here a while ago, and we didn''t see anybody on the way. So you don''t have to worry about that." Grace comforted Will.


    *Hiss*


    Adaline, out of the blue started to hiss loudly as she got on guard.


    "What''s wrong?" Will asked.


    Adaline was staring at the very top of the hill.


    On the very top of the hill, was a man wearing a black gi. It was none other than Bruce.


    "If only this place weren''t a complete wasteland, this would actually be a good view. Hm?"


    Bruce looked down, and noticed a bunch of people. The two creatures did catch his eye, but the one who caught his eye the most was the one wearing a wooden mask with eyes glowing blue.


    "Is that¡­ actually?" Bruce couldn''t believe it. He had found Will. The description from the kids fit him perfectly. If he was in a dark room with that glowing mask staring at him, he could understand why the kids would call him ''Mr. Scary eyes.''


    "You know him?" Grace asked Will.


    "I don''t think so." Will did not recognize Bruce. Since they weren''t exactly friends, Will did not bother memorizing his face or name. And since Bruce was standing at the top of the giant hill, Will couldn''t properly see his figure.


    Bruce jumped down a hill and did a superhero landing in front of them.


    Looking at him closely, Will now knew his identity.


    {Hero}


    {HP: 300,000/300,000}


    That title above his head gave it away. It''s exactly like the time he encountered Josh back then.


    ''He even has a little less than 3x more health than Josh. But nothing compared to the Great Sage.'' Will thought.


    Adaline hissed at Bruce. Even Arbor could tell that Bruce was powerful, and so he unsheathed his swords. He purposefully hid Adaline, Grace, and Rias behind him to protect him.


    But Adaline quickly ran beside Will to protect him.


    "Hero." Will said to the elves in their elven language. Since he was studying the elven language, he can only say a few words. One of the many words he learned was ''hero'' and he was glad he did.


    Grace, Rias, and Arbor''s eyes were wide open in shock. He said one word but they knew what he meant: there was another hero standing in front of them.


    Grace and Rias did not carry their weapons because Arbor dragged them without giving them a chance to prepare.


    "Will, I know that''s you underneath that mask." Bruce said.


    "..." No one responded to him.


    "You may not know who I am, my name is Bruce Man. I changed my last name from Miller to Man."


    ''Bruce? Yeah, don''t know who that is.'' Will thought.


    "But I do know that you know Sandra. She''s here, Will, looking for you right now." Bruce said.


    Will''s facial expression changed but couldn''t be seen behind his mask.


    "Who''s Sandra?" Rias asked Arbor and Grace.


    "I don''t know. Maybe his sister?" Grace responded.


    ''Sandra. So now she does know about me.''


    Will didn''t take out his weapons because he didn''t know if Bruce was an enemy or not. He had a hard time trusting people thanks to his past experiences in this world.


    Bruce took out his communication stone, but realized he forgot to carry ink.


    "Dammit! I forgot about the ink!" Bruce said.


    Bruce took a good look at Arbor and the others. The swords Arbor was carrying caught Bruce''s attention.


    "Listen, Will, I don''t want any trouble. I only came here to help Sandra find you, that''s it."


    "So... where is Sandra?"


    Will took off his mask. He had a serious expression.


    Bruce was surprised to see Will''s new look. If he didn''t have his mask on there was no way he ''would have thought that it was Will.


    He has previously seen Will a couple of times, he was skinny, average in looks. But now his face was tanned thanks to the sun, and firm because of all the mining and work he had done all this time.


    "Yes, she is here. We split up to cover more ground."


    Will thought that his words seemed reasonable. Still he had no reason to trust him.


    They were standing still, not one of them spoke. It was awkward.


    "So¡­ what do you think of the, um¡­ dragons?" Bruce said to break the mood. He felt weird with everyone watching him.


    "...not too great." Will responded.


    Bruce could tell that he just made it even more awkward somehow.


    "Do you have ink? I promised Sandra that I would write to her if I found anything." Bruce took out a communication stone from his pocket.


    "Give it. I''ll write to her." Will said.


    Bruce was a bit hesitant but gave it to him anyways.


    Will took out some ink from his bracelet and wrote down something on the stone,


    {Hey.}


    The ink disappeared, which meant that someone just read it.


    {Bruce, did you find Will?}


    Will saw the most beautiful handwriting, it was neat, cursive, he recognized that handwriting as it was something he''d seen many times.


    He was hesitating on what to write to her. She most likely knew he had been avoiding her all this time. He was sure she would be mad at him.


    {Yes.}


    {Really? You''re not lying to me?}


    {I am not.}


    {Wait, that messy handwriting¡­ Will, is that you?}


    Will was ultimately surprised that she knew it was him. He laughed a little bit out of pure joy. She even remembered his own messy writing.


    {It''s me.}

 Chapter 55 - Story

    Sandra, when Will confirmed that he was the one who replied to her, Sandra covered her mouth with her hand as she cried tears of joy.


    Even until now, she did not think that Will would actually be here. It was merely her hopes that made her think that he would be here, in this world, alive.


    "Will." She said weakly and softly. It''s the best news she has heard since ever.


    Without wasting more time, she replied to his message.


    {Will, please meet me at the nearest village from here.}


    Will saw the message, and responded, {Okay.}


    The nearest village from here is also the one that Will and Grace had visited before, the one where they saved a bunch of village girls and almost got caught by them because the villagers thought that they were both elves.


    Will knew this, but they had no other way to find each other. Going to that village is the fastest way to find each other.


    "I''m going to the village. Adaline, let''s go." Will got on top of Adaline and they immediately ran off.


    "Wait! Will!" Arbor yelled out but it was useless, they were already gone. It''s exactly like what happened last time.


    "Should we follow them on Drake?" Rias asked.


    "We are. Get on!" Arbor and the other two got on Drake and proceeded to follow Adaline. But just like last time, Adaline''s speed is far too great for Drake to catch up to.


    Bruce was left behind. Everyone had forgotten about him.


    "Um¡­ okay." Bruce shrugged his shoulders and followed Drake on foot. Catching up to Adaline''s speed was too much even for a hero.


    Sandra immediately ran back to the village. She didn''t have a map or road to follow, but used the sun to guide herself back.


    It didn''t take long for Will and Adaline to reach the nearest village.


    "Oh, right, this village." Will did not have favourable impressions on this village.


    "Adaline, stay here. Once I finish here, you can go back to playing with Arbor and your other friend." Will ??r?ssed her head and left her in the forest.


    Adaline blended herself with nature while running around enjoying herself to the fullest. Being trapped in the base was boring for her.


    Will strolled through this village. It seemed to be recovering from the aftermath of destruction he and Grace caused because they defended themselves from this village.


    It looked dead, and silent. There wasn''t much going on here. It must be because they were still mourning over their lost ones.


    {I''m here.}


    {Um¡­ where?}


    {Where?}


    Will saw two completely different handwritings responding to him.


    {Oh, sorry Jack and Jasmine, wrong stone.} Will realized he had sent the message to the wrong people.


    {It happens to me, too. XD} Jack replied and even wrote a little smiley face.


    {That''s why I like to label my stones so I won''t confuse you guys with my family.} Jasmine said.


    Will put away the stone and messaged Sandra for real this time.


    {I''m here, Sandra.}


    "Why am I nervous? This isn''t the first time we''ve talked. Heh, now that I think about it, I felt like this the first time I asked her out¡­ God, how can I tell her I purposefully avoided her all this time?"


    "Hands where I can see them."


    Will heard a deep voice, and something sharp against the back of his head. Will raised his hands slowly.


    ''Seriously? Again? What the hell is wrong with this village?'' Will thought, did the villagers actually recognize him when he was wearing a completely different disguise from last time?


    "Will Connor, where is my gun that you took from me?"


    "Your gun? Wait, that sounds familiar." Will slowly turned around to see Clement, and right beside him was the princess, Harmony. They were both covering their faces very well using their masks.


    "Oh, my, god, you were actually telling the truth." Harmony could not expect to see the actual 100th hero, whom everyone thought never came.


    "I am not looking for any trouble, Will. I am only here to retrieve my son''s gun." Clement said.


    "Don''t have it with me." Will said truthfully. He stopped using that gun because it''s durability was close to breaking. He had been trying to find ways to repair it to use it again, since it is a magical item.


    "I have searched for you, put a hold of my plans until now looking for you, just so I can have my gun back. I am going to get my gun today." Clement said.


    "Or-"


    "Clement, honey, let me help you with this. Let''s settle this in the fastest and quietest way possible, so you won''t get caught." Harmony intervened.


    "Harmony-"


    "No, listen, Clement you''re wanted by the entire kingdom because you kidnapped me, and I do not want you to get captured and executed under my father''s orders. And you, hero, you probably don''t want me to reveal your identity to the kingdom, do you? So just give Clement his gun back, and we''ll be on our way and we''ll forget we ever saw you." Harmony said seriously and firmly.


    "..." Clement.


    "..." Will.


    Clement didn''t expect her to have this kind of side.


    "So?" Harmony asked. All she wanted was to help the man she loves to retrieve his gun back, which is more of a momento from his dead son.


    Will thought about the pros and cons about this. Killing them is an option, but Harmony is the princess of the Reyes kingdom, he''s pretty sure that if he killed her he''d be labelled as a criminal and everyone would be looking for him, again only this time they won''t give up as easily. If he were to kill them, the villagers would notify the guards, and they would most likely arrive in the village faster than last time. He cannot take that risk and put himself and Adaline in danger.


    He could give Clement his gun back since he doesn''t even use it anymore, and it''s broken, but it''s still a magical item.


    "Fine¡­ but do not say a word about me, or I will find you both." Will said in a threatening tone.


    "We''ll be back here tomorrow morning. Don''t be late." Clement took Harmony and they rode off on their horse.


    "He seriously tried to find me all this time for a magical gun? Stalker." Will said.


    "Will?" A womanly voice called out to him from behind. Turning around, it was Sandra, clearly holding back her tears from the joy of seeing him again.


    "Hey, Sandra." Will took off his mask and helmet to reveal his face.


    "It''s-it''s really you." At that point her eyes started pouring a river of tears. She just broke down upon seeing him.


    "It''s really me." Will said.


    Sandra ran up to me and jumped on top of him, he quickly caught her in a tight embrace.


    "You''re actually here. I thought I''d never see you again." Sandra sobbingly said and hugged him tightly, ignoring the exotic wooden armor he was wearing.


    "I''m sorry I didn''t-"


    "It''s okay, it doesn''t matter anymore." Sandra knew what he was gonna say and cut him off.


    They were in each other''s embrace, it felt as if they were the only ones left in the world.


    A while had gone by in the blink of an eye. Will and Sandra were both discussing various stuff outside of the village, that way no one can overhear their conversation. Will had just finished telling her mostly everything he had gone through all this time. He didn''t feel right to tell her everything, but left out important details like the exotic seed, his abilities, and others.


    "Wow, you''ve been through a lot." Sandra said amazed and heartbroken to hear how much he''s been through.


    "I have. It''s not like I had much of a choice."


    "Sounds like it. You know, Will, you''ve changed drastically."


    "Have I? I don''t think I have." Will thought he was the same person, but he was clearly wrong. Most people who change don''t realize it themselves most of the time.


    "Sure, it''s very noticeable, not just physically but mentally as well. You used to be¡­ how do I say this¡­ wimpy." Sandra said with a smile.


    "Wait, I was?" Will did not know he was wimpy.


    "You were. Even Alex used to say how feeble and timid you were, like a puppy."


    "I thought he was kidding."


    "Well, you''re not wimpy anymore. You seem stronger, more sure of yourself. You even attained muscles." Sandra touched his biceps, they are nothing compared to the arms of a bodybuilder, but he has indeed developed muscle thanks to all the time he has mined.


    "I was always skinny, what are you talking about?" Will said.


    "Skinny, yes. But you never actually had any strength. Even I could beat you in an arm wrestling match."


    "You probably still could, with your hero strength that is." Will sulked a bit. It''s true he has never been able to beat anybody in an arm wrestling match.


    "Don''t you also have hero strength?" Sandra asked.


    "No, I don''t."


    Will, despite being an actual hero, lacks the physical capabilities that a hero possesses. He''s not fast, nor strong, he only has average physical capabilities.


    "Hmm¡­ that is strange. Does it have something to do with the fact you weren''t summoned properly?" Sandra asked, she trusted Will.


    "Most likely. That reminds me, what system do you have?" Will asked, this is something that has been plaguing his mind all this time.


    "System?" Sandra had no idea what he meant.


    "You know, a system, that''s how you received your powers, right?" Will was sure that the heroes also have systems, just like him.


    "Will, this isn''t like your typical manga¡­ well sorta now that I think about it. But, no, heroes don''t have systems." Sandra was telling the truth.


    Will couldn''t help but be shocked. Heroes don''t have any systems like him?


    "But, how do you know of your hero abilities?" Will asked.


    It''s... kinda hard to explain in simple terms. While I''m at it, I''ll tell you what happened when we were first summoned. I don''t have to tell you but I think it''ll make more sense if I do. Want me to tell you?"


    Will nodded. He always did want to know what happened when the heroes of this era were summoned.


    Flashback¡­


    Sandra, in her pyjamas, in her room, just texted Will about the 90-ish something abductions. This happened in the first chapter.


    On her nightstand, she had a couple of photos of her family, of her and just Will, and another one with her, Will, and Alex.


    She was scrolling through her past messages of her and Will, as well as various other photos that were in her phone. Very rarely did he answer her messages, this was after Alex died in that store robbery. She didn''t say anything, but her sad expression says it all.


    Then out of the blue, a bright summoning circle appeared below her.


    "What the?!" Not knowing what to do, she instinctively closed her eyes and covered her face with her arms.


    Next thing she knew, an unfamiliar voice called out to her.


    "Hero, are you okay?"


    The one who talked to her was the king. They were standing on top of a wooden platform without thousands of people watching them, cheering for them, like hardcore fans at a Justin Beiber concert.


    "Wait, where, what?" Sandra was confused, shocked, she didn''t know where she was.


    "Hero, please relax, you''re safe." The king ?ssured her.


    "It''s fine to feel like this. We have all been through what you''ve been." Shaun Quincy appeared before her to comfort her.


    "Sandra?"


    Sandra then noticed that beside her, were a bunch of familiar people huddled together like scared and confused kids. All of them were her classmates. The one who called out to her was Bruce.


    "Wait, aren''t you guys¡­?" Sandra knew that these people had been kidnapped when she read about them in the article on the internet, so now she knew she was kidnapped.


    "Go to your friends, we''re almost done here." Shaun gently gave her a push to her classmates.


    "Wait, what''s going on?" She asked her classmates. But just like her, they were all scared and confused.


    "Your highness, we''re ready to proceed with the final hero summoning." A 5-striped sorcerer said.


    "Excellent. This year is going by a lot faster than last time. Send in the volunteers." The king ordered.


    And then 10 people walked up to the wooden platform on top of the summoning circle where Sandra had just been. They all seemed happy, willing to be here. Some were older, young, it varied in age.


    "Let''s give these brave people the applause that they deserve. Because of their sacrifice we are able to make this world better, to summon these heroes to protect us from the threat of the elves, and the monsters!" The king said loudly.


    "YAAAAAAAA!!!" People cheered for them and made as much noise as they could.


    "Start the summoning." The king ordered.


    The volunteers who were standing in the summoning circle, closed their eyes and breathed in normally. And out of nowhere, the summoning circle glowed brightly.


    "Yes! It worked!" The king said happily.


    "It''s already worked 99 times, your highness. Must you be so happy every time the summoning circle works?" Shaun asked.


    "Yes! Every hero is important!" The king said. This is something they''ll see only once in their lifetime, to be able to witness it is truly spectacular.


    The bright light enveloped the 10 willing participants, and the participants disappeared. But, what followed next was unexpected.


    There was a tiny rumble, it shook the ground and made everyone trip. The summoning circle turned black, the light was gone for the next 100 years.


    "Wait, what just happened?" The king and the people stood up, they expected to see another hero being summoned, but got nothing.


    Everyone was beyond shocked, and silence filled the area.


    "Where''s the hero? Where did he or she go?" The king asked.


    "We, we don''t know." The 5-striped sorcerer said, just as confused as everybody was.


    "Hold on, let me check."


    The Great Sage, who was witnessing the whole thing, appeared above the summoning circle.


    "Do you feel anything?" The king asked.


    "No, nothing. The summoning circle completed the summoning¡­ but I don''t see the hero." The Great Sage said.


    "So what happened?"


    "I don''t know what happened. It''s the first time it''s happened." The Great Sage said loudly and in an annoyed tone. He''s the Great Sage, not an omnipotent god.


    "But, what? Huh?" The king couldn''t process it. Like he said, this has never happened.


    "Did it fail?"


    "Wait, does this mean that those 10 people sacrificed themselves for nothing?"


    "I think it failed because we already have The Great Sage and The Hero Shaun Quincy."


    People started talking to each other, some were worried, others were scared. They all pretty much knew that if the summoning circle failed to summon a hero, next time it won''t be able to summon another hero.


    "Listen, everyone!" The king bellowed to them, and everybody went silent.


    "We''re not sure what happened here, but we have it under control. We already have 101 heroes. As soon as we figure out what happened, I swear everyone here will be the first ones to know. As for the last ten willing participants'' families, don''t worry, you will still get rewarded the same as the other families participants. For now we will take the other heroes back to the castle, train them, and make them feel like home."


    People started to calm down. Indeed they already have 101 heroes. It''s still a great number of heroes.


    "Nobles!" The king said.


    "Yes?" Several nobles, some of which were sorcerers, appeared and kneeled before the king.


    "I want answers as to why the last summoning failed! Use any methods you need, except do not destroy it or break it. Or I''ll have your heads!"


    "Yes, your highness." The nobles respected their king''s orders.


    The king calmed down and looked at the remaining heroes.


    "Heroes, please this way. I know you are all confused right now, but I promise that it''ll all make sense." The King himself guided the heroes.


    Some needed a nudge, and The Great Sage and Shaun also helped guide the heroes to the castle. It only made sense for everyone here to be confused, scared.


    They were all huddled together. They were standing in the middle of the castle, the interior design looked as magnificent as it did outside.


    In front of them were three seats, one of the king which was in the middle, the right which belonged to the Queen, who was already sitting there. On the left belonged to the Princess, who was currently missing. The king sat down on the throne and sighed.


    "Get my daughter in here. She must be asleep again." The king ordered a noble who was just there. "And also go get the other heroes. They all need to be here for this."


    The noble nodded his head and ran to another part of the castle.


    "Other heroes?" Someone in the heroes grouped asked.


    Right now there were only 49 heroes in the huddled group. The other 50 heroes had already been summoned the day before.


    Summoning a hundred heroes takes a long time, mostly from interruptions, or other minor inconveniences that hinder their time. That''s why it takes 1-2 days for all 100 heroes to be properly summoned.


    No sooner than later 50 other heroes came to the room. They seemed more accustomed and more relaxed compared to the other group, which made sense since they had more time to process this information.


    "Katy? Josh?"


    "Britney? Cassandra?"


    The two groups of heroes recognized each other instantly. They were all classmates and were shocked to see each other. Some of the heroes weren''t able to recognize each other because they were the ''loners'' of the class. They were the ones who never socialized, and/or the ones that nobody ever wanted to do with.


    "Heroes, please be quiet." The king timidly said in order not to anger the heroes. But, they didn''t stop talking. It''s like when they were back in their regular classrooms in school and the entire class will NOT SHUT UP!!!


    "Silence!" The Great Sage yelled inside their heads, and they all shut up.


    "Okay, heroes, I am sure that you are all confused as to why you are here." The King said.


    The heroes didn''t talk, but they all wanted to know the same thing.


    "As you might already know, this is not your world, it''s another world. And you all have been summoned to this world. You are all heroes. Got it?"


    The heroes were confused. That hardly explained anything.


    "I''ll handle this." Shaun said standing in the stance of a military soldier. He took out his spear from out of nowhere and pointed at the heroes.


    "But I only wanted to keep it simple so they''d understand." The King murmered to himself.


    "Listen up, you lazy ?sses. Stand up straight or else!"


    Everybody stood upright, scared and tensed from his commanding tone.


    "You all have been brought to this world by us. You are what the people refer to as ''heroes'' meaning that each and everyone of you is given a hero ability. This ability is completely random. You might have more than one, but that is a rare occurrence. As heroes you all have super strength, speed, reflexes, and regeneration. You might think you''re invincible, but you''re not."


    The heroes were still having trouble processing this, at least the majority of them are.


    "Seems some of you are still confused. You, fatso!" Shaun pointed at a fat hero. As one might know, they were all ordinary people not too long ago. Some of them are out of shape.


    "Me?"


    "Yes. Step here now!"


    The fat guy stepped in front of Shaun.


    "What''s your name?"


    "Chandler."


    "Chandler what?!"


    "Chandler Chuck."


    "Well, Chandler, punch that pillar." Shaun pointed behind him at a giant, thick pillar made of marble.


    "What?"


    "Ya deaf? I said ''punch that pillar.'' and don''t hold back."


    "I- I don''t."


    Shaun pointed the spear right at Chandler''s face.


    "Either you punch that pillar or I''ll break your arms. Your choice."


    Chandler could tell he wasn''t joking. He didn''t know what to think. He was only watching his favorite anime before being summoned.


    He stood in front of the pillar, and punched it. It created a tiny shockwave that shook the room.


    *Gasp*


    They saw that Chandler had left a large crack on the pillar.


    "OWWW!" Chandler cried out in pain. He did give it his all, but it managed to hurt his arm in the process.


    "Disappointing to say the least. You didn''t even manage to break it entirely and you''re already injured? I gotta get you in shape, that includes most of you in here. I don''t think I have ever seen so many couch potatoes in one room. Get back to your whole pack of rodents!"


    Shaun kicked Chandler back into the group of heroes. They didn''t know why Shaun acted like that, they all thought it was pretty amazing.


    Most of them were indeed out of shape. Most of which had never exercised a day in their lives.


    "You all might think that that little, tiny bit of strength is amazing. But it''s not! With that amount of strength you wouldn''t be able to defeat a red goblin! You should be like this in order to survive in this world!" Shaun took a turn to punch the pillar, and the pillar collapsed into rubble.


    All the new heroes were shocked beyond belief. They had only seen this kind of action in a movie before, not real life. And he wasn''t even injured.


    The king rubbed his head. It''ll take some time to repair that pillar.


    "I will be sure that every single one of you is strong enough to fight me. I will-"


    Shaun noticed the Great Sage making him hand gestures. He understood and backed off.


    The Great Sage floated in front of the young heroes and took out a round device.


    "You may call me The Great Sage. I will explain later who I am in better details. But for now, I need to see what kind of abilities each and every one of you possess."


    "Abilities?"


    "Do we have such a thing?"


    Most of the heroes are getting used to this world.


    *ZZZZZZZ*


    The Great Sage conjured lightning, fire, ice in his hands.


    "This is my ability. I am the strongest, and oldest sorcerer and hero alive. Shaun!"


    The Great Sage threw a lightning bolt only towards Shaun. Shaun quickly used his spear to deflect the lightning to another part of the room, which got destroyed.


    "If you''re lucky, you might have powerful abilities like I do. Many of the heroes before you possessed powerful abilities. So, who wants to go first? Who wants to be the first to see what kind of abilities you have?"


    Only one man raised his hand, it was Josh.


    "I do."


    The Great Sage extended his staff to Josh.


    "Touch my staff."


    "Gross." Josh and some of the other young heroes said.


    "...your heads are all messed up." The Great Sage said after reading their perverted minds.. It''s not like he could have said that in any other way that wouldn''t have made it sound disgusting.

 Chapter 56 - Heroes

    "And that''s about it." Sandra said.


    "That''s the entire story?" Will asked.


    "Basically¡­ we touched the staff, he told us what abilities we have, Josh is the only hero of our time to receive two abilities. Basically it. Oh! Before I forget, do you remember Pete, Henry, Victoria, and Britney?" Sandra asked.


    "Oh, god, ugh, Victoria is here?" Will said that in disgust. He remembered looking at the photo where all the heroes stood, but did not see her there. It might have been because the heroes were bunched up and most of them couldn''t be seen properly.


    Victoria is the school''s bully. Everyone hated her because of how she treats people. She would steal their stuff, insult them in every way especially those who were of a foriegn race. She was a bit shorter than Will, but she was fat and ugly and strong physically. It''s like her actions reflect on her appearance. And just every other school, the bully never gets in trouble.


    Will was one of her countless victims, until one day he stood his ground and she never bothered him again.


    "I thought you would react like that." Sandra chuckled at his face.


    "How could I not? I hated her. In fact everyone in our class hates her." Will obviously did not like Victoria at all.


    "I know, same here. But, if you see her, please don''t fight her."


    "Why not?"


    "Her hero ability¡­ she is able to transform into any animal. Even into a dragon. She''s too powerful."


    "What a cliche power¡­ but that actually suits her well."


    "How so?"


    "I mean that she can actually transform into a pig. If she does it wouldn''t be that different from her usual self."


    "Pfft! Hahaha!" Sandra started to laugh with a bright smile on her face.


    "About Britney, Pete, and¡­"


    "Henry?" Sandra asked.


    "Yeah, why did you mention those specifically?" Will asked. There were a hundred heroes and she only specified those four.


    "Because those four, the kingdom considers them the strongest, right next to Josh. Because of the huge potential they possess." Sandra said.


    "What abilities do they have?" Will asked. The kingdom has made sure to keep their powers a secret as best as they could, which is why he doesn''t know about their abilities yet.


    "Britney¡­ you remember her, right?"


    "Big br??sts, blonde, smart, kind and s?x-...y?" Will accidentally told her his thoughts. Sandra looked at him with a deadpan expression in her eyes.


    Britney is one of those girls who liked to show off her charm and skin to everyone in the world. She got into various problems at her school for breaking the school''s dress code various times. She was infamous in her school for it.


    "Yeah, that''s her alright. Her ability is su?k?n? the stamina and strength of everyone she touches. If she does it long enough even a dragon could die from her su?k?n?."


    "Pfft!" Will accidentally let out a chuckle.


    "..." Sandra realized it the moment she said it.


    "Sorry¡­ the way you said it. Ahem! So, what about Henry and Pete?" Asked Will after restoring his composure.


    "Pete can communicate with monsters. He could probably command monsters weaker than him if he wanted to." Sandra said.


    "That doesn''t sound like a destructive power, Sandra." Will said.


    "That''s what people thought about aquaman at first before he released his movie. The Great Sage realized this and saw his potential."


    "Ohhh, right! Good point!" Will now completely agreed with her.


    As for Pete, Will could not remember who that was.


    "And lastly Henry. If I remember correctly, the Great Sage said that this is the first hero to have this sort of ability, the ability to copy other heroes abilities."


    "Copying other heroes abilities? Sounds like an amazing power."


    "It actually is. Some people think he could easily surpass The Great Sage in due time." Sandra said.


    "Wow¡­" Will was amazed but did not know who Henry was either.


    "Now Will, why did you ask if heroes had a system? Do you have one?" Sandra asked. She was sharp.


    ''Crap. I should not have said that.'' Will thought. After so long, he honestly thought that every other hero had a system like him. Only now did he realize that it wasn''t the case.


    "You haven''t told me your hero ability, yet, Sandra." Will did not want to say anything. He trusts her, but is afraid that if the Great Sage reads her mind, he would know that Will is not a hero but something else.


    After all it''s how the Great Sage was able to find out about Will, because he read Jasmine''s mind.


    ''Just what am I?'' Will asked himself because he knew that the system is not going to tell him anything.


    "My hero ability¡­ is this." Sandra produced thin clouds from her hands and body. She wasn''t too proud of this ability as it could be seen on her face.


    "It seems like I can produce smoke as much as I want. It''s¡­ not a great ability." Sandra couldn''t help but cringe when showing him her ability.


    "It''s not bad¡­ I think¡­" Will didn''t know how to say it. Compared to the other amazing hero abilities he heard, it wasn''t outstanding.


    "It''s alright. What about your hero ability? What is it? I''m curious."


    "Secret."


    "..." Sandra looked at him. She smiled and rested her head on her shoulder and hugged him.


    "I missed you so much." She said.


    "I did, too."


    "Hm?" Sandra sensed something behind her hiding behind the trees.


    "Will, stand behind me!" Sandra took out a small knife. She had a sniper rifle but if she were to take it out whatever was lurking in the forest would attack her.


    "What''s wrong?" Will couldn''t sense a thing.


    "WILL!" Sandra yelled as she jumped towards him, but the vines pushed Will away from Sandra.


    Then Adaline came out and hissed at Sandra.


    "An organic creature?" Sandra has never seen a creature like Adaline, and it shocked her due to its size and abnormal appearance, It was made from only organic matter which is indeed abnormal to any person from her world.


    "Adaline! Stand back and let me go. She''s a friend." Will commanded her before they fought.


    Adaline kept her guard up but backed away slowly. She loosened her coils around Will.


    "Wait, you tamed an organic creature?" Sandra asked.


    "Didn''t I tell you I tamed a creature called Adaline?" Will walked up to Adaline and gently patted her head to comfort her.


    "Yeah but I thought it''d be something cliche like a giant wolf or something."


    "Taming a wolf is a cliche?" Asked Will. He has never read manga so he doesn''t know that it''s a common cliche in most isekai stories.


    "Pretty much. But, looking at¡­ her?" Sandra asked.


    "Adaline is indeed a ''she.''" Will said.


    "Looking at her closely, she''s indeed a wonderful creature." Sandra still found Adaline''s appearance weird, but she had bright flowers on her body which she found it just a tiny bit attractive to her.


    Sandra got closer in an attempt to pet Adaline.


    *Growl*


    Adaline didn''t like Sandra at all. When she got close enough, Adaline attempted to bite her hand.


    "Ah!" Sandra retracted her hand at the last second.


    "Hey, no biting." Will said a bit firmly. But Adaline kept growling and hissing at Sandra.


    "I don''t think she likes me."


    "She''s usually like this to strangers. Give her some time to warm up to you." Will said with a smile. Adaline was like that to him the first time they met.


    Will gently patted Adaline''s head to calm her down. She used her head to rub his stomach as a sign of affection.


    Seeing that giant creature being so fond of Will made Sandra''s heart melt. It was too sweet.


    "Will, where do you-"


    Then she sensed an unfamiliar presence coming towards them from above. A flying creature landed beside them while carrying 3 elves on his back. Sandra took out her knife just to be safe.


    A man got off of the creature''s back and hurriedly ran towards Adaline completely ignoring Sandra and Will.


    "Adaline, are you hurt?" Arbor asked worriedly in elven tongue.


    "Friends?" Sandra asked Will as she got closer to him.


    "It''s hard to tell at this point." Will still hasn''t completely forgiven them. And the only reason they''re here is because Arbor cares about Adaline.


    Grace and Rias noticed the girl beside Will.


    "Hero?" Grace asked in her elven language. She realized that Will has been learning how to speak in their language, but most likely can''t communicate properly in long sentences. It takes years of practicing and learning to learn a foriegn language. Grace knows this because it''s how long it took her to learn english.


    "You don''t need to speak in elven tongue, Grace." Will said. He put on his helmet and mask to be safe.


    "Ah, this is where you guys were." Bruce appeared before them. Despite running at full speed at such a long distance to reach them, he b?r?ly broke a sweat.


    The area was quiet, and awkward. No one spoke a word for a while.


    Sandra took a good look at Grace, Rias, and Arbor. They were elves and Sandra was weary of them. They had the ability to charm their opponents, which works mostly on the opposite s?x. Sandra knew they were elves because Will basically gave away their identity when he said ''don''t speak in elven tongue'' which obviously meant that they were elves.


    "What do you want with Will?" Sandra asked in a bit of a hostile manner.


    "Um." Grace didn''t know what to say.


    "They''re here for Adaline. They''re the ones who took care of her when she was born." Will said.


    "Oh¡­" Sandra looked at Adaline at how fond she is of Arbor, but not as overly fond as she was with Will.


    "Be careful of those people, Sandra. I think they''re elves. The weapons that man carries look like elven wood like the ones in the pictures I saw in the kingdom." Bruce said cautiously.


    "I know they are elves. Do not look them in the eyes, that''s how they use their ''charming'' ability people." Sandra responded.


    "We can hear you, you know." Grace said loudly. "And there is no reason for us to do what you said. We only came here to check up on Adaline."


    "But-"


    "Sandra, those elves are only here because they are like a family to Adaline. And no they never used their charming ability on me if that''s what you''re wondering. I don''t think they''re bad, but don''t leave them alone at your house, they might break not only your walls but your trust in them."


    "Are you seriously that petty?" Grace asked.


    "Next time you invite me to your house and I''ll destroy the walls using mining tools."


    "I''m sorry."


    "I''m sorry, too." Rias said in an apologetic manner.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Inside the Reyes kingdom.


    Two heroes were having an argument.


    "And you never did the one thing I told you to do?" The Great Sage asked Shaun loudly using telepathy.


    "Gah, shut up! I can hear your voice ringing in my damn head!" Shaun felt like there was a speakerphone on his head.


    "Why didn''t you warn the heroes of the elves, and the enchanted forest? One hero has already made it to the enchanted forest and was thrown out. The next time another tries to force themselves inside the enchanted forest, they will become fertilizer."


    "Live and learn. It''s how we did it in the military." Shaun said.


    "This isn''t like back in our world, Shaun. You''ve been here for over a century and I expected you to do a better job to mentor these heroes. I''m not complaining about their training since it''s going great, but you need to teach them the true dangers of this world."


    "I am teaching them, but in my own way. If I told them about the enchanted forest they would still have gone there anyway. But if they experience it themselves, they would never even attempt to look in that direction ever again."


    "You''re risking their lives by putting them in dangerous situations. They''re ordinary people, they''re kids." The Great Sage said.


    "No, they lost their right to become civilians when they were summoned in this world. And besides, they''re heroes. They''re going to die either way, either by a dragon, a bullet, a cyclops, or due to time. It''s a job where people die young. I can give them all the warnings in the world, and I can train them until they break down, and the king can supply them armor and tools that could protect them all the way to their teeth, but they will still die. Just like my..." Shaun didn''t say anything else.


    The Great Sage rubbed his forehead with his fingers.


    "Don''t let them die, Shaun. Promise me."


    "I can''t promise you that. The only one who can promise you that is God. I''d expect you''d know that by now, Sage."


    The Great Sage teleported to a different location.


    Shaun stared at the direction where the Great Sage was.


    "Why is he acting like he cares? I don''t think he even cared when the last group of heroes died. Hypocrite."


    Above them, a group of young heroes were spying on them in the tallest room.


    "What did they say?"


    "I dunno. I think something about hippos. It''s hard to hear with the wind."


    It was a group of three heroes, two men and one woman. They were Henry, Britney, and Pete.


    "We didn''t get any information about them, oh well. But what do you guys think we should do?" Henry asked, he was a young man wearing glasses and all black. He had short, black hair, and also for some reason an ear piercing on his left ear.


    "I dunno about you two, but I''m staying in this room until I die." Pete jumped on a queen sized bed. It was a rather large room that could fit several beds.


    Pete appeared to be an old man with a thick beard and a mustache, like a 30-35 year old, but he was still in his early twenties. He didn''t like shaving but always kept the hair on his head short and clean.


    "That sounds boring, Pete." Henry said.


    "Didn''t you see the size of that dragon that attacked the kingdom when the noble was about to get executed. Yeah I didn''t sign for that shit. No way in hell that I am ever stepping foot outside of these walls."


    "Pete, nobody here signed up for this. And we used to play dungeons and dragons. Imagine this is something like that."


    "DnD? HA! Those were merely figments of our imagination, make believe. But THIS! This is real! Our lives are actually on the line if we fight those beasts."


    "I say we put it to a vote." Britney, who had said nothing spoke up. "Those who want to go outside raise your hands."


    Britney is a tall, s?xy girl, with charming aura. She wore tight clothing that showed all her curves. She also had long blonde hair.


    Britney and Henry both raised their hands.


    "The majority won." Britney said to Pete.


    "I don''t see how that''s my problem."


    "It''s my problem, Pete. I am not leaving you here alone."


    Shaun already gave them permission to go outside the kingdom''s walls whenever they like, but that was up to the heroes when they wanted to leave.


    But they wouldn''t leave each other. They figured they would be stronger together and have a higher chance of surviving with a group of three than a group of four.


    Britney sat beside Henry.


    "Now what do we do?"


    "I don''t know. We tried everything."


    "I don''t care what you guys do, but there is no force alive that is ever, and I mean EVER going to make me go out there." Pete said, determined.


    "Excuse me, young heroes?"


    The king acted like a timid child in front of the heroes, he slowly opened the door as he made his presence known.


    "Your king!" Henry, Pete, and Britney stood up.


    "At ease. I only came to you three for a special request."


    "What do you need?" Asked Britney.


    "Well, one of your fellow classmates has a hard time finding a group who would welcome her. I was wondering if she could join you guys." The King slowly pulled a pudgy, ugly woman into the room. It was Victoria. She had a terrible and ugly expression on her face.


    "Well, your majesty about our group-"


    "What a coincidence!" Henry interrupted Britney. "Britney and I were just about to head out and explore the world. My classmate, Pete, is in dire need of a party memb-"


    Pete got behind Henry and held his mouth with his hand.


    "I''m sorry your majesty, but we were just leaving to venture to this¡­ amazing world, filled with amazing, giant, horrifying monsters." Pete said with a smile, but inside he was angry and scared.


    He dragged Britney and Henry to the door to leave, but Victoria was there, staring daggers at them.


    Victoria stroked her neck with her finger to send them a message/death threat to them ''I''m gonna fu?k?n? kill you.''


    "Oh, it''s such a beautiful day, I think I''m going to jump out the window." Pete was the first one to jump out of the kingdom, which was more than 10 stories high.


    Henry and Britney followed suit and jumped out the window. A fall of that magnitude is nowhere near enough to kill them.


    10 stories is about 100 feet, and 100 feet is 30.48 meters. A normal human can survive a fall of 20-25 feet (6-8 meters) anybody attempting to jump higher than that could be injured or die.


    The king looked out the window.


    "As expected of the heroes. Their bravery knows no bounds. Now, to find you another group."


    "Tsk, whatever."


    The king dragged Victoria to look for any group that would take her.


    Britney, Pete, and Britney landed safely on the ground.


    "I think I popped a bone. But it was worth it." Pete couldn''t feel pain anymore after a while. A hero''s regeneration is nothing to scoff at.


    "We finally got you out here, Pete¡­ now what?" Henry asked them.


    "I dunno. I never expected us to get this far." Britney shrugged.


    "...you dragged me out here, for nothing?" Pete asked.


    "Do you want me to fetch Victoria?"


    "How about if I go get our weapons first, and then we decide what to do. Deal? Deal." Pete ran inside the kingdom at a fast pace.


    Pete would much rather fight a dragon or any giant type of monster than to talk or even look at Victoria.


    "..." Henry.


    "I think we should invite Victoria to the group." Britney said.


    "Huh?"


    "I feel bad for her. She has no one that cares for her, and we downright rejected her."


    "It''s her fault. Trust me, we''re better off without her."


    "Maybe she''s misunderstood or something."


    "Misunderstood? She ripped your sweater off and your shirt in front of the whole classroom and exposed you to the classroom,,, more than usual, and YOU were the one who got in trouble with the school. She even tried to do the same thing with your pants!"


    "I know, but-"


    "And do you see this?" Henry showed Britney a burned scar on his hand that looked in the shape of a science utensil.


    "Right before COVID happened, I got paired up with her during a science lab because no one wanted her, I was forced to be with her. She purposefully burned a metal¡­ I forgot what the name was, but when she handed it to me, I didn''t notice she burned it and when it touched my hand, this is what happened. And the school labelled it as an ''accident'' and I still got an A on that subject, but SHE ALSO GOT THAT A BECAUSE OF ME!"


    "..."


    "And, don''t ever ask Pete what she did to him."


    "No, I remember what she did to him now. It was brutal. Sorry I wasn''t thinking about you guys."


    "It''s fine."


    Henry looked at his hand.


    ''Wait, a hero''s ability is that we can regenerate any kind of wounds, even burned wounds. So why hasn''t this scar healed?'' Henry didn''t put too much thought into it anymore.. It was now just a scar that was sort of healed.

 Chapter 57 - Dragon attack!

    In the middle of a village was Josh eating to his heart''s content. Stuffing himself with all the food he could eat.


    *Nom* *Nom* *Nom*


    "Are¡­ do all heroes have a big appetite?" Naveah asked.


    "Juhd meh (Just me)." Josh said while having a mouth full of food. Basically he was stress eating after losing Maid, and his magical weapon, which cost the kingdom a lot of money to make.


    Felicia gently tapped Naveah''s foot under the table.


    "I''m going to the bathroom." Felicia stood up.


    "I''ll accompany you." Naveah followed Felicia to the bathroom.


    Josh didn''t put much thought into it and continued eating.


    Naveah and Felicia once they were in the public bathroom, and when they saw no one else there, Felicia immediately reprimanded her,


    "Are you serious? We lied to Josh about Maid''s death!" Felicia said as if it was the worst thing she had done in her entire life.


    "We had no other choice. If he knew she was still alive he would have gone through the enchanted forest again. We have no chance of finding her in the forest, especially after what it did to us." Naveah could still faintly feel the pain lingering on her body.


    "This is a problem! We lied to a hero, a legend, a god! And you made me a part of it."


    "Felicia, do not tell Josh about this, not a word." Naveah said seriously.


    "I just don''t feel good about keeping this secret from him."


    "If he finds out, we will get kicked out of his party. For all we know this could be the only hero that will ever welcome us."


    "Oh, I get it, you only want Josh so you can have a better chance of obtaining the kingsmen title." Felicia knew that every sorcerer was aiming for that spot.


    "No, that is not my goal. No sorceress has ever gotten it, and I know for certain it''s never going to happen." Naveah said truthfully, she was already satisfied with her 5-striped sorceress title.


    "Then what do we do?" Felicia asked in a sad tone. It didn''t feel right to lie to a hero.


    "We''ll get him someone else to replace Maid''s position. A monster transforming into a human is very, very rare so we can''t hope to capture another monster like Maid. So let''s get him an elf, one that has lost the protection of the forest.".


    Capturing an elf that has the protection of the forest is obviously much more difficult, and there wasn''t much difference between one who has the protection of the forest, and one who doesn''t.


    "Where can we find one?" Felicia asked.


    "Although elf slaves are now legal, the Great Sage doesn''t like elves within the kingdom. He seriously doesn''t even want to see them. So if we get an elf we can''t bring it with us to the kingdom."


    "Oh¡­ how about the black market?" Felicia said.


    The black market has been around for a long time now, no one really knows when or who created it, but it has been around since before the 1900''s. Back then it used to be a very secretive and an illegal place, but now it''s an exclusive club.


    "That place¡­ I don''t think we can get in."


    "How come?"


    "Don''t you know? It''s a very exclusive club. Only rich, famous, and powerful people can get in¡­" Naveah stopped talking midway as she realized something important.


    "So, would someone like Josh, a hero, be enough?" Felicia asked.


    "Actually, yes. But we need money in order to get in. It costs 100 gold each to become members.." Naveah counted how much gold they had inside.


    "Doesn''t Josh get a discount or something for being a hero?" Asked Felicia.


    "No, discounts are viewed as something that belongs to the lower class, like you and I. Since heroes can make a ton of money quite easily they don''t need discounts."


    "Do we have enough money to get it in?"


    "No. We have less than 200 gold. And Josh is planning on using the money to buy another magical weapon, since he lost his wand. But a magical item costs thousands of gold coins to make. And elves can easily go over 1000 gold coins, I heard that one time an elf got sold for 5000 gold coins."


    "That''s okay. I mean, Josh is a hero and can easily make that kind of money, right?"


    "Yes, but I don''t think he can make it on time. The black market opens every 3 full moons."


    "Once every 3 months?"


    "Yes. And the black market is going to open in 8 days from now on. We don''t have a lot of time. And Josh isn''t the patient type, I don''t think he can earn that much in such a short amount of time. We also have to take into account travelling distance, minor obstacles along the way, sleep, food, and so much more."


    "How about that one guy who bought those dragons from us? He must be pretty wealthy." Felicia pointed out.


    "No¡­ wait, that''s a good idea. But we don''t know who he is. I can use my connections to find out who he is, but we need to hurry."


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Why would I want to move closer to the enchanted forest?" Will asked.


    Grace, Will, and the others were having a conversation. Arbor told Grace to tell Will that he should move closer to them, so Adaline could be more at home and closer as well.


    Arbor has been thinking about this for a while now. Since Adaline cannot leave Will''s side, he thought that Will should move closer to where they live.


    "My dad really wants you to move closer to us." Grace felt bad asking him, but that''s what her dad wanted.


    Will looked at Arbor and said in elven tongue, "No." It was one word but Will thought he knew what he meant. He only memorized a few words, and could not hold a proper conversation yet.


    Arbor did not seem angry, but he kept talking to Grace in his elven language trying to convince him through her.


    "Okay, dad, this is getting annoying for me." Grace said in elven tongue, it''s beginning to be a brother to translate from elven tongue to english and back again.


    Sandra, Bruce, and Rias were just on the side watching.


    "So, heroes." Rias awkwardly looked at Bruce and Sandra.


    "Yeah?" Bruce asked.


    "Do you guys have an ability that can revive the dead? Or know if your other hero buddies have that ability?" Rias asked for her father.


    "...not that I know of." Bruce answered truthfully.


    "Oh." Rias felt dejected. Heroes all have supernatural abilities when they are summoned, perhaps she thought that one day one of those heroes would have an ability that could revive her father.


    "Okay, enough, enough!" Will said, annoyed after arguing with Arbor through Grace.


    "I am not moving. I plan on staying in the deserted lands, even if it''s nothing more than a burning, dry, wasteland."


    Will cannot afford to move into a more populated area. The existence of those exotic flowers and the seed must be kept a secret at all costs. Not only is it something that everybody yearns for, but it''s his only way to increase his HP.


    And also he needs to work on his golems back at his base.


    "Dad, Will said that-"


    "I can tell by the tone of his voice what he said." Arbor interrupted Grace. He pinched the part of his nose where the eyes didn''t connect.


    "Hold on, I''m confused, what do we do now?" Bruce asked the group.


    "What do you mean?" Sandra asked.


    "I mean, we found Will, we find out he''s friends with the elves, he lives in a white desert for some reason. Didn''t we leave the kingdom in the first place to find a way to go back?"


    "Going back?" Will asked. He had never thought of it.


    "According to what I know, no hero has ever been able to return to their world. You''re as good as stuck in this world of ours." Rias pointed out.


    "You don''t know that for certain." Sandra said.


    "Fair enough."


    "What do you mean by going back? We can actually do that?" Will asked Sandra and Bruce.


    "It''s never been done but we can try."


    "Going back¡­" Will went into a very deep thought. He sincerely misses his family and wishes he could talk to them one more time.


    "Don''t you miss your family?" Sandra asked Will.


    "I do, very much. But in this world¡­" Will thought about the advantages and disadvantages that this world has to offer.


    He has made some friends in this world, Adaline, Jack, etc. He had been shot multiple times, ambushed, eaten, starved to death on many occasions, worked harder than he had ever done in all his life, became a user of the crafting system which might be good or bad, can respawn infinitely, has learned to stand up for himself, his insomnia is gone, and has tried to survive in this world.


    "Actually¡­ now that I think about it¡­"


    Then Will thought about the advantages and disadvantages of going back to his world.


    He was already dead, so it''d be extremely strange and scary if he''d come back to life. Also he lost his friend Alex, his ex is now in this new world, his loving family is there, he has no future ahead of him because it''s tough surviving in that world, he graduated high school, but knows for certain that he will not live a great life, and doesn''t have to worry about monsters eating him alive.


    ''Do I even want to go back?'' He thought.


    "Give me a few days to think about it." Will said. It''s hard to make that choice.


    "You''re not actually thinking of staying in this world?" Sandra asked worryingly.


    "I¡­ I don''t know."


    "Will, our family is there, worried to death about us. I don''t deny that this world ''might'' be amazing, like out of a poorly written light novel, but we, at least I feel that we should let our parents know that we''re fine."


    "Actually¡­ that''s a very good point. But can we even go back?"


    "No." Sandra shook her head. "But we cannot lose hope. Like you once said, ''when there''s a ''Will'' there''s a way."''


    "..." Everybody except Will.


    "You still remember that?" Will teared up a bit.


    "Of course I do!"


    Then vines gently coiled around Will''s body, embracing him tightly as they lifted him up, and slowly pulled him into Adaline''s side.


    "What''s wrong?" Will has only seen this side of Adaline a few times, and all of those times was when she was scared, or in pain.


    "Wait, you''re afraid that I''ll leave you behind if I were to return to my world?" Will couldn''t talk to her, but after spending so much time with her, he''d began to understand her more and more every day.


    Adaline nodded slowly and began to tighten her grip, as if he''d let him go for a second he''ll leave forever.


    "Aww." Rias and Sandra covered their mouths. It was too sweet.


    ''I don''t know what''s happening, but that''s nice.'' Arbor thought and smiled.


    Grace smiled a bit. But looking up at the sky the moon was already out, she frowned.


    ''It''s almost a full moon again.'' Grace wasn''t too happy about this, but she didn''t let it show that it bothered her.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jasmine, wiped the sweat off her forehead using her sleeve. Behind her were the various corpses of many goblins and ogres, no more than 30 were there. They were all killed by her. Most of those monsters were weak, but a handful of them were considerably strong.


    "Damn, it''s broken." She looked at her staff and noticed several large cracks on it, on the near edge of breaking. The more she used it the more its durability worsened.


    "And I just got it from Sam. Then again a cyclops broke it in half, but it was fixed by Will. I need to pay them another visit. But¡­"


    Jasmine looked at her pockets, only a few measly silver coins were on her.


    "The King raised the taxes after the hero''s summoning, and it''s getting more difficult to support my family like this. Gah I wish I was a 5-striped sorceress, I could earn more money and take on better paying jobs. Then again sorceresses don''t earn as much as sorcerers do. And I didn''t even get money as a reward, just a ''thank you'' letter from the king which is worth nothing."


    Jasmine ranted on about her money problems for a while.


    "I should take on stronger monsters, but without a staff or a sorceress type weapon, I''m weak." Jasmine started to think how to fix it.


    Monster parts on the 4th and 5th layer aren''t worth much, however dragons and powerful cyclops are worth so much money.


    "Perhaps, I can ask Jack¡­ no, I cannot use him like that. Oh well, I better sell these corpses before they start to rot and attract the scent of monsters. Ugh." Jasmine took an ogres legs and flew up high with it.


    "It''s so heavy!" Jasmine already was having difficulty breathing and her flying pace was rather slow. She dropped it on the ground as it made a heavy noise.


    "This is not gonna work. Might as well rent out a portable cargo or something. Fortunately there''s a village nearby of blacksmiths, pretty sure they have something that can help me carry these monster corpses." Jasmine flew in the direction of the village which was a bit far.


    Half an hour later, not far away from that spot, a certain pink dragon was flying, searching for something or someone.


    ''Where did that idiot go? He was tasked to find those humans. If I didn''t open my big mouth, Roydus wouldn''t have remembered him and I wouldn''t be here looking for him.'' She thought to herself.


    *Sniff* *Sniff*


    ''This smell, food! Great, I am starving!'' The pink dragon flew towards the scent that lured her. It was surprisingly far away, but a dragon has an acute sense of smell, especially if they''re hungry.


    She found the mountain of corpses of monsters and ate them all in a few bites no less.


    ''Delicious. But that was hardly anything. *Sniff* I smell humans, my favourite! But, wait, those blasted heroes might be there. Roydus said that I should not make trouble with humans.''


    She looked around her area, to make sure that she wasn''t being followed by another dragon, especially Roydus. After confirming that she was indeed not being followed, she made up her mind then and there.


    ''But¡­ I don''t care, I am too hungry to care!''


    The pink dragon flew at a great speed following that scent of humans.


    Meanwhile, Jasmine safely landed on a village that was doing very well. It has stone walls, stone houses, and lots of blacksmiths in that village. It was tiny, even smaller than Jack''s village, but well fortified.


    There are some battle marks and damage on the walls, as there had been monster attacks but have never gotten through the walls.


    In the middle of the tiny village, was a giant tower with a bell on it. Someone always kept watch up there. And if they saw a monster they''d alert the village so it could give them a chance to defend themselves.


    There weren''t that many villagers, no more than 100 were currently living there.


    "Excuse me?" Jasmine freely entered the first blacksmith shop she saw.


    "Hello?" The ono who greeted Jasmine looked like a dwarven male, short, bald, big belly, strong, long grey beard. Dwarves are not a thing in this world, he just happened to look like one.


    "Can I rent one of your, um, I forgot the name but it''s like a portable wooden cargo?" Jasmine said she''d been trying to remember what it was called. We all had a time when we forget the name of something.


    "You mean a wooden cart?"


    "Yes! That!"


    "Of course I have those. How else do you think we buy precious metals and ores from other independent villages?"


    "That makes sense. How many carts do you have?"


    "How many do you need?"


    "Enough to fit about 3-"


    *DING!!!* *DING!!!* *DING!!!*


    "What''s that?" Jasmine asked.


    "Just another monster nearby. Probably an ogre or something. If it was a dragon or a cyclops, we''d be doomed. but they rarely ever come here." The short man gleefully grabbed an enchanted, giant hammer and ran outside eager to kill the monster.


    "DRAGON! DRAGON INCOMING!" villagers began seeing a giant winged figure flying towards them and shouted.


    "Out of all places!" Jasmine''s first instinct was to fight and protect the village. A sorcerer follows one important rule, protect the people. Like a hero would. Those who break that rule, will obviously face dire consequences.


    Jasmine saw the dragon flying towards them. Around her were several villages all carrying weapons, most of which were enchanted.


    "It''s¡­ a dragon on the second layer!" Jasmine said she knew from seeing its size.


    "I''ll be damned!" The short blacksmith said, they were all staring at it fearfully.


    "Get the woman and children inside the bunker!" Another blacksmith shouted.


    Some of them ran inside the bunkers, but most of them stayed outside, fearless like soldiers.


    *ROAR* The pink dragon roared. It stood on top of the stone walls which could b?r?ly stand its weight. It flailed her wings creating powerful gusts of winds that pushed most of the villagers back and caused serious damage.


    "ATTACK!"


    Several of the villagers shot the dragon using their weapons, most of which were guns which aimed at its face.


    The pink dragon purposefully did not cause too much damage to the village, if it did the villagers would either be crushed, burned to cinders, and she wouldn''t be able to enjoy a proper meal. Not thinking that they would defend themselves, it started taking them seriously.


    First, the dragon flew up and let out a fire breath that covered the village in a circle of fire. Then it dived down and ate a handful of the villagers, enjoying the taste.


    ''Ah, yes, nothing tastes better than humans¡­ except maybe pork.'' The pink dragon thought.


    "Aim for the wings! Aim for the eyes!" Another villager shouted and they concentrated their attacks on it.


    "SOMEONE GET A BARREL OF GUNPOWDER! HURRY!" The short man yelled, a younger but strong man ran into the nearest blacksmith to get a barrel of gunpowder.


    ''That tickles.'' The pink dragon smirked at their futile efforts.


    Then, a blue light shot from one of the villagers at the speed of a bullet, it b?r?ly managed to hit the dragon''s face.


    The pink dragon saw Jasmine, pointed its staff at it. Jasmine looked scared all of a sudden.


    "Crap! Why isn''t it working!" Jasmine looked at her staff, it suddenly stopped shooting and only shot that one time.


    As the dragon attempted to eat Jasmine, it suddenly felt a great pain from her claw. A short man successfully managed to crush most of its claw using its enchanted hammer.


    "Hey, ugly, over here!" The dwarven-like man grabbed its attention and managed to draw its attention away from Jasmine.


    "No, wait!" Jasmine yelled.


    Jasmine, knowing what was about to happen and quickly flew towards the short man.


    Out of rage, the pink dragon raised its foot and crushed the short man. It''s force of its stomp created a shockwave that pushed Jasmine and the surrounding areas back.


    Jasmine had to witness a man sacrifice himself for her. And her wand broke in two at that moment, making it completely useless.


    "NOW! HUA!" The same young man finally came out with a barrel of gunpowder and hurled it at the dragon''s feet.


    ''Sniff¡­ gunpowder? Please.'' The dragon knew what they attempted to do.


    Gunpowder does indeed hurt them if it blows that close to a dragon, but that only drives away the least intelligent dragons of fear of dying. However, this dragon is intelligent, even if it detonated it would indeed injure her, and would also make her very mad.


    She quickly used its tail to cover the gunpowder, protecting it from being detonated. She smirked as she looked at the villagers trying their best to survive.


    "It''s smart? FORGET ABOUT IT JUST CONTINUE SHOOTING IT!" The few villagers that were still fighting for their lives.


    ''Shame that there weren''t anymore humans. I wonder if there''s more nearby.'' The dragon got bored and her thoughts wandered elsewhere.


    Then, she saw Jasmine just a few feet away from its face with her palm aimed at her eye. Her face was full of anger, all she thought was getting her revenge.


    Jasmine is not the best sorceress, nor the strongest, fastest. But if she got close enough to its eye it could still cause serious pain to it.


    *Boom*


    Jasmine poured all her mana into this shot, a mana ball came out of her palm and successfully managed to blind the dragon''s eye temporarily.


    Completely out of mana, Jasmine dropped to the ground. Barely able to stand or move, she could only stare at the dragon crying in pain.


    ''OUGH! THAT STINGS!'' The dragon rubbed its eye using its claw. It also stopped protecting the barrel of gunpowder.


    "EVERYBODY NOW!" One of the villagers quickly hurled the gunpowder at the dragon and someone shot it, exploding from underneath the dragon.


    "TO THE BUNKER!" One of them grabbed Jasmine like a sack of potatoes and ran to the bunker.


    ''OW! I CHANGE MY MIND! DIE!''


    The dragon roared and let out a breath of fire which completely turned the buildings and the surrounding area to ashes.


    Unfortunately for the villagers, they didn''t make it to the bunker in time. Which resulted in most of them to perish on the fires.


    Jasmine could feel the heat on her entire body. It was inevitable, she was going to die in that spot.


    Then, another dragon, ever bigger than the pink one, swooped down and grabbed the dragon by it''s neck using its giant claw.


    "oiD, em saw ti tub, ecnetnes revelc a eb d''ti taht thguoht ouy. (Roydus! Why are you here?)"


    The pink dragon was scared for its life. Roydus is the second strongest dragon. She couldn''t even smell him despite her having an acute sense of smell. Either Roydus covered his scent with something, or he was keeping an eye on her from far away so that her nose couldn''t detect him.


    "Eaw eht wonk uoy od. (I followed you, I clearly told you not to mess with the humans! Were my orders not enough?! We don''t need the heroes, especially the Great Sage coming to us! We''re already having enough trouble from the cyclops!)"


    For a hundred years now, Roydus made sure to keep most dragons at check. Some dragons think too highly of themselves and attack the kingdom or other villagers because they think that heroes are weak, and yeah some manage to escape from it''s sight. But he knew that the heroes, especially the Great Sage, is not a force to mess with.


    "Eno dah I fi, drocsid ym nioj. (I''m sorry, I won''t do it again!)"


    "Skcus divoc! (I know you won''t.)"


    The giant dragon, Roydus, bit the pink dragon''s head off and left her body there. It would at least show that the one dragon who caused the destruction died, and hopefully this won''t anger the humans and come seeking revenge, especially from the Great Sage.


    If the pink dragon was willing to cause such destruction without a good reason other than to satisfy her hunger, they wouldn''t need her then as it would bring them more harm than good to let her keep living.


    Roydus fled the scene.. It flew back to its home.

 Chapter 58 - Maid

    "But, mom! It''s too dangerous to go out!" Jack held tightly onto his mother''s waist.


    "No buts. The taxes are rising, your grandmother has ran out of money to support us, we cannot keep relying on her to help us financially. We need to do this." July said as she got onto a wooden cart being pulled by 2 donkeys.


    "She''s right, you know?" Sam said, sitting beside July.


    "Uncle, at least take this." Jack handed Sam a shotgun, the same shotgun that Will made for them.


    "We''re already well armed." Sam pointed at the cargo part and there was a bag filled with various guns for protection.


    "We¡­ can always sell it, if you want?" Jack was hesitant to sell the shotgun, after all Will made it for them. However they truly needed the money.


    "It''s too good to sell it. Unless if we''re really desperate for money, like really, really, really, really-"


    "Okay, he understands." July pinches Sam''s mouth shut with her fingers.


    "Just, stay safe! I''ll watch over the blacksmith shop!" Jack said.


    "I know you will. Stay safe, sweety. If you need help ask your grandma." July and Sam rode off on their cart.


    "Welp, you drive, I''ll supervise." Sam got on the cargo part and laid down comfortably.


    "Remember, when we''re coming back, you drive." July reminded him, they take turns driving the cart as they have since they were younger.


    "Yeah, I know, I know. You know, I haven''t been to the blacksmith village in a while."


    "Really? How long?"


    "Eh, 5-6 months give or take. I wonder how my teacher''s doing there, that small, chubby, bearded bastard!"


    "You haven''t kept in touch with him?" July asked.


    "Sort of. I do keep asking him for help every now and then. But he recently became a master blacksmith, like 2-3 months ago. We haven''t spoken much because of his new title."


    "Oh really? What kind of magical item did he make?"


    One of the requirements to become a master blacksmith is to create a magical item. If he got promoted to master, it means he created a magical item.


    "I am pretty sure it was¡­ a magical wand? He sold it to the kingdom for a hefty sum to help his village. I heard that it was given to a hero, Josh Jones. I think it was his name."


    "Oh¡­" July immediately thought of Will.


    ''Why is Will hiding his identity?'' July thought.


    However, it seemed like him and Jack were good friends, it would be cruel of her to take that away from him, especially a hero who Jack admires with all his heart.


    "Wait, he got promoted to a master and we''re going to his village without a congratulatory present?" July stopped the donkeys therefore stopping the cart in place.


    "Why are you stopping?"


    "We''re going back home, we''re going to find a present, and we''re going to give your teacher a present."


    "We don''t have to."


    "We will and we are. Now move it!" July commanded the donkeys and they heeded her command.


    Meanwhile¡­


    In the village of blacksmiths, which was just recently attacked, the remaining survivors were left with no homes, food, and a lot of dead people.


    Jasmine, had been seriously injured. Her robes were burned to a crisp, and part of her leg was burned and it melted with the clothes she was wearing.


    Still, trying her best to ignore the pain on her leg she aided the people. Some of which were in grave condition.


    The people hiding in the bunker came out. They began aiding the wounded, those who didn''t or couldn''t, were either crying, screaming, searching frantically for their loved ones, it was a nightmare for all of them.


    Someone was stuck under some rubble, it was a fully grown man, he was one of the people that tried to take down the dragon. His entire arm and feet were crushed entirely by debris.


    "It''s okay, I got you." Jasmine used her staff, which was beyond broken at this point to lift the debris. But, at that point, the man lost his life due to blood loss.


    Jasmine saw the life of his eyes vanish. She teared up heavily. Today''s events were too much for one person to bear.


    "Okay, everybody listen up!" One of the villagers said very loudly. There were battle wounds on his body, as he was one of the men that tried to take down the dragon.


    "I have contacted the black tower, sorcerers will be coming to help us, along with potion-makers who can heal your wounds. Everyone help each other out! We need to stay calm until they arrive to our aid."


    "How long will that take? We''re very far from the kingdom. My husband won''t be able to make it much longer!" One of the women villagers said holding her children tightly.


    "... The sorcerers will arrive in¡­ a day, at most. As for the potion-makers, at most two days." The man covered his face with his hand. Most of their wounds needed to be treated immediately. The longer they wait the more likely most of them will die.


    Sorcerers use mounts, some which are flying mounts, and sorceres can also fly so they should reach there first. As for potion makers, it depends.


    "Bullshit! My brother can''t hold on that long!"


    "My son¡­ is dead¡­ he died!"


    "Isn''t there anybody else we can call? What about the other nearby villages?"


    The villages nearby were hours away. It''s still a long period of time, but it was better than waiting for two days.


    "Can anybody here do that? Does anybody here have a way to contact nearby friends, families?!" The man asked the villagers. It was a good idea,


    "I can!"


    "Same!"


    Some villagers hurriedly started contacting their nearby friends and families.


    Jasmine, however, did not think this would work.


    Most of the wounded needed to be treated immediately. And they all needed to find a safe place to hide, eat, and sleep. They could not afford to sleep outside with the monsters.


    And they could not take the injured with them, all of their carts were broken or very damaged. If they were to move the injured, they''d most likely die before help got there.


    With the corpse of the dead dragon literally meters away from them, it was bound to attract hungry monsters, and no one here had the strength or energy to fight again.


    "I wish I had a mount, any mount would help their situation!" Jasmine blamed herself for not taming a mount yet, as she has never had a chance to. Looking at the people who died, she didn''t want the other injured people to die.


    "Wait¡­ no, Will is too far. But, his mount is fast. Faster than I am when flying that''s for sure." Jasmine looked at the villagers who were nearly dead.


    "It''s worth a shot!" Jasmine immediately started writing on her communication stone.


    If she doesn''t ask Will for help, or try anything at all, she believes that it will haunt her consciousness till her death.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Wait, you''re not coming?" Sandra asked.


    "Sorry, Sandra. I can''t leave this place. It''s¡­ become like a second home to me." Said Will.


    They were still in the forest discussing things.


    At some point Sandra asked Will if he wanted to come live with her in the kingdom of Reyes. However Will wasn''t too eager to move out.


    Will couldn''t leave his base at any cost. It would be a dumb move on his part if he dead. He was in the middle of creating golems. And grows exotic flowers which raises his HP.


    "But¡­ okay." Sandra could tell that he was not going to change his mind. Before Will was always hesitant, but now he''s different.


    ''What happened to you in these past 3 months?'' Sandra thought. It''s like it was a different person she was talking to.


    "Well, now that we checked on Adaline, I believe it''s time for us to-" Grace stopped mid-sentence.


    Grace, Rias, Arbor, Adaline, and Drake, all had the same weird reaction, as if something was wrong.


    Adaline quickly got beside Will to protect him.


    "What''s wrong?" Will asked. They noticed that their moods changed for some reason.


    "There''s been a dragon attack on a village. Nothing to worry about." Rias said. They almost immediately ignored it.


    The forest immediately alerted what it witnessed to all the elves and organic creatures in the forest.


    "Wait, a dragon attacked a village? That''s nothing?" Bruce asked.


    "We thought that there was a dragon nearby, but it seemed it''s not, so we''re safe." Grace said.


    "That¡­ that''s horrible! We have to help the people!" Sandra said loudly.


    "No need to. That dragon has been taken care of. It''s dead."


    "Still, there''s bound to be wounded people who need our help!" Bruce also loudly said.


    "It''s not worth the trouble." Grace said.


    "She''s right, Sandra." Will added.


    "What?" Sandra was surprised to see Will act so indifferent. Bruce and Sandra acted like this because that''s what they think they should do, help the weak. Their experiences in this world differ from what Will had to go through all this time.


    "I learned a few things from living here in these past 3 months. One of which is ''just because people ask for your help doesn''t mean that they deserve your help.'' in the two instances where I helped people, one of them tried to kill me and kidnap Adaline to sell her. The second time I helped another village by rescuing their people, they wanted to sell Grace because they knew she was an elf."


    "Will, there are people there who need our help! We didn''t sign up for this, but we have to do it." Bruce got closer to Will as he said that.


    "You''re right, I didn''t sign up for this, so I don''t have to do shit. No matter what I am not helping them." Will stood firmly on the ground. But then decided to sit on a log because he was tired from standing.


    Will wasn''t afraid, he just doesn''t see a reason to help strange people who might betray him yet again.


    "What happened to you, Will?" Sandra asked worried about him. It was like his emotions were being stripped away.


    "A lot happened." Will began thinking back all the pain and suffering he went through in this world.


    ''Maybe I did change.'' Will thought to himself. Back then he would have felt bad for those people and would have lend them a helping hand, but now he just doesn''t care anymore.


    "You, where did the dragon attack? Where is the village?" Bruce got closer to Grace and Rias.


    "It''s far away. Even with your speed, hero, you would reach it in than 8 hours at most." Grace said indifferent to this matter. She didn''t like humans to begin with.


    "That''s good enough! Where is it?" Bruce asked again.


    "... just keep going south-east from here." Grace didn''t care at all, she just wanted Bruce out of her face.


    "Got it! Sandra, you coming?" Bruce asked.


    Sandra, looked at Will, and back at Bruce.


    "You go on¡­ I''ll catch up."


    "But¡­ okay." Bruce left in a blink of an eye.


    "It''s my first seeing a hero run at that speed. Impressive." Grace said, now she knew to be more careful of any hero she meets in the future. Rias and Armor weren''t too surprised, as they had seen how powerful heroes can be.


    Sandra, kneeling on one leg, she gently took Will''s mask off from his face. She was clearly saddened.


    "Will¡­ I am so, so¡­"


    "Disappointed? Yeah, I know."


    Will could see it in her eyes, her disappointment in him. It''s just how his parents looked at him when he disappointed them, especially in school related stuff, especially science.


    "No¡­ I am sorry."


    "What?" Will did not expect that. What does she have to be sorry for?"


    "You¡­ this world has changed you. You have been alone this whole time, struggling to survive. It''s no wonder you''ve changed so much. If I only knew about you sooner, I could have been there for you, and helped you." Sandra started to cry for him. Tears dripped down her cheeks then dropped from her chin.


    Will''s heart shattered into pieces. She blamed herself for something she didn''t do.


    "Sandra¡­ don''t blame yourself for this. No one could have foreseen this coming. It''s just like how you blame yourself for Alex''s death, when we both knew that it was my fault!"


    "No, it''s not your fault! It was that damn murderer who took him away from us!"


    Will hugged her tightly into his embrace. Only then did she start calming down.


    "I am not alone anymore. I have you here, and Adaline with me."


    "And I also left you when he died, right when you needed me most, I wasn''t there." She said.


    "I pushed you away. It''s not your fault. I was in pain, I thought that if I pushed you away from my life you wouldn''t have to suffer, nor would I. But I didn''t realize that¡­ I should have been there for you as well."


    They both stood in that position for a while.


    The 3 elves were just awkwardly watching.


    "We should go. We''ll come back another day." Arbor gently said. It isn''t right to stare at them like creeps.


    The two other elves agreed and left them alone.


    "Grace, we still need to get ''that'' thing for Will." Rias said in english. They were referring to the magical item that can track down other magical items.


    "I know. I''ll ask grandfather if I can borrow it."


    "What are you two talking about?" Arbor asked.


    "You know¡­ stuff." Grace lied horribly, but her father didn''t probe into it anymore.


    Then, Will''s pocket shined brightly, someone was sending him a message.


    "Sorry." Sandra pulled herself away from his embrace.


    "Do you have any water?" She asked.


    "Here." Will took out a ?h?st full of food and leather water bottles. Using leather water bottles was a great way to carry water in ?h?sts.


    "Your¡­ hero ability lets you shrink and un-shrink items?"


    "Well, you''re not wrong."


    "A¡­ leather canteen?" Sandra asked confused as she took out a leather canteen from the ?h?st. There were regular water bottles back in the kingdom, mostly made from metal.


    "What? I think a leather water bottle looks cool. alright?" Will said honestly. He could have made a silver, or some kind of metal water bottle, but he liked the design of leather bottles.


    "Pft. Yeah." Sandra laughed a bit because it''s something he would like. At least now she knew that Will didn''t change too much. She used a bit of the water to clean up her tears.


    Will took out the communication stone from his pocket.


    {Will, it''s me, Jasmine. Please message me back as soon as you see this message.}


    {Hi Jasmine. Are you a kingsguard yet?}


    {No, listen, it''s important, I need your help with something.}


    {What do you need?}


    {There was¡­ an attack. I don''t have many options but you''re my only chance. There are many injured people here, I need you to bring enough healing potions for us. Please! We''re at the blacksmith village on the south-east.}


    {An attack? Wait, you mean the dragon attack?} Will thought it was too coincidental that there is a dragon attack, then Jasmine calls about an attack.


    {Yes! Please come here.}


    ''Wait, I didn''t mention it was a dragon attack.'' Jasmine thought on the other side. How did Will know?


    {Well¡­} Will thought if he should really do this.


    {The dragon is dead if that''s what you''re worried about. Just please help us. That''s all I ask.}


    {Doesn''t that village have a potion shop or something?}


    {Completely crushed.}


    {Are there any soldiers or sorcerers there to help?}


    {No, just me. It''s an independent village, it doesn''t rely on the kingdom''s protection in order to avoid paying taxes.}


    {JASMINE! I DRSINS ADTACKD YU(A dragon attacked you?)} Jack wrote so fast that he couldn''t write properly.


    [I''m fine, Jack. Just some minor burns and what not.} Jasmine could understand Jack''s messy writing. She could also not worry Jack too much so she made it seem like a minor thing.


    [WILL! PELS HALL ER!(Please help her)}


    {Fine. But after this we''re even, Jack.}


    Will couldn''t properly read his message, but could guess what he wanted him to do. He owed Jack too much and would gladly help him if he ever needed his help. Without him he''d be lost in this world.


    "I''m going to the village." Sandra said prepared to leave.


    "Hold on, I''m coming, too." Will placed the ?h?st in his pocket after shrinking it. He was already carrying with him many healing potions. He''s learned his lesson and brought them in case he needed them, and was glad he did.


    "What made you change your mind?" Asked Sandra.


    "A friend of mine needs help. Get on Adaline. We''ll make it there faster than we would on foot."


    Will climbed on top of Adaline. He extended his hand towards Sandra to help her up.


    *HISSSSS*


    Adaline hissed at Sandra, it still doesn''t trust her yet.


    "Come on, Adaline, let her on top." Will gently comforted Adaline by patting her head.


    Adaline turned away from Sandra, but it was still hissing and growling.


    Sandra tightly held onto Will like if they were riding on a motorcycle.


    "Hold on tight! Go! To the village where the dragon attacked!" Will said.


    Adaline began running at full speed. This speed caught Sandra off guard and it almost flung her off. Luckily she held onto Will, and he was being held on by Adaline''s roots.


    "How is she so fast?" Sandra asked. Even at full speed she couldn''t run as fast as her, and she''s a hero.


    "I dunno. But I like it." Will enjoyed being able to ride Adaline like this.


    "You know, this reminds me of- PFT! BPFT! PFT! BLEGH! Cough!"


    "What''s wrong?" Asked Will.


    "I somehow swallowed a bug."


    "Yeah that''ll happen. Just don''t open your mouth for the remainder of the time." Will could talk without the fear of accidentally swallowing a bug because he was wearing a mask.


    "Makes sense." Sandra didn''t say a word for the remainder of the ride.


    Meanwhile, Bruce was running at full speed, trying to help those villagers.


    "I really hope this is the east. Um¡­ sun rises on the east¡­ or was that the west?" Bruce racked his brains to remember.


    "OUT OF THE WAY!"


    Bruce heard a familiar voice shout behind him. It was Will, riding on top of Adaline running at a great speed.


    Bruce jumped to the side before getting hit. He noticed Sandra was also riding the organic creature.


    "Best guess is that they''re going to the village¡­ well at least I know I''m going the right way." Bruce tried following them, but after a while he figured out that it was merely impossible because of Adaline''s speed.


    Meanwhile¡­


    A certain loli had made it to a village. Her clothes were a bit tattered and messy, but she was fine overall. This is Maid, the dragon loli who escaped the hero''s clutches. But the collar she was wearing impeded her from transforming into her true form, and she couldn''t take it off.


    The village was lively. Food, guards, people, music, everything fun imaginable was there. But the smell of delicious food attracted her to this village, as she was starving. It wasn''t a good idea to come in contact with humans for many reasons, but now she had too because she''s hungry. And it was easier taking food from humans than hunting on her own.


    Not knowing if it was wise to enter a human village, Maid secretly entered the village by blending in with the crowd. Luckily some of the guards outside were either too drunk, or were having fun to properly keep watch. Maid used a part of her clothes to cover the collar in order to not get caught. But even still the collar was too noticeable as it was thick, and it was thicker than her own arms.


    As Maid was about to enter a restaurant full of people, she noticed one of the people working in that restaurant threw away some food in the garbage can behind the restaurant. Maid''s eyes shone. It was between two buildings so no one else was there, kind of like a dark alley.


    The food in the garbage varied, from rotten food, to half eaten food, to spoiled food, but to Maid it didn''t matter, food was food.


    Maid pounced on the garbage cans like a hungry lion, only eating the half eaten food and not caring about the noise she made. As a dragon her appetite was huge. Still she thought that this was way better than being a slave to a hero.


    "Are¡­ are you okay?"


    Maid quickly turned around and saw a little girl.


    The little girl is a cute one, with big round eyes, loose long brown hair. This girl is Kat, one of the kids that Will had rescued from Taker even though it wasn''t his true intention.


    Kat heard the sound of trash cans being thrown around. Thinking that it was a loose animal, she went to secretly inspect and call her parents for help. But, when she saw it was a girl who looked to be younger than her, she couldn''t help but want to help her.


    After being kidnapped by Taker and seeing those locked up with her, she couldn''t help but want to help those in need, especially when they were kids of her age. Thinking about it, she knew she was really, really lucky to have survived. No one else but her and the kids who were with her managed to escape successfully.


    "Do you need food? I can go get you some. Stay right there. Don''t move." Kat saw how Maid was hungry enough to eat garbage. So she ran back to her home to hand her some delicious food.


    Maid couldn''t actually understand what she was saying, most dragons don''t even bother learning human tongue, because they''d rather eat them than to have a conversation with them.


    She resumed eating garbage as quickly as she could, so she could find a way to get rid of the collar and fly back home to safety.


    "Okay. I brought some pork chops, and some juice." Kat brought a handful of food because she thought that Maid couldn''t eat more than that.


    *Sniff*


    Maid smelled the delicious aroma coming from Kat''s hands. Sure humans taste better, but she can''t smell humans in her human form.


    "Please eat slowly. You don''t want to-"


    Maid ate the food instantly. She immediately resumed eating her garbage.


    "Choke¡­ huh. You''re really hungry." Kat stared at Maid for a while. Then, she got a bright idea.


    "Come to my house. We have more food there, and you don''t have to eat here anymore." Kat gently pulled Maid with her. She can''t bear to see Maid eat garbage any longer.


    Maid struggled to free herself from Kat''s grip, but her strength wasn''t enough.. She really didn''t want to come into contact with humans any more.

 Chapter 59 - Monsters

    A pair had just recently arrived at a destroyed village on top of an organic creature.


    "We''re here¡­" Will stopped Adaline in her tracks as they saw the chaos that was before their very eyes.


    "Oh my god." Sandra covered her mouth. Shock and horror could be seen in her eyes. There laid corpses of men, some were crushed, burned, or impaled by several house objects.


    She couldn''t help but want to throw up at the sight of the corpses lying around. Most of them were either torched, crushed, or covered in sheets so people wouldn''t be able to see them.


    "How are you okay with this?" Sandra asked after composing herself.


    "I guess I got used to it." Will was affected by just a tiny bit, but then got over it.


    This just made Sandra feel even worse. What kind of painful experience did Will go through that b?r?ly made him faze at the sight of corpses?


    Everybody reacts differently to seeing a corpse. Some can''t handle the sight, others can, it depends.


    There were still some survivors, but most of them were in serious conditions.


    "Will!" Jasmine flew towards them.


    "Your leg." Will noticed Jasmine''s leg had been burned.


    "I''m fine. Please tell me you brought the healing potions!"


    "Did you really think I would come all the way here if I didn''t?"


    "Um¡­ good point." Jasmine felt dumb to ask.


    Will took out an iron ?h?st. Inside the ?h?st were various pills/potions.


    "I only brought healing potions. Nothing else." Will lied, He had food, clothes, and other useful items to spare, but it wasn''t for them. The amount of potions was no more than 40. He''d hoped that this was enough.


    It''s not like Will didn''t like to help people. Even back in his world, when he used to play mmorpg games like WoW, or something similar, and if people asked for a little bit of money, Will would give them just a little bit but not too much. Honestly, the one thing he hates most in online games are beggars, but if he could spare a few coins if could, he didn''t see why not.


    But, after living in this world, he had started to become cold and didn''t care to offer people a hand, except this one time and that''s already a huge stretch.


    "Thank you so much!" Jasmine''s worries were gone when Will brought them those potions, it meant that nobody else had to die anymore.


    "Yeah, yeah. Oh, this is my¡­ Sandra?" Will was about to introduce Jasmine to his ex, but Sandra was gone.


    At first Sandra wanted to go somewhere to avoid seeing those corpses and not throw up, but there was a group of people surrounding a collapsed building. Then she noticed that the group of people were trying to help a man that was stuck in the rubble.


    "We can''t get it off of him!" Various people, men and women worked together to get the man underneath the rubble. If they attempted to destroy the rubble that was on top of the man, there was a small chance it could very well lead to his death. The safest bet is to pull the rubble carefully.


    There was so much rubble on top of the man they couldn''t even see him, but hear him.


    "It''s okay. I''m fine. I was never going to live a full, meaningful, productive and happy life anyways, so might as well just die here. Can someone just pass me a gun so I can have a quick and painless death?" The man underneath the rubble said. He had already accepted his death.


    "Don''t say that! You''re not dying on us!"


    "Yeah, Ryan! You''re gonna be okay!"


    "You still owe me 2 silver pieces! Don''t you dare die before you pay me back!"


    "Are you fu?k?n? serious? Now? Get the fu?k outta here!" People kicked the one person who soured the mood.


    "Any way I can help?" Sandra said.


    "No, red haired lady. This man has a crushed leg. And heavy rubble is sitting on top of him, luckily the rubble is leaning against each other and not crushing him directly."


    "Wait, doesn''t she look familiar?" Someone pointed to Sandra. A few of them had already recognized her at a glance.


    "Okay, everybody give me some space." Sandra said.


    Sandra grabbed a huge, heavy stone, and carried it away and threw it where there weren''t any people.


    "I got this!" Sandra said and carefully carried the rubble out, and made sure that none of the other rubble crushed him to death.


    "Miss, are you a hero?" Several people watched in amazement. It''s their first time actually meeting a hero in person.


    "Yup. Now please move. I need to save this man."


    "You heard the hero! Make way for her! If you''re not helping, you''re not needed here. Shoo!" A grown man said loudly.


    Will stood from the side, watching.


    "Will¡­ she''s a hero. Will?" Jasmine was indeed shocked, but it''s not the first time she''s seen a hero.


    But, Will had already walked away to inspect the dragon''s body.


    "Best guess is that this is a dragon on the second layer, it seems about the same size as that other dragon that Josh sold to me. I have got to stop talking to myself¡­ ah, who gives a damn anymore." Will said to himself.


    Josh sold him various dragon corpses all on the third layer. But sold him one dragon at the second layer, but that dragon was badly damaged on the inside and outside. He''d been meaning to use its body to create weapons, armor, tools, like in RL craft, but hasn''t had the time yet to do so.


    "It''s in better condition than the other dragon, so I don''t see why I can''t take it."


    Will extended his hand to place the dragon inside his bracelet, he also carried a ring that carried the other dragons because he had no other place to put them into. Placing them inside of his ?h?sts is not possible as they don''t even have the space to carry a single dragon on the third layer.


    "What''s wrong?" Will checked his bracelet to check why it wouldn''t store the dragon''s corpse.


    "Either it''s broken¡­ or it ran out of space. Damn." Will frowned. It seemed logical. It was a wonder how a ring was carrying 10 dragon corpses but not the bracelet, it only means that the bracelet can''t carry as much as the ring could.


    The bracelet he got it from sparing the life of Radix. As for the ring he got it when Josh gave it to him during their trade. He got the ring basically for free since he stole it from them, but they didn''t even notice.


    After failing to attempt to successfully store the dragon corpse, Will decided it was best to leave it there.


    "Welp, that''s unfortunate. I''ll just take the scales and whatever else." Will took out a gold, enchanted knife, the same knife he used to carve the last dragon corpse. For some reason he really liked using this knife.


    If he can''t take the whole body, he''ll be taking whatever he can, scales, heart, wings. In the end the rest was just useless meat which he had tons of.


    Will came to this village for a few reasons, a small part of it was because Jack asked him to help Jasmine, but the main reason was this dragon. He wanted to make more cursed power stations to enchant his items, especially bullets.


    While it seems he was doing the people a favor, in reality he just wanted the dragon all to himself.


    This dragon body was his payment for delivering the healing potions.


    "Wait, what are you doing?" A fat, grown man interrupted Will''s process of skinning the dragon corpse.


    All of the villagers hated the dragon who destroyed everything they loved, but they could use the corpse to sell it and hopefully restore their village.


    "What does it look like?" Asked Will.


    "Looks like you''re trying to take the dragon."


    "Oh! A dragon!" Will feigned being scared and pointed behind the man.


    "WHERE?! AAAAAHHHH!" He ran back to the bunker afraid for his life.


    "I can''t believe that worked¡­ Adaline!" Will shouted to Adaline.


    Adaline, who was camouflaged, appeared before Will.


    "Help me with this. Yank the scales out but try not to damage them as best as you can."


    Will resumed carving the dragon on the side where nobody could see him. It was a rather large dragon so Will nor Adaline couldn''t be seen by the villagers.


    "Everybody, my friend managed to bring us some potions." Jasmine carried the heavy ?h?st to the villagers and distributed the potions fairly.


    "YAY!" The villagers cheered in joy.


    Jasmine took one healing potion for herself. The dragon managed to burn her leg.


    "Looks like you need some help." Sandra said to Jasmine, looking at her burned leg she needed more than just a healing potion.


    "I''m fine, hero¡­ wait, hero?" Jasmine didn''t think of it until now, but Will brought her here on such short notice. Did that mean that they were actually friends? And did that mean that her suspicions of Will being the 100th lost hero were actually true?


    "I got some water. But it''s not enough." Sandra held the leather water bottle in her hand.


    "It''s fine. Just¡­ peel it off and it will heal immediately with the potion." Jasmine sat down and bit down on her robes.


    The skin on her leg fused with the robe that was also burned. If she were to take the healing potion right now the robe would remain inside her leg.


    She couldn''t ask the villagers for help because they were all having their own little problems right now.


    "Um¡­ that seems like it would hurt."


    "Yeah, I know. Just do it, please."


    The worst part is that there were several pieces of fabric on her leg. Meaning that Sandra can''t peel it all in one attempt.


    Sandra was now focused. She peeled the biggest fabric off her burned leg.


    "HMPFT!" Jasmine wanted to scream, but she endured it as best she could by biting on her robe.


    "I''ll do this quickly. Like ripping a band-aid." Sandra hesitatingly pulled another fabric piece, then another, then another.


    Jasmine could feel the intense pain on her leg. The small fabric pieces hurt the most.


    "Finished. How are you feeling?"


    After what felt like an eternity, Sandra was finally done. Jasmine was breathing heavily, the pain was too much to bear that she couldn''t even get up from the ground.


    "Really?" Jasmine said slowly and painfully, as if it wasn''t obvious how she was feeling right now.


    "You''re right, that is a stupid quesiton."


    "Here, take the potion." Sandra gently placed the pill in Jasmine''s mouth, and it immediately disappeared like a puff of smoke.


    Jasmine''s leg was immediately healed and restored.


    "Thanks, hero." Jasmine was grateful to Sandra, but the painful sensation was still there.


    "Woo-hoo! Hero!"


    "YOU ARE AWESOME!"


    "Can I have some money?"


    "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE YOU BEGGAR!"


    The surviving villagers were all huddled around Jasmine and Sandra. They''ve been watching them for some time now.


    ''Seriously? Not one of you even tried to help?'' Sandra thought that was the most logical thing to do, instead of standing there like mere spectators.


    "Hero, what should we do now?" A villager asked. They don''t really have anyone to lead them, as it was an independent village with no chief. Each village is different.


    "Um¡­" Sandra felt all of their eyes on her. She looked around for Will but was nowhere to be found.


    "I think what we need to do now is head to the nearest village and take shelter there. Now that all of us are healed, we can move freely." Jasmine saw that Sandra didn''t know what to do so she threw in her own idea.


    "Sshh! Let the hero talk." People looked at Jasmine


    "..." Jasmine.


    "I think she''s right. Let''s head to the nearest village."


    "Great idea, hero."


    "Heroes are indeed amazing!"


    "And wise, don''t forget wise."


    "..." Jasmine.


    "..." Sandra.


    Sandra now got a better understanding as to why Will hid all this time.


    "Wait, but we still have a lot of stuff here." Someone voiced their own opinion.


    "And we should at least bury our families and friends, before something comes and eats them. They at least deserve that much for fighting for this village."


    The people''s opinions swayed easily. And quickly and swiftly they took care of their remaining belongings, as well as burying the people who died.


    "Will, what do you think you''re doing?" Jasmine asked. She looked around for him and found him beside the dragon.


    Most of the dragon''s scales were already peeled by Will and Adaline. It''s wings were missing now, as well as its heart. That was all he could fit for the time being until he made more space in his ring and bracelet.


    He also tried to stuff it in his inventory, but it was too big to carry, which was unfortunate.


    "Collecting my payment. Thanks, girl." Will patted Adaline''s head and fed her a part of the dragon''s meat, which she seemed to enjoy.


    "But¡­ never mind. We''re leaving soon." Jasmine said.


    "Oh good. Well, see ya later."


    "Wait, you''re leaving?" Jasmine asked.


    "Yeah. I mean, I brought what you asked me for, and I collected my payment. I don''t see any reason to stick around any longer." Will was being honest, he had no plans to help others especially for free.


    "But, you''re a hero, the missing hero. Shouldn''t you be helping them? Like how you killed Taker, saved those children."


    "That was a¡­ oh, so you know." Will was a bit surprised that Jasmine figured out his identity, but thinking about it, it was obvious.


    "It was pretty obvious. I''d have to be pretty stupid to miss it." Jasmine said.


    "You''re not gonna¡­"


    "I won''t tell. Does Jack know?"


    "Yes, he does."


    "Figures."


    "We should go. This dragon corpse is starting to smell like rotten fish. Eugh." Will couldn''t stand the smell of a dragon.


    "Yeah, it smells bad." Jasmine has been trying her best to hold in her breath for the longest time.


    "Say, wouldn''t this smell attract nearby monsters?" Will asked.


    "Um¡­ now that you mention it¡­"


    *Stomp* *Stomp* *Stomp* *Stomp*


    What could only be described as a stampede, seemed to be getting closer to them, and louder by the minute. There weren''t any trees in this area as they had been cut down by the villagers to expand their village. But, in the far area where there was a thick, large forest, the trees could be seen being pushed down by something, and it was leaving a path straight towards tem.


    "Hiss!" Adaline sensed it coming too late, as she was too entranced eating dragon meat to notice it.


    The villagers, and Sandra heard it. At first she thought that it was a mini earthquake, but in this world, for whatever reason, there aren''t any earthquakes. Although there was one hero that could cause tremors, it was far from being able to cause a natural disaster like Whitebeard in One piece.


    "Run! It''s a monster horde!" Jasmine shouted. It was better if they ran before the monsters arrived.


    "TO THE BUNKERS! HURRY!" Someone shouted.


    "NONONONONONONONO!"


    "AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"


    "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS VILLAGE! WHY DID I MOVE HERE TODAY OF ALL DAYS?!?!"


    Due to the still lingering fear of the recent dragon attack, the villagers dashed to the bunkers not caring if they step or push down other people, as long as they get to safety.


    Will stood still. He wasn''t afraid of dying, but Adaline was there and so was Sandra. He took out his modified handgun that had the infinite ammo enchantment.


    Jasmine stood still as well, fear crept up on her heart. It wasn''t long ago that she almost died and survived a dragon attack, now there was another raid coming, and it sounded like it was more than one.


    "Will!" Sandra ran up to Will. She too was afraid for her life. It''s the first time she''s encountered a monster.


    "You two should get to the bunkers." Will said.


    "And leave you here? By yourself? Why would I do that?" Sandra said heartfully. She also took out her giant sniper rifle that she had on her back. She''s not an expert, but it was the only weapon she felt comfortable with, most likely because it allowed her to fight from a distance.


    "Hiss." Adaline nudged Sandra from the back as if she was telling her ''''what am I, a mushroom?''''


    "Um, sorceress here..." Jasmine said.


    "Oh, yeah." Sandra completely forgot about them.


    *Stomp* *STOMP* *STOMP!!!*


    The heavy footsteps got louder. They could see that the monsters were nearby as they were knocking down the trees and were getting closer, the smell of a dead dragon enticed them so much.


    "Not waiting for them to come out of the woods." Will aimed him gun at the forest and started to shoot with his infinity weapon.


    *ROAR* *REEE!*


    The monsters cried in pain and anger. As they tried to rush out of the forest, the trees bent themselves to completely trap the monsters within the forest. That was thanks to Adaline.


    "DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU''RE AIMING?!" Jasmine yelled because the infinity gun created a loud noise.


    "NO BUT IT''S WORKING!" Will replied back in a shout.


    Sandra started shooting randomly at the forest in hopes that it would hit something.


    Jasmine was left without a weapon. She was observing the forest, what kind of monsters were there.


    Then, like a sixth sense, she sensed something terrible, and so did Adaline.


    "GET DOWN!" Jasmine pushed Will and Sandra down, while Adaline created a thick wall of veins around them.


    As they did so, a couple of deadly lasers easily cut through the forest and also just beside them.


    The monsters came out, it was none other than a group of cyclops, no less than 10.


    "We need to run!" Jasmine was very afraid now.


    "10 cyclops? Are you kidding me?" Will knew that cyclops were formidable monsters even on the third level. They are formidable because of their laser eyes that can cut through even steel. They''re slow, but intelligent. Fighting one cyclops on the third layer is easy for a sorcerer, but 10 at the same time, is way too much, even for a hero.


    Thanks to Adaline, and the rubble nearby them, it made it difficult for the cyclops to see them.


    "Hold still, don''t move." Sandra held Jasmine''s and Will''s hands tightly, she had a plan in mind.


    Then a white mist appeared out of nowhere and started to cloud the entire area. It was like a giant smokescreen, in a matter of seconds they couldn''t even see each other.


    "Is this you, Sandra?" Asked Will.


    "I thought that it''d help if I did this." Sandra was glad that her useless power was useful, but even so, she couldn''t see past the thick fog. She was as good as blind as the rest.


    "No, it helps, it definitely helps."


    "Fall back. This''ll only slow them down." Jasmine warned them.


    As she said that, the cyclops literally pulled some trees from the ground using their brute strength with ease. They started clearing the smoke with the trees like a fan.


    "Hiss!" Adaline ran towards the cyclops as she knew what they were doing, and she was going to stop them.


    "NO! ADALINE!" Will tried to stop her, but the smoke embedded his vision and he lost sight of her.

 Chapter 60 - Cyclops

    Adaline ran through the thick fog. This did not affect her vision at all since she relies on her hearing, and also the force of nature guides her.


    As the cyclops were waving around the trees like giant fans, Adaline came up behind one of them and used her entire body to knock it out, like a battering ram.


    Using the trees to kill cyclops, or even vines isn''t good enough. Cyclops have terrifying physical strength that can even bend steel with ease. She might have control over nature, but it was limited, she cannot bring out the true power of nature like the Goddess Lea could. If she could, the cyclops would''ve been dead long ago.


    The cyclop''s that was knocked down by Adaline immediately stood up. It had a strong body that couldn''t be injured easily.


    Adaline saw this and knew that her strength wasn''t enough. So, her body glowed a bright blue color, it was her exotic form.


    The bright blue color could be faintly seen through the thick fog. The cyclops could see Adaline now.


    "ROAR!!" The cyclops charged at Adaline, their shouting and footsteps could be heard, causing the land to shake.


    Adaline used her speed and body to ram into one of the cyclops. The same cyclops fell, was heavily injured now, but could still get up. They charged at Adaline, but with the smoke all around them, it was difficult to see her properly.


    "Wait, I see a blue light." Jasmine said.


    "Ad-Adaline!"


    Will saw it too and recognized the blue light. And he immediately ran towards the light. But stopped. The blue light immediately disappeared in a flash. Soon followed by loud fighting noises.


    "No, there must be something else I can do." Will tried to think, think what he could use, what he could do with his system powers, but nothing came to mind.


    ''Wait, I have this!'' Will took out the golem core from his storage. But without a golem statue, it''s completely useless.


    "Dammit!" Will was angry at himself at how useless he was. Had he prepared a golem beforehand, he could take care of the ogres. Had he enchanted his mask with some sort of special vision enchantment that could see through the fog and he could help Adaline. Had he crafted an even more powerful weapon, he could kill the monsters in the beginning.


    "Want me to get rid of the fog?" Sandra could see how worried Will was for Adaline.


    "Don''t! Those cyclops will kill us all if they see us. Impeding their vision was the right thing to do, and we need to keep it that way!" Jasmine added. She''s the one with the most experience in dealing with monsters, so she knows what she is saying.


    "Wait, I have an idea." Will took a look at his ring that carried all the dragon corpses. A bright idea immediately surfaced in his mind.


    "Jasmine, I need you to carry me as you fly. Think you can do that?" Will looked at Jasmine.


    "What?" Jasmine didn''t understand what he was planning.


    "Can you?!" Will raised his voice a bit, he didn''t want to waste too much time.


    "Yes, I can!"


    "Sandra, I need you to make the fog disappear."


    "But, Will!" Jasmine said.


    "Trust me. It has to work."


    Jasmine didn''t know what to think. It was madness in her mind.


    Sandra, looked at Will, and nodded.


    "Okay, I trust you."


    "Jasmine?"


    "I¡­ if Jack trusts you then fine."


    "Adaline!" Will shouted at the fog.


    Adaline heard him but did not stop even for a second.


    "Round up the cyclops in one spot as best as you can and as long as possible. Use any means necessary. And when I tell you to, be sure to get away from them as fast as possible!"


    Adaline didn''t know why Will wanted to do that, but she did so anyway.


    Using the trees and roots from the ground, she began pulling, pushing, stabbing their eyes, and stalling the cyclops. They might have strength to fight back, but their stamina isn''t infinite.


    The cyclops started getting desperate and started shooting their laser eyes randomly. Some of them even injured each of them in the process.


    "NOW ADALINE!"


    Adaline quickly ran away as Will had told her to.


    Looking up, they saw not just one dragon, but multiple dragons falling down from the sky, even one dragon that was clearly on the second layer.


    Not having enough time to react, and being binded down by Adaline, the cyclops could only wait for their impending doom to come. One of them tried to use his laser to cut through the dragon, but dragons have scales that can resist cyclops lasers. They were all crushed and killed in a second. A puddle of blood sprayed everywhere.


    "I¡­ I¡­ I¡­ I." Jasmine, who was carrying Will, was at a clear loss for words.


    Above the pile of bodies was Will and Jasmine flying.


    "Cannot believe that it worked." Will was smiling behind his mask. This went better than he expected.


    ''So glad I read the art of war. It has really helped me in many situations. I should write down what I remember from that book before I completely forget.'' Will thought.


    Will knew that he couldn''t win against cyclops using his meager weapons and armor. There was no way, even with Adaline''s help, and Jasmine''s and Sandra''s. At best one of them would die, and he couldn''t afford that risk.


    But, there was a quote he remembered from the art of war. "He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight."


    For example, he could have just aimlessly charged at the cyclops in the mist to fight them, but didn''t Instead he found a way to kill the cyclops without the need of fighting them directly.


    It''s one of the main reasons he likes Dream''s manhunt videos, he relies on his wits and knowledge to win. Unfortunately for Will he died before he could see any more of Dream''s manhunts.


    Sandra too was at a loss for words. Those frightening monsters were simply crushed by dragon corpses. It was a horrifying and disgusting sight.


    Jasmine flew down with Will and dropped him on the ground.


    "I never thought that we could use our flying ability, and our magical items in such a way." Jasmine said, very impressed. Most heroes don''t use their head to win fights, instead they rely on their god given powers.


    But thinking about it, this can''t work for every situation. It only worked because Adaline could keep them in one spot, and because Sandra could impede their vision with her smoke ability, and Will could do it because he carried those dragons in his ring, and Jasmine helped him by carrying him above the monsters.


    It was only possible due to luck, and perfect coordination.


    "Oh god, that smells terrible. Adaline! Great job."


    Adaline ran up to Will and he hugged her and patted her so much for a job well done. She returned to her original form.


    Will proceeded to collect the bodies of his dragons. The cyclops were entirely crushed, like flies stained on walls.


    "Shame, I wanted their eyes to make some more cursed power stations, but those were crushed all well. Oh well." Will b?r?ly managed to salvage anything from the cyclops. Even if he could, he''d probably lack the space to carry it with him.


    Will was amazed that his own plan worked. And he didn''t need to rely on the system for it.


    "How''d you know this would work?" Asked Jasmine.


    "I didn''t. If it didn''t work I thought of running away and killing them one by one somehow."


    "Most heroes, from what I''ve heard, rely on their abilities to overpower monsters. Why didn''t you use your ability when you had the chance?"


    Will flinched at the question. He had an ability, the crafting system, but it''s not an offensive type of ability like Josh''s. And he doesn''t have the body of a hero, who is blessed with overpowered abilities, from regeneration, speed, strength, heightened reflexes.


    Thanks to Sandra, now he knows that he is by far the only hero to have a system, as none of the other heroes even had systems. Although he doesn''t know if it was appropriate to call him a hero at this point.


    His current armor that he was wearing gave him a set bonus of speed, strength, and defence only. But, according to what he heard from the elves before, his strength is only 10% of that of a hero. It''s something, but taking on even a single cyclops will still prove to be difficult alone.


    "I am not like the other heroes. Besides, not all heroes are born with powerful abilities." Will responded casually. He isn''t going to give her too many details.


    Jasmine kind of agreed. She still can''t believe that she was talking to a hero, much less is already friends with a hero.


    "What do we do now?" Asked Sandra.


    "I''m going to check on the villagers." Jasmine ran off to the bunker where the villagers hid.


    "Then I''m going home. Want to come?" Will wanted to go back to his base, and just rest for today. He was already tired before he arrived.


    "Um¡­" Sandra didn''t know what to say. It''s more like she''s still in shock, and the fact that Will could act so casually, as if this happens once every week.


    "I understand if you don''t." Will almost forgot, but he was pretty used to this now, fighting for one''s life that is.


    If he was in Sandra''s shoes, he''d be freaked out by the cyclops, the dragon, fighting, all the deaths. Now he seemed like he was used to it. It could be because he knew he didn''t need to fear death since he can respawn. But, losing Adaline, Sandra, is something he doesn''t want to happen.


    "No I want to, but¡­ I can''t leave her here, along with those villagers. And there might be more monsters coming here. And Bruce could arrive any minute." Sandra felt she should be responsible for the people, who had suffered a lot.


    "But¡­ no, nevermind." Will wanted to convince her that those people have nothing to do with her, but decided not to say anything.


    Before, he would have done the same thing, like helping people, especially those in need. He tried that twice but was always greeted or rewarded with hostile intentions. Because of those experiences he learned that just because people ask for help, doesn''t mean that they deserve his help.


    Instead of convincing Sandra, it would be much more eye-opening if she were to also see how cruel this world is. She might not experience it today, nor tomorrow, but someday.


    "You''re not gonna stay then?" Asked Sandra.


    "No."


    "But,,, no, I can''t convince you to stay. I have no right." Sandra felt like no matter what she would say Will wouldn''t want to lend the people a hand. He had changed so much that she didn''t know if this was the same Will that she used to know.


    "...here, for you." Will placed a ?h?st in front of her. It carried water and food.


    "For you and Jasmine. If you feel like sharing it with others, I don''t care, do what you want with it. But, if you encounter monsters like those again, run like hell."


    "Thank you."


    Will still felt terrible for what he did to Sandra before they were dragged into this world. She suffered as much as she has, and he chased her away instead of being there for her, or being there for each other.


    It''s something he regrets dearly. But not once has she ever gotten angry with him, cursed him, or anything despite being hurt by him. It was one of the reasons why he decided to hide his identity, because he was too ashamed to face her. And it''s why he doesn''t attempt to be together with her again, because he doesn''t feel like he deserves to be with her.


    He doesn''t want to stay any longer than he should. He has many important jobs to take care of, his golem, mining, expanding his territory, figuring out all the functions and secrets of his system.


    Jasmine came back, looking dejected.


    "What''s wrong?" Asked Sandra.


    "The villagers are still in the bunker. They decided to stay there until more help arrives."


    "That''s rather smart of them." Will commented.


    "I know. But when I asked if we could all stay there for the night, since it was better to stay in the bunkers than outside, their specific words were ''we''ll stay inside. As a hero and a sorceress, you should make sure that no other monster comes near here'' so, we''re stuck out here."


    "...what?" Sandra couldn''t believe it. They helped them so much, and they cannot even do a simple thing for them?


    "Oh wow!" Will was surprised. This happened rather faster than he expected. He thought that Sandra would see this side of people weeks or even months later, it hasn''t even been an hour and this happens.


    "It happens. They have a family they want to protect, so I guess I understand them. And also I''ll get paid a hefty sum for helping the villagers and my family needs it. Sooooo¡­ I''ll just¡­ lie down there. Too tired." Jasmine decided to lie on a patch of grass where she couldn''t smell the rotten corpses of monsters, or burning material that was caused by a dragon.


    The whole field was a bloody battleground. It was also getting darker as the sun was setting.


    Will was rather hesitant to leave them alone. He thought they could stay in the bunker, but that wasn''t going to happen.


    "Will, just go. We''ll be fine." Even with the mask on, Sandra could tell how Will was hesitant to leave them.


    "Are you sure?"


    "I''m sure."


    "Okay then. Let''s go Adaline. You know where I live, and we have a way to communicate with each other now."


    "Text me!" Sandra said.


    "I will!"


    Adaline ran off with Will back to their base.


    "Wow, he actually left." Jasmine thought that Will was gonna stay.


    "It''s fine." Sandra just smiled it off and sat down beside Jasmine. Beside them was a ?h?st full of food and water that could last a single person for months. It was mostly made out of fruits, and a bit of cooked meat wrapped around in some lettuce.


    "I don''t think we''ve introduced ourselves. I''m Jasmine."


    "Sandra Park." Sandra gave her last name because according to this world, heroes are supposed to give out their full name so people can know that they are heroes, since heroes are the only ones allowed in this world to have a last name.


    Although Jasmine already knew she was a hero, she had a feeling Jasmine would ask her for her last name.


    "I did not think I would meet a newly summoned hero, much less two."


    "Make that three." Sandra turned her head around as she heard someone.


    Bruce, who has been running non-stop, finally made it to the village. He was all tired and sweaty from running.


    "That elf said it''d take me 8 hours to get here, I only took like 3." Bruce could finally catch his breath. By no means is he out of shape, but anybody would be tired if they ran at full speed for 3 hours long.


    "Um. Hello?" Jasmine had no idea who that was, but she guessed it was a hero.


    "Um¡­ hey. Oh, Sandra. I saw Will and his¡­ creature run away. Is everything okay? What happened to that dragon? Are the villagers okay?"


    "Everything is all good. Have a sip of water." Sandra tossed him a water bottle.


    "Thanks." Bruce drank the entire bottle in seconds.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Inside the kingdom of Reyes, the king was discussing several important matters with some nobles. It was mostly about their financial crises.


    It''s common for the kingdom to be poor before the 100 heroes are summoned. They spend so much money on their weapons, and armor. After all, the more heavily geared and protected the heroes are, the more likely they''ll live, and the more likely they''ll protect the kingdom and its people.


    "So, I propose we raise the taxes on these villages." The king was pointing at a huge map on the wall. He took his large sword and circled it all around the map.


    "Um, you mean raise the taxes on all the villages?" A noble asked.


    "Yes. I do. So far we have only produced 6 magical items in 3 months. This is by far the worst. Back then at least 20 heroes would have gotten magical items, but we only made 6."


    "To be fair, my king, we have lost many talented potion makers and blacksmiths on the day of the black sun."


    "Unfortunately. But no use in crying over spilled milk. We need new ideas, ideas that will help us make more money." The king said, raising taxes on the villagers wasn''t going to be enough.


    "We could always add new taxes." A young noble said.


    "Hank, you fu?k?n? genius!" The king praised the noble for an excellent idea. Instead of just raising already pre-existing taxes, why not add new ones?


    "Will this work? Didn''t a hero 200 years ago tell the story of how his people, the French I think he said, revolted against their monarchy because they did something like this?" A noble said. He was referring to the French Revolution.


    "Yes, but how can they revolt when we''re doing this in the name of the heroes."


    "Yeah, seems fair. Does that mean we should cut down on our expensive way of living? Like not wasting so much on food or clothes?"


    "No! Keep those!" The majority of the nobles immediately shouted in unison.


    "Also, king, didn''t you say you rewarded the sorceress for finding out that corrupted noble who was helping Taker?"


    "I did reward her, I rewarded her the best reward anyone could think of." The king smiled as he was proud of the reward he gave to Jasmine.


    "Was it gold? A magical item? A promotion to 5-stripes?"


    "No, a letter that expresses the sincerest gratitude for taking down Taker''s backer." The king was not kidding, he did only give Jasmine a letter. The Great Sage was the one who gave Jasmine a promotion, and took down Will and Grace''s wanted poster.


    "I guess¡­ that''s good."


    "My king! Trouble!" A young maid barged in the door. She was a cute girl, with long brown twintails, and freckles across her cheeks and nose.


    "We''re having an important meeting, Gissel. This better be good. Wait, you''re not pregnant are you?" The king asked, very nervous and scared.


    "No. The blacksmith village has been attacked by a dragon!"


    "Damn these creatures! Why are they always so bloodthirsty and violent?!"


    Not long ago Josh killed 10 dragons who were minding their own business. And also not to mention countless dragons that fell into the past heroes hands.


    "Wait, why did you ask if she was pregnant?" A noble asked.


    "Un¡­ no reason, no reason at all. Just worried for my employees, that''s all. Anyways about those taxes, how about road taxes? We charge taxes to people who use our roads for any reason. And if they don''t use those roads, we tax them with a travelling tax."


    "That''s a very wise move my king, very wise."


    Meanwhile¡­


    Josh was just murdering monsters left and right, also killing some innocent animals who got in his way. Behind him were his companions, just minding their own business and watching him by the side.


    "Man, killing those dragons was easy. I wonder if I go further south, I can find more." Josh said confident about taking down dragons.


    "Josh, shouldn''t we head back to the kingdom? You need the money in order to purchase an elf in a few days'' time." Naveah said calmly.


    "Yeah, I know. But it wouldn''t feel right asking some stranger for money. At least this way, I''ll give him some monster parts, and not feel too bad about scamming him." Josh said with a smile.


    According to him, main characters should scam others, especially side characters in order to purchase an elf, who could be a potential member in his harem.


    Naveah was waiting for a response from the black tower. She asked them to find out who was the one who issued that dragon job, the one that made them rich for a while. It''d take some time, but not too long since this was a request from a hero.


    Meanwhile¡­


    3 heroes were walking around the forest.


    "I hate you, I hate you so much." Pete was complaining to his friend, Henry.


    "Well, look at the bright side." Henry said.


    "What bright side?"


    "I dunno."


    "All I wanted was a damn snickers." Pete was sad.


    Before he was summoned, he was going to the nearest store to buy his favorite snack, a snickers bar.. Before he could buy one, he was summoned and therefore forever lost the chance to eat a snickers bar.

 Chapter 61 - Captured

    Will, right after arriving in his base, which was still hidden underneath a hill made of stone, he took a quick shower and slept on his comfy bed. He woke up feeling refreshed the next day.


    He went straight to making a functioning gold golem. The encounter with the cyclops showed him how much he was lacking. He needed to improve in every way possible, and help Adaline if she is ever in danger, and also be able to protect those he holds dear.


    A few hours went by, his gold golem creation was somehow looking worse and worse. Like a large pile of gold turd. He was working solely on creating the hands first, but he had failed many times already.


    "Gah, I am never going to get this right!" Will was annoyed. Who would have known that creating something by hand would be so difficult!


    He seriously hopes that this golem is worth it.


    Adaline was just sleeping by the corner.


    "Inventory."


    A blue screen appeared in front of him with 10 darker, smaller boxes on it. There were only two items on the darker boxes, his enchanted pickaxe, and a golem core.


    He took a good look at the golem core that was on his inventory, feeling that it was mocking him for his inability to make proper golem.


    "Wait, can''t I use the bodies of other creatures?" Will got an idea.


    He ran outside of his base, and took out a dragon. He carved a hole on the dragon''s head using his gold knife and inserted the golem core.


    "I hope this works." Will took many steps back. He didn''t know what to expect, but he was hoping for some good results.


    If this method worked, it would save him so much time, and it would be overpowered. But, nothing happened.


    Waiting patiently, there were no obvious signs of the dragon rising from the dead.


    "I¡­ I don''t understand. It should work. It technically isn''t a living thing anymore." Will re-read the part about the golem core in the brown book.


    There was a part about the description of the golem that he read carefully. Last time he skimmed through it and didn''t pay much attention to it.


    {Bring to life a golem by inserting this golem core in it. It will be great in battle, but also stupid, like very dumb, but also slow. Depends on the size and type of golem you create}


    "Hmmm¡­ I think I see the problem." Will reached inside the dragon head and pulled out the golem core.


    "A golem means a clay figure, or something like that, that doesn''t include already dead things like this dragon''s body. So it probably only works if it''s made out of some sort of ore material. It doesn''t have to be stone, it worked when I brought that gold golem to life." Will gripped the golem core in his hand before putting it back in his inventory.


    "And also, the main reason I think it doesn''t work, is because in the book it says ''depends on the size and type of golem YOU create'' so I probably cannot use other pre-existing golems, or statues, or other related objects that weren''t made by me. I need to test that one out later. Welp, back to the drawing board."


    Will continued making his gold golem hand. No matter how long it takes, he is going to complete this golem. When he does he won''t have to mine ever again! It''s not like he has anything better to do at the moment.


    If there''s one thing most minecraft players like Will have in common is their love for grinding, and patience. Honestly, there is no greater feeling in the world than seeing yourself progress in anything you do..


    Then he paused as he remembered something but couldn''t remember exactly. Like that one feeling you get when you think you forgot something but aren''t too sure what it is.


    "Hmm¡­ it feels like I am forgetting something. Eh, it''s probably nothing."


    Meanwhile¡­


    In a village, two people were waiting impatiently for Will. They were in a hurry to leave, and yet Will was taking his sweet time.


    "You don''t think that he forgot?" Harmony asked.


    "I don''t know." Clement responded.


    They were waiting by the entrance, while also hidden and fully covered as to not be recognized by anyone. They did their best to not attract any attention to themselves. Clement only wanted his gun back from Will.


    "We''ll wait for another hour. If he doesn''t come we''ll go to him. I have a rough idea of where he might be."


    "Okay." Harmony said with a smile.


    There was an awkward silence between them. They stood in the same spot. Harmony was secretly stealing glances of Clement, she had a worried look on her face, as if she wanted to ask him something but couldn''t.


    "Spill it." Clement noticed Harmony''s gaze and knew what she was thinking.


    "Are you¡­ planning to kill my father, when you get your gun?" She asked. This is what she was afraid to ask him.


    The reason he kidnapped her, it was all to get back at her father. If he wanted to make him suffer, he''d have done something awful to her long ago, because he knew how much he adored Harmony.


    Clement took a long look at her before he responded, "No."


    "You promise?" Harmony asked to be sure.


    "Trust me, I have no plans on killing your father, or mother."


    "Thank you." Harmony hugged Clement tightly but was blocked when Clement pushed her away.


    ''Instead I will make him wish he was dead!'' Clement thought angrily.


    "Hm?" Clement immediately sensed something behind him, and he drew his gun and aimed it. But, there was nothing there. It was more like he sensed someone behind him, but no one was there.


    "What''s wrong?" Asked Harmony.


    "I thought I heard or felt something. I have a bad feeling. We should leave."


    "Why are you in such a hurry?" Asked a random voice from behind them.


    Clement turned around, but he felt his entire arm being restrained by a literal living, metal ball. The metal ball quickly rolled by itself and jumped towards Clement and bound him by his limbs as if it had fused with his arm. Not being able to handle the weight, Clement couldn''t lift the metal ball with his hand, it was like being bound by a heavy shackle.


    The metal was like a bowling ball, fairly big, dark, shiny, and very heavy.


    It was a magical item that served to bind criminals down, especially fallen heroes and nobles. It was practically impossible to break out of it.


    "Everybody! I found Clement and the Princess!" The man called out to his buddies.


    Clement immediately recognized the figure. He was floating in mid-air.


    The figure was a tall man, he looked to be somewhere in his late 30''s to early 40''s. His hair was mostly grey and white, with a small bald spot on the center of his head. Instead of stripes, there was a crown on the area of his ?h?st.


    "Out of all the king''s guards, I met the most troublesome one, Damian!" Clement was shocked to see one of the king''s guards standing in front of him. He couldn''t shoot him because the metal ball fused with his gun along with his entire arm. He couldn''t feel nor move his hand at all.


    There are a total of 5 king''s guards. 3 of which were tasked to search for Clement and rescue Harmony. The king''s guards are considered the best of the best amongst the sorcerers. All of which are chosen personally by the king himself.


    And the one in front of Clement, is the strongest of the king''s guards, Damian.


    Several dozens of sorcerers surrounded them. They were all shocked that they actually found Clement like that.


    Clement quickly reached his back pocket to grab a magical knife, he had to use it to escape.


    The magical knife extended out of his hand, like an extremely large blade and zig-zagged around Clement at an abnormal speed. The tip of the knife aimed for Damian''s face, but Damian easily blocked it with a metal enchanted staff. He blocked it so easily as if he had seen it a mile away, but it was actually pretty slow in his eyes.


    Upon making contact with Damian''s knife, the knife broke into several pieces and fell on the ground. Magical tools are indeed powerful, but their durability isn''t good most of the time. It''s durability was no different than that of an ordinary knife.


    Harmony quickly ran to Clement''s side. She had been a step too late to stop him. Right now all she could think to was stand close to him so the other sorcerers won''t fire a single shot. If they do they''ll risk hurting her, the princess. And none of them wanted to take that chance.


    "Princess!" Several sorcerers shouted. They had almost shot her because she ran beside Clement.


    "Don''t do anything else. Trust me." Harmony softly whispered in his ear ignoring the other sorcerers. She had a plan to save him.


    "???" Clement was very confused. He couldn''t do anything if he wanted to. That knife was all he could think of, and escaping would be difficult with that heavy metal ball bound to his hand. He couldn''t even run if he wanted to;


    A group of 5-stripped sorceres quickly flew down and completely restrained Clement using any means necessary. Next Clement found his head being pushed down the floor against his will. His weapons were being stripped from him including any of his clothings that could be a magical item.


    It''s clear that before some criminals sneaked in magical items by disguising them as plain clothing. Stripping them was the only way to be sure that they carried no dangerous weapons, unless they carried a magical item that can identify other magicals items, but they don''t. This act was merely a precaution.


    Esmeralda, the horse was kicking at the air upon seeing that multiple people were binding down Clement. It didn''t take long for other sorcerers to calm her down using forceful means.


    Harmony didn''t want them to hurt Clement or his horse, but thinking about it, it would seem weird if she were to attempt to help him, her kidnapper, and the enemy of the kingdom. It already seemed suspicious that she got in front of Clement right when they were about to kill him.


    "Princess, you''re alive! And well." Damian carefully inspected the princess''s state. Surprisingly for him, it looked like she was in perfect health. He''d expected her to be in a terrible state by now.


    "It''s about time you saved me. Do you know how long I have been waiting for someone to save me from the hands of this¡­ beast!" Harmony pointed at Clement. She was hurting inside when she said this.


    "We apologize. We will execute him on the spot!" Damian aimed his staff at Clement with the tip glowing brightly. The sorceres that were detaining Clement quickly moved out of the way..


    "Stop! Don''t!" Harmony got in between Damian and Clement. She wouldn''t let them kill him.


    "Princess?" Damian didn''t expect Harmony to do that. In fact, it was weird how she acted. She used to be a bit shy and reserved.


    "I mean¡­ we can''t kill him yet. He first needs to suffer and pay for his crimes. Otherwise it''d be too easy of a death to just kill him." Harmony said that but was she actually nervous.


    But this is the only way to be sure Clement won''t be executed any time soon. After all on Clement''s bounty poster it read ''dead or alive'' meaning that they don''t have to take him alive, but bringing back evidence to the King would be enough, and also obviously make sure that they bring back the Princess alive and well.


    Unfortunately for her, the king is the only one who can decide Clement''s fate. As the kingdom''s only princess, she can only stall for time. Knowing her father, he''d most likely put him on death sentence the next day or so.


    Just like the corrupted noble, he got executed in no time.


    "If those are your orders I will heed them. You lot, make sure that he doesn''t carry any sort of weapons on him! Full cavity search! We won''t have another criminal pull that same crap on us a fifth time! And someone bring princess Harmony¡­ actually, I''ll do it myself. Princes, if you don''t mind."


    "Huh?"


    Damian swooped his hands down and carried the princess princess style. Harmony was clearly uncomfortable being carried by someone else that isn''t Clement.


    "All of you proceed as planned. Except for the 5 of you, aid those villagers. Ryan, you''re in charge while I am gone. And you 5 bring Clement back to the kingdom in chains. If he escapes, you''ll all soon find out the consequences." Damian didn''t trust anyone else besides himself to bring back the princess to the kingdom in one piece.


    "Wouldn''t it be better if you... Nevermind." Harmony quickly thought of being brought back to her home along with Clement to be sure he''d be okay, but if Clement was alone with those 5 sorcerers he might have a chance to escape.


    And also, the sooner she arrives at her father, the more likely she can convince her father not to execute Clement. She''ll come up with anything to help him.


    Obviously this king''s guard is very strong, but isn''t the best at making smart choices.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Wait, I remember now!" Will said. "Grace promised me that she would bring me that magical item that can identify other magical items!" Will needed that magical item to find the other magical item that can control the weather.


    He had absolutely no idea what he''d do with such a weapon, but it can''t hurt to have it.


    And by now he had completely forgotten about Clement.


    "Ah she''ll be back soon. Arbor can''t survive without knowing if Adaline is okay or not."


    Will looked at Adaline who was lazily stretching her limbs. He noticed that the ground was growing some fresh grass once again. After seeing that no more people were looking for him as much, he''d thought that it was a good time for Adaline to grow grass once more.


    "Welp, that''s the first hand." Will wiped the sweat off his forehead. Looking at what he carried in his own hands, was his very own creation, a hand that didn''t really look like a human hand but more like a rip-off of Frankenstein''s hand, and that would already be complimenting it a lot.


    It was made out of pure gold. The gold hand was so big that it could fit an ?du?t size head in it. However the fingers were the right size. However the tip of the fingers were crooked, 2 of which were pointy like sharp knives, the others were dull and square shaped.


    "At least I got the fingers right¡­ ish. Dunno. Hm¡­" Will put the hand beside the gold head. He continued making every body part individually.


    He didn''t even need to worry about wasting gold. Thanks to his overpowered enchanted pickaxe, he had a lot to spare. It was unreal how overpowered his pickaxe is.


    Yeah sure if he were to convert all of his gold and silver into coins and put it in the economy, he''d most likely ruin it. He won''t because he has other more important uses for it. And if he were to ruin the economy, he wouldn''t care at all. This world dragged him here against his will, he''s gonna do whatever he wants.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jasmine woke up after having a rough night sleeping on the hard ground. She was a mess, dirty, covered in blood, her clothes tattered from the dragon fight. All she wanted to do was take a bath and rest. But she waited for the sorcerers to appear to collect her reward of protecting the villagers from a dragon attack.


    After not getting a proper reward from the king after helping bring down the corrupted noble, she was pissed but couldn''t really do anything about it. She was only a mere sorceress.


    Beside her, were the two heroes she had recently met, Sandra and Bruce. Bruce was sleeping soundly, whereas Sandra was sitting with her eyes bloodshot. She couldn''t sleep at all.


    "Hey, wake up." Jasmine said. Bruce was supposed to keep guard all night and he''s asleep.


    "Who? I was keeping guard¡­" Bruce woke up in a panic and couldn''t speak properly. He promised to keep a lookout while they rested, because in his view that is what a gentleman would do. But he fell asleep right after Jasmine fell asleep.


    "It''s fine Bruce. I couldn''t sleep. So I was on the lookout this whole time." Sandra couldn''t even sleep if she wanted to. She was still spooked by the cyclops, and the enormous dragon corpse that was not too far away from them.


    Her eyes were red as she had been up all night. She was afraid what would happen if another monster attacked them while they slept.


    "How could you sleep?" Sandra asked Jasmine. She''s been in this world her whole life, so she should know the dangers of this world more than the both of them.


    "What do you mean?" Asked Jasmine.


    "I mean how can you sleep when we almost died? You even fought a dragon yesterday!"


    "Oh. I just got used to it. Not having enough energy is dangerous. It hinders your movement, and quick thinking. But yeah it is risky to sleep in the open like this. But this is a dangerous world. I mean look at the remains of what was once a well fortified village. There''s nothing left but rubble." Jasmine lazily stretched her limbs like a cat.


    This is a cruel world. Unless if you live in the kingdom or close to, you''re likely to die from a monster raiding the village or some other looming threat.


    Jasmine understood Sandra perfectly. When she first saw a dragon, she was scared for a week straight. She couldn''t even sleep in her room. Then again this was when she was a kid. Even now she isn''t used to it. She doesn''t believe anyone can be so used to it that they can just shrug it off like it was nothing.


    Jasmine would be lying if she said she didn''t fear for her own life right now. It''s just that she had adapted to death a little better than the two heroes before her.


    "Hm?" Jasmine noticed a white stone glowing from her pocket. It was neither from Jack or her family, it was a special stone decorated with a little mage robe on it. It was a message from the black tower.


    Jasmine carried multiple communication stones at once and decorated them all differently to identify which one is which. One stone that was the only one not decorated is used to message Jack and Will. Another stone that has a small red heart shape on top of it was to communicate with her family, more specifically her mother. And the last stone has a mage robe on it, this is from the black tower, it''s a stone that is given to all sorcerers.


    These communication stone decorations were not made by her, but rather she bought them at a store that sells exclusive communication stone decorations.


    "Um, excuse me, I need to take this." Jasmine walked a fair distance away from the heroes. She didn''t like it when others read her messages.


    Sandra checked her own communication stone and saw that Will hadn''t messaged her yet. She sighed. She noticed she was starving so she went to get some food from the ?h?st Will had left for them. She was tired so her movements were slow and lazy.


    "You hungry, Bruce?"


    "I am!"


    Jasmine read her message carefully.


    {Sorceress Jasmine, a hero, has requested your help with some ''vital'' information.}


    {A hero? Who?} Jasmine felt very popular right now. Will, Sandra, Bruce, and now even some other hero knows her. She''s not a huge hero fanatic like Jack is, but she respected the heroes, especially the Great Sage.


    {Hero Josh Jones. He asked if you know the person who paid him when he completed his mission, the Dragon Quest.}


    Dragon missions are rare for many good reasons. They''re tough to kill, you''re most likely to die when fighting one, but the rewards are generous but not worth it. What''s the point of even attempting to complete a dragon quest if you die in doing so?


    {Oh, yeah, him. What does he want from him?} Jasmine knew who they were talking about, Will.


    {They only want to meet him again. And since you were the one who created the mission in his place, they knew that you can relay their message to him. I am not too sure on the precise details but that is all they want, to meet him. And also they told me to tell you to tell him that he needs to bring a lot of money, even more than last time.}


    "To tell me¡­ to tell you¡­ to tell Will¡­ gah my brain!" Jasmine was momentarily confused but she understood what they meant.


    {I will tell him that. I will respond back when I receive a response from him.} Jasmine felt that they were too suspicious when they asked her to ask Will to bring a lot of money. You just can''t get more suspicious than that.


    {Thank you. I will relay your reply to the hero. He expects to have an answer soon.}


    Jasmine put away her communication stone and took out another white stone to write to Will. But, it didn''t feel correct in doing so. She owed him a lot to keep asking him favors, especially when it''s a very suspicious favor.


    "Whatever. I''ll keep it short and simple." Jasmine wrote on her communication stone.


    Will, on the corner of his eye, saw a white stone glowing brightly. He picked it up and read it.


    {Will, some hero needs you, bring money now.}


    "..." Will. He recognized the handwriting, Jasmine.


    {Were you having a stroke while writing this message?} Asked Will.


    {Yeah, you''re right I kept it too simple. Will, Josh Jones, a hero as I am sure you know by now, asked me to tell you to meet him again but bring a lot of money. Those are his exact words}


    "???" Will has never been more confused in his life. What kind of request is that?


    {What?}


    {Yeah, I know how it sounds.}


    {What if I said ''no''?} Asked Will.


    {Um¡­ I don''t know.}


    {Tell them I said ''no'' that''s hella sus.}


    {Sus?} Jasmine has never heard that before.


    {It''s something we say where I am from.}


    Jasmine wrote what Will told her to the black tower.


    {Oh¡­ I don''t think Josh Jones would be happy to hear that. Regardless, I will relay my message to them.} The other side was shocked to see someone reject meeting a hero, but she kept it professional and didn''t voice out her personal opinion.


    Jasmine put the stone away and sighed. She just wanted to get paid badly.


    "Jasmine, you done? Have some food." Sandra called out to the sorceress. The ?h?st contained water, cooked camel meat which was still surprisingly warm, and some fruits.


    "Thank you." Jasmine sat down and ate to her heart''s content.


    They started having a chat with each other as if they were good friends.


    Meanwhile, Josh was still slaying monsters left and right. The area around them was a mess and scorched entirely. There weren''t many trees as they were in a rocky area.


    "Phew. How much money can I make from that?" Josh asked his lovely harem. He had them carry the corpses of the monsters he killed and sell them at a profit.


    Most of the monster caracesses were badly damaged from burns, explosives, or missing body parts. The reason he''s in a rocky area is because some monsters ran all the way here to escape from him. Naturally he wouldn''t let them escape from his grasp as they were gonna earn him a ton of money.


    "I am not an expert in this, but I don''t think it''ll be enough to buy an elf, or afford another magical item for that matter." Felicia answered honestly.


    "Dammit!" Josh needed money badly, and he only had 7 days to make enough money to buy an elf. Otherwise he''d have to wait another 3 months, and he isn''t the patient type.


    He could catch one on his own, but after what happened to him in that death forest, he wanted to not incur the wrath of the goddess a second time.


    "Um, hero, we got a message from the black tower." Naveah looked shocked as she read the message.


    "What''d they say?" Josh relied on scamming this rich guy to earn a huge profit. He wouldn''t result in stealing from him because that''s not what a hero does. But scamming and stealing are basically the same thing. Like two sides of the same coin.


    "They said¡­ no."


    "Nice. We''ll meet him right away." Josh got up looking happy.


    "Hero, they said that they won''t meet you." Naveah said it a bit more clearly.


    "What time do they say we should meet? Not too early I hope. How about close to midnight?" Josh is the type who likes to sleep in the day and work in the night.


    He couldn''t hear Naveah because he thinks that she''s just joking. After all, he''s the MC, who wouldn''t want to meet him?


    "Hero, he said he won''t come. He isn''t going to meet you."


    "You''re¡­ not kidding." Josh asked to be sure.


    "I am afraid not."


    "Oh¡­ did they say why?"


    "No. They just said ''no'' without giving us any details."


    "Hmm¡­ welp I can''t possibly look for him then, time is of the essence. Guess there is only one thing left to do."


    "What''s that?" Felicia asked.


    "Ask rich people for money. Know anyone who has a lot of money?" Josh asked. If his first plan didn''t work, he''d have to look somewhere else. He just came up with it because he thought that Will would be eager to meet him.


    "The king, the Great Sage, the Fat Empress, but she''s too far away." Naveah said.


    "Fat Empress?" Josh asked in a confused manner. He had no idea who that was.


    "You don''t know her?" Naveah was sure that they would get informed of the Empress when they were summoned, she''s a well known figure in this world.


    "Nope." Josh did hear of her when he came to this world, but he had already forgotten. At that time all he wanted to do was fulfill his goal, gaining fame, power, and a harem.


    "Guess we should ask the king for some money. About 5000 coins should be enough." Josh said, 5000 coins is the maximum he needed to guarantee an elf for himself.


    "But, I heard that the kingdom is currently lacking money. If you take the money, it''d put the kingdom in an even bigger peril." Felicia said. The problem about money has been going on for years now.


    "Yeah, but it''s for a noble cause, to save a slave elf from her chains of torment. If that''s not a noble cause, I don''t know what is." Josh made it seem like he''s doing them a favor, but it''s more like releasing someone else from their chains and binding them down to another chain.


    Like the saying goes ''I wouldn''t say free, more like under new management.''


    "I guess that''s a noble cause." Felicia agreed with Josh''s way of thinking. It''s spreading like a disease.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Silvas, was in deep thought, sitting in his room while drinking some fine wine that was made by the elves. He rarely drinks, mostly on happy occasions, but sometimes on dreadful occasions as well.


    He thought back to yesterday, when he met an old friend, at least he thought it was his friend.


    At the stroke of midnight, Silvas sneaked out of the elven village to meet someone in an abandoned shack.


    Outside the shack, was a familiar old man levitating there, the Great Sage.


    "Morgan." Silvas smiled upon seeing his old friend.


    "Silvas. It''s been a while since we''ve talked." Morgan, the Great Sage, responded in his mind.


    "It''s only been 20 years. Not that long." Silvas said, to elves 20 years is more like a couple of months.


    "Right, yeah I was there when your granddaughter, Grace, was born. I had to watch from a distance as to not be caught by the other elves, but still. How''s the family by the way?"


    "Same old same old really. How''s your doing?"


    "Alright for now. My descendant is planning on retiring from his job. So, why did you call for me here? By the way, your aim is just as good as it was 300 years ago." The Great Sage pulled out a silver arrow with a note attached to it.


    Yesterday, while he was atop of the black tower enjoying some alone time, a silver arrow came out of nowhere and landed directly in front of him. He saw it coming but he noticed it wasn''t aiming for him, but in front of him. The arrow carried a note in it.


    He only knows one person in this world who likes to shoot arrows at him to send him a message, Silvas. It''s been like that for many years now.


    On the note it read ''Meet me at usual place. Important!'' was all it said, but the handwriting was beautiful and in the elven language. It was a very vague message.


    Silvas shot the arrow from such a far distance and so precisely.


    "Can''t you read my mind to figure it out?" Asked Silvas.


    "I don''t like to read the mind of my only friend. It''s much better if we talk it out like normal people do."


    "Fair enough.. I called you because I want to talk about¡­ the Witch, Bell Dyer, I believe she''s back."

 Chapter 62 - Title

    "I don''t believe you, Silvas. She''s been gone for over 3 centuries." Morgan''s eye flashed for a bit, but shook his head.


    "I thought the same. If she was really back, the whole world would have known by now. I believe that she''s back, but not completely."


    "Why would you think that?"


    "We found, well more specifically, my granddaughter found the rotten corpse of a zombie, the very same kind that Bell Dyer could create, the very same one that killed hundreds of my kin and turned them into those things!"


    "Silvas, you were there when you watched her die. It was only 300 years ago but that memory should be fresh in your head."


    "Wrong, I didn''t watch her die. No one did except you. I only remember that you, the Witch, and the third hero fought in a far away location, and only you came out b?r?ly alive. And I also know that she was an immortal, no blade, or weapon, or power alive could have killed her. I always thought that you had somehow managed to kill her, but it seems that I was wrong."


    "Like I said, there is no way that she is still alive."


    Silvas reached for Morgan''s robes and held him tightly, looking at him angrily. He knows Morgan is not an idiot, and right now he is acting like an idiot.


    "Read my mind! And see if there is any doubt!"


    Morgan shook his head as he gently pushed Silvas away from him.


    "Like I said, she is gone. She is dead."


    Silvas was starting to get angry. If the Witch really is back, then he needs Morgan''s help to defeat her again. But now he is acting like he doesn''t care, or like he doesn''t want to deal with it anymore.


    Ever since learning about the zombie over 2 months ago when Grace brought the corpse to them, he had asked the forest and secretly tasked some skilled and trustworthy elves to find clues about it, but they couldn''t find anything and it bothered him that he doesn''t know. Silvas has a lot to lose to simply let it slide like it was nothing.


    "What aren''t you telling me? I know that you aren''t an idiot!" Silvas said loudly and angrily.


    "I have nothing to say because there is nothing to say. Bell Dyer is dead, gone for good. If you have nothing else to talk about, I''ll be taking my leave. See ya." Morgan waved his hand and left Silvas there.


    But Morgan stopped, took one good look at the abandoned shed and sighed.


    "We should meet up at a different place next time. This tool shed is too depressing to keep looking at."


    Morgan disappeared in a flash thanks to his teleporting ability. Silvas was angry but he calmed himself down.


    Although he knows that Morgan has stopped caring less about mostly everything thanks to his age, Silvas thought he would care if the Witch was back.


    Silvas was now in his room sitting on the floor while drinking some wine thinking what to do next. What bothered him most was not knowing what to do. Kinda like how some famous and cool authors experience writer''s block.


    Someone entered through the door.


    "Grandpa? Are you okay? I knocked several times but you weren''t answering." Grace said.


    "Oh, sorry, I was just lost in thought. Something I can do for you?" Silvas asked with a smile, he didn''t want to worry her.


    "Yeah, could I borrow your magical tool? The one that can identify other magical tools."


    "It''s under my bed." Silvas pointed at his bed. It was a rather large bed with precise wood carving embedded on it.


    Grace reached under his bed and took out a wand, but looked like a giant, metal microphone for some reason, or to some people it might look like a giant lollipop.


    "And be careful, Grace. I know where you''re going."


    "You do?" Asked Grace. Did he know she was going to give this to Will? Obviously she wasn''t going to give it to him but only give it to him temporarily.


    "Yeah, the black market. Please be careful."


    "You know about it?"


    "I''d be surprised if I didn''t."


    "Then why don''t you help put a stop to it?" Asked Grace. The black market is where they sell elves as slaves. If her grandfather knew about it, the king of the elves, you''d think that he''d put a stop to it long ago.


    "I tried, Grace. The black market, or whatever it was called 50 years ago has been a thing since Morgan brought balance and peace to this world. I destroyed all those secret bases where they sold our people, but it just doesn''t seem to end."


    "But, we can still at least protect and save our people if we continue to destroy their bases!" Grace said, this is what she believed.


    "That''s exactly what I thought. I thought that if we continued destroying those secret bases, eventually it would come to an end, but it didn''t and it probably never will. Slavery has been a thing for 200 years now, and most likely nothing will change that. I am not saying I don''t care, what I am saying is that it is not worth the risk."


    "It''s not worth saving our people''s lives?" Asked Grace in a confused and angry manner.


    Grace has intended to free the enslaved elves various times. But the black market is tricky. It''s heavily guarded, but also very secretive. She doesn''t know how to reach it, but she knows that it happens once every 3 months at random locations. Before she has tried to locate it, but failed every time


    It''s an exclusive club so there''s no reason to hide it anymore. When the ban on enslaving elves was lifted it became a club rather than a secret base of illegal operations. Right now it is like a tradition, where it remains hidden. The only way to be invited is to know someone from the inside, and get an invite, and you also have to pay an expensive membership card to enter. It''s so only the rich and powerful can enter.


    "No, what I mean is that humans are stubborn and strong. If we want to destroy the ''black market'' we''d need to bring more elves in order to achieve that, all equipped with powerful items. If we do, we''ll lose more of our people than we intended to save in the end, or if we fail we''ll end up as slaves or dead. And if we destroy the black market, a new black market will appear soon probably with a different name."


    "Then ask the Great Sage to shut it down. I know you and him are good friends."


    "Right now, I don''t think he cares anymore." Silvas said a bit sadly.


    Until recently, the ban on elf slaves was recently lifted and the Great Sage did nothing about it. True he did create the ban on enslaving elves 200 years ago, but right now it truly seems he doesn''t care anymore.


    And even with that ban, it didn''t really affect them, people still enslaved elves and will most likely continue doing so even if it''s against the law or not. Like how people do drugs, murder, or deal in other illegal items.


    "Then, thank you. I''ll be going now." Grace said and left.


    Silvas got up. Looking out the window he saw Grace riding her mount and leaving the village. She reminded him of when he was her age.


    "When did I also stop caring as well?" Silvas could somewhat understand why the Great Sage stopped caring. Even if he does help his people this time, there is going to be another one who needs help, then another, then another, it''s an endless loop.


    "That girl, she is gonna get herself killed. Wait, did I let her take away the magical item?" Silvas looked under his bed, and sure enough Grace took it. He was in a different headspace so he didn''t really pay attention when Grace took it.


    "Well... It''s not like I was going to use it anytime soon." Silvas shrugged it off like it was nothing.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Clement was currently being dragged by 5 5-stripped sorcerers all keeping a close eye on him. Esmeralda was also being dragged by them.


    Clement was wearing one of their blue robes so that he wouldn''t be completely n?k?d. He was clenching his hands together tightly in front of him closely to his ?h?st.


    He was observing the sorcerers closely, as well as their surroundings.


    A middle-aged sorcerer was writing to someone using a communication stone. He placed the stone in his pocket when he was done.


    "Okay, just in case things go haywire I called for some backup. They should be here in an hour or 2 tops."


    "Oh great. But Team Leader can you help me? This is really heavy!"


    One of the other sorcerers was carrying a heavy bowling ball in his arms. By the looks of his face it seemed he would give in any moment now.


    "We can''t just leave it, it belongs to Damian. Lord knows how much we have to pay if we lose it or damage it." One of the older sorcerers said.


    "Good thing we''re rich, kind of." Sorcerers were well off, especially 5-stripped sorcerers. But they can''t afford a magical item unless they''re willing to sell all their belongings, but even so they were richer than most.


    "If we manage to bring back Clement, the king will reward us handsomely."


    "Eh, I don''t know. Didn''t you hear that Jasmine, the same one who brought the evidence of the corrupted noble to the king, got a really shitty reward?"


    "Really? I mean it can''t be that bad. Jasmine did bring down that noble who caused the suffering of so many families and innocent children''s lives for years."


    "The reward was a thank you card from the king¡­" Someone said dejectedly. He can''t imagine doing some amazing deed for the kingdom and getting nothing. It was no better than working so hard to find and collect 900 seeds from a vast world, only to be rewarded with a golden poop.


    "Okay, I am gonna drop the ball. I need... break!" The sorcerer dropped the ball and breathed a sigh of relief.


    "Here, I''ll carry it for now." One of them offered his help.


    While they were distracted, Clement took this opportunity to quickly put the ring on his finger which he had been hiding between his hands.


    "The hunger, eat those people!"


    A pair of large teeth appeared from the ring and aimed to devour the 5 men in front of it.


    One of the sorcerers, who was the oldest of the group who was only a middle-aged man, and was also the one in charge of the group, was keeping a close eye on Clement, out of pure instinct immediately dashed towards his men and pushed them away. In the process, both his legs were completely devoured.


    There was an energy shield that protected the middle aged man, it was an energy shield that most sorcerers and soldiers carry, but it couldn''t stand the force of the Hunger. But it did delay it for a second which is why it only managed to bite his legs off instead of his torso or waist.


    "AAAAHHH!!!" The middle aged man cried out in pain.


    Before the other 4 sorcerers could get a clear grasp on their situation, Clement made a run for it to the woods. He whistled for his horse and Esmeralda immediately ran towards him. They didn''t bind him down because they had nothing to bind him down with, except the bowling ball but it was too heavy to carry.


    Clement has seen many sorcerers in action when he was still with the kingdom. He knew that 5-striped sorcerers are strong, and also experienced fighters. If he were to attack them again using Hunger, it''d get destroyed and he''ll get killed by them. His plan was to wait patiently for them to group up and take them all out at once, too bad for him one of them was still on his guard.


    When his hand was bound by the heavy bowling ball, it was also the hand where it had the ring on his finger. When they searched him, he still had the bowling ball on his hand therefore they didn''t see it but he also couldn''t hide it. And the second when they took the bowling ball away from his hand, he immediately hid it in his hand by grasping it tightly, and waited for the opportunity to escape.


    "G-get him!" The middle aged sorcerer, the same one who just lost his legs screamed and pointed at Clement. His shout brought the other sorcerers to reality and 3 of the 5 sorcerers immediately flew to capture Clement. One of them stayed behind to tend to the wounded sorcerer.


    "This is bad, I didn''t bring anything!" The young sorcerer searched his pockets for healing potions, but found that he didn''t bring any when he thought he did.


    "I-I-I brought some." The middle man said. He reached out to his ?h?st pocket slowly. The young sorcerer reached out to his pocket instead and fed him a healing potion.


    The middle-aged man''s leg wounds closed completely, but they didn''t regenerate. Like how Jim lost his arm to Will, he had been searching for a regeneration potion because it''s the only way to bring back his arm, a healing pill would never be able to do that. Even so, a regeneration potion was rare and expensive compared to other potions.


    "Thank you. Take these! Now go get Clement!" The middle-aged man sighed that he was okay now, but Clement was still running. He handed the young sorcerer some healing potions in case the others needed them.


    "I can''t, sir! I can''t leave you."


    "It''s an order! Now go!"


    "Yes¡­ yes, sir." The young sorcerer didn''t feel right about leaving the middle-aged man alone, wounded, in the woods. But they were his orders.


    Clement knew they wouldn''t give up. And he wasn''t planning on running away, they had his other gun, and he wasn''t going to leave without it.


    Getting on top of Esmeralda, they ran off through the woods but not too fast because the trees were getting in the way.


    The sorcerers were angry and pissed at Clement for hurting their leader. If he hadn''t pushed them out of the way, they would have all ended up like him or worse.


    Right now they all wanted nothing more than to kill him. If they were to kill him it would still be fine, despite what the princess ordered he did just attack them, so it was only logical that they would want to defend themselves.


    Clement saw the sorcerers catching up to him. But the trees also lowered their speed.


    "The hunger, eat only the bottom half of the trees in front of me!" Clement said.


    The same white teeth appeared from his ring and it ate part of the trees like it was nothing. Most of the trees fell on the side Clement wanted.


    2 of the sorcerers knew what Clement was doing, so they quickly flew upwards, but one of them b?r?ly dodged it but the energy shield that protected him shattered in pieces but he made it out safely.


    But the one who was the most pissed of the group, saw a tree crash down on him. He had been so lost in his anger and focused only on killing Clement, that he failed to notice the heavy tree falling down on him, and he was crushed by the heavy tree and died. Even his energy shield couldn''t protect him because energy shields cannot withstand a huge amount of weight and pressure like a tree falling down on them.


    "PAUL!" Two of the sorcerers saw their friend being crushed by a tree. This fueled their anger even more and they gave chase to Clement once more, only this time they made sure to follow him above the trees. Now that the trees weren''t slowing them down, they caught up to him.


    "Keep your distance. That magical item of his is dangerous!"


    "Then we just shoot him from here!" One of the sorcerers carried an enchanted automatic rifle and opened fire towards Clement. The other sorcerer carried a sword with him as that is his main weapon, but he was prepared so he carried with him an ordinary handgun.


    Clement saw the rain of bullets raining down on him. One of the bullets hit his shoulder. Ignoring the pain thanks to the adrenaline rushing through him, he called out to his ring.


    "The hunger, protect us from the bullets!"


    Sharp white teeth once again were summoned and it stayed above Clement while also protecting Esmeralda. The bullets, especially from the enchanted automatic rifle, made holes on the teeth.


    It couldn''t take it anymore and the hunger broke apart in pieces like shards of glass, and so did the ring on Clement''s finger.


    "Dammit!" Clement said in anger. This was his only weapon left. Still one of those bullets could have pierced his head or even his horse. It might have saved his life.


    The barrage of bullets finally stopped. Not because they ran out, but because they were reloading.


    "How many bullets do you have left?"


    "Enough."


    They aimed at Clement, then they noticed he was gone. They lost sight of him!


    When Clement saw that their focus was elsewhere, he took advantage of the thick forest and blended with it. He stopped Esmeralda from running and he successfully made them lose track of him. It was a gamble and it paid off.


    Without a proper weapon, running away while being chased by them was stupid. He couldn''t protect himself from the rain of bullets again. He could only hide and somehow escape.


    Clement got off Esmeralda and slowly led her by her leash. They needed to move slowly and quietly.


    "Where did they go? Where did Clement freaking go!" They searched for him above, but they couldn''t see him. They could see him before because he was running and also made a lot of noise, but now it was harder to track him down because of the leaves. Even before it was difficult to see him properly, which is why most of their bullets missed.


    "Go down. We can find him if we go down." A young sorcerer with short brown hair said.


    "Are you crazy? He has a deadly magical item on him. If we get close to him we''ll lose our heads or something!" As much as this man wanted to take his revenge for his leader, it wasn''t wise to face Clement head on. This sorcerer had short blonde, spiky hair.


    They don''t know that they managed to destroy Clement''s magical item, which is why they think he still had it.


    "Then we split up!"


    "No! That sounds like an even worse idea than the one before!"


    "We''ll cover more ground!"


    "No, that way Clement will take us out one by one! Together he won''t be able to face us!"


    "Fine. Lead the way!"


    "No. I am not going down there!"


    "If we don''t go, and Clement escapes, Damian will have our heads! I know he says that often as a joke but I am afraid he really will do it! And if he doesn''t, the king will do it for him!"


    "Well¡­ dammit fine! I''ll lead the way." The blonde sorcerer descended with his machine gun while gripping it tightly. The other sorcerer followed closely behind him, he took out his enchanted sword.


    The sorcerer with the brown hair still had his energy shield active, the shield activated when it touched the leaves and sticks when he descended. The energy shield covers the entire body of the one who wears it, like a protective body suit.


    "Oh shit!"


    "Dude!!!"


    That energy shield made way too much noise.


    Clement heard the noise. He stopped Esmeralda and placed her behind a tree. He knew that those sorcerers descended again. He slowly walked around the forest, hiding, making sure not to step on any dry leaves or sticks that could give away his position.


    Escaping from them with Esmeralda is impossible, she would just step on twigs and leaves and make a lot of noise and give away their positions. He is just gonna have to take them out. Something could go wrong if he went with this plan, but he''s in a tight spot right now. Killing them was the only option right now.


    The two sorcerers played it smart and levitated a bit from the ground in order not to step on anything. They signal each other using their eyes, or hands, that way they won''t make as much noise.


    It was eerily quiet. They couldn''t even hear birds chirping, or the insects crying or whatever it is they do.


    The sorcerers carefully searched the area, keeping their guard up at all times.


    Clement, from behind a tree, spotted the two sorcerers easily. Their bright colored robes attracted his attention easily especially in an area only covered by thick trees and leaves.


    Clement did not know what to do. Sorcerers were protected by energy shields, which he had no problem with if he had his magical gun. Even if he had an ordinary gun it wouldn''t do much against energy shields.


    Seeing how they were getting closer to Esmeralda, he had to think of something.


    He grabbed a nearby stick and threw it behind them, right where he wasn''t at obviously.


    *Snap*


    "AH!" The blonde hair sorcerer opened fire when he heard a noise. But stopped when he saw it was nothing.


    "It''s not Clement!"


    "I am not taking that chance. I should have brought my mount!" They didn''t bring their mounts because they were on their way to save some villagers who survived a dragon attack. Since it was a short notice and they needed to hurry, most of their mounts had to be left behind because their mounts weren''t flying mounts or were simply too slow.


    Clement noticed how they were spooked. These sorcerers, like most, were always in groups. It''s most likely their first time being alone, having almost no one to rely on in a dangerous time like this.


    As the sorcerers got closer, a blue energy barrier appeared around one the blonde one, completely blocking off the other guy from getting any closer to him.


    "Ow!" The brown haired sorcerer got burned on the side that touched the energy barrier, part of his clothes were burned.


    "Jeez, you scared me!"


    "I thought that was Clement you idiot! That energy shield of yours isn''t helping us at all!"


    "Then you should have kept yours safe. Now be quiet!"


    Clement saw this. His eyes widened. He knew exactly what to do next. This time he got closer without alerting them, the two young sorcerers were still on their guard looking out for any movements.


    This time he found a pebble, some sticks, and whatever else he could find without making much noise, until he found a pile of pebbles and other stuff lying around, and a rock the size of his fist. The pair of sorcerers were staying in that one spot, umoving. They had no idea what to do.


    "I don''t like this. We''re basically sitting ducks. For all we know Clement could be watching us right now!" The blonde one said scared for his own life.


    "He is. I can feel his gaze but I don''t know where he is!"


    "Crap. We should hide then! Take off our robes, they''re too brightly colored!" He just thought of this.


    Clement threw a single pebble at the blonde sorcerer. The pebble was small so they didn''t see it.


    A bright blue barrier appeared for only a second, but it spooked both of them.


    "Again?"


    "That wasn''t me."


    Clement threw even more sticks and pebbles at them.


    "It''s him! Shoot him!"


    But, Clement threw his rock at the one who didn''t have an energy shield and hit him right between the eyes.


    The brown haired sorcerer fell down but he wasn''t unconscious, but he was bleeding and his vision was hazy. He even dropped his handgun and sword.


    "CLEMENT!!!" The other sorcerer opened fire in the forest. Clement was well hidden, and he didn''t want to get close to him in fear of being killed by his magical item, which they don''t know that he doesn''t have anymore.


    Clement laid down behind a thick tree for cover. It didn''t help much as a protective layer because it was an enchanted weapon, it could easily pierce through a thick tree like it was nothing.


    Once the sorcerer ran out of bullets, he got scared for his life.


    "Run!" He grabbed his friend by his hand, who was screaming in pain as soon as he touched him.


    "IT BURNS!"


    He noticed his energy shield was burning his friend''s hand. He deactivated it and just flew away with his friend. They were too scared to keep going.


    If they both had their energy shields it would have been fine. Once two or even more separate energy shields make contact, they connect together like play-doh or legos (couldn''t think of something better) instead of burning or hurting each other. They also apply this to mounts in order not to injure them.


    Clement, who was prepared to attack, heaved a sigh of relief. He had planned on taking the brown haired one as a hostage, and threatening him with his own gun, and forcing the blonde one to give up his weapon and possibly kill them, but that could have gone wrong in so many ways. But good thing they were too scared for their lives and ran off.


    It wasn''t his original plan but he was happy with the results. He wasn''t ready to face them without a proper weapon.


    Not wasting another moment, Clement grabbed the weapons, and ran off to his Esmeralda and rode off back to where the other injured sorcerer was.


    The two sorcerers who just ran away, saw the other sorcerer just catching up to them.


    "What happened? Did you kill Clement?" He asked both sorcerers. He was a bit slow because he couldn''t find them and thought he was lost.


    "No, and don''t go there! He''s too dangerous! Quick, do you have any healing potions on you?"


    "Yeah, I have some." He gently fed the man a healing potion. In his heart he thanked his leader for giving him his healing potions, otherwise they would have had to waste time by flying back towards him. His injuries were gone but still needed some time to recover fully. The rock hit his head hard, he was still dizzy and hurt like a painful headache.


    "Are you okay?" The blonde sorcerer asked.


    "Sorta. Gah, this headache!"


    "Yeah he''s fine. Where is Clement?" The young sorcerer asked.


    "Down there! He''s probably still in hiding."


    "I''ll go take a look."


    "Are you crazy?! We b?r?ly managed to make it out alive! Not only does he have that magical item, he also has a handgun and an enchanted sword!" The blonde sorcerer held back the young sorcerer from meeting his doom.


    "Fine. I remember Team Leader telling us that help was coming. As long as we keep our distance and keep an eye on him, we should be good."


    "Oh, the longer we wait the more likely it is we''ll take Clement down!"


    "Exactly. Now help me find him."


    "Good idea. He''s probably still hiding."


    They slowly scoured the forest, even the brown haired one was looking for Clement despite the obvious head injury. But they couldn''t find him. They thought he was still hiding.


    Clement was already gone from the area. He rode off Esmeralda the second they ran away. They just didn''t notice yet.


    After 10 minutes of searching, they were getting worried that he was really gone.


    "I better go let Team Leader¡­ wait, we''re missing someone, where''s Paul?" The young sorcerer asked.


    "Died. He died." The blonde one was angry and saddened when he mentioned this.


    "Bastard¡­ dammit! God dammit! I better let the team leader know. If he can send a message, help will arrive faster... I hope."


    "Go. We''ll keep looking for Clement."


    The young sorcerer flew back to his team leader as fast as he could.


    "Team leader!" When he saw the middle-aged man lying on the ground, resting, he landed beside him. But he was shocked and beyond horrified to see the middle-aged man, with a bullet hole on his head, dead.


    "No, it can''t be! I should''ve have left him alone!"


    Clement wanted to retrieve his gun back, so he immediately came back here for it. He shot the middle-aged man right on his head from far away where he couldn''t sense him. Clement has very excellent aim.


    The middle-aged man did have an energy barrier protecting him, but that was before it was destroyed by the Hunger. Left defenseless and immobile, it was an easy target for Clement.. Clement took his weapon back, plus whatever the middle-aged man had, and ran far away before other sorcerers could arrive.

 Chapter 63 - Golem

    "Okay, I am finally done!" Will leaped in joy to see his marvelous creation, an actual golem built by his own two hands.


    The area around him was a complete mess. Bits of gold ore scattered around. Tools everywhere. And a large pile of used gold was sitting on the side, it was all the gold he failed to use when making his golem. For some reason it seemed easier to use newer gold rather than used gold.


    All that aside, he was still beyond overjoyed to see his creation. To others it looked like a failure, as if a beginner tried to make a frankenstein statue and¡­ tried his best.


    But to Will, in his eyes it was a masterpiece, his masterpiece to be exact.


    The gold golem was currently lying down on the floor, like a marionette when it''s not used (a type of puppet that''s operated with sticks and wires). Will finally managed to make a golem statue after only making each piece individually, and then connected them all using screws, or melted metal.


    Will placed the golem core in the golden statue''s head. No sooner than later it started moving on its own.


    Adaline saw this and got spooked. It''s not the first time she''s seeing this but somehow it''s irregular movements creeped her out.


    It stood up very clumsily, as if it had trouble adjusting its own body. It made sense as it''s limbs weren''t perfect. After a while, it stood up.


    "Master." The gold statue spoke in a hoarse voice. It was leaning on one leg as it wasn''t perfectly made.


    "It''s beautiful." Will started to tear up a bit. He has never been so proud of himself.


    *Clang*


    The golem''s head fell off, along with an arm, the rest of the body went limp but the head remained active.


    "Master."


    "Okay, it''s not perfect but I''ll take it!"


    Regardless of its obvious flaws, he was very happy with it. Even now he couldn''t stop smiling.


    After connecting the head and making sure that the rest of the body was well connected, and adjusting it''s legs a bit, Will decided to test it out in the mines. The purpose of making this golem is so he wouldn''t have to mine anymore.


    "Golem, take this." Will handed him an ordinary pickaxe. His enchanted pickaxe was better than any other pickaxe, but he was afraid that the golem would destroy it. Just because it was enchanted doesn''t mean that it''s unbreakable.


    "Master." The golem reached with one hand.


    "Come down here. And start mining." Will wanted to observe the golem in person.


    "..." Will.


    "..." Golem.


    "Do you know what mining means?" Will asked.


    "Master."


    "Okay, just take this pickaxe and copy what I am doing." Will showed the golem what to do by hitting the stone with his pickaxe.


    The golem headed down the mining area, and started to mine stone. It''s hand wasn''t properly made and wasn''t functioning well, it could b?r?ly raise it''s hand to mine through stone.


    "Crap! I don''t want to start over again! Arms are the most complicated limbs to make, for me at least. Try using your other arm." Will commanded.


    The golem then used it''s left hand, and surprisingly, it was a lot better than using its right hand. It swung fast and hard.


    "Sweet! Okay, use your left arm only when mining. Also, here. Use this instead." Will decided to give him his enchanted pickaxe. Even if it breaks, which it might because it''s durability will get worn down, he could make more anytime he wants to.


    "Go all the way down, and keep mining. If you find any rare ore like this, or this, or this." Will showed him various ores, gold, silver, bronze, everything.


    "Actually, you know what, everything you mine bring it back here and just dumb it all into these ?h?sts. Make sure to leave nothing behind." Will brought out 3 empty ?h?sts and placed them on the ground.


    After thinking about it for a second, he thought of something better and more efficient.


    "You know what? Let''s go down. Follow me. I''ll show you what you need to do. If you run out of space to place the stuff in, let me know. Understood?"


    "Master."


    "I''ll take that as a yes."


    After carefully guiding and observing the golem for almost an hour, making sure that it understood everything and did not mess anything up, only then was Will finally relieved. His days of mining are over. The hard work he put into the golem did pay off.


    "Still, it couldn''t help to make a few more of those." Will wanted to make more but that would take time and effort, and also he lacked the materials to make another one. Lucky for him, it should be but a matter of time before his golem finds more low-tier mana ores or even higher tier mana ores.


    "Wait, more of those." Will had an idea on how to make more golems without using any effort, by making another blueprint.


    A blueprint can copy any structure and make another one like paste and copy. All he needed were the correct materials. Although he isn''t sure if it works on golems, he has the slightest bit of hope that it could work.


    Will went back outside to do something he had been meaning to do, build a solid base. After hiding all this time he felt like building a proper base with towers, buildings, instead of living underground. Honestly it feels like he was suffocating staying underground. It felt like how it was during quarantine.


    And maybe someday in the future, he can expand that base into a large castle, which has been his dream goal for years now.


    Meanwhile¡­


    The sorcerers and potion makers finally met up with Sandra, Bruce, Jasmine, and the other remaining villagers.


    All of them could not believe that two heroes were already here. Sandra was easily recognizable because of her red hair, which few people had, including the Empress. And there''s also Bruce who liked to wear his gi uniform.


    The sorcerers thanked the heroes, most of which did not thank Jasmine, sadly. All she wanted was to be properly rewarded to help her economic situation as well as her family. This time she was sure to get some money or something valuable she could sell.


    They all then brought back the sorcerers to the Reyes kingdom safely and as quickly as they could, but the trip would take at most a day.


    A few hours had gone by. Soon everyone knew what Clement had done.


    "DAMMIT!" In the kingdom, sitting on his throne, the king punched his throne out of anger which echoed throughout the room. He already heard about Clement.


    Damian looked down in shame and fear. This is the most he had messed up in his kingsmen career. Damian was in charge of the sorcerers when they captured Clement, so as always when something goes wrong, the blame goes to the one in charge, meaning him. He thought that he could rely on his men to take care of him.


    Harmony heard the news and was secretly relieved. She tried to get her father to imprison Clement instead of executing him, but he is a very stubborn man, and he thought of quickly killing off loose ends before they become a bigger problem.


    "Your majesty, I-" Damian spoke out but was cut off by the king, who waved his hand at him.


    "I am not going to punish you severely, only because you''ve done a good job for me over the years. But, as long as I allow it, you will not set foot here again until you manage to bring Clement''s head back to me on a silver plate. Am I clear?"


    "Yes, your majesty." Damian said. He thought he would receive a harsh punishment but it was lenient compared to what he had in mind.


    "Go, now!"


    Damian flew off to search for Clement. If he found him once he could find him again, although he only found him out of sheer luck.


    "At least our daughter is back and safe with us." The queen held the king''s hands firmly and warmly. He sighed.


    "Yeah, you''re right. At least now we can sleep easier, but still, Clement must be eliminated at all costs."


    "Dad, I-


    "Your majesty!" A noble kneeled before the king interrupting Harmony.


    "Oh, did you finish writing the new tax laws?" The king asked, he had been waiting for this.


    "New tax laws?" Harmony said, visibly confused. Was there a need to add more tax laws?


    "I did." The noble gave the king a long scroll. In it were detailed tax laws: such as a new tax like traveling tax, which people will be charged when you don''t use the roads. And another new tax that charges anyone when you DO USE the roads, the fee depends on the number of people, number of mounts, how much weight they''re carrying and so on.


    The list goes on and on. Some taxes even charge you gold or large amounts of silver coins.


    However there are people who are exempt from paying taxes, nobles, heroes, the king and his family, and 5-stripped sorcerers, men sorcerers only though, and it doesn''t include other family members or friends.


    "I love it. We''ll announce the tax laws tomorrow along with the safe return of my daughter" The king said very pleased with this.


    "Your majesty, is there a need to not include female sorcerers from this tax law?" The noble asked. The king was the one who added that law.


    "Of course there is a reason."


    "May I ask why?"


    "Because I am the king."


    "I''ll be taking my leave then." The noble bowed as he left the room.


    Harmony read through the tax law. She wasn''t pleased with it.


    "Dad, why did you add so many taxes?" Harmony asked, concerned how the people would react.


    "For the heroes, and also because the kingdom is bankrupt and is in dire need of money, which we don''t have but need."


    The reason the kingdom is suffering financially is because of the heroes. Every time they''re summoned the kingdom wastes a large amount of its resources making sure to protect and arm all the heroes, and they always had the resources and income to support the heroes, but this time they were seriously lacking funds to even properly arm more than 10 heroes.


    The income problem is most likely the Empress''s doing. She may not have the heroes, but she has more money than the kingdom ever did since it was built.


    "Then can''t we reuse some of the old hero''s equipment?" Harmony said.


    When heroes die, their corpses are burned to ashes, are then placed in a coffin or urn depending on their requests, and they are then buried on the ground for some reason along with their belongings, including magical and enchanted weapons they used in their times.


    The corpses are burned because the Great Sage did fear that one day another Witch would arrive, and use the heroes'' corpses to her advantage. Wouldn''t be the first time a hero appeared with the same power as another hero. Luckily for this world that hasn''t happened as of dare.


    Although in some cases like the hero Christopher Lawrence who died and his corpse was never retrieved again, they just bury an empty coffin or urn with some valuable stuff to pay respect to the heroes.


    Right now there were most likely dozens or even hundreds of magical items buried in the ground, but most of it was already corroded and useless. People respect the heroes too much to steal from them. And those who tried their luck to steal those valuable items, will find themselves being executed on the spot.


    "No, we can''t." The king said this but he had the same idea as his daughter, but sadly the Great Sage is protecting their tombs, well not their tombs exactly but more like the powerful weapons that rest inside.


    He did like the idea of using the past heroes'' weapons for the new heroes to use, because the old heroes are dead and are of no use to them anymore, but the Great Sage will never allow it. He might be the king but the one who holds all the power is the Great Sage.


    "Okay but I am worried about these tax laws. Won''t the people be mad about this?" Harmony asked.


    "Let them be mad." The king didn''t care. He knows that they would be made, because he too would be mad if someone forced him to pay all these unnecessary taxes.


    However, there is something he had that the public didn''t have, heroes, nobles, and sorcerers. All of which were very powerful people.


    There is a reason why he is the only king who has added so many unnecessary tax laws, because the Great Sage really doesn''t seem to care anymore.


    It might have started when he didn''t care about lifting the slave elf laws, the very same law he added over 200 years ago. Of course he thought of abusing his power a little more now that the Great Sage is caring less, but he didn''t want to push it too far, yet.


    "I''ll be going to my room, then." Harmony bowed down and headed to her room. Along with her 2 nobles accompanied her. After what happened with Clement, the king wanted to make sure his daughter was protected 24-7.


    "By the way, honey, did you manage to find a group for the hero?" Asked the Queen. She is referring to Victoria, the one fat hero nobody likes.


    "Oh, her. No, no one wanted to be with her." The king slouched down. He treated the heroes with respect for many reasons, at least only the ones who were of use to him.


    "Then what did you do with her?"


    "I let her join with some nobles and sorcerers. Because of her hero identity they were gladly eager to accept her into the group."


    "Why is it that none of the other heroes wants to group up with her?"


    "I heard that she is or was a bully in their school."


    "Oh." The Queen seemed unimpressed. It''s not the worst hero to have been summoned. Even after the Witch was killed, there had been a handful of heroes who were corrupted, evil, perverted. Lucky for them the Great Sage put them down before they could wreak havoc.


    Compared to some other heroes, she seemed like a saint.


    "Although I am worried. This year''s batch of heroes are weak." The king said worried.


    "I agree. I watched them practice, and it is not like what I expected when I read records from them."


    Most of the heroes right now were too soft, weak minded, weak willed, lazy, scared, stupid, irresponsible, or are just very s?ns?t?v?. At first it was easier to control them. But after they started getting comfortable in this new world, their true colors started to show.


    "Yeah, these heroes are rather weak. Shaun Quincy was already a fighter, and so were most of the heroes from his time because they just recently came out of a war, most of them were missing limbs if I remember correctly, but they were fierce, strong, and fearless. And the heroes from 1820 were already fighters, some of them were even slaves and fought for their freedom or something. And 1720 there was that plague¡­ Luckily the Great Sage cured them from that disease, or got rid of them? I don''t remember."


    "Wait, didn''t these heroes also have a plague or something going on in their world?"


    "Yes, my Queen."


    "Shouldn''t we be worried that they carried it over to our world?"


    "No. The Great Sage said he cured them. He does have experience with this so it''s fine."


    "Good."


    Meanwhile¡­


    A day went by. Will quickly got to building his castle, it wasn''t easy at first since he first had to get rid of the giant hill that was covering his base, he didn''t think that one through and it was a pain to get rid of. With his golem working in the mines, it made it easier to collect the building materials needed to make his castle.


    The area around his base was a bit of a mess since he had to make giant hills to hide his base. But with the greenery returning once again thanks to Adaline, it''ll be a matter of time before he could cut and produce more trees for wood.


    And also his HP increases by the day when he makes exotic pills.


    Currently, his HP is now {2200/2200} lately Adaline has been producing a good number of exotic flowers. The more she produces the more his HP rises. It also helped that the exotic seed also produced exotic flowers, although not as fast as Adaline.


    He also enchanted his armor, spare armor, main armor, weapons, bullets, mining tools. He created another room for enchanting his items. And also created a secret little base where he kept his enchanted items in, just because he can, and now he liked being prepared. Will has never felt this busy before. Strangely enough he didn''t hate it, it was basically like grinding in any sandbox game.


    Adaline, who was resting comfortably, sensed someone familiar approaching them. She made a hole through the wall because she couldn''t fit through the small door. The loud noise scared Will.


    "Dammit, Adaline, that scared the living hell out of me!" Will said that, but took a mental note that he should make a door big enough for Adaline to fit through.


    From the distance, he saw Adaline running towards a dark figure riding an organic creature.


    It was far away, but thanks to the new enchantments he added to his mask, he could see very clearly who it was, it was Grace riding on her organic creature headed towards them.


    {Exotic wooden mask}


    {Enchantment: Night vision V: Can see very clearly in the dark}


    {Enchantment: Eagle vision V: Can see very far}


    {Enchantment: Defense+ V}


    {Enchantment: Durability+ V}


    Before the only enchantment his mask had was Night Visions I, but he increased it and added more useful enchantments.


    With this enchantment he could even see small, tiny insects from a huge distance, like the cliche Mc''s in most cultivation light novels who have increased senses, but in this case he only increases his sense of sight.


    "Attack mode {off}" Will said and his sentry turrets won''t attack anyone else.


    Grace stopped meters away from the sentry turret''s firing range. She remembered how a bullet grazed her shoulder from those sentries. If she were to enter carelessly she might not get so lucky.


    Seeing Adaline act all friendly towards her and her mount made her smile.


    Will walked towards them, signaling them that it was safe to enter.


    "Grace!" Will shouted.


    Grace got off her mount and handed him a microphone shaped object.


    "This is the magical item you asked for." She got straight to the point.


    Will touched the item, and sure enough it was the magical item he needed to find another magical item he needed.


    "Thank you." Will headed back to his base.


    "Will, wait!"


    "What?" Will stopped in his tracks.


    "Are we¡­ good now?" Grace wanted to be sure that Will wasn''t angry and took away Adaline from her father.


    "Sort of."


    "My dad said that trust is like glass. You can break it and fix it again, but it''ll never be the same. But I am trying my best to mend it, to fix the mistake I made. I could give a thousand excuses, but I know that it won''t fix anything. I just want to let you know that I will do whatever it takes to fix my mistake."


    Will stared at Grace. What she said was sincere.


    He saw how Adaline was playing around with the organic goat creature. He also noticed how the sun was already setting down, the area was getting dark.


    He entered his base without saying a word.


    Grace looked down and sighed. It seemed like Will hadn''t forgiven her yet.


    As she was about to leave, he heard him shout. "Hey, you coming? It''s getting dark. Just don''t break anything again." Will said from above the walls.


    Will only entered to add Grace and the other organic creature into his {allies} box so now his sentry turrets won''t shoot them when he activates the turrets.


    "Thank you. I''m only staying here until sunrise."


    "Yeah, yeah." Will waved it off as not important. Regardless of her presence, he continued building his castle. For some reason he couldn''t sleep today, and he didn''t get as tired as before.


    Meanwhile¡­


    2 heroes, and a single sorceress entered the kingdom.


    "Heroes, you have done a splendid job!" The king was happy to hear what the heroes did, which was protecting the people.


    Bruce, Sandra, and Jasmine managed to safely bring back the remaining villagers to the kingdom for protection and shelter them temporarily.


    They didn''t say anything. Bruce felt like he did nothing to deserve any praise. Sandra kept looking at her communication stone. And Jasmine was hoping to get an actual good reward this time.


    "You all deserve to be rewarded for your actions. Everyone in the kingdom is talking about it and praising the heroes for your valiant efforts. They''re treating you like gods more than before." The king exaggerated it just to make them feel better.


    "Nobles, hand them their rewards¡­ What are you doing here?" The king said to Jasmine.


    "I helped take down the dragon and fought and protected the villagers." Jasmine said.


    "She did. She did save the people long before we got there." Sandra said.


    "Without Jasmine a lot of people would have died." Bruce added. He heard Jasmine''s story and both of them wanted to help her out.


    "If that''s what the heroes say so." The king was mildly annoyed but he wanted to make a good impression on the heroes. He gave them each a bag of gold coins, each carrying only 50 gold coins in it.


    Bruce wanted to say that he didn''t do anything to deserve this reward¡­ but he liked money so he is going to keep it. Jasmine accepted it with grace as her eyes sparkled, and so did Sandra''s eyes sparkle like diamonds.


    "Don''t spend it all in one place." The king said in a joking manner.


    The heroes left the room after thanking him, along with Jasmine tagging along. The king sighed as he lost 150 gold coins in a second, that was 50 more gold coins than he expected to give out.


    Most definitely if the heroes weren''t there and didn''t help Jasmine, who indeed did most of the work, he would have never rewarded her.


    "Thank you, Bruce and Sandra." Jasmine was happy to receive her reward. 50 gold coins wasn''t a huge sum but it wasn''t low either.


    "Why are you thanking us? You did most of the work." Sandra said.


    "So did Will." Bruce added. He wasn''t there but he heard it from them.


    "Indeed he did. I gotta go now and give this to my family." Jasmine flew away back to her house.


    "See ya!" Bruce and Sandra waved goodbye. Sandra was still keeping a close eye on the communication stone in case Will ever messaged her.


    "I''m going to rest. Anything I can help you with?" Asked Bruce.


    "No, I''m okay."


    "Okay." Bruce left.


    Then, just as he left, the communication stone in Sandra''s hand glowed.


    {Hey.}


    Sandra smiled. This is how Will always wrote when they texted each other every day.


    {Hey..} She replied back.

 Chapter 64 - A sadistic hero

    Will finished texting with Sandra. They just talked about what happened in their day and other things. Will had to end their conversation short. Now that he got ahold of the magical item that locates other magical items, he didn''t want to waste more time and headed straight to the mines.


    Grace stood outside of the cave, sort of admiring Will''s builds. The castle was still under construction and it looked unfinished and messy. Still she admired it because she knew how long this would take if several people were to attempt it; it''d take at most 2 years to make this kind of progress. But Will merely took a few hours.


    After a while, she went to sleep after getting comfortable once again in his base.


    On the way down, Will checked on his golem, who was doing a decent job at mining. One of it''s legs wasn''t functioning properly so it didn''t move as quickly as Will hoped.


    "Note, I have to improve him before I decide to make more of them." Will made a mental note of it and left to find that magical item.


    He once again entered the temple that the hero buried himself in along with his family. Will has respect for the dead, so he was careful not to move the remains or damage the temple.


    Will aimed the magical item locator and scanned it all around the area. Unfortunately for him, it wasn''t near the temple no matter how much he looked.


    "Doesn''t make sense. It should work." Will looked at the magical item''s description one more time.


    {Magical item locator}


    {Locates magical items at a 1-5km radius. The item will shine a bright color once a magical item enters its radius, not including itself}


    {You can set the distance of this item to your d?s?r?. Of course it cannot detect items further than it''s allowed to}


    Will made sure to take off his cloak, bracelet, and ring before entering the cave because it kept glowing brightly since they were all magical items. He made sure to leave the items back on his base because he can''t place items that carry items inside in one box.


    But his cloak was in his inventory. This showed him that this magical item locator cannot detect magical items that were inside his inventory could not be detected at all.


    "This is a pain. I was hoping that the magical item would be somewhere here. But it isn''t. Gah!" Will was annoyed. He had been looking forward to this for so long.


    Entering the temple once more, he read Christopher''s diary once more, only the parts that included the magical item.


    "There is nothing here valuable to steal. I hid the magical item¡­ I thought he was kidding, but the item truly isn''t here. But just where could it be?" Will sat down and thought.


    There was nothing in the diary that could help him find that magical item, not it''s current location or how it looks. Christopher Lawrence really did take all that information with him to his grave. Will thought that he might have cleverly hid it somewhere near, but he was clearly wrong.


    Will continued to explore the caverns, trying to see if it was here or not. But after walking for two hours, he figured it could not possibly be here. Still he carried it with him.


    Will was sad at the moment. Still he went back to building his castle. Throughout the entire night, up till sunset, Will only worked on building his castle. He didn''t even notice how much he worked until it was sunrise.


    "God, was I seriously up all ni-... I shouldn''t make a big deal of this. Back then I could even play video games 24 hours straight for a youtube challenge or simply cause I wanted to. And yet that somehow didn''t make me a popular minecraft youtuber."


    On the way he saw Grace already leaving his base.


    "You''re leaving already?" Will asked grumpily. If he doesn''t get enough sleep he gets angry, annoyed by everything and everyone.


    "I did say I would stay here until sunrise. Thanks for letting me stay here. And nice work. It''s starting to come together." Grace said, surprised by how much Will progressed on a single night.


    Will added a giant gate for his castle, which didn''t work because in this world redstone or command blocks weren''t a thing. There was a door beside the gate which was used as a substitute until he could get it to work.


    But he is going to figure out how to build a functioning castle gate. Until then the gate is just for show, sadly.


    Arguably the coolest thing about any castle are giant, working gates.


    The gates were made out of silver and metal, which gave it a shiny brightness as well as made it sturdy. The gate was even taller than the walls. If he wanted to make a castle, he had to go big. He could have finished sooner, but he had to fix the tiny problems he saw in the gate which ended up taking most of his time. Going up and down many times took time, but his short teleportation cloak made it easier to move around.


    Will also added some stone stairs for convenience. That was basically everything he accomplished in one night.


    "Thanks." Will liked to be praised for his work.


    "Are you still using the magical item I lent you?"


    "Yes."


    "Okay¡­ By the way, I thought I heard something in the mines. Is someone there right now?" Grace asked.


    "Yes." Will said in a more annoyed tone.


    "Okay¡­ see yeah later."


    Grace left with her organic goat. Along with her she took some water for the road. She wanted to ask about Will''s exotic armor, which looks like it came from the exotic trees, but she left it be because she didn''t want to accidentally intrude, again.


    Will was simply too tired to make conversation at the moment. He jumped in his bed and simply slept soundly throughout the entire day.


    During the day, 3 idiots were wandering the world. The three heroes named Pete, Henry, and Britney were peacefully eating their food.


    "Man, all this walking and exploring sure is fun." Pete said while eating some food.


    "It''s been days since we left the castle. And we b?r?ly walked at all! We just stayed in this hotel at a village because you saw a dead goblin on the side of the road! Heck! I can still see the castle from here." Henry pointed at the castle which was literally no less than 50 steps away.


    "Yeah, we''re not ready for this." Britney said carefully.


    "What do you mean?" Asked Henry.


    "I''ve been thinking, instead of exploring this world, perhaps we should find a way to go back home." Britney said what she had been thinking.


    Henry and Pete were surprised to hear this. They both thought she wanted to explore the world.


    "I am too scared. I thought I was strong enough to do this but I am not. When I saw that dead goblin, it was more scary than disgusting. I just want to go back home to mom and dad." Britney hugged her own legs. She was shaking from fear.


    Britney thought that after two months of being prepared and training, she thought that she''d been ready to face the dangers of this world. But now she just can''t even imagine herself fighting or killing monsters for no reason other than because they''re heroes.


    The heroes of this age are weak minded compared to the other heroes from the past. These heroes only know peace, fun, and being free. This world is anything but peaceful and fun.


    "Hey, it''s okay. If you want to go back we''ll find a way to go back, whatever it takes." Henry, the one who was looking forward to exploring the world the most suddenly changed his mind.


    "Wow¡­ what a simp." Pete said annoyed. He begged his friend for days that he too wants to go back to his world, but Henry always went against his words. Pete thought that Henry was the most stubborn man alive because nothing he did or said would change his mind.


    " ''Ello, my fello'' heroes." Josh came out of nowhere and greeted his hero companions but putting his arms around them.


    "What are you doing here, Josh?" Asked Henry who pushed his arm away. He also cringed at the way he just talked.


    Neither Pete, Henry nor Britney had any sort of relationship with Josh. They only knew him because they all went to the same school and attended the same class for many years. So they had a neutral feeling for one another.


    "Ah, same as you. I just came here to eat, chat, ask for a smaaal favour." Josh sat down beside Pete making himself comfortable. Behind Josh followed his loyal harem of two.


    Felicia was beyond ecstatic to meet 3 other heroes. Like many people in this world they idolized heroes and treated them as if they were a godlike existence.


    Naveah felt nothing from seeing the heroes. She already met the Great Sage before, and had been hanging around Josh for a while now.


    "What favor?" Britney asked.


    "Well¡­ you know something worthless to us¡­ like money."


    "If money is so worthless, then why do you want it?" Asked Britney.


    Josh shut his mouth. He didn''t think about what he was gonna say beforehand.


    "How much?" Asked Henry.


    "Just¡­ a minimum of 100 million gold coins." Josh said.


    "The fu?k? Gah!" Pete choked on his own food once he heard Josh. He quickly grabbed some of Henry''s drink and drank it all.


    "Why do you need so much? I don''t think even the king has that much money." Henry said.


    "Okay, fine. I''ll round it down to 10,000 gold coins. Fair deal?"


    Josh purposefully raised the number a lot at first so that by the time he lowered his asking price, it would seem a lot cheaper and make it seem like he wasn''t asking for much, but his plan was to always get 10,000 gold coins or more. It was a simple scam/con technique.


    "Don''t think I don''t know what you''re planning, Josh." Henry said.


    "Yeah, it''s kind of obvious." Britney added.


    "What is?" Pete asked not sure what they were talking about.


    "Dang." Josh was disappointed that his plan didn''t work, yet again.


    When Naveah introduced him to some wealthy people, they simply weren''t able to afford to give Josh 10,000 gold coins. Nobody in their right mind would.


    As much as many people would love to get acquainted with as many heroes as possible and form connections with them, it simply wasn''t worth going bankrupt for it, because some of them actually had common sense, especially now that the King is going to raise and add new taxes.


    So Josh thought that he could have his other hero friends give him some money to afford the elf slave he wants.


    "Wait, I also overheard that you guys want to go back home. Why?" Changing the subject, Josh asked in a very confused manner.


    Why would they ever want to return to their boring world?


    "I have a family." Britney said.


    "I have friends there. And I miss the internet, the food, my house." Henry said.


    "And also it was a little bit safer there. I''d rather take my chances with a deadly virus than a dragon. And I also miss my playstation." Pete said.


    "Wow, you guys are all idiots." Josh said very loud and angry at them.


    The three of them got annoyed by him. They don''t like being called idiots.


    "I mean, come on! Do you know how many people would kill to be in our shoes? This is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity."


    "Josh, don''t you have a family back home?" Asked Britney.


    "Yeah, I do, my parents. But I won''t miss them. They were simply the worst people in the world. Hate them."


    Britney, Henry, and Pete were visibly confused.


    "The worst? I may not have known them, but didn''t they always pick you up in a limousine? And also sent you in the best clothes, provided you with the best tutors?" Britney said.


    Josh wasn''t the richest man in the world, but he certainly was richer than most of them even though they all went to private school, which wasn''t cheap.


    "How do you know that?" Josh asked in a confused manner. He didn''t tell her any of that.


    "You posted it on your instagram profile."


    "Ah, right. Ugh, don''t remind me. I always hated wearing those expensive clothes. And my tutors? I had so many of them, I wasted so much time on them when I could have spent it on something else like anime, or games. And when I wore those expensive clothes, if I had a stain on it, I would get punished for it!"


    And the reason for the limousine, is because he begged his parents to take him on a limousine that way he might end up getting a girlfriend in the process. It worked numerous times, but they all left him due to his terrible personality. His longest relationship lasted no more than 2 weeks.


    ''Spoiled brat.'' The three of them thought the exact same thing.


    "How many tutors did you have?" Asked Pete. He also had tutors so he could kind of understand Josh.


    "A lot. Like 2. And they were so old and fat men. If they had been s?xy women instead I might have paid attention to them."


    ''Douchebag.'' The three of them thought the exact same thing.


    Pete also had numerous tutors, like 7 because his parents wanted him to have a good career. And because of them he got to be one of the best students in his class.


    "But, you guys, think about it, why would we want to go back? We had no lives out there. At most we would have been homeless or worked in a fast food restaurant for the rest of our lives!" Josh said.


    "Actually I was studying for my Bar exam at Harvard. But due to COVID I had to take online courses instead which was a pain." Henry said.


    Painful memories rose when he recalled them. Somehow online lessons were just far worse and much more difficult, contrary to what he first believed would be easier.


    "I was taking model courses for a rich company. You know they would take pictures of me wearing their company''s clothings and post my pictures outside of their shops? But then COVID happened and I had to postpone that." Britney said.


    "And I was gonna become an astronaut." Pete said.


    "Lies, you became an online french tutor, and you only knew french because your mom knew french and taught you when you were little." Henry exposed Pete''s lies.


    "Well being a french tutor isn''t exactly as cool or as high class as modeling for a rich company, or becoming a lawyer. Now that I think about it, I was earning a bit of decent money when I was teaching those kids french. But still I always did like teaching other people french."


    "I always wanted to learn french. Is it easy?" Britney said, crossing her legs and arms.


    "Is learning a new language easy?" Pete said in a sarcastic and sassy tone. If it was easy, everyone would know french.


    "Okay, people, so you all want to go back? Seriously?" Asked Josh.


    They turned to each other and nodded in agreement.


    "Yeah, we do."


    "Well, sorry to say that it''s too bad. As far as I know, no hero has ever been able to return to their world. See ya, suckers!" Josh left laughing along with his harem.


    The three heroes looked at his figure leaving. What was the point of all that?


    "Next time I see him, I will punch him." Britney said.


    "You read my mind."


    "Same here."


    They were all pretty annoyed by him but continued eating. It was indeed impossible to return, and they knew that. But they can''t just give up without trying at least.


    "How do we get back?" Asked Pete.


    "I guess¡­ we could explore the world and see if we can find anything?" Henry suggested his plan.


    "I know you''re just trying to explore this world, but it sounds like it''s the only plausible answer." Pete agreed, feeling dejected.


    Britney agreed as well. Both of them were rather scared. Only Henry was the brave one of the group.


    "Hey, I wonder what happened to Victoria? Did someone actually pair up with her?" Pete asked. He didn''t want to go back to the kingdom because of her. As long as there isn''t a slight chance that she''ll pair up with them, he won''t go back to the castle no matter what.


    "We''ve literally been with you all this time. How the hell should we know?" Henry said.


    "..." Pete.


    Meanwhile¡­


    A group of nobles and sorcerers were teamed up and fighting a third layer cyclops, or as some people call it a single-horned cyclops, by far the weakest type of cyclops. The cyclops tried its best to fight, but it couldn''t overpower the powerful group of individuals fighting it. It was completely one sided.


    The group consisted of 5 5-striped sorcerers, 2 nobles, and 1 half-noble, the half-noble is a familiar man named Morgan, a half-hero and half-elf. The very same man that was tasked by the king to find Will and take the magical cloak from him. All of which were carrying top enchanted armor and weapons.


    Morgan could have found Will by now and taken his cloak from him, but then the Great Sage found out and he was ordered to give up on the cloak for now.


    And also there was one other person with the group, Victoria. She stood by the side, watching how they took down the cyclops. She watched with glee as the cyclops was bleeding heavily, screaming and begging for help, pleading for mercy. The cyclops could not speak english, but she just liked to imagine that is what it was doing.


    "Man, having a hero watch our moves gives me energy!" Noble 1 said.


    "It does! It''s so damn awesome! Who would have thought we''d get paired up with a hero!" Sorcerer 1 said.


    "I could tell this to my friends in a bar for 50 years and it''ll never get old!"


    They didn''t even need to focus entirely on the cyclops since it was so close to dying.


    Once the cyclops was down on its stomach, heavily breathing for air, b?r?ly able to move from the pain and blood loss, they all stopped attacking it.


    "Okay, hero, as you requested, you may have the final hit."


    Victoria, who was actually the one in charge, asked the group to let her have the last hit, she wanted to be the one who killed the cyclops. The others didn''t understand why, but her words were absolute so they immediately complied.


    Victoria didn''t say anything. She just strolled slowly to the b?r?ly-alive cyclops. There was a huge smile on her face.


    She raised her fat arm, and it turned into the body of a snake. It extended long and far and the snake bit the cyclops neck with it''s long fangs, injecting it''s toxic poison. The cyclops who was near death''s door, simply died seconds later.


    "Splendid kill." The group applauded for the hero''s efforts.


    Victoria has the ability to transform into any animal she d?s?r?s, even fully transforming into something she d?s?r?s. It came as a surprise when she found out that her ability could even allow her to just transform her limbs into other animals, like a snake for an arm.


    Her arm returned to normal. Next she focused on her hand, and it transformed into an eagle claw.


    "Find another one." Victoria said loudly.


    "With p???sur?, hero."


    "No, find one, and leave it to me. I''ll take care of it myself." Victoria let them know clearly what she wanted.


    "Yes, hero." In their eyes, this hero was selfless and brave to attempt to take down a powerful monster.


    But Victoria simply wanted to kill, and this was the perfect excuse. Back in her world, she used to kill small animals, and sometimes torture them. When she couldn''t find some, she''d have to make best with small insects like moths, bu??erflies, spiders, or anything really.


    "Hero, we found another one!" A sorcerer called out to her.


    Following the noise, she found another cyclops attacking the group.


    Victoria walked toward it from behind. She grabbed an entire tree and flung it towards the cyclops like it was a javelin.


    The cyclops heard something from behind. And before he realized it, something from behind it injured it so badly that it heavily injured his back and spine, paralyzing it from the waist down but he could still use it''s horns.


    "Woah." The group said in awe. They could never do something like that since they lacked the hero''s strength. While noble and half nobles could attempt something like that, they couldn''t pull it off as quickly as her.


    Victoria jumped up and landed on the cyclops back, her momentum and weight completely crushed the cyclops''s back and paralyzing it completely.


    "Come on, cry! Beg for mercy!" Victoria enjoyed causing it pain and misery. She walked on top of it''s head, grabbed it''s horn and pulled it off from it''s head. It''s face was covered in blood when she pulled it''s horn which was bleeding heavily. At this point, the cyclops would die from blood loss.


    "Oof." The group said in shock and horror. Even they had never seen something so sadistic.


    And finally, Victoria turned into a giant snake, completely towering over a cyclops body, who was over 12 feet. But snakes could go even taller than that.


    Victoria always liked snakes. The reason she likes them is because of how some snakes like to crush their prey using their bodies before devouring them, or how some other snakes inject their poison onto their prey, paralyzing them most of the time, and killing them.


    At some point, she would have liked to become a snake and play with her prey before killing them. Ever since her parents could remember, she has always been sadistic, enjoying watching the pain and suffering of others.


    Using her snake body, she completely crushed the cyclop''s body applying literal tons of pressure, it felt like being crushed by the sheer force of the ocean when one dives too low.


    The cyclops'' eyes popped out first. Next it''s bones began cracking down popcorn popping. Then it''s insides were being crushed entirely. After that point it was dead, no point to keep continuing Victoria let go of it''s body and transformed back into her human self. She was stained in blood all over her body.


    "Gross. You, hand me your robe." Victoria pointed at the biggest guy, who is a sorcerer.


    "Me?"


    Victoria didn''t want to respond so she ripped the robe right out of him, completely exposing his body except the und?rw??r he wore beneath.


    "My orders are absolute, is what the king said. Now find me more cyclops, or goblins, I don''t care. Find me something to kill."


    The group scattered and complied with her request. That day Victoria went on a killing spree. Cyclops, goblins, ogres, no one was safe.


    It was until that day that the group of sorcerers did not respect this hero any more, but feared her instead.

 Chapter 65 - Too scared

    2 familiar people, July and Sam were standing in the middle of a wrecked village.


    Sam was on his knees, crying, griefing. This was the same village where a dragon attacked it. It killed a lot of people, including Sam''s blacksmith teacher/master.


    Sam found his body, he was crushed entirely by a heavy force, like a tortilla. They couldn''t recognize him because it was merely a huge red stain, but his clothes were unique and had his signature on them. Once he saw the clothes, Sam knew that it was his teacher.


    "Sam, I am so sorry for your loss." July stood behind her brother and tried to make him feel better. She knows how it feels like to lose someone important.


    Sam did not say anything. He was just in a deep thought for now. Thinking how any of this happened.


    After an hour of grief, Sam stood up, grabbed a giant piece of broken plywood that was on the ground that came from a destroyed house.


    He grabbed a piece of rock and carved a name and date on the plywood, and also added more words.


    July, who was watching from the sides, knew what he was doing. She''d offer to help, but she knew he would like to do this by himself. Even when they were kids, Sam would always prefer to do anything by himself. Even now he doesn''t let anybody help him unless he needs it or offers guidance to Jack when making weapons or armor.


    {Here lies Master Blacksmith Sean.}


    {Born March 2 1973}


    {Died October 2021]


    Sam wrote down his master''s accomplishments, and also listed down his story as simply as possible. He didn''t write down the day he died because he didn''t know how that exact day his master died. But it did look very recent.


    Sam placed the present that they got for him, for advancing to Master blacksmith. Shame he died before he could give him his present, which was a bottle of wine. It was nothing too expensive or special because it was all they could afford.


    "Sorry teacher. I wish I could have given you this wine before you died. You always did love drinking, you fat bastard." Sam started to cry again, unable to control his tears. This was the man who taught him everything he knew about blacksmithing, he was someone important to him.


    July hugged her brother from behind tightly.


    Another day had gone by.


    Will worked on his castle during the night, and slept during the day. His sleep schedule was all messed up now. Still he''d work tirelessly most of the day just to make even a tiny bit of progress on his castle.


    The castle was looking a lot more like a castle now. It had 30ft thick walls, which surrounded the entire castle and stood over 50ft tall. Will wishes he could go taller, but somehow the walls would topple over like jenga due to its weight. Even with some weight support it wasn''t enough. For now 50ft was the max he could build. And honestly building these walls was the easy part, for him at least.


    On top of these walls had numerous towers, all which had several cannons placed for show, and diamond sentry turrets all around, completely protecting the castle from all sides. Will added details to the walls like stones cut into squares, like a typical medieval castle used for their archers to take cover.


    Of course to Will it b?r?ly seemed like he made hardly any progress at all. In truth, he could have made so much more progress if physics weren''t a problem. What he had a problem with was the ground where his castle stood on, it simply wasn''t sturdy or tough enough to withstand literal tons of stone on top of it.


    When he was building his wall, part of it collapsed and ruined most of his base, not even his pool was safe from the destruction. Honestly that made him feel just bad. He hated it when something like this happens, it''s the equivalent of a creeper blowing up a portion of the base you build.


    Adaline was running around, she was simply too bored to stay in one spot all the time so she wasn''t near when the wall collapsed.


    So Will had to do something he hated, get rid of everything and rebuild it all. This was the most annoying part to him.


    The ground was now made of a mix of iron and granite. He needed his most durable minerals and rocks he had to build a solid foundation, this way even ordinary people couldn''t dig down unless they had a powerful weapon.


    On top of the ground he added a smooth floor, the floor was made out of smooth wood. Simply because Will didn''t like to step in stone, and the smooth wood he crafted was comfortable to step on. Now the ground could withstand the weight of his walls.


    As for the pool, he restored it but made major modifications to it like finer details with wood and smooth stone. He did like the pool and would swim in it when he felt stressed out. He planned on making a small beach filled with sand and whatnot, but it would have to wait.


    Most of the stone he used was mined thanks to his golem, who had been working non-stop for days. It''s amazing how one single broken and slow golem could make such progress. If it weren''t for the golem he''d have almost run out of stone to use.


    "Golem, how ya doin''?" Will came to check up on his golem. Until now his golem was not capable of speech, all he could say was ''master'' like it''s the only word that existed. But if he were to craft a better golem core the golem might have a larger vocabulary.


    The golem had already broken 2 of his pickaxes, which were enchanted, exotic steel. So he crafted a literal diamond pickaxe, the handle was also made of diamonds. Currently he had not much use for the rare rocks other than to use it to flex on others. And he had already placed so many sentry turrets around his castle walls.


    Thinking that this was like a minecraft system instead, it would make sense that a diamond pickaxe would actually be very, very good, right? No.


    And even though he was a bit reluctant to use diamonds to make a diamond pickaxe, it was worth it, as a mere collectors item that is. Will is the type of player who did not like to spend his more valuable resources, unless he needed to or if he was just bored.


    "I wish I''d known how brittle diamonds were before¡­" Will teared up a bit. This was actually his second diamond pickaxe. The first one shattered into pieces like glass, which surprised Will beyond shock, because he, like millions of people alike, thought that diamonds are the hardest minerals in the world and therefore are unbreakable.


    "Well, at least I added some enchantments to it, so it should be a bit tougher now. There''s no way it should break now. And Alex lied to me! He said that ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'' but it''s clearly not. I wonder why he said that in the first place. Think it was anime related, about a bizarre adventure. Eh, it doesn''t matter. For this time that diamond pickaxe is truly unbreakable-"


    *Shatter*


    The sound of something breaking into pieces broke Will''s heart. Minecraft, his favourite game of all time, lied to him. Now he knew why Terraria doesn''t use diamond tools or armor, aside from making it into a diamond staff or a lightsaber. It''s because diamonds are useless as tools.


    "Master." The golem returned the broken diamonds pickaxe to Will.


    "..." Will.


    Diamonds are incredibly hard, but not tough, there is a difference. For example, if you scratch a diamond it won''t have a scratch on it. But if you hit it against a hammer, it will shatter into pieces. Like steel, if you scratch it, it will have some scratch marks on it, but if you hit it with a hammer it won''t break or shatter.


    Even with the enchantments added to the diamonds pickaxe, it broke so easily.


    "Master." The golem replied in a hoarse tone. Seeing that Will did not say anything, he got worried.


    "I am¡­ okay. Let''s stick to steel for now. Let''s look at your supplies. Oh wow, you found 3 more!" Will saw what his golem mined, and he had found 3 low tier mana ores. He changed subjects to avoid how stupid it was on his part to craft 2 useless diamond pickaxes.


    "Add this to the other 8 you found in the past 2 days, it''s enough to make another golem¡­ although..." Will seriously did not want to make another golem from scratch. Just thinking about it made him stressed out, like college does to any student.


    Apart from how difficult and stressful it is to build one, it would take a lot of his time from building his castle. And he thought that by the time he already finished making another golem, his mining golem would have already mined enough mana ore to make another golem.


    "Yeah, screw that. I''ll just wait until Adaline can make enough trees so I can make another blueprint."


    That was Will''s plan, to use his blueprint ability to make golems without having to do any of the work, like copy and paste.


    He placed the mana ores in his inventory, because they were too valuable to be left in his base, it just felt safer this way. And the best part is that they could not be dropped even if he were to die with them in his inventory.


    Looking at the mana ore in his inventory, Will felt like it was a waste if it were to just sit there for god knows how long.


    "But¡­ hm¡­ I wonder how long it''ll take to get enough wood to make another blueprint¡­"


    "Master." The golem said.


    "Hm? Oh, right. When your pickaxe breaks, pick another one from that ?h?st." Will pointed to a ?h?st, which the golem opened and took out an enchanted steel pickaxe. Will had crafted over a dozen maxed out enchanted steel-exotic pickaxes. He only crafted diamond pickaxes because he thought it would be better, and he was wrong.


    Will looked at the brown book and saw what else he could craft using the mana ores. Mana ores are valuable to sorcerers because it benefits them, and Will has never heard of a sorcerer who uses mana ore weapons.


    Thinking that he could sell these weapons for a lot of money, Will threw that thought away because it was stupid. Money was worthless to him. Right now what he needed were materials to craft powerful weapons, building materials and whatnot.


    And there is another crafting recipe he had been curious about, mid-tier mana ores. It took 10 low-tier mana ores to make one mid-tier mana ore, the same equivalent it took to make a single low-tier golem core.


    "Ah, let''s do this."


    Will crafted the crystals in his hands and turned them into a mid-tier mana ore. His brown book flashed brightly as he had unlocked several new crafting recipes. Once he crafted the mid-tier mana ore his brown book shined.


    {Mid-tier mana staff}


    {Mid-tier mana bullets}


    {Mid-tier mana cloak)


    {Mid-tier¡­}


    {Mid-tier mana shirt}


    {Mid-tier mana pants}


    {Mid-tier mana¡­}


    The mana clothing was pretty enticing, but it benefited sorcerers the most, and Will has no mana. He didn''t even know why this was here in the first place. It''s not like Terraria where he could use mana or spells.


    {Advanced-tier mana ore}


    {Crafting ingredients: 10x mid-tier mana ores}


    That was the equivalent of 100 low-tier mana ores.


    "Dang, 10 mid-tier mana ores. That''s almost like 100 low-tier mana ores!" Will said in surprise.


    If someone heard him, he''d correct Will by saying, "Actually it''s exactly 100 low-tier mana ores."


    {Low-tier golem core}


    {Crafting ingredients: 10x low-tier mana ore/ 1x mid-tier mana ore}


    Fortunately for him, he could still make golem cores even if he crafted a mid-tier mana ore.


    There was another list of new crafts he almost missed, it was at his exclusive system crafts section.


    "Hello. What is this?" Will was surprised to see the new exclusive crafts he unlocked, well two to be precise.


    {Portal ?h?st 2x}


    {Only exclusive to the system user. A portal ?h?st can only be accessed by the system user and only the user. Store any item you wish like any normal ?h?st, and only you will be able to retrieve it. Both ?h?sts are connected to one another so they are both the same ?h?st.}


    (Think of it as an ender ?h?st but only for MC.)


    {Warning: Be sure to place this ?h?st where you are sure you want to keep. Otherwise it''ll be impossible to move it from that spot you placed it. Only way to remove it is by destroying it, and you won''t get back the materials used to make this item.}


    {Crafting ingredients: 8x mid-tier mana ore, 100x iron ?h?st(s)}


    (Summoning stone 4x}


    {Able to summon any living being by your side wherever they are and whenever you wish. Place one stone on the being you wish to summon, then crush another summoning stone to summon that being. This will not work if that being you wish to summon does not wear it when you crush the stone.}


    {Warning: It is a consumable item, meaning one time use. Once you crush the item you won''t get it back, and the stone that the being had on it will also be destroyed once it is summoned}


    {Warning: Does not work on dead beings like living statues, zombies, vampires, and so on. Can ONLY summon living beings.}


    {Crafting ingredient: 2x mid-tier mana ore, 1000x smooth stone}


    "So¡­ an ender ?h?st, and a summoning item. Sweet. But damn they''re expensive as hell." Will su?k?d in a breath of cold air. He just couldn''t imagine himself using the summoning stones and wasting precious mana ores like that.


    They are indeed useful crafting items, but it''s not something he could afford right now.


    It was like the equivalent of consuming something more precious than netherite, or nether stars.


    "I need more golems if I am to craft these items sooner rather than later. I can''t imagine what more items I would unlock if I craft a high-tier mana ore. Adaline! Oh crap I forgot I was down in the mines."


    Will ran up the stairs, it was just so many damn stairs.


    He saw Adaline just lying around. It seemed like she was doing nothing, but right now she was doing her best to expand and keep the greenery alive, again.


    "Adaline, we''re going to the forest! Yeah, I know it''s late, but we''re working at night now. Why can''t I simply mine? Because someone told me to not mine at night! No, he didn''t say anything about not cutting down trees at night. If it makes you feel any better, for every tree I chop down, I''ll plant two. That way I can come back and cut even more trees, and then I will plant 2 more for every single one I chop. Also I am doing this because I just remembered that I once donated to Teamtrees."


    Will had spent so much time with Adaline that they developed a deep bond and could speak to each other even without Adaline being able to speak, at least he hoped he could understand her. It would be really helpful if she could talk, but it doesn''t look like it''s going to happen any time soon.


    While still tired as hell, Adaline ran to the forest with Will on her back.


    Once they arrived in no time, Adaline fell on her side and slept like a log.


    "Thanks, girl. I''ve been meaning to use this for some time now¡­ ah goddammit!" Will took out from his inventory an enchanted diamond axe.


    "I am so dumb. I forgot this was in my inventory. Gah, it''s whatever."


    Will crafted the diamond axe the same time as he crafted the first diamond pickaxe. At that point he didn''t know how useless diamonds actually were. He kept it in his inventory because he thought it would prove to be useful, he was wrong. It cannot even be used in battle properly.


    "Hopefully it doesn''t break as easily as the diamond pickaxe did."


    Will swung the diamond pickaxe at the tree, and surprisingly the whole tree came down in one swing. This was only possibly due to the enchantments he added.


    "Oh, cool! Maybe it isn''t so bad after all."


    {Diamond axe}


    {Durability: 77777/100000}


    The diamond pickaxe already had cracks in them from just one swing. It was the first time he used it, and it was a bit more than ? away from breaking. In a couple of swings it''ll shatter entirely


    "..." Will threw the axe away. It didn''t break but several pieces of diamonds scattered everywhere like broken glass.


    Despite the huge durability it had, it wore down quickly when it was used like that.


    "Even with those enchantments, it''s that weak. Well, luckily for me, I brought some steel axes." Will came prepared and brought extra axes with him just to be safe.


    And just like he promised Adaline, for every tree he cut down he would plan 2 saplings. By the next few hours, those saplings he plants would grow up into fully grown trees.


    By the time he was done it was already sunrise. He couldn''t collect enough wood to craft another blueprint. Cutting down logs was just slow and even more boring than mining by hand. Now he knows what his next golem is going to do.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Inside the kingdom, Sandra woke up feeling refreshed but lazy.


    Now that she knew that Will was in this world, she felt much more relaxed. Still the idea of going back to their world, to their families and homes hasn''t wavered at all. She wanted to go back.


    After completing her morning routine, she heard a knock on the door.


    *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*


    "Come in." Sandra said.


    "Psst, Sandra, come with me." A girl about Sandra''s age peeked from her door and whispered to her.


    "Olivia?" Sandra was surprised to see one of her classmates. Her and Olivia were at most classmates, not even friends.


    Olivia was a dark skinned girl with twintails. She was short, very skinny. Her clothing that she wore was a long, plain, pink, silky dress that covered her entire body except her arms and face. She was even wearing her running shoes which did not go well with her dress.


    "Come." Olivia waved her hand at her.


    Sandra complied with Olivia and both entered a giant room in the kingdom which was another room.


    Inside the room were 90 other people, all of which are heroes, and all of which were confused and talking among themselves. Most of them didn''t even know why they were here in this room.


    Sandra saw a familiar face and walked towards him.


    "Bruce, what''s going on?" Asked Sandra.


    "Dunno."


    After 3 more heroes arrived, a young man floated up in the room and said loudly, "Okay, everyone, friends, our time has come." It was a tall, short haired blonde man, with a dumb look on his face. He had a large forehead, pimples on his forehead, and so many freckles across his face. He had an irritating face that would make one want to punch him. He also had a fit body sort of.


    "We''re gonna die?!" A short person said. People heard him and were getting hysterical.


    "No, you idiot! Our time has come to decide when we all have to venture out!"


    "Oh¡­ you woke me up this early for this? Right when Shaun finally gave us a break from his military training." Chandler, a chubby young man said.


    "Yeah, what the hell, Colby!"


    "Look!" Colby, the one who was flying, said out loud to quiet them down and to get their attention.


    "If we all stick together, we all have a chance of surviving an attack. I say we all unite, and attack the monsters that are outside of these castle''s walls! Who''s with me?!" Colby raised his hand up high, and only the short man raised his hand. No one else did.


    "Yeah, I think it''s better if we like, never leave the castle. I am not going out there. So count me out." A fairly tall girl said and left the room.


    "Yeah, count me out."


    "What the hell''s the matter with you? What do you think this is, a game? It''s real life!"


    "Come on, guys! I gathered all of us here on the same day that Victoria left the kingdom after the king threw her to some group. God knows I''d rather die than be with her. And also because I think it''d be cool to kill some things like zombies or whatever they have here."


    "Well, when you put it like that, it still sounds stupid." Everybody else left the room until it was just him and another hero.


    Colby was one of the most popular kids in middle school and high school, because he was the clown/jokester of the school. He thought that with his popularity, and the fact that everyone knew him and he knew most of them, he thought they''d all join him. But no. The heroes didn''t care if he was popular or whatnot, he was not gonna be able to convince them to fight while risking their lives for no reason at all.


    Colby did want to go out to fight because he thought it''d be cool to kill goblins, slay dragons, protect the people, and whatever cliches he could think of.


    But, he did not feel brave enough to venture out alone with only his short friend, who is named Ali.


    Perhaps if he could unite the 90 heroes he''d stand a better chance of surviving. If he had a powerful weapon or ability, he''d be confident to do it himself, but his hero ability is just being able to fly. In his mind it wasn''t a great ability at all.


    And as for weapons, he only carried a simple pistol because it''s what the kingdom could afford, it''s not even enchanted.


    He wasn''t as crazy as Josh is, who just ventured into the dangerous world the first chance he got, but he was indeed envious of his powerful and useful abilities.


    "Damn. I thought that it would go well. Those damn cowards!" Colby said, angrily at them. Not realizing how much of a hypocrite he is himself.


    "So are we going out or what?" Asked his short friend, Ali. Ali was like Colby in a way, very popular among his classmates and school, and had fairly good looks unlike Colby. However his short height is what was unique about him. He also had some type of charm in him.


    "Fuck no! What are we, stupid?"


    "Yes!"


    Then Colby would have to find himself still stuck in the castle because of his fear. When he saw that huge dragon that attacked the kingdom, he literally shit himself. There is just no words to describe the fear he felt that time.. That''s why he doesn''t want to go out unless he is surrounded by a powerful group of heroes to protect him and fight with him.

 Chapter 66 - The Empire

    "I hate this. This is annoying. How I really wish this was like minecraft." Will said grumpily. For the entire night he cut down trees, planted two more for every single one he cut down, that way he won''t run out of wood. When he woke up he was already back to cutting down trees in the night.


    Unfortunately, he was literally just a few logs too short to make another blueprint. This was annoying to any gamer, when you need a required amount of resources to get something, you grind for it for hours, only to find out you''re so close to getting it but you can''t ''cause you''re missing just one tiny little piece, and then you have to go BACK to get the missing materials, again.


    The most annoying thing for him are the stumps that are left. He can''t cut them off. He could try to dig it out and he will succeed, but that takes longer than cutting down a simple tree. He would have to cut around the stump, dig out the dirt, cut its thick roots, and so on. It was a very long and tiring process.


    This is not like minecraft where one can just chop down the tree entirely. Reality is a pain.


    "Seriously? I only needed to cut down two? GAAAAAHHH!!!" Will was pissed, probably because he didn''t sleep too well and because he hasn''t had anything to eat since he woke up.


    He angrily rode on Adaline, they made it back to their base, and he angrily crafted his blueprint. This was as annoying as dying several times in any Call of Duty games in a single online round.


    "Golem!" Will marched straight down to his golem, who has made significant progress in the mines. It is very spacious.


    "Hold still." Will copied the golem into his blueprint. He didn''t care about fixing the few errors his golem had, he was in a mood and did not care to fix it.


    "Master."


    "Go back to work!" Will ran up the stairs angrily.


    When he reached the top, he saw Adaline handing him several fruits to calm him down. Seeing how angry he was, she intended to calm him so he wouldn''t hurt himself.


    Seeing this Will calmed down by taking a deep breath. He just can''t get mad at Adaline.


    "Thanks, girl." Will took the fruits and ate them. Will could only be this angry if he either lacks sleep, or is very hungry, or both. Will didn''t know how long he slept for but he guessed that it wasn''t long since the sun was still up, and he went to bed when it was sunrise.


    After eating his fill, he got tired and was too lazy to move around. But the bright sun and intense heat didn''t let him rest properly.


    "Gah, I need to build another roof. No, kingdoms don''t have roofs, what am I thinking? I am gonna build myself a huuuge castle, and it''ll have a golden throne and everything!" Will got up. He had way too much work to do, his golems, his base, his potions, tending to his camels/livestock, crafting and enchanting items.


    It''s been such a busy week that he hadn''t even managed to take out the dragon corpses he had in his bracelet. They had scales that could be used as armor, and maybe even tools. For now he had more important matters to attend to.


    And just like that Will became a slave to his work, doing nothing else but build and building like a hardcore minecraft player or a minecraft youtuber. How he longed for simpler times when he could rely on his parents back then, whom he misses very much. It was an easier life compared to this one.


    Days passed in the blink of an eye for Will. What was once a simple, small stone base, is now a small castle sort of.


    The ''kingdom'' he built was simple. It had huge, thick stone walls, the gate which still doesn''t work, and a simple rectangle building in the middle. On the side were the camels and the fruits and herbs and flowers. Those had their own place. The camels had shelter, food, and water. The greenery, which is what he calls, he didn''t change much of it since he felt like there was no need to change anything.


    The area surrounding them was very green, green grass everywhere, and tall trees surrounding the base.


    The simple building in the middle was as tall as the walls. However it was too basic. No details, just a large door, and some windows. The inside had a golden throne just for him to sit on. Some granite pillars were placed to support the weight of the building. Other than that there was nothing grand about it.


    "This is¡­ beautiful. Good job, me." Will pat himself on the back for building this magnificent, yet simple building.


    "Hmmm¡­ it''s almost exactly as we almost built it, Alex. Hope you can see this from up there." Will teared up a bit after remembering something from his past.


    Back then, Alex, Sandra, and him were building an epic kingdom in Minecraft. They all played and enjoyed the game, and they liked the idea of having their own little kingdom, not just an ordinary kingdom but the best kingdom possible. They did start it at one point, however they never finished it, because before they could Alex had died during the store robbery.


    It was too much for Will. When he saw that castle it reminded him of his friend, he just couldn''t stand it especially when he blames himself for Alex''s death. At some point, after getting his mind straight, he wished he had finished it because it was the last thing he remembered of his dear friend. Now that moment will never come again. It was the same for Sandra.


    Now he is attempting to recreate the unfinished castle from his Minecraft world and complete it this time. Of course it''ll be different because this is not a minecraft world.


    "Wait, I shouldn''t do this on my own. Sandra had as much planning and building in that castle in our Minecraft world. Hmm¡­"


    Now that he thought about it, it wouldn''t feel right to do this without Sandra, that is if she felt like helping. If she wants to, it''ll be great. If she doesn''t want to, he will respect her wishes.


    He grabbed his communication stone and messaged her.


    {Hey. Want to help me out?}


    He wrote it down, but there was no one on the other side so he didn''t receive a message from her.


    Adaline, who was eating some meat, sensed someone coming when they stepped on the grass she grew. She growled as she didn''t recognize the heavy footsteps.


    "Trouble?" Will recognized that growl. He climbed up his walls to get a better view. With his enchanted mask, he could see very far.


    Will saw 20 men riding on horses heading this way.


    "The hell?" Will said. He didn''t recognize them. They were all wearing enchanted clothes. And all had enchanted weapons on them, from guns to swords only, but mostly guns. They looked OP.


    Even the horses had enchanted armor on them, something that even the Reyes kingdom lacked because they lacked the funds.


    "Wait, are they from Jim''s village? No, that''s dumb. They were dead poor. There is no way they could afford any of that."


    Jim was a man who once attempted to kidnap Adaline to sell her, to help his village. Some might say he was doing the right thing, but to Will it was anything but good. Adaline is his beloved friend who has stood by him in this strange world for almost three months now.


    They once attempted to raid his base after discovering that Will had water. He planned to share it with them after seeing their poor state, but before he could help them they turned on him. It was that village that made him not want to care about anybody else. However those men were killed by Arbor, including Jim.


    Ever since that day, there hasn''t been another raid on his base. Some have tried to break into his base from time to time, but they were eventually killed and their bodies were used as fertilizer.


    Will looked at Adaline, who was growling angrily at them. She didn''t like people suddenly intruding on their land, like an animal who guards his territory.


    "Stay here, Adaline. Under no circumstances can you come out."


    Will didn''t like this one bit. Those men have to know about him, why else would they come here equipped with powerful items? There was no way they could know about the exotic flower seed, that''s his greatest secret, and also his system.


    "Attack mode {off}"


    Will exited his castle to confront the men. This time he was prepared to take them on, even without Arbor and Grace''s help. He had sentry turrets, better armor, weapons, powerful enchantments. He wasn''t afraid to fight them, even if they do have better equipment than Jim''s village.


    There was no need to question how they found out his base, again. It was bound to happen with Adaline spreading her greenery all around. And he suspected the princess had something to do with this. Probably because she blamed him because of him that Clement was caught.


    The 20 men stopped their horses. What stopped them from going any further was a little wooden fence surrounding the castle. And a few signs that read ''danger ahead'' ''message me if you want to enter.''


    Will created this so people would not carelessly walk in the castle and get shot by turrets. If someone like Jack, or Sandra were to drop by unexpectedly, they might die. He made this for his friends mostly. If people ignore his warnings and cross the fence, then they deserve to die.


    "Woah, did not expect a wall to be here." One of the men said, it was a young man.


    They saw the giant stone wall, and thought that it took years and hundreds of workers to build something like that. Never in their wildest dreams would they think that it was built in less than a work, and by one man.


    "It seems Empress Valerie was right. The missing hero is here." The one in charge, who had a thick, black beard and mustache was in awe of his empress.


    "Boss, someone''s coming." Someone pointed in front of them.


    They saw Will walking towards them. Will stopped before them, he did not go outside of the wooden fences he made. Everything inside the wooden fences is the maximum radius his sentry turrets could reach.


    "Hello, please leave." Will said. He was not a psychopathic killer, he won''t just kill everyone he sees to keep this place a secret.


    It was bound to happen. A lot of people know his identity, the princess, Clement, Sandra, Bruce, Arbor, Grace, Jack, all of the elves probably, Jasmine, and so on. He can''t keep hiding in the dirt all his life. With so many people knowing his identity it was bound to happen. And those who figured out his identity are because they found out by themselves.


    It wasn''t like he went to people and said "I am the 100th hero." He tried his best to keep it a secret, but since the princess already knows, and when he just remembered that he forgot his promise to Clement, he suspected that the princess had told her father.


    With the Princess back in her kingdom, it was only a matter of time. He got this information from Sandra, Jack, and Jasmine.


    But there was a chance that they didn''t know. He hoped it was the case.


    "You''re the missing 100th hero, am I right?" The one in charge asked.


    Will flinched, but he sighed heavily. So they already knew.


    "Leave this place. Tell your princess that I am not going to the kingdom." Will said. He really does think it was Harmony who sold him out, as she promised when he broke their promise.


    ''Wait, since when could the kingdom afford those nice items? Tax money, most likely.'' Will thought.


    "Princess? I believe you''re mistaken, the one who we serve is our Empress, Empress Valerie. I am sure you''ve heard of her. She sent us here to find you."


    Will was surprised. Even the Empress knows about him?


    Will thought about it, and it did not make sense. No one from the Empire should know about him. Unless they had spies planted on the kingdom which was very likely, or interrogated someone who knew his secret.


    According to what he heard about her, she is a brutal woman, who is fat, which is why people also refer to her as ''The Fat Empress'' someone who enslaves even her own people to work for her until they die out of exhaustion. The list goes on and on. It made her seem as if she was the worst human being in the world.


    Most of the information he got was from Sandra. According to her, it was one of the first thing''s the king told them, that they should avoid the Empress at all times.


    "How did you know I was here?" Will asked. He needed to know.


    "We didn''t. Our Empress did. We just merely searched the entire deserted lands for hours. In fact, there are 3 more squads who are still searching for you as we speak. Which reminds me, I need to send her a message."


    It was the truth. It wasn''t just these 20 people on horses who were looking for Will who worked under the Empress, it was actually 80 people on horses split into 4 groups, all which had the exact number of items, armor, and weapons as the squad in front of Will. This was to ensure the safety of her men, in case they ever come across a powerful monster, or in a more likely scenario, fight a hero.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Inside the Empire, on top of the walls. There is a beautiful, slim woman, with long red hair wearing entire enchanted armor, weapons. She is Valerie, the Empress of the Empire.


    Valerie, despite being the Empress, was on watch duty. Making sure that her men were safe, no monster or man attempted to break in to raid their Empire.


    Most powerful leaders, like her, would be inside the comfort of their own base, eating delicious foods, sitting down and doing nothing. But not her. She is willing to give that life of comfort to protect her own Empire, as well as give a man a day off, instead of making him or her stay up on that wall for hours and hours.


    "Hm?" Valerie saw her communication stone light up. It was from one of her squads she tasked to find the 100th hero, who she believed was hiding in the deserted lands, as far as the rumors go.


    "Well... I''ll be. He actually was here." She smiled. Her plan worked.


    Hearing the rumors of the hero who was hiding on the deserted lands, she wanted to bring him over to her side at all costs, only if the rumors were true of course, but it couldn''t hurt to search for him.


    However, she got to thinking, and came up with a plan, not to lure him in, but to find him.


    As far as she knew, the hero for some reason was in hiding. She didn''t know his reasons but could vaguely guess them.


    The kingdom couldn''t even find a normal man who kidnapped their princess despite their efforts, so she was confident that they couldn''t even find the missing hero. And she was right for the most part.


    When the rumors started, she wanted to send some men to look for him, but she held off on that plan for now. She planted more spies to find out anything about the missing 100th hero, she found nothing.


    Then, when the rumors started dying, and when she heard how greenery appeared in the deserted lands after all those people went to find him, but then the greenery started to die, it was more than a coincidence. She was almost sure that the 100th hero really was there but in hiding, but she still didn''t send her men to find him.


    Right after the rumors died down, right when she was sure he would come out of his hiding hole, only then did she send 80 strong troops to locate him. It came as a surprise to her when her men found him quickly.


    She knew that if the missing hero was hiding he would come out. According to what her spies told her about the other 99 summoned heroes, most of them are either lazy, weak minded, stupid, unproductive, complain about everything. So there was a good chance that Will was like them.


    Still, a hero is a hero in the end.


    A woman with blue hair, Valerie''s most trusted friend, came up to her to talk to her about some concerns she, and some people have.


    "Valerie, you really shouldn''t be up here. You''re the Empress-"


    Valerie held up her finger to quiet her.


    {Do not fight him or insult him. Remember, we are here to recruit him to our side or make connections with him. As far as we know we''re the only ones who know about his existence, although I really doubt it. Befriend him. If you can''t, it''s all good. Good job.}


    She wrote that for her men. Valerie turned to her side and said to her friend.


    "Sorry about that. Veronica, it looks like you owe me lunch."


    "Wait¡­ they actually found him?"


    "They did. We''re going to the deserted lands. Be sure to bring 40 soldiers. Oh, and be sure to tell everyone that they all owe me lunch. They all lost the bet." Valerie chuckled a bit.


    A lot of her soldiers did not think that the 100th hero really was here. So she made a bet with them all, if they won she''d owe them money, food, clothes, free from paying taxes for 10 years and so on. But if she won, they''d owe her a simple lunch.


    She wasn''t very confident that the odds were in her favour, but it looks like luck is on her side.


    "Oh my god, he''s actually... Wait, what do you plan to do with lunch enough for 20,000 full grown men?" Veronica asked.


    "Well, I can''t eat that much by myself, so when I come back I''ll give it to our citizens. Looks like we''re having a grand feast. But seriously, get the horses ready but not the lizards, get the soldiers ready, and for my sake do not bring the carriage out again."


    Horses can travel longer distances than lizards. However lizards are more useful in combat.


    "But the carriage is what will protect you from harm. It can literally stand the attack of a dragon''s strength. And that way we can also serve as your shields."


    "Then we''ll make 100,000 carriages for everyone here and everyone will be protected."


    "Valerie, you know that won''t-"


    "Yeah, yeah, I know. Just go do what I said."


    Veronica left running hastily. Valerie turned to a passing soldier.


    "Muhammid, could you cover for me?" Asked Valerie.


    "Yes, Empress."


    "Thanks."


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will was thinking on how to take care of these 20 people. There was no need to kill them unless he had to. And besides these weren''t ordinary men but strong soldiers with powerful weapons.


    Will was more afraid of bringing harm to Adaline and damaging his castle more than he feared for his life. After all, he could ''respawn'' every time he died.


    ''Respawning'' is what he likes to call it when he comes back to life, because that''s what it''s called in Minecraft and other games.


    "What does the Empress want?" Will suddenly was scared for Adaline''s life. If what he heard about the Empress was true, then this was bad news for him.


    "Nothing terrible if that''s what you''re thinking, hero¡­ um."


    "Will." Said Will.


    "Hero Will. I believe you''ve heard about the ''terrible deeds'' our Empress committed, right?"


    "..." Will stood silent.


    "I can tell you that it''s simply not true. It''s all lies. Propaganda made up by the King to make us look bad."


    "How do I know you''re not lying?" Will kept his gun in his inventory. If he needs it, he''ll be able to use it at a moment''s notice.


    "Many reasons: Jealousy, hate, you name it. Have you ever seen our empire do anything like that?"


    Will thought about it, and he was right. Everything he knew about them came from Sandra, who was told by the kingdom and the king mostly.


    If anything it was the kingdom who is just as vile. From a King who raises taxes to astronomical prices, to child killers, to kidnappers (meaning the heroes and him) and many things.


    He has never seen how the Empire functioned in person so he can''t really judge them based on rumors.


    "Our Empress is coming in a week. If you allow us, can we stay here outside for a week? She wants to talk to you in person."


    "..." Will thought about it, he wasn''t sure what the right choice was.


    "1 week. And do not step foot inside the fence at any point unless I tell you to. If you do, you''ll die."


    Will merely turned back and went inside his castle. He''ll give them a chance. Who knows if this might be a bad or right choice. Only the future will tell.


    If it''s a bad choice, he''s confident in being able to protect himself.


    So far these people from the Empire haven''t done anything wrong to him, it was mostly the people in the villages.


    And there is one important point he just thought of, the Empire''s vast wealth.


    Looking at their enchanted items, this made him realize that it could actually be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Not even the kingdom could afford to give their ordinary soldiers such powerful gear.


    Most likely he could use them for rare resources like rare ores, or better metals. There is a good chance that they have a lot of mana ores, or even other valuable resources he has yet to find. They might or might not be an evil Empire but they sure are extremely wealthy.


    If this does end up being a good choice in the end, he knew that making connections with the Empress could possibly get him more golems quicker than he thought. Right now his priorities are his golems, and getting a high-tier mana ore to see what other exclusive crafts he could craft.


    "What do we do now?" Asked a female soldier. Most of them thought that the hero would invite them to their kingdom.


    Will didn''t invite them in for several obvious reasons.


    "Guess we''ll set up camp. The Empress is coming here, but that''ll take a week at minimum for her to arrive."


    So the 20 men took out their bags, took out some tents and set up camp literally meters away from Will''s wooden fences.


    The Empress made sure to give him heat resistant items to help them endure the intense heat. She knew they would stay there for a while. They even brought food, water to last them for a month. The Empress spared no expense to ensure the safety and well being of her men.


    Will looked at the 20 men just chilling by his base. Soon those 20 men turned to 80 men. And it looked like they were all having a party, dancing, playing cards, sparring, flirting, chatting, everything.


    They didn''t seem like soldiers anymore but just people who were having fun.


    "Well¡­ at least I don''t have to waste my time on them or my resources." Will decided to ignore them for the time being.


    Adaline was on guard, feeling uneasy that 80 people were just camping right outside of the base.


    "Adaline, for the next week do not go outside. If they kill me I can always respawn. If they kill you I will never forgive myself. Besides, the sentry turrets are locked and ready, should they ever cross the fence. Now I have to make myself some scaled dragon armor, just in case."


    Will saw his communication stone light up. Sandra replied to him.


    {Sorry, I was busy. Do you need my help with something? I am free for you.}


    Will thought about what he should say.


    {Sorry, not right now. I''ll tell you later. Something came up unexpectedly.}


    {Oh. Do you need help? I can bring Bruce and we can deal with whatever is causing you trouble.}


    {Don''t. It''s nothing to worry about.}


    {I''ll trust you on that, then. Cya later. Love ya.}


    {Ditto.}


    Will placed his communication stone away and headed straight to the mines.

 Chapter 67 - Black Market

    Upon entering the mines, which were now very spacious thanks to the golems working non-stop. With two golems working on the mines it proved to be a great investment for Will. Looking at all the ores they collected, Will was satisfied. If he were to do this by hand, it''d take him much longer even if there were three of him.


    "Oh! Nice, we have enough to make another gold golem!" Will saw that the golems had found 11 low-tier mana ores already. He thought it would take another day to gather over 10 low-tier mana ores, they must have been lucky.


    Now he had 12 low-mana ores, counting the extra one he had last time.


    Why doesn''t he use the low-tier mana ores on something else? Because Will knew that the more golems he had, the quicker he''ll get mana ores. Besides he is really curious to see what''s the difference between a mid-tier golem core and a low-tier golem core, and also see what more exclusive crafts he''d unlock once he gets a high-tier mana ore.


    Not wasting time, he grabbed his blueprint which is inside his inventory, grabbed some gold, made a crappy golem instantly and inserted a golem gore inside.


    "Master."


    "Hold still. From now on you''re number 3." Will carved number 3 on the golem''s right shoulder to tell them apart. Gold was a soft metal, so it was easy to carve numbers or letters on it. It''s also why he made gold golems instead of something like steel, because it was easier to make golems out of it by hand.


    Someday he''d replace the gold golems with something stronger like steel. But for now gold is a good choice.


    Will wasn''t afraid of running out of materials thanks to the various max enchantments his pickaxes have. In minecraft the mining enchantment that multiplies your ore doesn''t include gold ore and iron ore, but it does in this world which is amazing.


    Will showed the new golem what he needed to do, which was annoying since he figured he''d probably need to do that for every single golem he creates.


    "Okay¡­ now that that''s over I can finally move on to something I''ve been meaning to use, dragon scale armor." Will took out 2 dragons, one was a dragon from the third layer which is considered the most common, weakest, and tiniest dragons, but any dragon is to be feared by common people. The second one is a dead dragon from the second layer, it''s not the strongest but definitely not the weakest.


    An Apex dragon is the strongest of them all, something that Will doesn''t have right now.


    Using a gold enchant knife, he cut off the scales without damaging them.


    "Ugh, the smell is soooo bad." How Will wished for an item that could block off his sense of smell. Any corpse just smells bad when you''re cutting it open, like dissecting an animal in science class.


    Dragon''s are large in size, so it took many, many hours to cut out all the scales from a single dragon. Now he moved on to the second layer dragon.


    Will wanted to see if every dragon''s scales and bones could provide him with different bonus sets.


    For example his first dragon-bone set, he got a set ability that can let him shout like a dragon but not like the Dragonborn in Skyrim which was sad. And now his exotic wooden armor gave him an awesome set bonus of super strength, speed, and defense only. Not as great as a hero''s body but it was still something.


    But not all armor sets give set bonuses.


    Will didn''t know how many hours it took to carve the scales, meat, and bones of the second layered dragon, but it was tougher and longer compared to a third layered dragon.


    "Jeez, how long have I been here?" Will stretched his limbs. The reason he didn''t let his golems do this is because they''re dumb so he doesn''t trust his golems on something so important. And besides their one purpose is to mine and mine only, and perhaps something else that they can be used for.


    A dragon''s scales on the second layer was tough to cut, so Will had to use an enchanted steel pickaxe, some crowbars to yank the scales out. He couldn''t imagine cutting out the scales of an Apex dragon, he''d need powerful machines to make any progress at all, at least that''s what he thinks.


    Finally, he accomplished making new set armors. He placed them neatly on an armor rack.


    Will only calculated the total defense of the armor, including masks, and also wrote down their bonuses for each different set.


    {Defense total: 99}


    {Set bonus: Immune to penetrating attacks}


    {Small Dragon-bone armor(third layer)}


    {Defense total: 90}


    {Set bonus: Dragon shout}


    {Mid-Dragon scales(Second layer)}


    {Total defense: 300}


    {Set bonus: Sprout dragon wings and fly}


    {Mid-dragon-bone armor}


    {Set bonus: Fire breath}


    Will had already worn and used the small dragon-bone set before. But the stats between the small and middle dragon were vast. Will believed that almost no weapon could hurt him when wearing mid-dragon scale armor.


    Will did not fully understand how the ''defense'' function worked. But he guessed it depended on how much a weapon deals damage, enchantments, magical properties, and the skill and strength behind the one using a weapon.


    For example: if you have a hero and a regular person use the same sword to slash on the mid dragon scale armor, it''s pretty clear who would do more damage. However if the regular person instead used a powerful magical sword, the outcome will be vastly different.


    "Woah¡­ I think I''m in love." Will''s eyes shone on the mid dragon scale armor and bones. Somehow the armor was more refined, shinier, better looking in every way possibly compared to the small dragon armor.


    Will made a mental note to take this armor with him whenever he explored outside. Now he is confident to take on a dragon on the third layer.


    "AH! Adaline, you scared the crap out of me."


    Adaline came up behind Will to check up on him. She wasn''t even trying to be quiet, but Will was so focused on the armor he didn''t hear her until she nudged him on the back.


    "Hmm¡­ I wish I could make armor for you." Will''s greatest regret was not being able to make armor for Adaline.


    After spending all this time with his system, the latter seemed more likely. How this system has screwed him around for so long.


    "Nah, this system is racist against animals¡­ no, wait, that doesn''t sound right. Is there even a word for it?" Will went the rest of the day thinking of a word that defines people that hate animals. And he is sure that ''racism'' isn''t the word.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Josh Jones, along with his 2 followers/harem members, arrived at a deserted place. There was only stone everywhere, and no sign of greenery anywhere. It looked rather plain but they were nowhere near the deserted lands.


    "Here we are." Felicia said while holding on to a map.


    "I don''t see anything." Josh said, looking everywhere in a confused and annoyed manner.


    Few days ago, they somehow came across this man who was the son of the man who owned the ''black market'' . Josh thought it was his MC plot armor that caused them to meet, as it happens to many MC''s in many mangas, anime, or lightnovels.


    Even some idiots get lucky from time-to-time.


    The man after confirming that Josh is a hero, gave Josh a map, a note, a special golden badge with some strange markings carved on it, and left. It was a great opportunity to make connections to a hero like Josh.


    "According to the notes that man gave us, the first thing we need to do is¡­ raise our hands?" Felicia didn''t understand why.


    "Raise our¡­ oh, like a spirit bomb." Josh immediately raised his hands upwards.


    Felicia and Naveah shrugged and also raised their arms.


    Minutes later, nothing happened.


    "Are you sure we didn''t just get trolled by some troll? No, I am the MC, no way that MC''s face trolls in their travels¡­ do they?" Josh hated trolls the most, they are the most annoying kind of people.


    "Um¡­ if raising your hands does not work, simply yell. This note is terrible at explaining stuff."


    "Give me that!" Naveah yanked the note out of Felicia''s hands. It was obvious that she didn''t read the entire thing before, and therefore are just wasting their time.


    "Well, if those are the instructions. HEY!!!" Josh''s yell echoed throughout the area.


    No sooner than a second later, a door appeared from the ground beneath them. It looked more like a garage door in size, was made entirely out of wood and was kept in pristine condition. It didn''t have a handle or glass, it looked a lot like a wall.


    "Woah." Josh backed up a bit along with his harem.


    "A magical item that can turn things invisible and visible at will." Naveah pointed out.


    The door opened by itself with the help of machines, like how castles raise their gates using levers and chains. A cloaked man came out of the door. He placed his left arm over his ?h?st and slightly bowed to the people in front of him.


    "Sorry about that, dear customers. I failed to notice you." Under his cloak his eyes were red, heavy and there were dark rings under his eyes. It''s clear that this man was sleeping not too long ago.


    "It''s all good." Josh said like he didn''t mind, but he did. As long as he gets an elf slave he doesn''t care.


    "May I see your invitation?"


    "Invitation? Oh, this." Josh took out a gold badge with some strange marking on it. Those same markings on the badge could be seen on the cloaked man''s ?h?st.


    Even if one had the money, without a proper invitation they were not allowed in. It''s why the black market is exclusive, you have to know someone from the black market and be invited, and you might be allowed to enter. Unless you were a hero, very rich, or of someone of great importance, you almost have no chance of ever seeing the black market.


    "Ah! V.I.P. please, this way. And also be sure to wear your invitation at all times. It''s an important rule to follow here." The man led them to the inside of the door. The door led to stairs into darkness. They couldn''t see anything further than the light of the sun could let them.


    Beside the door was a small room, with some food, a chair, desk, a pillow, a blanket, and some weapons. This was the spot where lookouts are placed to let in guests or keep out intruders.


    The cloaked man let the trio down. He carried with him an oil lamp to illuminate the way.


    Along the way, they saw several armed men with similar markings and clothes as the one in front of them. All of them carried weapons in order to protect the black market from any intruders.


    "Will you not be wearing a mask?" Asked the cloaked man in a slow manner.


    "Why?" Asked Josh. He placed the gold badge over his neck. It also worked as a necklace.


    "It''s not mandatory, but most of our guests wear masks in order to hide their identities."


    "Sounds like something we should do. Do we have any masks or something? I left mine at home." Josh was referring to the masks he wore during COVID.


    Felicia and Naveah shook both their heads.


    "Heh, don''t worry. Some guests tend to forget at times, so we happen to sell some fine looking masks. Oh, right, before I forget, you must pay the fee in order to enter." The man forgot about the fee so he raised his hand towards Josh.


    "Aren''t¡­ V.I.P. ''s like myself exempt from paying any sort of fees?" Josh did not like spending money after working so hard to get it. How he wished that before he didn''t spend it all so quickly.


    "No, you already paid your fee. I''m talking about the ones behind you/" The man pointed at the gold badge that was hanging over Josh''s neck.


    When people pay a fee, they are given a copper badge but never gold ones. It''s proof that one has paid for their fee.


    "They''re my members of my group. Aren''t they exempt from paying any fees?" Asked Josh.


    "Sorry, no exceptions. It''s a rule here. Even the king, and the Great Sage would have to pay if they brought their wives or other close family members. Not even my own mother is allowed here. She even disowned me as if it was my fault."


    "Oh¡­ how much is the fee?"


    "It''s 100 gold coins ''per'' person I''m afraid."


    Josh''s heart sank. The more money he spends, the less chances he''ll have to buy an elf slave. He just can''t wait until the black market opens again.


    "It''s okay, hero. We''ll wait outside." Naveah said. She gently pulled Felicia by her arm and brought her outside where they would be waiting for josh.


    "Thanks." Josh smiled brightly. They just saved him from spending 200 gold coins.


    "So, you''re a hero." The man yawned, this news didn''t faze him as much as other people would.


    "You don''t look ecstatic to see a hero."


    "It''s nothing new. The black market has always been a hotspot for heroes." The man continued leading Josh down the seemingly endless path of stairs.


    "It is?" Josh found it hard to believe. Other heroes were here before him? Somehow he believed that he was the first one to find the black market. It never occurred to him that other heroes could also find the black market.


    "Oh yeah. So far there have been over 200 heroes who have participated in our black markets. All of whose names are engraved on a wall made of pure gold."


    "Wow." Josh was more focused on the ''wall of gold'' Just how much gold does one need to make a wall made entirely of gold?


    There have been over 300 heroes who have been summoned. The clear majority of them had indeed been members of the black market. The rest found it morally disgusting to be a part of something illegal, which went against their moral beliefs.


    Or some just weren''t invited for several reasons. Like being the only kid who was left out of school projects in your classroom.


    "I know, right? Looks like your name will be added to the wall today, probably. Behold."


    They reached the bottom. There was an iron door in front. The man knocked on the door several times.


    A small window opened on the door. A tall, dark masked individual''s eyes peeked through the window, staring at both of them with his green-bluish eyes, which were part of his mask.


    "Password?"


    The man leaned a bit closer to the door and whispered, "Password."


    "..." Josh heard the password with his acute hearing. He expected something but not that.


    The iron door opened revealing an extravagant large room.


    "Wait, the password is just ''password'' ?" Josh asked.


    "Yeah. No one would expect it. Masks are in the gift shop if you want one. Ask the employees around for help." The man left Josh and ran up the stairs. He didn''t tell Josh that they change the password once every 2-3 days for safety measures.


    "Wait, gift shop?"


    Josh entered the extravagant room which did not look anything like he expected. From fancy bars, tasty food, beautiful women in skimpy clothes, as well as wearing unique masks were serving drinks, snacks, and food to everyone.


    There was even a pool on one side which was the fanciest looking pool Josh had ever seen. Even a ''gift shop'' was there selling black market merch from t-shirts with the words "Black Market'' engraved, as well as shoes, pants, hats, and some ''questionable'' toys for those who buy slaves.


    All of which had the words "Black Market" engraved. Like a famous company name branding all their merch.


    Josh expected a dark, gloomy place to be the black market, like how many novels and mangas led him to believe. Instead of ''gift shops'' they''d had monster parts on sale, or had illegal brawl fights. However this was unlike anything he expected.


    Josh closed his eyes at the sudden realization.


    "Right, it''s now an exclusive club. Should have known."


    Josh didn''t buy a mask but rather explored the entire floor. There was a lot of security. And there are a whole lot of rooms and floors beyond what he expected. It was looking more like a casino by the second.


    He noticed that a lot of people were looking at him. Not only was Josh one of the few that didn''t wear a mask, but he also had a golden badge while everyone else had copper badges.


    A s?xy female employee who was carrying a tray of drinks walked by him but he stopped her.


    "Excuse me!"


    "Yes? How can I be of service?" The employee said in a respectful tone.


    "Why is the black market like this?"


    "Is¡­ there something you find discomforting."


    "Yes¡­ Well, no. I just expected the place to be, you know, more darker, serious."


    "Um, it was like that over 150 years ago, I think. But a lot has changed since then, to bring in more customers and give them more reasons to come here."


    The black market did not start out this way. Many changes obviously were added to suit the people more, to let them have fun, to give them more reasons to spend their money, like a casino.


    Before, customers only had one reason to come here, buying illegal slaves. Now they had everything from stores, to delicious food, excellent service, a variety of fun rooms like a pool, gambling rooms.


    The owner who made these changes was ashamed that not all the heroes found the black market as a ''good place'' to go to, so he made these changes mostly for the heroes. However as it turns out business has never been better.


    "I thought that the black market is only open once every 3 months. Wouldn''t it be better to have it opened all the time?" Josh asked.


    Josh was afraid that he didn''t have enough money to buy a slave. He hopes that the black market has changed its opening and closing schedule and has it opened 24/7. That way, he can come back and buy a slave any time he wants, instead of waiting every 3 months.


    "No, you are poorly mistaken. Only the ''auctions'' are held once every three months. The black market is open 24/7. It''s been that way for over 2 decades now."


    ''Dammit'' Josh cursed to himself. He was the MC, why isn''t everything going his way?


    "Can you tell me when the black market auctions will be held?" Josh asked in a depressed tone. This was not like he wanted.


    "In 2 hours. Anything else I can help you with? A drink perhaps?"


    "How much is it?"


    "Complimentary. Customers get all the food and drinks they want, until their membership expires."


    "I''ll have some." Josh drank a cold drink that was oddly refreshing.


    ''Wine.'' Josh missed the taste of wine. After working so hard this past week, he didn''t have the chance to have a proper drink.


    Back then he used to drink even when he underage when his ''friends'' offered him. Of course his loving parents found out and attempted to help him dissuade him from drinking. He never took the help. But being busy for so long he had almost forgotten the taste of wine. It wasn''t beer but it was something.


    He took one, then another, then another.


    "I¡­ think you''ve had enough." The employee said with a nervous smile. She could try to yank the drinks from him, but that could cost her her job, especially when the one in front of her had a gold badge, obviously someone very important that she can''t afford to offend.


    And in such a desperate time for money, she needed this job more than ever.


    "Vhat¡­ nakes yuu, sai dat?" Josh asked in a drunken manner.


    "Well, you''re clearly drunk, and you just finished 7 of the 8 drinks I had on my tray."


    "Nahhhhh."


    Josh, after having one more drink, dropped down on the floor face first.


    "Um¡­" The woman left Josh alone, and brought back some men with her. Those men carried Josh to an unoccupied fancy room, and gently placed him on the bed.


    Lying in his bed drunk, unconscious, Josh slept through the day and completely missed the auctions, which is the only reason he came here.


    Felicia and Naveah were patiently waiting for Josh just right outside the wall. Even when they were hungry, cold, and tired, they waited for him for hours and hours. What they thought was gonna be a 3 hour wait turned into an 8 hour wait.


    Will woke up the next day, his eyes wide open upon realization.


    "I''ve got it! The word is animal-ism¡­ Gah! No that''s not it. That sounded WAY better in my head. I don''t think there even is a word for it. Yeah, whatever, this system is clearly animal-ism against other animals."


    There was no response obviously. Will went on about his day.


    (The correct word is "Speciesism")

 Chapter 68 - Trouble

    "My head. It hurts." Josh left the black market with a terrible headache. It also didn''t help to hear that he missed the auction because he passed out.


    He was beyond pissed, of course. Now he had to wait another 3 months to buy an elf slave. According to his knowledge, many MC''s literally obtain a slave girl in their harem on their first day or first week.


    "Man, this must be one of those stories where the MC doesn''t get a slave in the beginning of his story¡­ Wait, what am I saying? Maid was a slave. But I really wanted an elf. And it''s been about 3 months since I''ve been here. Felicia, Naveah, let''s go¡­ huh? Where are they?"


    Josh looked around to see his two harem members were gone.


    "Naveah, Felicia?! Don''t tell me, they were taken by a noble!" Josh''s worst fears have been realized, his harem members were taken by an evil and perverted fat noble.


    Actually he had been hoping that something would happen to them. In every generic harem story, the MC''s harem always faces a bump on the road, like kidnapping, menacing threats, family issues, and in very rare cases they actually die.


    In most cases, this happens because their families want to use them for some sick acts like marrying a powerful, fat, perverted, evil noble to expand their power or whatnot, while not giving a damn about their daughter/niece/granddaughter/sister or whatever the case is.


    And in other cases, it''s because some powerful perverted people always look to trouble the MC through his harem, especially the fat nobles.


    "Finally. Er, I mean, DON''T WORRY, I AM COMING TO SAVE YOU!" This proved Josh that he is the MC. Why else would such cliches befall on him?


    Lately he''d been worried that he wasn''t the MC, ever since Maid ''died'' he''d been suspecting that he isn''t the MC. No MC could ever let the loli of his group die, unless if it was a meaningful death he would understand.


    And the fact that he couldn''t overpower the powerful Goddess on his first encounter, like a worldwide hated female MC from episodes 7-9 whose name rhymes with ''Ray.'' or another hated Chinese female MC who brought ''dishonor'' to everyone around her, whose name rhymes with ''Hulan.''


    But thanks to this cliche, it proved to him that he truly was the MC and it made him happy.


    A few hours before, this is what happened to Naveah and Felicia.


    After waiting for hours and hours for Josh, they were getting tired, cold, and hungry.


    "Wanna grab something to bite?" Naveah asked, holding her stomach in pain.


    "Yeah, let''s. Hero Josh likely won''t come out for a few more hours."


    "Okay. There''s a village that''s a bit far but it''s the closest one here. And I have some money. I wish I didn''t lose my magical ring or I''d have brought a lot of food with me."


    So both left to eat, came back a few hours later since the village was fairly far, and continued waiting for Josh to exit the black market.


    "No way our luck is that bad."


    "You have a point."


    6 days went by fast. And still no sign of Josh.


    "You don''t think Josh forgot about us? Does he know that Maid didn''t die and that we lied about her?!" Felicia was becoming increasingly worried.


    She''d been asking Naveah the same question for over a week. They even had a small tent set up, and even had so much garbage piling up due to how long they''ve been waiting for.


    Naveah denied it at first. But now it seems very possible. She didn''t want to think that this is true, which is why they waited almost an entire week for Josh.


    Her success in life relied on her becoming a companion of a hero, and if possible bear his children and marry him. It''s her main motivation to be with him. Becoming a hero''s spouse or even concubine would guarantee her success and for her children, who she will love very much.


    It''s not just her but multiple men and women have done the same thing since always. The Great Sage also had many concubines, wives, and therefore produced many offspring.


    "Maybe we should head back to the kingdom. Perhaps he found another exit, or something. Maybe he''s there searching for us as we speak." Naveah couldn''t think of a proper explanation, but she just hoped that Josh was there and hoped that he didn''t abandon them.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will was currently building some furniture made of leather. It''s not as comfortable as he''d hoped, from beds to chairs, stools. His old bed was worn out, torn, and started to smell.


    He couldn''t use any kind of shampoo because he didn''t have any. He''d make his own, but lacked the proper materials to make some, especially if he doesn''t know how shampoos are made. The crafting system doesn''t help either in helping him find the materials needed for crafting shampoos.


    And he couldn''t leave his base alone. There are 80 people outside of his castle walls armed literally to the teeth. If he left, there''s no telling what would happen if they attempt to break in.


    "This sucks. Need to buy some sheep to breed and make wool out of them, and also some chicken for feathers. And also getting tired of eating camel meat and fruits only."


    Will had dragon meat and scorpion meat, but he''d be crazy to eat them. Scorpion meat was possibly poisonous. And dragon meat has a horrible and pungent smell, and the meat is super tough like rubber. Only Adaline could eat those meats no problem.


    But he knew he shouldn''t complain too much. Not long ago he was forced to eat grass in order to survive.


    Will build other small buildings besides his main one. It''s in case other people wanted to stay over, like Grace, Jack, Arbor, Sandra. Inside the buildings they all had proper flooring installed, multiple rooms, bathrooms, many types of furniture.


    They were all basic stone buildings but he was proud of his creations. Reminds him of when he enslaved villagers in minecraft and placed them in houses to trade them and breed them. Ah, good times.


    He was eagerly waiting for any one of his friends to stay over. He can''t wait for them to see the small buildings he put so much time and effort into building.


    In the past he couldn''t properly give them a proper place to stay, it was mostly just filthy and worn down buildings where they would stay. No proper furniture was even added until now.


    Not like he had a good reason to give them better rooms to stay in, he was just bored and decided to kill time by doing this.


    Maybe he likes it when others compliment his work, too.


    "What''s wrong?" Will noticed Adaline, he recognized it when she was acting weird. Like how pet owners immediately notice their pets act weird after being with them for so long.


    Adaline ran towards the door pointing at it using her head and roots.


    "Someone we know? Attack mode {off}" Will thought of Sandra so he ran outside. Adaline stayed inside.


    The 80 men noticed Will exiting his building. They stopped what they were doing and looked at him.


    "Is there something wrong, Hero Will?" Asked one of the 80 people from the empire.


    Will saw two figures far away using his enchanted mask. He was still wearing his exotic-wooden armor since it gave him a nice set bonus, which is why he isn''t wearing his dragon-bone or dragon scale armor.


    He saw Arbor and Rias headed this way on their mounts at a fast speed. Arbor had a grim expression on his face like his mother just died. Rias had a similar expression but not as dark as Arbor''s.


    "Did I do something to piss them off?" Will asked himself but nothing came to mind.


    He did accidentally shoot Grace but they all know it was an accident.


    They reached Will standing outside. The 80 men noticed them but did not say anything.


    "Sir, they''re elves." They recognize them by their weapons and mounts. Arbor and Grace are still in their human disguise but it was to tell that they are elves.


    "I can see that." The one in charge sends a message to the Empress. As per her orders, anything they see that is related to the hero they must report to her, it''ll give her a better insight as to what kind of person Will is before confronting him.


    "Will." Arbor and Rias immediately jumped off their mounts and almost jumped on him.


    "What?" Will took a few steps back because of their actions.


    "IsGraceherewithyou?" Asked Rias in a very fast manner it was almost impossible to understand her.


    "What?" Asked Will.


    "Grace¡­ is she here?"


    "No. Why?"


    Rias turned to Arbor and shook her head. Arbor''s face turned darker than before.


    "Was she here with you last week?"


    "Yes. What''s going on?"


    "Grace is missing. We believe she''s been taken by a slave trader, most likely by the black market."


    "Oh no." Will said. After a second of thinking he started walking back to his base nonchalantly.


    "Where are you going?" Asked Rias in a stupified manner. Grace was missing and Will''s reaction wasn''t what she expected. He expected her to say "I''ll look for her!" Or something, but no.


    "Going back to my base to build, craft, and eat. The usual."


    "Aren''t you gonna help us find her?"


    "I would, but I won''t."


    "You can''t be serious." Rias said. Were they not friends?


    "Does Rias''s grandfather know about her? The king of the elves?"


    "He does. He is also looking for her."


    "Then I expect that your Goddess Lea is looking for her as we speak? And do you have an army of elves looking for her?"


    "Naturally. Over 1000 are looking for her as we speak."


    "Then she''ll likely turn up sooner than later. I don''t see how I can help. I won''t say that Grace''s disappearance doesn''t bother me, but I don''t see how I can help."


    It took Will a second to realize that he won''t be of any use looking for Grace. He doesn''t have an ability or carry an item that can search for her.


    If even a Goddess who can communicate and control nature can''t find her, and if there''s over a thousand elves looking for her and can''t find her, how can a single person like him find her?


    It''s not like he doesn''t care. He just doesn''t know how to find her. And if he did go searching, it''d be a pointless task, like searching for a needle in the ocean.


    "Didn''t you find Taker? The infamous child kidnapper? The same one that even the Great Sage had trouble catching?"


    "No, it wasn''t me. It was Adaline who found him. And she only did so by chance because we happened to be at the right place at the right time. Actually¡­ hold on a second."


    Will ran to his base..


    Rias looked at Arbor and shrugged her shoulders. She didn''t know what he was thinking.


    Seconds later Adaline exited the building, on top of her was Will. This left the 80 soldiers surprised but Will didn''t care about them anymore, it''s not like they''ll try to hunt her or want to kill her. These past few days Will noticed that these soldiers were chill. Still he didn''t fully trust them.


    Adaline circled around Arbor and rested her head on his body. Arbor slowly patted her, but because of Grace he couldn''t give her the attention he always gives her.


    "I can''t find Grace, but Adaline might. Take her with you and keep her safe."


    "Are you sure?" Asked Rias.


    "Grace is a good friend. Not you, though. I don''t trust you, but I trust Arbor."


    "Harsh, but understandable."


    Rias translated to Arbor what Will had told her.


    Arbor looked at Will and said, "Thank you." in elven tongue.


    Will nodded and responded with, "No problem." in elven tongue as well.


    Will had been reading how to speak elven tongue. Still he could b?r?ly say and understand a few words, and he couldn''t carry a proper conversation yet.


    Will held Adaline''s head and brought her close to him.


    "Take care, and find Grace. She needs your help. And come back to me safely, understand? And also make sure that you don''t show them your ''secret'' okay?"


    Adaline nodded but she gave him a tight hug with her roots.


    Will had to get Adaline out of his base. Tomorrow the Empress was coming to his base and if something were to happen, he didn''t want Adaline to get caught in it. And also she was bored out of his mind staying in one place all the time, something he and millions of people could relate to.


    Still, he is going to miss her but he believes that this is the right decision.


    "Tell Arbor to take care of Adaline, okay?" Will asked Rias.


    "I don''t need to tell him that. What will you be doing?" Asked Rias.


    "I have my own way to look for Grace. I just hope that she''s fine."


    "We all do."


    Arbor, Adaline, and Rias left running. Will stared at Adaline until he couldn''t see her figure anymore.


    Practically since they''ve met, they''ve never been apart this far.


    Ignoring the 80 people staring at him, Will entered his base and texted his friends, Sandra, Jack and Jasmine.


    He messaged them all if they heard anything about Grace, any rumors about elves. They were all happy to help and would send him a message if they heard anything.


    Will continued to build to take his mind off of Grace''s sudden disappearance, but the news about Grace affected his building skills negatively.


    "I don''t feel like building anything anymore."


    Will sat in his bed to rest, staring blankly at the wall, and waiting for his friends to message him back.


    Will was still wearing his armor. The only time he takes his armor off is whenever he showers or goes in the pool. Wearing any kind of armor that he makes actually feels like he is wearing pyjamas, it is soft, flexible, and comfortable . It''s like in minecraft and Terraria, the players wear armor all the time.


    And thanks to Radix who shot him with an arrow through his head when he took off his armor, he started to wear his armor more often to protect himself.


    Meanwhile, underground, Grace was imprisoned inside a stone wall.


    In the middle of the room was a candle that b?r?ly lit the entire room. It was a clean room with no windows. It was a cold room with no insulation installed, and a large bucket in the corner. The door was a heavy iron door with a small window attached to it. A bright light could be seen peering through the door''s window.


    It didn''t look like it was recently built. But it was maintained very well that it gave off the impression that it was built not too long ago..


    Grace didn''t move and remained calm. She thought back to before she was kidnapped.


    6 days ago, Grace waited by the secret exit of the black market, waiting for the kidnapped elves to come out so she could free them.


    The black market has three separate entrances far from each other, and has many hidden exits in case they need to escape. Even Grace has only been able to find one and that was through sheer luck.


    The black market is built in a place where there was no greenery at all, this way elves won''t be able to use their powers to break free or cause chaos.


    Grace studied the black market for years, and every year the buyers who buy slaves go through these secret exits to avoid trouble, like ambushes. The problem is that there are multiple slave buyers and they all use different exits. Unfortunately for Grace she isn''t able to save all of the elves.


    And she can''t even break in because it was heavily guarded. If she attempted to break in with just herself and fight them with just her own regular bow and knife, she''ll likely be captured and/or die in the process.


    It is not the first time the black market''s buyers have been ambushed by elves or even humans, so they installed many secret exits to ensure their buyers'' safety.


    As Grace was waiting, her whole world turned black as someone hit her head from behind. She didn''t even hear or know how they sneaked up behind her.


    She figured out her kidnappers, 2 male humans both who were young, strong, and nervous and scared for some reason.


    She thought she would have been violated or sold by now, but they did their utmost to keep her safe, clean, and distanced themselves from her hours at a time.


    Grace noticed how they didn''t even want to look at her, they avoided eye contact with her, like a pair of brothers who have just angered their parents because they committed an unforgivable act.


    They also gave her vegetarian meals made up of fresh fruits and vegetables only, no meat was given to her.


    Grace tried her best to escape, but she was just an elf, she didn''t have any special powers at all. She could control nature but there was no greenery anywhere near where she was. Being able to communicate with her Goddess was impossible at the moment.


    "How much longer do we have to do this?"


    Grace heard a whisper. Her room was so quiet that she could hear a needle drop. She placed the side of her head by the door.


    "Do we have a choice? He said to keep her here safe until he gives us a signal. If we don''t he''ll kill them!"


    "I know that! But I haven''t heard from him or our family in over a month. How do we know they''re not dead?"


    "He needs her alive, or else he would have asked us to kill her and not kidnap her."


    "I just want to see my family again."


    "And you don''t think I want to see mine?"


    Grace heard their conversation and went into a deep thought. They were forced to kidnap her?


    Grace thought who it could have been that wanted her here, and for what purpose?


    Meanwhile, the king was smiling, sitting on his throne while sipping on some expensive wine. Today was a good day for him.


    "Ah, there is no greater thing in life than money."


    Thanks to the new tax laws, they''ve been raking in so much money the past week.


    A young man came through the door disguised like a woman, a very ugly one.


    "My king." The man kneeled to the king.


    "Ro¡­ Ronald? Why the dress?" If the king didn''t know better, he''d say that this is the ugliest woman to have ever lived.


    "It''s a disguise, my king. No one would expect me to ever recognize me in this disguise. And it makes me feel pretty." The man twirled a bit. Something inside him was beginning to awaken.


    "After this do not wear something like this ever again, ever!"


    "Yes, my king. I have your daily report."


    Ronald is indeed just a lowly commoner, nothing special about him at all. He was randomly chosen by the king to spy on his own people and report their actions to the king, should they ever want to stage a riot or revolt the king wants to know about it.


    The king firmly believes that he has the power with all the heroes, nobles, and sorcerers by his side. But still he needed to be sure that no problems would arise.


    "Nothing big so far. People have indeed been feeling unrest with the new tax laws, as expected, but nothing noteworthy to mention. It is likely that no one here wants to cause problems because of the heroes." Ronald explained. He handed the king a handwritten report.


    "Good. Now leave." The king snapped his fingers, and a noble gave Ronald a pouch full of silver coins.


    Ronald left the kingdom through the back.


    "I''m gonna wash my eyes now."

 Chapter 69 - Blood for the blood God!

    Will saw the sun rise up. No matter how many times he sees the sunrise it always calms him down. He wasn''t able to sleep the whole night. Grace''s disappearance worried him.


    Although he was worried he was thinking about his next move, what else should he build, what else can he do?


    Now that Adaline is gone because she was searching for Grace, Will was all alone.


    "I''m worried about Adaline. Wish I could make her some armor, but, this stupid system doesn''t include it. What a joke."


    Will made fun of his ''crafting'' system which isn''t able to craft everything like he thought at first. Some things he needs to build by hand like buildings or his golems.


    "Hmmm¡­ wait, there''s Jack." Will thought of something.


    He sent a message to Jack through his communication stone.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Jack, who just woke up, was blinded by his communication stone. It was a dark room and Jack''s eyes b?r?ly adjusted to the darkness, it wasn''t even a bright light. It''s like turning your smartphone on in the dark right after waking up.


    Jack was too lazy to respond back. He saw it was from Will and only then did he really try to get used to the light. Because he just woke up he didn''t remember that he only messaged two people, Jasmine and Will. His family also has a communication stone but they''re all home.


    {What can I do to help?} Jack''s handwriting was a bit sloppy. He owed Will a lot for helping Jasmine during the dragon attack.


    {I want you to make me some armor for Adaline.}


    ''Adaline? Oh, right, the organic creature.'' Jack remembered Adaline. The organic creature that Will tamed scared him.


    {I don''t know much about making custom armor for organic creatures. I think this is the first time anyone has asked anyone to do that. But it is a request from you, so I''ll see what I can do. Also my uncle is still here so he might want to help out, but he''s been in a bad mood lately. Still I''ll try my best.}


    {Awesome. Thanks Jack.}


    {Yeah. I just need to measure Adaline, can you bring her here?}


    This was technically a custom made armor, and a very unique one as well. They needed Adaline there to measure her body to fit her in armor.


    It''s like how people make custom clothes for others, they need to measure them as everyone is built differently.


    People do make armor for horses and their mounts. Even the Empire makes armor for their giant lizards. However an organic creature wearing armor is unheard of.


    {Where did Adaline go?}


    {Helping someone. I gotta go, someone just arrived at my base.}


    Will placed his communication stone away. He saw several more people coming this way on horses, over 50 men protecting a fancy looking carriage.


    Like the other 80 men who were camping in front of his base, they were all heavily geared, not a single piece of armor or weapon wasn''t enchanted or magical.


    Will wondered if all those men combined would be able to successfully raid his protected base. The only things protecting it from intruders were his multiple diamond sentry turrets, and himself.


    Golems could also count as part of his defense but they are useless in fighting, but amazing in mining. He plans to fix that sooner or later.


    The carriage stopped. Inside came out a tall, gorgeous woman with red hair. She wore enchanted armor as well, and kept her soldiers by her side.


    Unlike all the rumors he''s heard of, she is anything but fat! And yet people call her ''fat'' when she clearly wasn''t. Like how people call Napoleon ''short'' even though he was average height for the time.


    Will cursed to himself ''Crap. She''s my type!''


    It''s maybe why he doesn''t simp for elves like Grace. They were beautiful but not his type.


    "Empress!" The soldiers saluted the Empress by forming a line and placing their hands on their ?h?sts.


    "At ease." The Empress stood right outside of the wooden fence Will made. She was more focused on the base that Will build.


    "Rico, how long do you believe it would take us to build something like that?"


    Valerie was impressed by the walls alone. She knew for a fact that building something like that would take several years, hundreds of men, and lots of resources.


    It might take longer since monsters do attack them but they always repel them back.


    "Hard to say, Empress. But we believe it would take us no more than 5 years, and that is if we''re quick."


    "Yeah, I thought so, too. What about the inside? Still nothing?"


    "Afraid not. The Hero was insisting that we cannot enter his base at all. So we do not know the layout of this¡­ I want to say castle?" They weren''t sure what to call it, it was somewhere between the lines of it being a castle or a stone fortress.


    She read the reports he''d been sending her, but she thought he was exaggerating when there was a giant stone wall in the middle of the white desert.


    Back when her empire was built she wasn''t even born yet when they were building the walls. The empire has been a thing for 5-6 decades now.


    And she was happy to see that her men were following her orders to the word. If they had acted on their own she would have never had a chance to meet with a hero. This would be the third hero she''d meet in person.


    ''So I guess building is his hero ability. Though there is a slight chance that he has two hero abilities, like that Josh guy.'' The Empress thought.


    "Also, what are those things?" Valerie pointed at the top of the stone walls, it was the diamond turret sentries that were placed only on top of the walls.


    "We are not sure. But they look like the mounted mini guns we have back in the Empire. But we can tell that they''re different, most likely this is the hero''s ability."


    "Empress, he''s out!" One of them pointed at the door.


    Will exited his base, but this time he wasn''t wearing his exotic wooden armor, instead he''s wearing his strongest dragon scale armor.


    This armor provided more defense than any of his other armor, and it gave him a nice set bonus he''s been meaning to use for some time now, the ability to fly freely using dragon wings.


    And the main reason he''s wearing this armor is because it looked intimidating for anyone, giving people the thought that he is powerful and fearsome. He thought it made him look like a Dark Souls boss, sort of.


    He doesn''t know how powerful the Empress and her men are, but he wasn''t very confident in beating them if he had to, but he can''t show weakness.


    One of Sun Tzu''s famous quotes popped into his head a few days ago:


    "Appear strong when you are weak, and weak when you are strong."


    He thought of this a few days ago, and he hoped it would work.


    He knew he was weak and wasn''t confident in his strength, but they didn''t know everything about him. Which is why he thought that instead of showing his weakness, he''d fake being strong.


    Will strolled his way over to them taking his sweet time.


    ''What?'' The Empress thought when she looked above Will. Her eyes showed a hint of shock and confusion.


    Above him she could see numbers floating above his head.


    She knew what those numbers meant, a person''s lifespan. It was only possible to see a person''s lifespan due to the enchanted-magical earring she wears.


    Every living thing has a lifespan, and once all those numbers reach ''0'' they''re dead.


    According to what she has figured out this is how the ''biological clock'' as what she refers to, works from left-to-right:


    Years-weeks-days-hours-minutes-seconds.


    ''What kind of ability does he have that even my magical item can''t see his time of death? Is he an immortal? Is that his second hero ability?'' The Empress'' thought. Many things popped in her mind but it didn''t make sense.


    Shaun Quincy, is a hero whose ability is having a longer lifespan, but even his own biological clock doesn''t work like Will''s. The same goes for the Great Sage. When she saw their biological clocks it seemed to work fine like always.


    This is the first time something like this has happened. The only logical reason as to why it shows only ''0''s is because Will is an immortal.


    She doesn''t know of any heroes who have immortality, even the Great Sage doesn''t.


    What she doesn''t know is that a system user is not bound to fate like everyone else is. Their time of death cannot be counted down because they weren''t given a time of death.


    "Hero." The Empress said coldly to hide her expression.


    "Sup. Why are you here?" Will responded casually.


    She took a deep breath. She realized that she must not make an enemy of this hero at all costs, not that she planned to anyway. Still she needed to act tough.


    "Right to the point. I merely came here to observe you, find out your powers, and hopefully we can become allies. I just thought it''d be better if we first chatted in person rather than use communication stones."


    The Empress knows the abilities of the other 99 heroes thanks to her spies reporting it to her. Even when the kingdom tried their best to keep it a secret, there was bound to be a rat who would expose their secrets.


    "Allies? And what if I refused to become your ally? Would you want to kill me then to eliminate any threats?"


    Will placed his hand close to his inventory where his gun is.


    "I don''t kill unless I have to. As long as you don''t get it in my way I won''t get in your way." The Empress shook her head.


    Becoming an enemy of a hero is not favorable. If anything, having them on her side is way more beneficial.


    "But." The Empress added, "I want to know, are you with the kingdom, or are you not?" She already knew the answer, but wanted to hear it from him.


    "Am I with the ones who kidnapped me and brought me to this foreign world? Not in a million years."


    Will had mixed emotions for the kingdom, but mostly on the negative side. If he were given the chance to join them he wouldn''t. And he would never help them in any way, but he won''t hurt them either unless he had a good reason to.


    Will couldn''t really blame the kingdom for kidnapping him. After all he did die moments before being reincarnated, then again it was because of their bright summoning circle that caused his death, so they''re the ones who killed him even if it was indirectly.


    Like he said, he won''t ever side with the kingdom at all.


    "Hmm¡­ I also came here to strike a deal with you. Join us, and you can have this."


    The Empress took off her ring, and out of the ring a small hill of gold appeared out of thin air. It was only gold bars and gold coins. The bright sun reflected off the gold making it super shiny.


    "Pass. I don''t need it." Will shook his head. He estimated he could make this much gold in an hour or less. And the more golems he creates the faster they''ll gather gold. Meaning that this was basically nothing to him.


    The Empress was surprised that Will wasn''t fazed, without even missing a beat he flat out rejected the gold.


    According to what she knew about the majority of the other heroes, is that they''ll easily be tempted by riches and are easily manipulated. It seems that Will isn''t like them.


    She couldn''t see his expression because it was hidden underneath his dragon mask.


    ''Was he always like this or did this world change him?'' She thought.


    Will, before he was brought to this world was a wimp, weak, common, miserable just like anybody his age really.


    It''s because of these past 3 months that shaped Will into who he is right now. If this were Will 3 months ago he would have taken the gold without a doubt.


    "What I want is simple, I want stronger metals, better ores, and better materials overall."


    Will needed their help as well. There is a high chance that they had something stronger than steel, or possibly something as good or better than mana ore. It''s why he waited for them instead of kicking them out.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Beneath them, the gold golems were working non-stop. There were now 9 in total. They mined through the ores and stone like it was nothing.


    *Screech*


    They heard screeching noises coming from behind the walls, like hundreds of insects screaming. But their only orders are to mine no matter what. So they continued to mine and mine.


    As they progressed the screeching noises got louder. They paid no heed to it.


    Then, one of the golems hit the walls but green blood was on his pickaxe and on the walls.


    Then the wall in front of them collapsed. Hundreds of giant scorpions rushed out of the hole that the golems had created.


    Still the golems didn''t pay any attention to it. But the hundreds of scorpions stepped and crushed down on the golems. For the golems it was like being run over hundreds of cars.


    They weren''t designed to feel pain so they didn''t cry or say anything. But their limbs and bodies were being crushed and torn apart. The scorpions didn''t pay the golems any attention, all they wanted was to see where this tunnel that they found would lead them.


    Back to Will.


    "We can give you what you want, but I expect something else in return, what do you have?" Asked Valerie.


    In a trade both sides must offer something the other side wants. Valerie could see that Will needed rare materials that she does have, but she needs something good in return.


    This also benefited her since her main goal is to make connections with Will.


    "Something in return¡­" Will thought about it, but what did he have that she wanted?


    The Empress had everything she could ever need, men, resources, weapons, power, information.


    Will had golems to trade, but he needs those. He also has the exotic flower and exotic seed, but he will never reveal the existence of those two to anyone. And his armor is outstanding, but it only works for him.


    *Rumble*


    They felt the ground shake and it got stronger to the point it felt like it felt like an earthquake.


    "Earthquake?" Will said to himself. But he doesn''t know that this world doesn''t have earthquakes.


    *Didididididididididididididi*


    For no reason at all, all of Will''s sentry turrets started shooting at the ground, specifically at the mining area.


    Will was outside so he didn''t see what they were shooting or why they were shooting.


    *SCREECH!*


    A familiar screeching noise echoed. Will recognized those screams, he had already long forgotten about those things.


    Hundreds of scorpions very angrily tore down the stone walls with ease using their giant claws and exo-skeleton. They were aiming for the turrets since they were shooting them. The turrets were able to kill many but not all.


    "NO!" Will took out his turret pistol and began shooting at the scorpions.


    All his work, all his progress, it was being destroyed by those damn scorpions. It was the equivalent of hundreds of creepers blowing up everything you''ve worked for.


    The scorpions began running towards Will and the Empress and her men.


    "Spread out! Line formation! Fire at the scorpions!" Valerie reacted quickly. Standing along with her men, they all formed a line and began shooting down the scorpions with everything they got.


    Will spread out his dragon wings and ascended to get a better shooting angle. But this was his first time flying, so he began flying everywhere with no control, like a kite in the air.


    "AAAAAHHHH!!!"


    Will crashed. But he wasn''t giving up.


    "Dammit! Out of all days!" Will got out his ?h?st and took out stone blocks that were 1 meters long and high. These stone blocks were used to construct his base.


    Will instantly made a high ramp as he continued shooting at the scorpions, providing him a somewhat better angle to shoot. If this was like in minecraft he''d build upward like many minecraft players do, but because gravity is a thing if he attempted to build something like that, it''ll fall down.


    *Screech*


    Seeing his base already being completely destroyed, Will teared a bit. So he said "Fuck it! I am killing every single one of those fu?kers!"


    Feeling nothing but anger, he took out a special bullet from his inventory.


    {Lead bullet}


    {Enchantment: Explosion V}


    The cursed power source generator has many enchantments, explosions were one of them.


    The explosion enchantment he believes is the most destructive enchantment on the list, but also the most dangerous.


    Using this explosion enchantment very obviously creates explosions, the higher level it is the more destructive. Not many people have seen this enchantment in their lives, only some. And none have ever seen an infinite enchantment.


    The reason people don''t use this enchantment is because they mostly enchant items that last like swords, guns, armor, not one time use items like bullets.


    And even if they get the explosion enchantment on the guns instead of the bullets, it won''t work. The gun would just end up shooting ordinary bullets instead of explosive bullets. Will found that out the hard way.


    It was as if that enchantment literally made the weapon a bomb. If you hit something hard enough with it or something hits it it explodes upon impact.


    It''s why Will added the explosion enchantment to the bullets instead of his handgun turret.


    Anyways, together with the explosive bullets, and the infinite enchantment added to his gun, Will was ready to unleash hell on these damn scorpions.


    *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*


    Scorpions were being blasted out of the ground and into the air. Dirt, fire, dust, green blood splattered everywhere.


    "DIE! DIE! DIE!" Will hated it most when creepers blew up his minecraft base. Can''t imagine when something destroys something you worked hard for in real life, it just can''t be compared.


    The already destroyed castle is now completely destroyed. What was once a magnificent castle is now a pile of disgusting rubble.


    The countless number of scorpions started to diminish considerably. Will didn''t know if it was because he killed them all, or because they ran back into their hole.


    After what seemed like an eternity, it was peaceful again.


    "God¡­ dammit!" Will threw down his gun out of anger. These past three months he worked hard to build this, only to have it be destroyed in an instant.


    The gun was already broken. There''s a limit to how long his gun could last before it would overheat and eventually break.


    He knew he could build his base again, but this was just annoying. If he could he would have rage quit already. It just wasn''t fair, why do bad things happen to good people? Like getting goddamn cancer!


    "Hero." Valerie stood beside him. They all saw the incredible destruction he had just displayed.


    "Not now." Will said in a low tone.


    Valerie understood his anger and stood back. Her men were all on guard in case another scorpion appeared.


    Few minutes pass. Will got up, found his mining cave entrance covered with stone. He had to mine the ones that blocked his path. There is something he needed to check, his gold golems and the exotic seed. Those two are by far his two greatest treasures. As long as those two are there it would be okay.


    Of course he had another gun with him, it was another handgun turret. He made many of these weapons in case his other one were to break down from overheating.


    Reaching the cave he found the exotic seed completely intact. Will hid the exotic seed behind a stone wall with no clear entrance, that''s because he could simply teleport behind the walls using his magical item.


    But, reaching the end of the cave, Will saw his golems completely destroyed. The golems if they were destroyed it was fine, the golem cores are what truly mattered.


    Unfortunately, out of the 9 golems cores he had created, only 2 were intact. The rest were shattered like glass which are now unusable.


    Will didn''t say anything. He just stood there, thinking. He blocked the wall where the scorpions came from. He didn''t know if there were more scorpions there, but one day he was going back there, and he was going to make sure that they were all eliminated.


    He would be sure to bathe in their blood.


    "Blood for the blood god.." Will muttered and left the cave.

 Chapter 70 - Respect?

    Valerie was inspecting the dead scorpions on the ground. Her soldiers were shooting the heads of the scorpions since it''s the most sure way that they stay dead.


    ''Scorpions have been an extinct species for almost half a century. Ever since the hero Christopher Lawrence claimed to have exterminated all of them after one of them killed his son. Obviously, he was wrong.'' Valerie thought.


    Many species have gone extinct in this world, like slimes were once a very common and weak monster, like goblins. But thanks to the heroes they are now all gone for good. And also other species are gone thanks to the heroes.


    The human''s species special ability is to make other entire species go extinct.


    Valerie right now has one goal in mind, to become allies or even trading partners with Will. Before she wasn''t so sure since she didn''t know his ability, but now she really wants to.


    The main reason she wants to ally with Will is because of that destructive, enchanted gun he used. Their empire does indeed have various powerful weapons but that one weapon Will had is very destructive.


    If he could make more of those she can proceed with her future plans.


    Once Will exited the cave, Valerie immediately walked towards him.


    "Empress!" Her soldiers immediately followed her to protect her. There''s nothing saying that a scorpion or another monster could pop out of nowhere.


    "Hero, let us help you rebuild." The Empress offered her help to Will.


    "No, don''t bother. I can do this by myself."


    "Hmm¡­ okay, I won''t offer my help, but I can offer something you want. You did say you wanted a stronger metal, right? This world has a metal that is without a doubt the strongest in this world. Not even steel or dragon scales can be compared to it."


    Will''s eyes shined. A metal even stronger than steel and dragon scales? If he could use it on his golems he wouldn''t need to worry about them being destroyed.


    After the scorpion incident he wasn''t planning on using golems for the time being. It was too risky. Unless he could somehow protect them he won''t use them. They were far too valuable to simply toss them away like that.9


    And besides it wasn''t the first time he lost something valuable, like those countless times he died in lava with enchanted diamond gear on Minecraft.


    Will died before the nether update so he never lost netherite before. But he would have lost the netherite armor and tools if the update had come sooner.


    "Rico, hand me your anti-hero ?h?stpiece." Valerie asked.


    "Yes, ma''am." Rico took off his armor and revealed beneath a sort of chain armor, but it was very shiny, very blue like the ocean with a bit of white.


    The strange metal looked almost alive, like the colors were breathing and moving like the ocean.


    Rico took it off and handed it to Valerie.


    It is called ''anti-hero'' solely because the Great Sage was the first to discover it and therefore gave it that name. He''s not the type to put too much thought into things like names.


    "Is that so?" Will reached for the armor to touch it, but the Empress slowly pulled back.


    "Hold on. If you want this type of metal I need something from you in return." Valerie could see her plan worked.


    It''s like how it is in fishing: you toss a line with bait in it, you wait for the fish to take the bait, and once you see the fish take the bait you reel him in.


    In this case Will is the fish, she''s the one with the fishing rod, and the ''metal'' is her bait. And Will took the bait.


    "What do you need?"


    "That weapon you used, can you make more?"


    "The turret handgun?" Will asked to be sure.


    "Yes, that one. Can you make more?"


    Will could tell that she wanted his handgun turrets since they are very powerful. However, they didn''t know Will had all the leverage, and Will knew he had it.


    The handgun turret is amazing but at the same time no. It''s simply a handgun that can only carry 6 bullets, and has terrible aim. Without the infinite enchantment, it''s pretty much useless. And also he is the only who knows he can make them, and the only one who can add the infinite enchantment on any weapon.


    Without a doubt even expert blacksmiths could probably replicate his handgun. Will has seen Jack able to create a pistol from scratch in a few days, and he is a beginner blacksmith. A very experienced blacksmith could make a pistol in a few hours.


    Though some of his weapons do come out defective, Will can make 100 of those turret guns in a matter of minutes.


    But the real power isn''t his turret handgun, it is the infinite enchantment that is on his weapon.


    "How many can you make?"


    "Oof, hard to say. Making those weapons is very difficult for me. Not to mention my entire castle was recently destroyed." Will feigned it. When actually it was super easy, b?r?ly an inconvenience.


    It''s just that if he made it seem easy then it wouldn''t seem as valuable.


    It was a good trade in his mind. And besides he has been meaning to trade his weapons to someone, but not the kingdom. After all, trading with villagers is one of his favorite things to do in minecraft, that and enslaving them, but he doesn''t see any benefit in enslaving people like in minecraft. If anything, golems were the better choice to use instead of people.


    As much as Will would like to trade with her, he needed to rebuild his destroyed castle. Otherwise he''ll be very vulnerable.


    Thanks to the scorpions he''s gonna have to add more layers of protection to his base. How''s he going to do that? He had no idea. But after all this time on his world, he is used to solving things on his own now.


    "Um¡­ sure. Need any help?" Asked Valerie, again.


    "Nah, I''m good."


    Will proceeded to first gather any resources he could find that weren''t damaged by the scorpions, or his explosions.


    Unfortunately most of his items were destroyed, even his fruit farm was completely destroyed, and his camels were all dead.


    It was the equivalent of dying in hardcore minecraft but only worse, because this is real life and it was way more difficult in comparison.


    On the bright side he would have never made it further than 3 months on hardcore mode. He could b?r?ly make it 1 day on hardcore minecraft.


    "Empress, by any chance should we take ''care'' of him? Permanently?" Rico whispered to Valerie.


    It was hard to say how many of her men would be killed should he go all trigger happy with his infinite explosion bullets.


    In other words it just wasn''t worth having Will as an enemy.


    Regardless, Valerie decided to set up camp a bit further away from Will''s base to observe him, and to be prepared if any scorpions or other nuisances popped out of nowhere.


    Valerie was forced by her men to rest in a tent that they set up for her. She wanted to keep guard for the night but her men were very insistent that she rest.


    It has been like this for many years now. Most times she would be seen helping out her people in roles like lookout or cooking, cleaning, anything. Valerie always first took important rules like making important decisions in expanding their territory, or leading her men to battle against monsters, always taking charge.


    But when she isn''t busy with something important, she would try to make herself useful to her people in any way she could. Oftentimes she would find herself being persuaded by everyone to not help them out in such minor roles, and would instead encourage her to rest, eat, anything really.


    But being stubborn she would help them out regardless. Her help has made many people''s lives a little easier.


    And whatever riches she would get like gold, or jewels, she would give them to her people instead of herself. Apart from the few clothes she owns and some weapons, whatever else she didn''t need it would go to the people.


    Forget about fancy dishes, or expensive items. She didn''t own such items apart from powerful and useful items that could be used to protect herself and her people.


    To her people it was weird to see such an important figure like her help them out like that. They enjoyed it nonetheless. It is also why her men treat her with such respect, and it''s why she commands their total loyalty.


    In this world, aside from the heroes, the most well known figure is the king, And no king had ever ''lowered'' himself to stand on night guard, or cook, or clean.


    They could always be seen sitting on their fancy thrones for hours at a time, getting blisters on their ?sses for sitting for too long. Or abuse their wealth and power.


    Very few kings have tried to help out their own people, as not all of them are born ?ssholes. But those few unfortunately had done a terrible job, often making their situation worse than it already is and having their decision be mistaken on purpose.


    Of course those kings who sought to ruin the lives of people would be stripped of their power by the Great Sage. The king will always be an important role, but the one who has the power is the Great Sage without a doubt and everyone knows it.


    ...


    Morning rose. Valerie woke up feeling refreshed. She washed her face and exited her tent fully armed.


    She never took more rest than her people, and she worked just as hard if not more than anybody else. She treats herself just the same as everybody else.


    "Empress, you''re awake." Everyone suddenly became more active. Like when your boss suddenly enters the room you pretend to be working hard.


    "I am. Everyone, you don''t need to pretend to work. Just relax but be on guard." Valerie yawned and stretched out her arms.


    Then she noticed that Will''s base had been rebuilded from scratch. Well his walls at least are back to how it used to be.


    "Holy¡­ that was fast." Valerie was amazed to find the torn down walls rebuilt overnight. What kind of hero ability lets someone build something that quick?


    Even a single hero would find himself working tirelessly for months or even years to make something like that. And yet Will did it all by himself in a night.


    "Empress!" A young woman came running to her as soon as she saw her. She appeared to be somewhere in her mid-twenties. She had freckles, short black hair, and was well fit.


    In order to be a guard for the empire they are required to always be fit and young. This is so these people would have a better chance to protect themselves and others. If they are fat, out of shape, they would be fired. Those who got fired have the chance to get rehired should they get back in shape.


    Those who are too old to fight are given a retirement fund to relax. Or if they want to work in other field areas that don''t require much physical labor.


    "Rico¡­ he''s taking a break. He asked me to give you this report should you wake up."


    "Okay." Valerie took the report from her hands and read it carefully.


    "I''ve never heard of a hero with such an ability, or abilities. Most heroes usually have copies of other heroes, with the exception of the Great Sage and Shaun Quincy, who''s the only one to have the ''longer lifespan'' ability."


    "Well, this one hero is unique." Valerie responded.


    Will didn''t care if they saw him building. Now that the Empress knew about his existence there was no point in hiding anymore. It was only a matter of time before the king knew about him, too.


    Valerie read the first few lines and was weirded out.


    "Did¡­ he actually fly as well?" Valerie asked. Reading the first few lines she questioned her people.


    "He did, but it was weird. According to what we saw, the hero sprouted small wings, like a dragon''s, and flew. But the first hour was just him crashing on the ground over, and over, and over again."


    2 or 3 of them did see Will fly while the scorpions attacked, but that lasted for only a second and thought that it had something to do with scorpions.


    What Will wanted to do is use his armor''s set ability to fly and build like in creative mode in minecraft. After all it was easy to build when flying, well in video games anyways, but it was a different story in real life.


    Will remembered that he flew for a second when the scorpions were destroying his base, but he didn''t know how he did that, it was just instinct. It took a while but he managed to sprout actual wings. He was happy, and it felt weird, like it was a part of his body and he could control it with ease, as if it had always been a part of his body.


    That was the easy part. The difficult part was being able to fly. And he felt like Iron Man when he first learned to fly. There were many holes around his base because he made those holes when he crashed down when trying to fly. Eventually he got the hang of it and learned to fly.


    For a literal hour he just flew around just enjoying it. When he flew it was as if he was alive, an incredible sensation he could never describe, like he was free from being weighed down, like all his worries were tossed out the window.


    ''Is this how it feels to fly like a superhero?'' Will thought.


    Then he eventually flew down to his base to rebuild it. First he built the easiest and most important part of his base, the giant stone walls. After that he focused on the rest.


    Valerie finished the report and handed it back to the young woman.


    "Good job. I''ll help prepare the meals. Keep a lookout."


    "Yes, sir! I mean ma''am! Empress! Lady? Gah!" The young woman suddenly felt embarrassed.


    Meanwhile, Will was just sitting in the middle of his base. He managed to rebuild most of it, but his farms couldn''t be replaced since all of his fruit seeds and camels were destroyed.


    He couldn''t even make golems to mine because there is a huge chance they would find scorpions again, and destroy his base once again.


    He had the idea of making even more turrets and placing them underground. It seemed like a good idea but that would take too long. Still he is going to try, just not right now.


    He just sat there thinking what to do next. Tired and exhausted from working through the night, he just laid down to fall asleep. His dragon scale armor was not only comfy but it also protected him from the sun''s heat.


    "Hmmm¡­ most of my metals I keep in my ?h?st underground. Luckily most of them were undamaged. Looks like I will have to make a separate room filled with all my ores and valuables. Leaving them in ?h?sts all over the place was a bad idea from the start."


    Will started to see the errors he committed. But now he knows how to fix them.


    "Hold on¡­ I can ask Sandra for help." Will send his ex a simple message using his communication stone. Once he was stone he closed his eyes and fell asleep in the morning. He was just too tired to keep working.


    Will closed his eyes and just slept. He wanted to stay awake but his eyes felt like they started to weigh a ton, and got heavier by the second. No sooner than later he slept on the ground.


    Meanwhile¡­


    The kingdom read the reports handed to him by his soldiers.


    "Are you sure that this is real?" The king asked a half noble by his side.


    "I can ?ssure you it is. My cousin swears upon his life it''s true."


    "Huh¡­ I cannot believe it. I cannot believe that cashews come from a fruit." The king thought that that once sentence could be made into a song, but dismissed it. He''s not a singer or a songwriter.


    "What''s next¡­ hold on, is this other report also true?" The king''s eyes widened as he looked at the half noble.


    "It is true, my king. I swear upon my father''s grave!"


    "I''m right here, Andre!" Andre''s alive father shouted. He stood guard beside the walls.


    "Why is the Empress in the deserted lands?" The king asked.


    "According to our spies reports, she believes that the 100th hero is there."


    "Is he there? Did she find him?" The king stood up in panic. If she got a hero like that it''ll be a huge loss for the kingdom.


    "We are not sure yet. The spy wasn''t brought along with them. And he couldn''t follow them because it''ll look suspicious."


    "Gah¡­ be sure to have him message you the second he knows something about the hero."


    "Yes. But should we send some of our men? Like maybe a hero or 2 to kill them?"


    "Hmm¡­ How many men does she have with her?"


    "We don''t know. But the spy said she has possibly over 50 fully equipped men. Possibly even more."


    "Of course she does¡­"


    The king went into thinking mode.


    The king was worried that she did find and pulled the missing hero to her side. But thinking about it he had no reason to be worried.


    The king did send some sorcerers to scout out the area for the possibility that the rumors were true, but he then heard back that the rumors were entirely made up. All they found was a giant hill in the middle of it.


    It''s possible that this was a move to confuse him, or that the empress was merely plotting something else.


    He did see the Empress as a formidable opponent. Being all rich and resourceful made him envious. If he had her wealth he could power up all the heroes and make the kingdom grow.


    The kingdom of Reyes has always had trouble maintaining a stable income, especially when the 100 heroes are summoned every 100 years.


    "No, don''t send anybody there. It could be a death trap for all we know. And the heroes are still not ready for combat." The king decided to play it safe. He had too much to lose to simply risk it.


    This made him remember what he saw when Shaun was training the heroes. He had never seen Shaun so disappointed, so mad, and so angry before. He didn''t even get that mad when his hero buddies were killed.


    He remembered asking him what was wrong, and his words were,


    "I fought for my country during the horrific war! Over 116.000 Americans died in the war, and among them my brothers fought and died so we could protect them! And when I see those new ''heroes'' it reminds me that I fought for them, for THEM!!! Those little, annoying, no good, waste of meat- GAH! I just can''t! My brothers must be rolling in their graves to see what they risked their lives and fought to their deaths to protect! I''m taking a vacation for the next 100 years! Hopefully the next group of heroes aren''t as pathetic!"


    Shaun said that loud enough so all the heroes could hear them. And they all got sad and pissed.


    Shaun was saddened and disappointed to see how people in the year 2020 turned out to be.


    And honestly could anyone blame him?


    Before they were summoned, his expectations were high for them. To be strong, fearless, heart of gold, strong wills, like soldiers. Now he didn''t expect everyone to be soldiers, but 95% of those heroes are just the most s?ns?t?v?, laziest people he has ever met.


    Only 1 of them had any kind of training and it wasn''t even that great to him.


    "Poor Shaun." The king thought the same way. He had to treat the heroes like very fragile glass, otherwise they would leave, literally. 3 of them have already made that threat to him.


    "Your majesty!" Ronald, the crossdresser appeared in front of the king in a panicked state. This time he was dressed casually in men''s clothes.


    "Ronald? You aren''t supposed to hand me a report until night." The king seemed a bit annoyed that Ronald couldn''t follow a simple order.


    "I know, but this couldn''t wait. This is horrible!" Ronald took a pause to catch his breath.


    "What happened?"


    "A¡­ the people from the villages have started to revolt."


    "Tch. Are you serious?" The king almost laughed. He didn''t think people would actually revolt against him this fast, not when the heroes are on his side.


    In truth he expected a revolt but not for another few months. He was planning to add a ''few'' more tax laws in a few months. And by a ''few'' he means a lot.


    "The villages who have already signed your protection fees have started to refuse paying it. And those newer villages don''t want to join the kingdom. Instead they''ve either started harassing your soldiers, stealing from each other, or moving away."


    "Ronald, I expected some bumps when I decided to add these tax laws. Nothing weird about it."


    "I know, but they are moving to live in the Empire."


    The king''s eyes shined a bit. Then anger emerged on his face.


    "What?" The King asked, furious.


    If his people started to revolt, that''s fine. Harass and steal from his soldiers and workers? Fine as well. But moving to the empire for a better life? That is something he can''t tolerate.


    "Well¡­ I guess that''s fine. Those poor souls won''t make it to the empire on foot. It''ll take at most a month on foot. Not to mention all the predators lurking there. They won''t make it halfway. Either they''ll be killed or they''ll come back." The king ?ssured himself that those people won''t make it.


    "Yeah¡­ about that. Nearby villages also had the same idea, and they decided to use carriages and horses to travel. They formed a group of 300 people and are marching as we speak. And more people are joining them."


    The people know they can''t go against the king, the heroes, nobles, and sorcerers are just too powerful. So instead of fighting, they decided to run away.


    "..." The king was furious.


    "And, also¡­ it seems that a portion of your soldiers have joined in as well." Ronald could see the ugly expression on the king''s face, but he decided to keep feeding him bad news.


    Soldiers are also affected by the heavy tax laws, and most of them have families. So instead of dying for the kingdom that is making their lives a living hell, they decided it was better to join the group of people looking for a better place, for their families and themselves.


    The king placed his palm on his face.


    ''Should have seen that coming, honestly.'' He thought.


    "How could this get any worse?"


    "Your majesty!" A sorcerer appeared before him. "Clement, he''s establishing a force to fight against the kingdom! He''s leading a group of people who all hate the kingdom, or you, or anyone affiliated with the kingdom and have started to kill soldiers and pillage the villages that are under your protection!"


    *Shatter*


    The king accidentally applied too much pressure on his wine glass that it broke.


    "Okay, that is it! I want the nobles here, and all available sorcerers right this instant!" The king shouted. He planned on bringing back those people back to the kingdom by force, and also to find and kill Clement, seeing as how his king''s men aren''t doing a very good job at it.


    "I think not."


    The king heard a voice inside his head. He knew who it was. He calmed down, repressed his anger and sat down.


    "Forgot what I said. Just go. Everyone go! I want to be alone with my thoughts!"


    "But, Clement he''s-"


    "I will deal with that later! Now leave my sight!"


    Everyone heeded his orders and left the king alone.


    "What was it exactly that you were going to do?" The Great Sage appeared before the king. The king looked away, not looking at him.


    "Nothing at all." He responded.


    "I ignored these tax rules simply because I couldn''t be bothered by them. But planning on killing innocents is something I will not tolerate."


    "I was only planning on killing Clement. As for the rest, I was going to bring them back."


    "And have you forgotten why Clement betrayed you? Whose fault do you think it is?"


    "..." The king didn''t respond.


    "I believe you''ve forgotten who has the real power here. You''re not the worst king I have met, but you are certainly one of the most stupid one I''ve seen."


    The king already heard this speech, like a child being scolded by his parents for the hundredth time.


    The Great Sage could remove the king from the throne, but he doesn''t want to simply because he could care less who is king as long as they are not bloodthirsty tyrants.


    If he wanted to make the kingdom a better place he would have become king long ago.


    "Have you forgotten what gives you power? Is the crown the one that gives you power? Is it the fact that you''re king that gives you power?"


    "No¡­ it''s the respect from the heroes, the nobles, and you, their respect is what gives me power." The king answered.


    Heroes and nobles are what truly gives him power. He believes as long as they''re by his side he has all the power. It is why he made the tax laws in the first place, so he could give the heroes what they needed, and in turn they''d give him their loyalty and respect.


    Just like how the empress commands the loyalty and respect of her people. He wanted that for himself but just doesn''t do as good a job as her.


    "Respect? If respect is the only thing protecting you from a knife in the back, respect is nothing, right?"


    "...." The king.

 Chapter 71 - Subscribe to Technoblade

    Shaun was in his room alone. Unlike the rooms of the other heroes his was bigger and more decorated. It had various weapons and armor everywhere. There was even a heavy dummy made out of pure steel that was a punching bag for Shaun to use. On the side of the wall was a military uniform that was maintained well and cleaned that he never used.


    Shaun was just angry at how soft and weak these new heroes are. He picked up a cigar, lit it, and started taking many puffs. It was like his way to cope with stress.


    "What the hell is the matter?" A voice rang inside Shaun''s head. The Great Sage appeared in front of Shaun levitating.


    Shaun wasn''t even startled by the voice. He is used to it.


    "Have you seen the new heroes? Have you seen how disappointing they are? I wanted strong warriors, not them!" Shaun said.


    "... I don''t see ''heroes'' all I see are a bunch of kids who have been kidnapped from their home and are trying to get used to this new life. Obviously they had a peaceful life before. They may not be what you expected, but give them time. They''ll learn to adapt like we did. I wasn''t a soldier when I was brought here, but I got used to" The Great Sage A.K.A. the most powerful hero said.


    "And how long would that take? Years? Most likely. I cannot ?ssure them that they will be alive by the next few months. This world is cruel, it could literally eat them up if they are unprepared. I cannot believe how they turned out to be. After fighting in the war¡­"


    "According to what I know, they had many years of peace. Isn''t that why you fought in the war? For peace?"


    Shaun paused and went silent. It''s been so many years that he had forgotten why he fought in that war.


    "Yes, that is why I fought in the war, but as it turned out it didn''t matter because the ''peace'' I fought for didn''t last long." Shaun was depressed.


    "What do you mean?"


    Shaun took another puff, waited for a second and said,


    And if things weren''t bad enough not long after another major war had occurred, which was even WORSE than the war I fought in. And I don''t even know how my family and friends survived during those terrible times¡­ I just thought that after fighting that war there would be peace for a long time, long enough for my family to live a peaceful and long life.


    For the longest time I thought that was true. I could never go back to my old world and I made my peace with that, because I thought that they were safe from harm even without me there. Now I don''t even know."


    "Hmm." The Great Sage stood there, not saying anything. He didn''t know what to say to make him feel better.


    Shaun was angry indeed, but was taking it out on the heroes and called them names and everything else, and some of them cried.


    Shaun easily gets angry but never uses violences on others to vent his anger, he either punches objects or curses people to vent his anger, or smokes cigars sometimes.


    "You know, I had a son when I was 17. We named him Roger. When I turned 20 in 1914, that was when I enlisted in the army because I couldn''t afford to properly raise them with the crappy job I had. So I chose to fight for him, and for my country, and my darling wife, Liz. He was around 9 years old when I was kidnapped from my world. He wanted to be a soldier like his ''daddy'' but I didn''t want him to be one. By the time world war 2 happened, he''d have been 28 or 29 years by then. Most likely he enlisted in the army before, like I did."


    Once Shaun realized that being in the military could earn him more money compared to his previous job, he enlisted himself despite his wife being against it. But Shaun had no skills, no connections, no funds to support a family. He knew what he had to do in order to give his family a good, decent life.


    Most children tend to follow their parents footsteps. Shaun knew that which is why he thought his son actually enlisted in the army. But they will never know.


    WW1 lasted from 1914-1918.


    "But maybe he didn''t." The Great Sage said.


    "Maybe he did. Who''s to say? No one knows! I forgot what they sound like, their touch, their scent. One time I almost forgot their names and faces. I had to try my best to remember their faces and draw them so I won''t forget! I even had to write their names down so I won''t forget! But what I remember most from that world, that''s still fresh in my memory, will always be the-the damn war!"


    The deaths of his brother in arms were still fresh in his memory, he could see them dying or being torn to shreds, he could still remember that fear he felt 100 years ago, as if it just happened yesterday. That trauma he suffered is still lingering in the back of his head. No matter how hard he tries, he just can''t forget it.


    2.1 million American soldiers were dispatched to aid the allies in WW1, 116 thousand of those men died, along with them were most of his closest friends. That means that they had a literal 5% chance of dying in the war. His friends just weren''t lucky. But then again they and Shaun were sent first to war which meant that they had a higher chance of getting killed than most others.


    The Great Sage stood up and gently placed his palm on Shaun''s shoulder.


    "Obviously you''re angry right now. I am sorry for everything that has happened. I cannot tell you what happened to your family as you and I both know I would be lying if I said I knew. Take a break. Take a day, a week, a month, however long you''d like. I''ll have someone take care of the heroes training."


    Shaun didn''t say anything. He just covered his face with his hands.


    The Great Sage just remembered the first time Shaun was summoned. He was the oldest of the group. Shaun, just like many other heroes, had deep connections back in their home world like close friends, families. He remembered that Shaun was also the most fragile hero compared to the other heroes.


    The Great Sage cannot recall any other hero who has worked harder in order to return to his home. But as the years flew by Shaun convinced himself that it is impossible to go home. For over 50 years, half a century he held onto the thought that he could return to his normal life. He had fully convinced himself that they''re fine, that they are at peace, that they will be well fed, clothed, and protected. This thought and self comfort gave him a peace of mind for the next 50 years.


    But hearing the disasters that followed right after he was kidnapped triggered those old emotions and memories and it made his already fragile mind close to breaking. The Great Sage didn''t know if this world made Shaun''s mind stronger or weaker, he just can''t tell. But he knows he''s fragile.


    "And remember, what you fought for, peace, you made it happen, you and your brothers must be proud. The fact that the new heroes are like that is because you all managed to achieve peace. You may think that your contributions were insignificant, but I can ?ssure you that they are not. I am sure that the people from our world are thankful for your sacrifice, your family and brothers as well. They all are. Or at least they better be grateful."


    The Great Sage left the room, leaving Shaun alone to his own devices.


    Shaun was just angry because he thinks his sacrifice in WW1 was for nothing when all this time he thought he and his friends made a difference. He thought that with the war over there would be peace for many, many years to come, but that didn''t even last long, b?r?ly a decade. And now that he knows about the crises that happened 90 and 70 years ago. It made him think of the harsh times his family had to go through. What was worse is that he wasn''t there for them, nor does he know what fate had befallen onto them.


    Many things affected Shaun''s mood, his family, his age, this world, fighting in the war. Most soldiers that come back alive from a war suffer from depression and mental health issues like PTSD. Shaun doesn''t suffer from PTSD, but the war did affect his mentality.


    "If only¡­ you weren''t alive I wouldn''t have been kidnapped and been taken from everything I loved." Shaun said to himself. He is the type to push the blame on others, but he really knows that it''s no one''s fault. It''s more like a coping mechanism.


    If a hero said that to the Great Sage it certainly wouldn''t be the first time. Many heroes have felt the same way, often forgetting that he too was kidnapped from his world, just like every hero that came after him.


    Meanwhile¡­


    A certain heroine was chuckling to herself. It was Victoria strolling around the kingdom''s halls. She wore very loose clothing, very identical to what a sorcerer usually wears. Since she is very fat and usually stains or rips her clothes, the king decided to give her some sorcerer robes. Since they couldn''t find one her size they had to stitch together 3 different robes in order for her to fit in it.


    After all he is a WW1 soldier and didn''t think it was necessary to tell him. Victoria thought otherwise and just told him. Victoria might be a bully, but even she knows her stuff. Sometimes bullies read or listen in class.


    The reason she told him is because she simply didn''t feel like training today so she told him in order to skip training. And also because she''s a sadist. Shaun would usually focus on her and another fat hero named ''Chandler'' so they could lose weight, because obviously having that much weight would impede their movements and whatnot and would put them at greater risk of dying. Shaun was only doing it for their sake.


    It was shocking to see how much it affected Shaun. He is always this tough man who looks like he doesn''t have any feelings, like any other drill sergeant. But quite the contrary she accidentally hit a weak spot, and she loved it.


    It didn''t help when she over exaggerated the total deaths of the war and the destruction it had actually caused.


    Victoria is in the kingdom simply because none of the other sorcerers or nobles wanted to team up with her. They all thought she was too sadistic, often torturing monsters she finds and almost never killing them. After torturing them, she''d leave them alone to suffer. Those injured monsters, who were minding their own business, all they could do is either wait for something else to kill them, or bleed out, or starve to death. They all suffered a long and painful death.


    Since no one wanted to team with her, she was just hanging out in the kingdom, eating their food, bullying the other heroes. Killing people or bullying others she didn''t want to do. She might be a sadistic bitch but she didn''t want to bring trouble to herself.


    Honestly she was satisfied with killing huge monsters like red goblins or weak cyclops. Killing and torturing insects or bugs just wasn''t enough for her anymore. But there will come a time when torturing and killing those monsters won''t be able to satisfy her sadistic side anymore.


    "Who to kill¡­ what to kill¡­ who to kill¡­ what to kill¡­" Victoria muttered to herself and she strode through the fancy and huge hallway.


    She carried a huge enchanted knife in her hands, almost as big as a machete. She carries it with her because she uses it to cut the limbs off monsters to immobilize them. Victoria likes to use various methods of torture.


    She turned her nose to that of a dog to increase her sense of smell, because it''s the only animal she knows that has a very s?ns?t?v? sense of smell.


    She didn''t know that African elephants actually have the most s?ns?t?v? sense of smell out of any animal. (True story)


    Although dragons also have a s?ns?t?v? sense of smell, strangely she didn''t know how to transform into one. Her power is to be able to transform into any animal she wants, but she can''t transform into a powerful animal like a dragon. Obviously she didn''t know how her power works. It''s the same for every hero, they had to figure it out themselves.


    But those who have copies of the past heroes'' abilities have an easier time understanding their powers, as the heroes before them have recorded their experiences using their powers, and therefore passed down that information for future heroes to use.


    Victoria however is the first hero to have this power. Which is why she had a hard time knowing how to further understand her power.


    After pickling up nobody''s scent, Victoria continued walking leisurely, but kept looking back over her shoulder. She can''t help but get the sense that she''s being watched.


    In fact there was someone watching her, but from above, the Great Sage was looking at her.


    He stroked his long beard, and went into deep thinking.


    He was thinking what to do with Victoria, but he didn''t know what. He could punish her, but like he said to Shaun earlier they''re basically just kids, they don''t know the meaning of pain or suffering like Shaun does.


    By far only 8 of these new heroes have willingly stepped outside the kingdom, 7 if he doesn''t count Will. Right now at least 80 of these heroes should have been exploring and getting used to their own powers, instead they''re just wasting their time. Shaun already gave most of them permission to go outside but in groups only.


    There have been many heroes, many kings, and many people that he has seen grow for over 300 years.


    He has seen people like Victoria before, sadistic, and enjoys the p???sur? of inflicting as much pain onto others. But a few of those people turned out to become good natured people, he helped some of them but most of them found their way on the right path. A few times they are misunderstood which explains their behaviour, but in most cases they''re literally born psychopaths.


    He has seen several good natured people grow up to be the worst of scum. For example, the noble who was executed for killing children was one of them. He used to be a good child, only to end up becoming a child murderer. It''s the same for a few kings he''s had to work with. They promised the people something amazing, then everyone loves him, then it turns out they are just bloodthirsty. It only happened 4 times but those 4 times he''s had to remove those kings from the throne. Same for other heroes who have fallen from grace.


    The Great Sage cannot see the future, therefore he cannot tell if Victoria will make a 180 degree turn and change for the better. Besides he''s been meaning to find a hero to replace his spot, and who knows if Victoria might be the one, but that''s a big if. Besides, he thinks Shaun would be the perfect replacement because of his hero ability, but is worried about his mental state.


    Then again there has been no other hero who has come close to matching his power.


    After thinking about it, he decided to keep a close eye on Victoria instead of punishing her. He suspects that she could either become a fallen hero, or she might just change her ways and become someone people could rely on. And also he feels too tired to hand out punishments.


    "I feel like my end is near. I am growing weaker." He looked at his old hands.


    He has long noticed that he just doesn''t have the energy or motivation to do hero work like he used to. About 50-70 years ago he had already noticed that he''s becoming slower, and weaker, and cares less about basically everything.


    There was a time when he used to care about every single life, helping the elves secretly, helping every human, helping make everyone''s lives better. But now all he wants to do is rest, eat, and not care about anything.


    Nothing he could do could bring him back to his prime. He has grown tired of it all.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will was soundly asleep on the ground in the middle of his base. It was the middle of the day, but the sun was covered by the clouds.


    "Will. Wake up." A familiar voice gently called out to him.


    Will woke up from the voice calling to him. Waking up to that familiar voice brought back some memories, pleasant memories.


    He turned and saw Sandra, his ex, calling out to him. She looked so beautiful that he was mesmerized for a second.


    Will got up and realized just how tired he was. He didn''t get enough sleep.


    "Morning, Sandra." He remembered that he had messaged her for help before falling asleep.


    Sandra looked up and noticed it wasn''t morning, not even close.


    "I came as soon as you messaged me. Thanks for the heads up, by the way." She was referring to the Empress''s men. If she didn''t know about them she''d thought that they were enemies or something.


    She did confront them, but they weren''t hostile. She just walked around them and entered Will''s base.


    "What? Oh, right, the Empress." Will yawned and stretched his arms and legs.


    "Is that guy with you? Or¡­" Will saw that Bruce wasn''t here. He vaguely remembered him as the one who accompanied Sandra.


    "Bruce? No. I came here as quickly as I could. Also brought you what you wanted."


    Sandra brought a pouch full of seeds which were basically given to her because of her hero status.


    "I love you." Will was overjoyed. He could replant his farm.


    "Yeah¡­ so this is your base. Nice work. I like it."


    Sandra looked around his empty, messy looking base. There was a lot of rubble everywhere but she didn''t pay any mind to it. It reminded her of his room the one time she visited him.


    "It''s¡­ not my best work. It would have been nicer if those scorpions didn''t wreck the whole place." Will stood up to stretch.


    "Yes, you told me. I even saw some of their corpses on the way here."


    Remembering those scorpions made her shiver in disgust. She doesn''t fear them, but she finds crawlies disgusting.


    As for Will, he is afraid of giant monsters, especially sea monsters.


    "Yeah¡­ Do you want to help me build a castle or even a kingdom?" Will felt like he had to ask her that.


    Sandra suddenly remembered something and smiled.


    "You mean like the time we wanted to build a castle in minecraft but never got to finish¡­"


    Halfway through her sentence she stopped. As she remembered the reason they didn''t finish building the castle and her face got gloomy.


    "Sorry, I shouldn''t have said that." Sandra apologized. She knew how much Alex''s death affected the both of them, especially Will.


    "It''s fine, Sandra. I am asking you to help me because of him." Will was still gloomy over Alex''s death, but not as much as before.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I just thought since we never got to finish the castle with Alex, and that was the last thing the three of us did together, perhaps it''ll be nice if we got to finish it, for him and us."


    It was the reason Will felt so angry when those scorpions destroyed his castle. True it was annoying having to rebuild what they had destroyed, but they basically pissed on his memories of Alex. That he cannot forgive.


    He regrets never having finished the castle that the three of them had built. It brought him painful memories at the mere thought of it. But once time passed that pain became less and less, and he wanted to finish it. But now that time will never come again.


    "That''s nice. Yeah, I like that idea." Sandra agreed without hesitation.


    Out of the three of them, Sandra has always been the better builder than the rest of them. She would think of something wonderful to build and she''d be able to do it. Will could never build something as great as hers. He was always envious of her builds.


    "We can even build a statue of him once we''re done. Or something to keep his memory alive. But first we can build the farm, the things, everything!"


    "Okay, fine. But it''ll be difficult with just the two of us."


    "Oh, don''t worry about that. Just leave the heavy work to me." Will felt overjoyed to actually say this.


    In the past, Will couldn''t get a well paying job because he didn''t have the skills or experience to land a good job. The best he could do was work at a fast food restaurant or clean the place as a janitor.


    They''re respectable jobs, but for Will he felt like he had to do better for Sandra. And also because his parents were rich so they wanted him to have a well paying job, like them. His parents are scientists.


    One day he''d inherit their money, but it didn''t feel like he''d earn that money, so he didn''t feel accomplished.


    But now that he could actually do something, something that only he could do himself, he felt mighty proud of himself.


    They divided their jobs. Will built the farm room first, which was easy and was able to replant his seeds.


    Next he built his castle, which they both agreed to do first. With Sandra''s vision and with Will''s 3 months of experience building buildings, it was easier and better than last time.


    Honestly, the house was coming a lot better than Will could have ever hoped to build.


    Before the castle was destroyed by the scorpions, it was merely just a giant stone, rectangle building with a gold throne in the end of the room.


    With Sandra''s imagination, there were steps added, fancy iron, wooden, granite floorings, fancy strong pillars made of various metals were also added. It was still rectangle shaped but the stone walls looked fancier than ever. It looked more like a castle than before.


    If Will didn''t lack more materials then he couldn''t imagine what more stuff she would have added to the castle. And he loved all of her ideas, not because she is her ex and still has feelings for her, but because he could see that her ideas were already better than his own.


    Like he said, he was jealous of her imagination. He couldn''t help but wonder what kind of builds she''d been able to build if she were to have the crafting system instead.


    It was like seeing those amazing builds on minecraft you''d see on youtube, and then compare it to yours. And you realize that you can''t ever hope to build one because you''re either lazy, or just overwhelmed by how awesome the build is. (I speak from experience :( )


    "Phew. That was fun." Sandra lay down on a bed that was in the middle of the castle. Since Will had spare leather, he made a bed out of leather which was better than sleeping in a stone bed. He needed to get a lot of wool, feathers, or soft materials for beds.


    Thanks to the scorpions most of his leather was gone, but he picked up whatever he could and made a bed for Sandra.


    "Indeed." Will brought a ?h?st filled with cooked meat. It was basically what he had left from the ?h?sts that weren''t destroyed. Unfortunately the ?h?st with all his fruits were destroyed, which is why he had to ask Sandra for help.


    He also brought some fruits with him. These fruits were freshly picked from the seeds that he had just planted. One of the benefits of the crafting system is having fruits and trees grow at an incredibly fast rate.


    "What exactly is your ability? It''s almost like a minecraft ability." Sandra got curious about his power. But she didn''t think he had such an ability because that would be far too unrealistic, even after living in this world for 3 months she wouldn''t believe that unless Will told her..


    "Haha, that would be awesome." Will''s heart almost jumped but acted as naturally as he could. She had guessed his power. Then again he could see the similarities, as would anyone who has ever played minecraft.


    "I''d tell you, but the Great Sage can read minds, so¡­"


    "I completely understand." Sandra didn''t ask any more questions about Will''s ability.


    The Great Sage can read minds. It''s how he found out about Will, because he read Jasmine''s mind.


    If Will had known about his mind reading ability, he would have never made that deal with Jasmine. But it''s too late to change it.


    Seeing Sandra getting cozy in his bed, getting used to his room, looking everywhere and admiring the castle, he smiled.


    "It''s like the first time you visited my house. You looked like a puppy that I just brought home. Looking everywhere with those big, cute eyes. Like it''s the first time you''ve ever seen a man''s room."


    "No I don''t." Sandra said. Although she''d replaced the word ''man''s room'' with ''boy''s room'' instead.


    "And, I never stayed over at your room. As much as I wanted to." Sandra always did want to stay over at Will''s house, like a sleepover at a friend''s house, but it wasn''t possible for a lot of reasons.


    "Are you saying you want to stay for the night?" Asked Will to be sure.


    "Yeah. If you don''t want me here I understa-"


    "Nonono, you can stay." Will cut her off mid-sentence. "But I don''t think it''ll be as luxurious or as comfortable compared to staying in an actual kingdom with high class food, attendants, and warm showers."


    "It''s fine. You have showers?" Sandra doesn''t remember seeing a shower.


    "Only cold water. And no shampoo¡­" Will suddenly felt poor, despite literally having a gold mine.


    "Better than nothing, I guess." Sandra shrugged, paying no mind to it.


    "Now that I think about it, why is it that you never stayed over at my house? My parents liked you." Will decided to move on a different topic.


    "Well, it felt weird that I would stay over and your parents knew about it, and wouldn''t think that we hadn''t done anything we shouldn''t do before marriage."


    "No, yeah, you''re right."


    Now that Will thought about it, his parents would most likely think that way.


    "And also Alex was always at your house." Sandra pointed out.


    "That''s because he lived there."


    "Huh?"


    Sandra had a confused look on her face.


    "What?" Will didn''t know why she had that confused look.


    "Alex lived at your house?"


    "Ohhh! That''s right. We never told you." Will suddenly remembered.


    "Told me what?"


    "That Alex lives there."


    "Okay, that I already know. I thought you two were friends, not related."


    "No, we weren''t related at all."


    "Was he¡­ adopted?"


    "I wish."


    "... I''m confused." Sandra knows that friends or even long distance relatives can stay at the house for a few days, but to live in a house?


    It didn''t make sense to her because Alex was Will''s age, yet they''re not related. Shouldn''t Alex have another place to live with his own family?


    Now that she thinks about it, Alex did spend a long time at Will''s house. She always thought that he lived nearby and always visited Will''s house because they were good friends.


    And he never mentioned his family, or where he lived. She never tried to pry into his family situation as she knew it wasn''t any of her business. But he would have mentioned his parents, or siblings, but he never did.


    "I guess it''s safe to tell you. I¡­ or we planned to tell you some time ago about Alex, but weren''t sure when was a good time."


    "Tell me what?"


    "Well¡­ about Alex, his family, everything. Do you want me to tell you?" Asked Will to be sure.


    "Sure." Sandra replied without hesitation. It involved a good friend of hers. She had no reason not to hear his story.


    "It all started when I secretly went out to buy a video game¡­"

 Chapter 72 - The story of Alexander Anderson (part 1)

    Oh yeah it''s backstory time.


    Also made a discord. I thought "why not?" and made one.


    Here''s the link:


    discord.gg/XM8r7CXVdZ


    ****************************


    (Read THE FIRST BIT of chapter 52 first to understand the next part a little better)


    Will was on the ground. He had almost died when a truck almost ran over him. Luckily someone pulled him by his hoodie at the last second and saved his life.


    People gathered around the truck that fell over. They all took out their phones and used it to record it. No one''s attention was on Will. No one had died from the accident, but the truck would block the driveway for other cars.


    The one who pulled Will and saved him is a teenager around his age. He couldn''t get a good look at his facial features since the sun was behind him and made it difficult to see. And he was still sitting on the ground, scared shitless, as any ordinary teenager would be.


    "Damn¡­" Alex looked beside his feet and he got mad. He picked up a McDonald''s cheeseburger, but the burger dropped on the ground and the ingredients scattered everywhere when he dropped it. Alex accidentally let go of his burger when he pulled Will from his hoodie.


    Still, Alex picked it up, brushed away some of the dust and dirt that was on the burger.


    "Come on, get up. Go back home or whatever. Just don''t get isekai''d anytime soon." Alex helped Will back on his feet, Will was still in a daze. Alex looked at Will one last time and left as he ate his burger.


    "Wha- wai- wait!" Will tried to run after Alex, but he was still scared and his legs were numb.


    "It''s¡­ that¡­ thanks for¡­" Will couldn''t find the proper words to say to Alex. Now that he took a good look at him, he noticed that Alex is ordinary looking, short black hair, his clothes were dirty and broken from god knows what. He looked very serious, a bit tall just above average.


    He couldn''t tell if Alex was younger or older than him. But Alex did look older because he looked dirty, aside from his worn down clothes, Alex had messy black hair, his face looked sorta clean, but his shoes were the most torn out of all his clothing. Even his toes were sticking out.


    However, his long sleeves are the only parts of his clothing that weren''t too badly damaged. But today is a hot day, so it didn''t make sense for Alex to wear long sleeves on such a hot day. He didn''t pay too much attention on that part.


    Alex also had a smart phone with him, but his screen was scratched, old, and the screen was shattered. He also used wired headphones that helped him listen better on his phone.


    "Got something to say?" Asked Alex in an annoyed tone.


    "It''s just that¡­ well¡­"


    "Jeez, please finish a sentence, today if possible." Alex could understand why Will was like that. He was almost killed. Something that Alex could relate to.


    *WEEEEEEOOOOO*


    Police sirens could be heard from a distance.


    "Wait!" Will ran after Alex because he wanted to thank him, help him. Seeing his pathetic state he had to help him.


    At first Will tripped, but he started to regain control of his feet and could chase after Alex. But Alex was too quick.


    Alex didn''t run too far. He stopped at a nearby park which was like 3 blocks away. He heard a police siren closing in, with no choice left he hid behind the bushes. The people in the park didn''t even pay attention to Alex.


    A few seconds later a police car came around but headed in the direction of the accident.


    Alex heaved a sigh of relief. He noticed he still had his dirty burger, his phone, and smiled, he didn''t accidentally drop it as he ran. As he prepared to leave he saw Will running after him.


    "Dude! Why are you following me?!" Alex didn''t want a stupid kid following him and attracting attention.


    "Please, let me thank you by helping you." Will was skinny, but he wasn''t much of a runner so he got tired a little bit.


    "I don''t need your help. Just go." Alex prepared to leave, but the next thing Will said made him stop.


    "I-I- I have clothes you can wear, and food."


    "How much food?" Asked Alex.


    "Um, chicken, sandwiches, so-sodas. And candy." Will wasn''t used to talking to people his age so he was kinda feeling awkward about it..


    Will in general was a good person. He''d help people in need without a thought. But it is that kindness that people would take advantage of by others.


    "Fine. I''ll consider it as payment for saving your life." Alex had no reason to refuse his offer.


    "Um, okay. My house is¡­ uh oh." Will didn''t remember which way his home was.


    "You forgot where you live?"


    "Um¡­" Will suddenly felt scared. This was his first time sneaking out of his home, since his parents don''t let him go outside on his own.


    "Oh, right." Will took out his phone, got on google maps and typed in his address.


    "Found it." Will headed to the direction where the accident began. But Alex firmly grabbed his arm.


    "Um¡­" Will nodded timidly. They took the longer route back to Will''s own place, completely avoiding the police.


    Will saw Alex was still eating the dirty burger in his hand.


    "Please, don''t eat that burger! It fell on the ground!"


    Alex looked at Will in confusion. And asked, "Why?"


    "Because it was on the ground."


    "I''ve eaten worse things off the ground." Alex took the last bite of his burger and savored every bit of it. He could care less about where the food has been, as long as it is edible he didn''t care.


    Will thought that it was gross, but also felt bad for Alex. As someone who''s been spoiled all his life, he found it wrong to eat things that have touched the ground, especially on the side of the streets.


    Will didn''t even think as to why Alex would want to avoid the police. Still he led him back to his home. Once they reached it Alex was amazed.


    "Holy! Is your family rich?" Alex has lived in poverty.


    "Hm. This way."


    Instead of going through the front door, Will led Alex to the back door. The back door led straight down to a path of stairs, which led to the basement floor.


    Will took out a key from his pocket and opened the door.


    "Hurry." Will hurried Alex to go in.


    Alex merely entered the house at his own pace. Will quickly shut the door and locked it.


    "Phew. I thought my parents would be home by now. Seems that they''re out late. Lucky." Will''s prayers had been answered.


    He did a bit of planning on sneaking out to buy a video game without his parent''s knowledge. He had to save up money from the money his parents gave him lunch money for school. They usually gave him about 10-15 dollars a day.


    After many days of skipping lunch at school Will had finally saved up to buy the video game ''bloodborne'' which is like dark souls. It also gave him enough time to study his parent''s schedule and set up a time when he would buy the game.


    It took a few weeks longer to execute his plan since he was nervous and scared to go outside on his own. Good thing was that the video game store was merely 20-30 minutes walking distance from his house.


    Today would be the day where the one a month punishment would finally be lifted.


    "Woah¡­ Are you secretly like a rich noble family from an anime of some kind?" Alex''s eyes twinkled when he saw the basement.


    It had a mini fridge, 3 TV''s, large speakers, 2 large couches, a pool table, 4 rooms, and so many beautiful yet expensive looking decorations.


    But on the ground were piles of clothes everywhere, garbage, crumbs everywhere. It was a nice place but the garbage ruined it.


    To Alex this was the equivalent of having like millions of dollars. But Will''s family was upper middle class, so they''re richer than most people and can afford better living conditions than the lower class. It''s the kind of house you would see on the internet and that you could never hope to afford in this lifetime.


    "This is my room." Will said. The basement was indeed his room.


    It''s been a few years since they moved into this house. And as an only kid for now, he wanted the basement for himself, and his parents agreed and even made it into a mancave. All this was just for him.


    "Woah, you really are living like a king. Like a king among kings!"


    Alex could see that Will was spoiled. But at least he didn''t act like a spoiled, ungrateful brat. Will was timid, and kind. Not like the spoiled, ungrateful rich kids he reads in those wuxia novels.


    It''s okay to be spoiled, there is nothing wrong with it. But acting like ungrateful, spoiled, demon brats is unforgivable.


    "Woah, I didn''t know you can have more than one TV! Woah, a working giant fridge! Woah, fancy chandeliers. Woah, such comfy couches!"


    Alex was like a kid. Everything in this room fascinated him, even normal everyday items.


    "Yeah¡­ I think we have some food- wait, what are you doing?" Will stopped Alex from picking up a half-eaten box of cookies that had been sitting there for various days.


    Alex didn''t stop and just ate it, not letting any of it go to waste.


    "It''s food, right?" Alex could care less if the food was half-eaten or stale. This half-eaten box of cookies is the best thing he had in years. He didn''t see anything wrong with what he was eating.


    Hunger can make people do the craziest of things. But this b?r?ly qualifies as crazy or weird.


    "I''ll make you a, uh, sandwich. Just please don''t move. And don''t eat the garbage here. Please." Will ran up the stairs and ran straight to the kitchen.


    Alex looked around. He didn''t sit on the couches and just stood up. He knew that he was dirty, filthy, covered in dirt and germs, so that''s why he didn''t sit on any of the couches.


    "Hmm¡­ I guess this place could use a little cleaning." To Alex, this was the best room he had ever seen despite the mess. But it could be cleaner.


    Will was searching the refrigerator, the pantry, just straight up rummaging through the kitchen like he was a hungry thief.


    Will never made his own food, and rarely helped in the kitchen. So it was a challenge to find the ingredients to make a basic sandwich, which was mostly just bread, sliced ham, and lettuce or whatever people use in sandwiches.


    It took ages, but he finally found the bread, and some sliced ham. He prepared it as best as he could, and he even cut it in half.


    The kitchen was a mess because of all his rummaging. Before he stepped foot into the kitchen it was super clean. Now there was clutter everywhere.


    "Man, didn''t know making a sandwich was so difficult." Will wiped the imaginary sweat from his forehead. It was just a sandwich with some ham, nothing else.


    He did find lettuce, but as he began washing the lettuce on the sink he accidentally dropped it. One of the tips he got from his mom from cooking dinners is that if anything falls into the kitchen sink it belongs in the garbage.


    Will didn''t need to use the entire lettuce, but he did because he wasn''t smart about it. Now he was out of lettuce.


    "Oh, god, mom and dad are gonna kill me." Will noticed the kitchen was a mess thanks to him.


    "Okay, give this sandwich to¡­ that guy, and then I will clean this up." Will didn''t know Alex''s name yet, so he referred to him as ''guy'' for now. As he got his plate to deliver it to Alex, his heart stopped the second he heard the front door open.


    "We''re home, sweety." It was Will''s parents, they had just arrived.


    Will''s heart started to beat fast, and he started sweating bullets. He didn''t want to know what his parents would do if they saw all this mess, which they will because the kitchen and the living room are connected. It is literally the second thing anybody sees when they enter the house.


    What was worse is that the basement was still a mess, and his parents clearly told him to clean it up before they arrived.


    And what was even worse is that he invited Alex to his house. How would they react to seeing Alex? He doesn''t know but he knows it''ll be bad.


    His parents entered the house with his gaming consoles that they took from him. They had already taken the consoles from Will multiple times, and each time they hid it somewhere in the house Will always found it, like a hound dog finding hidden drugs like a pro.


    "What''s wrong¡­ oh." His mother, who looked very young and average, was shocked to see the state of the kitchen, which she had left clean before they left.


    "..." His father, who looked like a grown-up version of Will, only stood there in silence as he looked at the kitchen, and his son in the middle of it.


    "Did you do this?" Asked his mom.


    Will only nodded, not saying a word. He looked down but not in shame, but to hide his scared expression. What worried him most was Alex that was still downstairs. How he prayed to the gods'' to Jesus, to everyone, that Alex wouldn''t come up the stairs.


    "And you made a sandwich. All this mess for a sandwich?" His dad said.


    Will nodded again.


    "Aw¡­" His mother smiled. She walked up to him and hugged him.


    "You finally did something for yourself. Good job." She congratulated him instead.


    "..." Will already knew he was dumb. Though he felt happy about being hugged, it didn''t help that she said it in a way that made him feel like mentally retarded, like he can''t do anything himself. He could but he was just lazy.


    "Well¡­ that''s true. Still, you should have cleaned up or kept the mess to a minimum." His father looked around the kitchen.


    "Really? You''re saying that?"


    "What?" The father looked at his wife in confusion.


    "Remember that time when you made that ''romantic'' fish dinner for us on our third date?"


    "Not this again." The father rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.


    "What was that?"


    "Nothing, honey. Nothing. Just¡­ hey, Will, let''s go downstairs and see if you cleaned up that mess!" The father hurriedly took Will down stairs before his wife gave him another long, boring lecture.


    Will could feel his feet were frozen from fear. Once they reach downstairs his father will without a doubt see Alex. He couldn''t speak at all. And yet he couldn''t let go of the sandwich in his hands.


    "Let''s see what the damage¡­ is. Huh." The father and Will looked at the basement, and it was sorta clean, at least better than before.


    Most of the garbage had already been picked up. And most of the clothes had been folded and placed neatly on the clean couch.


    Will was more shocked to not see Alex there. Was he even there at all? Did he leave? No, if he did leave an alarm would make a sound the second he opened it which would have made a sound throughout the house.


    "Well, I am impressed. It''s not as clean as I had hoped but it''s getting there. Good job, son." His father patted Will''s head. To him this was a major improvement.


    "Yeah." That was all Will could say.


    "But, if you want food, just grab some leftovers. We have plenty of chicken left over. It''ll save us the trouble of cleaning up."


    Will wanted to slap himself in the face. He was right. He saw the leftovers in the fridge but he didn''t even think about giving it to Will after microwaving it. Perhaps it was because he was too focused on giving Will a plain sandwich.


    Microwaving leftovers would have been much better and faster than a sandwich.


    But he didn''t think about that anymore. He just wanted his father out of the basement so he could look for Will, who surely must be hiding here.


    "I''ll be helping your mother in the kitchen. Just stay here and keep cleaning this up. Okay?" His father rustled his son''s hair one more time and ran upstairs. Will''s hair looked like a bird''s nest now.


    Hearing his father''s footsteps fading, Will placed down the sandwich and started yelling while whispering to Alex.


    "Where are you? Dude?"


    "In here."


    Will jolted as he actually got a response. It came from one of the doors, his room to be exact.


    Will saw Alex peeking out of the door.


    "I heard your parents, so I hid in this living room. Hope you don''t mind." Alex whispered to Will. He mistook it for a living room because it was a huge room, at least to him.


    "That''s not a living room. That''s my room."


    "I thought the basement was your room."


    "Yes, but¡­" Will realized he made an error. "It doesn''t matter right now, my parents are home!"


    "Yeah, I should leave. That sandwich for me?" Will pointed at the delicious looking sandwich.


    "No! Don''t! Once you open that door my parents will hear the alarm and they will know it''s coming from here."


    Each door that opens has a different sound when the alarm sounds.


    "Then I''ll open the door, quickly bolt out of here, and you tell them you opened it for¡­ whatever excuse you can think of!"


    "No! They will know I am lying. And I never open the door. In fact I am not even supposed to have the key to open the door!"


    Will''s parents hid the key in case Will ever ran outside to protect him. This made sure that Will never leaves without their permission, and it stops Will from ever forgetting to ever lock the door and preventing a possible home invasion.


    It was simply better and easier to use the front door.


    "So what should I do?" Alex didn''t think he''d be staying for too long in this house, but it would have been a stupid move on his part to refuse free food.


    "I don''t know! I don''t plan these things!"


    "Should I keep hiding in this living room?"


    "It''s a room, and no. Wait, actually, perhaps you have to. Just don''t ever let my parents find you. Please! I''ll get super grounded."


    Alex thought that perhaps this kid lived alone, like in the mangas he reads, which is why he invited him. But he was wrong, so wrong.


    "Wait, why did you clean the basement?"


    "That''s the first thing you ask?" Alex had run away from the police, looks like a homeless person, and that''s the first thing he asks?


    "I just thought I would show my thanks for the cookies."


    "The stale cookies?"


    "Those were the best cookies I ever had."


    That reminded Will of the sandwich. He handed Alex his sandwich. Alex looked at the sandwich with sparkling eyes.


    "Just don''t go upstairs. Please."


    "Aye, aye, captain."


    Alex closed the door. Will sighed. Not a second later the door opened again.


    "Um¡­ can I have the internet password?" Alex gave Will his broken phone. He just wanted to watch anime.


    "...." Will was worried how laid back Alex was acting.

 Chapter 73 - The story of Alexanders Anderson (part 2)

    "Huh." Sandra looked at Will with disbelief in her eyes.


    "What?" Asked Will.


    He was in the middle of telling her Alex''s backstory,


    "I just find it hard to believe that that''s Alex. Did he run away from home or what?" Sandra would have never thought that both of them met like that.


    "Yes, but for a good reason¡­"


    Will continued explaining to her everything he knew about Alex.


    Somehow he was able to trick his own parents and successfully hid Alex from his parents for one night.


    Alex slept in the closet, which was huge. It made sense since Will lived in a large house and thus all the closets are the size of smaller rooms.


    Alex made a little joke about a show called ''Bleach'' and how it reminded him of it, when Rukia hides and lives in Ichigo''s closet. Will has never seen that anime so he never understood what he meant.


    When he was in the closet, Will gave him a blanket, a pillow, some new clothes including his own pyjamas. Will asked Alex NOT to take a shower. It would make too much noise and alert his parents. Even though Alex smelled like he hasn''t taken a shower in years, Will did not mind the smell as long as he wasn''t too close to him.


    Alex and Will thought that he would only stay for one night. But the second day came and there was a problem, his parents decided to stay home the entire weekend inside the house with Will, to spend time together as a family, which is something they rarely do.


    Will loved his parents, but he really wanted them out of the house otherwise they would find Alex.


    Will made some suggestions to eat outside, or some excuse to bring his parents out of the house. But they didn''t like the idea and instead watched movies all weekend, played family games, and ate so much junk food. They just didn''t feel like doing anything.


    Had Will continued to pressure them to go outside, they would find his actions suspicious and would ask questions. Will knew this as he had made these mistakes several times before.


    Why didn''t Alex simply leave the house when Will''s parents are asleep? Is because they set up an alarm which sets off after a specific time. This is so Will never sneaked out, and no one could enter. The minute the alarm sounds, police will be sent to their house. They live in a nice neighbourhood, but better safe than sorry.


    Alex was not confident in outrunning the police. It was simply too risky. So he stayed most of the weekend alone, by himself with his own phone. Will was keeping his parents away from the basement away from Will.


    But thanks to his phone, and the great internet Will''s family had, he could watch so much anime without the screen freezing up or whatnot. A lot better than using the free internet from any fast food restaurant.


    On a sunday, Will successfully managed to escape from his parents and head downstairs to the basement. He didn''t do this for Alex, but because he was simply tired of all the ''family time'' that he didn''t have time to play his favourite game, minecraft.


    He sulked a little because his bloodborne game was gone. But since he wouldn''t be alive if Alex hadn''t been there. He counted himself very lucky. Will wouldn''t be going outside any time behind his parents back again.


    And yes he was tired of spending time with his family but not tired enough to not play minecraft on his computer.


    Alex was a little bored and needed a drink. So he exited Will''s closet and Will''s room.


    "Hey, whatcha doin''?" Whispered Alex when he saw Will playing a game he''d never seen before.


    Will looked at the steps but heard nothing. He sighed because his parents didn''t hear him


    Will''s house only had one computer, Will''s computer. Will used it to play games, and very rarely to do actual homework. Honestly the chances of him doing homework on his computer are as low as the legendary author ''DemonGodHiatus'' posting a new chapter every day.


    His parents don''t use computers since they spend most of their time outside on their work. They usually use their phones or ??ptops for work and work only.


    "Minecraft? I think I''ve heard about that. Is it a block game with zombies?" Alex seemed a little interested in it. He sat beside Will.


    Will noticed that the pungent stinge that came from Alex before wasn''t there anymore. And he even looked clean.


    Before Will looked like a homeless person, dirty, smelled, but now he looked like a clean, normal, decent human being.


    "Did¡­ you shower?" It was the only explanation he could think of.


    "No. I am not dumb. I simply took a wet towel, some hand soap and washed myself everywhere. Don''t worry, I made sure to wash it and dry it after using it."


    Alex knew that taking a shower would make too much noise, like Will told him before. But he still wanted to be clean. So he was smart and wiped himself clean with a towel instead.


    "That''s¡­ smart¡­ Wait, what''s your name?" Will asked.


    "Uh¡­ it''s¡­ my name is¡­ Alex. Alexander Anderson."


    The reason Alex hesitated was not because he was afraid of Will knowing his name, but because Alex never had a proper name. He just thought of an anime character, and the first one that popped in his head was Alexander Anderson from Hellsing, and used that name instead. (Explained in ''Killer of mc''s)


    And also it was basically the only normal name he could think of at the moment.


    "I''m Will¡­ um¡­ do wanna play?" Will pointed at the computer screen.


    "Um, sure. But I don''t know how to play."


    "You don''t know?" Will''s eyes shined. Not because Alex didn''t know how to play, but because he actually said ''yes'' this would be the first time he would play a video game with anybody.


    He had asked his parents to play with him several times, but they were either too busy or simply didn''t like the video games Will plays. Except tetris, candy crush, or chess, but those aren''t fun to Will compared to Minecraft or Terraria. And he doesn''t have any friends.


    "Wait here." Will ran up the stairs, but slowed down once he remembered his parents were sleeping in the living room. He was so excited that he forgot about them.


    ''Not like I can go anywhere else.'' Alex thought. He sat down on the comfy sofa. Now that he was clean, he could sit on it without dirtying it.


    Will opened up the minecraft game on the ??ptop using a different account. Since they only had one computer Will had to use his own ??ptop.


    He had made this second minecraft account and a free multiplayer server on his birthday when he only wished for his dad or mom to play minecraft with him. Unfortunately they never did play with him, and the account he made for them ended up being a waste, until now.


    He loved his parents and his parents loved him, but they simply could not understand their son''s love for video games. Perhaps he thought that they thought his parents found video games a waste of time, something that they only should do in their spare time. And even when they have spare time they''d rather spend it doing something else.


    For 15 years Will has never had a proper friend. He has long gotten used to being alone in school. And in school he is known as one of those ''quiet kid'' type kids and people would occasionally avoid him. But in reality he just wants a friend to play video games with.


    "Haha, yes!" Will said that quietly. He quickly connected both accounts to a multiplayer server.


    Alex has absolutely no idea what was happening.


    "Okay, are you sure you don''t know how to play?"


    "Not at all."


    "Have you ever played any PC games?"


    "I''ll take that as a no. Okay, this is how you move, this is how you jump."


    Will was very patient teaching Alex the very basic controls of minecraft. Alex was basically like a newborn child that was just learning.


    After literally almost an hour of explaining and showing, Alex could b?r?ly move his character normally. This would be the first time Alex would play a video game, and touch a keyboard and mouse. All this was a brand new experience for him.


    "Awesome!" Will was excited to see someone else play with him in his multiplayer server.


    "What''s the point of this game?"


    He had seen this game being mentioned a few times on the internet, but it never caught his attention so he ignored it until now.


    "Simple. We get wood, craft stuff with it, mine, kill mobs, do a few things after that, then kill a dragon."


    "Sounds simple enough." Said Alex, who is having trouble mining a piece of wood with a stone pickaxe.


    "Yeah. But it''s the freedom of being able to build that you can imagine that makes this game awesome." Will was feeling very happy right now.


    After an hour, Alex got used to the game but not that much better.


    Will, who has played minecraft ever since its release, felt as if this was an entirely different game the second Alex joined him.


    He is 15 years old, and Minecraft came out in 2011. He has played this game for 4 years. He created many worlds, when he got bored of those he created more. Lately he''d get bored of it faster than usual. It didn''t help that minecraft wasn''t getting any major updates.


    But this time, for some reason it felt different, as if it''s an entirely different game, a new experience simply from playing with someone else.


    They played minecraft until midnight. Will hasn''t felt this connected to the game ever since he first played it.


    "Hey, I have a great idea! We should play a type of minecraft game. Like I''d win if I beat the ender dragon, but you try to hunt me down before I slay it and win if you kill me. Sounds fun?" Will asked Alex with sparkly eyes.


    "No. I don''t see how that would ever be interesting. And I doubt that that type of game would ever be popular." Alex would soon be proven wrong.


    "But¡­ okay¡­ Man, it''s midnight." Will checked his phone. He had to go to ''hell'' early tomorrow. And by ''hell'' he means school.


    "Okay. Guess this is our last day together. Thanks for everything." Will got up to once again stretch his legs. He had fun playing with Will.


    "Last day? Oh¡­" Will was feeling down. This is the first time anybody has played with him in any video game that he likes, and it was short lived but a great memory.


    Who knows when will be the next time that he would have another ''friend'' to play with.


    "Like we discussed, then. When your parents take you to school, I wait for a while and sneak out of the house."


    "Yeah, sounds good. Hm?"


    They heard footsteps coming down the stairs.


    "Hide!" Will whispered to Alex.


    The one who came down was none other than his mother.


    "You''re still up, Will? It''s late and you have school tomorrow." His mother just woke up from a nap. Her eyes were still getting adjusted to the room''s lighting.


    "Yeah, just playing minecraft." Will was nervously sweating.


    Alex didn''t run to the closet because he didn''t have time to run across the basement, open two doors without making noise, and all this before his mom would reach the basement floor.


    So Alex was hiding behind the couch that was just enough to cover his body from Will''s mom''s sight.


    And also he didn''t know whether to call the furniture covering him a couch or a sofa, neither did Will know. But that hardly matters.


    "That game again? We returned your PC after a month of being grounded, you wanna go for two more months!" She suddenly got mad at Will.


    ''Uh oh.'' Will knew what was going to happen now.


    "I mean, have you even taken a shower today? Have you done your homework? One of these days you''re gonna look back and think ''I wasted my life playing video games'' when instead you should be studying. When I was a kid even younger than you, I used to wake up every day at 2 am after sleeping for only 20 minutes. I would cross deserts, fight bandits, climb mountains, just so I could go to school. And yet I still got full A''s on every subject¡­"


    His mom just stood there in one spot, lecturing Will.


    Will has heard his mom''s lectures practically almost once a week.


    The lectures she gives him always, ALWAYS goes off the rails.


    For example: now it starts out with his video games and how it affects his grades, then she talks about her school life, then she goes to clothes, and science stuff, and his hygiene, and their family, then sports, it''s just random stuff she adds in the end.


    Sometimes she lectures him out of the blue for no reason. Not just him but Will''s father is also a victim of her constant nagging. Will suspects that if maybe she hung out with friends instead then she wouldn''t lecture them as much.


    She''s a good mom, but her lectures are as pointless, long, and as boring as a boring teacher in any school. Her lectures could just be shortened down to 5 minutes and not 2 hours of lecturing and it would have the same effect.


    ''Please, don''t let her lecture me right now'' Will begged the gods once again for their help. The longer she stays here the more likely she''ll notice Alex who is literally no more than 5 meters away from her.


    He hoped that something would distract her, anything would do! A fire, a phone call, a scary ghost entity.


    *Ring* *Ring*


    Her phone rang from upstairs. She and Will''s father have different phone sounds. It sounds like an old fashioned home phone ringing. Will''s father on the other hand has the famous alarm sound that gives anybody PTSD upon hearing it.


    "Hold on." She ran up the stairs to grab her phone.


    Once she was out of the basement floor, Alex bolted straight to Will''s room and hid in the closet.


    ''Thank god.'' Will was relieved. He didn''t even need to tell Alex what to do.


    "Yeah. We can just skip that part." Sandra said.


    Sandra interrupted Will''s backstory about Alex.


    "Skip what?" Asked Will.


    "You do this whenever you tell a story you always include non-important stuff, like those pointless filler episodes in Naruto. Like I already know that Alex stays in your house for many years. But was it necessary to add the other stuff?"


    ''Oh my god. I''m like my mom!'' Will''s worst fears had come true. He was basically explaining things like his mom would, adding random stuff that has no meaning.


    "Okay¡­ So after that I told Alex to stay at my house, that way he didn''t have to live on the streets, and I could have a friend to play with. He agreed and was happy. It wasn''t until¡­ 1 year later Alex gave me the courage to confess to you."


    "Wait, Alex was involved when you confessed to me on that day?"


    "Yeah."


    "You said that one day you got the courage to confess to me and that nobody else had anything to do with it."


    "Yeah¡­ I lied. Truth is¡­ here''s what happened."


    Alex and Will were currently playing some other video games. It has already been 1 year since Alex started to live there. This whole time Will''s parents never knew that Alex was living in their house. Thanks to their jobs they always returned late, and left early.


    Alex mostly cleaned the house, not just the basement. Alex felt like it was the least he could do for Will for letting him stay. Living outside is simply the worst. In here it was heaven.


    Alex did get bored staying inside the house for long periods of time, but he didn''t mind it. As long as he had the internet and his entertainment it was all good.


    "Oh, cool. Someone at your school won a gold medal yesterday in a karate tournament. Bruce is his name. Do you know him?" Alex checked the school''s site and social media. He likes to see how the schools work because he always liked to go to one.


    "..." Will was feeling grumpy today and didn''t respond to Alex.


    "What''s wrong with you?" Asked Alex annoyingly. This wasn''t the first time Will made that face.


    Will has a seriously depressed face, as if his dog just died. He doesn''t have a dog.


    "I saw some of my classmates today. Two of which I know just started dating each other. Kinda jealous."


    "Then ask a girl out, like the blonde girl you talk about¡­ um, Britney!"


    "Dude, she''s way out of my league!!!" Will could never have the balls to ask a popular girl like Britney out. He might not like his status as the ''quiet kid'' but it''s better than being made fun of by the entire school.


    "Okay. Then go to Victoria."


    "Bleugh!" Will almost threw up at the mere mention of Britney, he even made a sound which he never knew he could do. The thought of that made him feel beyond disgusted.


    "Don''t! Ever! Say! That! Again!" Will said very seriously.


    Alex has never seen that side of Will before. He said that as a joke but that really hit Will harder than he thought.


    "Oookay¡­ then confess to someone and just get it over with." Alex at first could handle Will''s complaints, but now it has gotten annoying. It''s like the 20th time Will has said something like this, and Alex wasn''t eager for the 21th time.


    Alex could not understand why Will would want a girlfriend. Probably because he''s living in his house, has no I.D. and doesn''t even have a job.


    Getting a job when he''s still a minor, has no I.D. no parents, no nothing, was basically like trying to walk on water, impossible.


    "Like?"


    "I dunno! How about that¡­ red-haired girl, Sandy."


    "Sandra."


    Alex knows about Sandra because Will talked about his classmates, not just the girls. Like that one kid with 8th grader syndrome.


    The reason Alex mentioned Sandra is because he only remembered her because of her red hair.


    "Same difference. Just ask her out after school tomorrow. It''ll be friday, everybody will want to go home early so you don''t need to worry about making a scene in front of a lot of people. Write her a note or something to meet you at the back of the school. If she says no, tough luck. If she says yes, exchange phone numbers immediately, then plan and take her out on a date on the weekend."


    "Um¡­ I don''t know, Alex. I am getting cold feet already." Will was more fascinated that Alex had already planned it out like that.


    Sandra is a normal girl, not too popular, average in looks, grades. Her unique trait was her natural red hair. Still even Will saw her as someone out of his league.


    Will has such low self esteem that he even thought that an ordinary girl was out of his league. He even thought of Alex as one of those ''cool kids'' that appear in those high school movies.


    Alex only said that to finally get Will to shut up. He''s a guest in his house, so he respects him as a friend, but he''s annoying as hell when it comes to wanting to date someone but never having the courage to do it.


    "Okay, fine! I was hoping it wouldn''t come to this but¡­"


    Alex pulled out Will''s ??ptop and logged into minecraft.


    "What are you doing?"


    "You made me do this. Look."


    Alex showed him a screen of a lever, some redstone connected to a lever, and the end of the redstone is connected with mountains of TNT. The TNT surrounded their base. There wasn''t a single spot in their base that didn''t have TNT.


    When Will was at school or sleeping, Alex secretly collected sand and secretly made a gunpowder farm, all for this very moment. He was just glad he added the TNT before because he knew Will would do this again.


    "GASP! Don''t! It took us weeks to build it!"


    Their base was basically a giant villager town meant for breeding and torturing villagers, most of which was Alex''s idea. Trading with villagers wasn''t that great yet.


    "If you don''t ask Sandy or whatever her name is out by tomorrow, I will pull the lever. And I do not have a backup of this server, and you know I am not kidding because you should know that I know almost nothing about computers!"


    Will knew that Alex wasn''t bluffing. He doesn''t ever know how to add skins yet to his minecraft account much less know how to make backups.


    "Okay, fine. But please don''t blow up the base! Please!"


    The next day, Will did exactly as Alex told him only because he held their own base hostage. Will absolutely hated it when he had to restart over something that he had invested a lot of time in.


    Will is currently behind the school after it had already ended. He is waiting for Sandra.


    ''Alex¡­ how could you betray me like this.'' Will was feeling a little betrayed. Who would have known that Alex would do this to him?


    Will felt bad for wasting Sandra''s time. His plan is to ask her out, get rejected, tell Alex about it, and liberate his base. Honestly he had no hopes of getting a girlfriend. At least this way he won''t feel heartbroken when he gets rejected.


    "Will?"


    A young girl''s voice called out to him. Will saw that it was Sandra. She wore casual clothes, a long, plain, blue skirt. Her shirt was white with some white flowers sewn into it, and with long white sleeves. She also had a small backpack which carried her gym clothes and other stuff.


    "Did you need me for something?" Sandra was a little bit weirded out that Will, a classmate of hers whom she has never communicated with, decided to hand her a hand-written message telling her to come behind the school.


    Luckily she has pepper spray on her hand that was hidden from sight. Should Will attempt to do anything to her she wasn''t afraid to use it.


    "No, um¡­ it''s just¡­" Will got cold feet and started feeling incredibly nervous. He couldn''t even find the right words to say.


    ''Wait, isn''t this a d??k move on my part?'' Will just noticed that he is playing with a girl''s heart and emotions. Wasn''t this basically a confession with zero heart and feeling put into it?


    But remembering that Alex has his base hostage, he regained his composure.


    "Would you like¡­ to go on a date or something?" Will couldn''t even look her in her eyes properly. It was like a magnetic force that was pulling his eyes away from hers.


    ''Cringe.'' Will thought to himself. He thought that he should''ve rehearsed before.


    "Sure." Sandra replied immediately.


    "Huh?"


    ''Da fu?k?!''


    Will was very certain that Sandra would say ''no'' because he would if he were in her shoes.


    "Did¡­ did you not hear what I just said?" Will asked to be sure.


    "Yeah. You said ''we should go on a date'' and I said ''yes.''"


    "But¡­ why?"


    Most people would be excited to the point where they would want to strip n?k?d and run around the world. But Will was beyond confused that no other math test question had ever made him rack his brains like this.


    Will saw himself as someone ''worthless'' ''dumb'' ''slow'' ''lazy'' so he never thought that any girl would ever want to go out on a date with him. Some people should give themselves more credit and have more confidence, but that is easier said than done.


    "Why what?" Sandra could not understand what Will was asking.


    "Why would you ever go out with me? We b?r?ly talked, we''re not even on a friendly basis, you''re out of my league. So why would you ever say ''yes'' to me?"


    "Because¡­" Sandra wanted to say something else, but refrained from it.


    Will immediately thought this was a trap set up by her friends. He read before on reddit that some girl''s get dared by their friend''s to ask out a guy.


    Checking his surroundings he saw no one around. But this could still be a trap¡­


    ''Wait, if this is a trap, doesn''t that mean that I am too late already? Crap!'' Will cursed himself. He already confessed, and if Sandra had recorded the whole thing he''s done for.


    "Do you want to go eat at Mcdonalds¡­ together?" Sandra pointed to a famous fast food restaurant that was literally 2 blocks away from their school.


    "Sssshhhure."


    Everything that has happened today was going the complete opposite as Will had planned. Nonetheless Sandra took the lead and led Will to their first date, which is at a fast food restaurant.


    On the way, they both saw a bouquet of roses neatly wrapped up in paper that was sitting on the ground behind a tree. There were exactly twelve roses in total and they were all fresh.


    "That seems like a waste." Sandra lamented. Roses are expensive. Throwing away 12 of them like that seemed like a complete waste of money and good flowers.


    They ignored the roses and went ahead with their date.


    "And that is what happened." Will completed his story.


    "..." Sandra.


    "Will¡­ could you take off your helmet and your mask?"


    "Sure. Why?" Will did as she wanted.


    *Bonk*


    Sandra used Will''s dragon scale helmet as a blunt weapon and his Will on the head.


    "OW!" Will cried in pain, but mostly from the feeling of betrayal.


    "You confessed to me because of your minecraft base?" Sandra felt hurt. But thinking about it, it all made sense now. But the truth was painful.


    "Sorry!"


    "You should be sorry!"


    "But, Sandra, isn''t it a good thing that it happened? If Alex didn''t threaten me that day I would have never been able to confess to you."


    "I know that! But you should have told me that instead of a crappy lie like ''I confessed to you because I really do love you'' this is the second worst thing you have done to me."


    "Second?"


    "The first is getting me pregnant. And having me secretly raise a child with my parents."


    "HOLY! WHAT THE HELL!" Will was shocked, as if his own world had fallen apart. He has a child? Had he fallen to a new low that he couldn''t even be there for his own child. And worst of all he didn''t even know.


    "Just kidding." Sandra smiled coyly.


    "Sandra¡­ not cool, dude. That was too much." Will felt like he was going to get a heart attack. He believed her because she isn''t the type to joke like that.


    "Now we''re even." That was merely payback for lying to her all those years ago.


    "Okay¡­ should we sleep then?" Will pointed to the beds. He didn''t feel like talking anymore.


    "Yes. But right now I don''t feel like sleeping together." Sandra dragged her bed all the way across the other side of the room. She was still a bit mad at Will, but she''s easy to forgive him.


    The night went by without any more problems popping up.

 Chapter 74 - A deal with the empire

    Sandra woke up from a rough night. The bed Will made for them wasn''t as comfy as the beds from the kingdom. She didn''t mind the beds or how this place isn''t as good as the kingdom but she was willing to put up with that for Will. But last night made her feel a little sad knowing that the only reason they''re together is because of minecraft.


    For the longest time she wondered why Will ever asked her out like that. She did enjoy his company for the years that they dated and she still loves him.


    But now she got her answer, and it isn''t the answer she wanted. It''s basically no different from finding out that you only got together with someone because someone dared them to.


    Sandra walked up to Will who was still asleep.


    "Will, where''s the shower?" Asked Sandra. Her morning routine is to take a bath first thing.


    "Down the cave. Take a few steps down then go to the left." Will said slowly and tired. He was still wearing his dragon scale armor.


    Sandra just noticed his armor, and found it beyond weird. Nobody in their right mind would ever want to sleep with such hard armor on. Might as well sleep inside on a pointy rock.


    But Sandra didn''t know that no matter what kind of armor he wore, metal, dragon scales, wood, the armor will always feel like cotton to Will. But to anybody else it''ll feel exactly what the material is made of.


    This meant that Will could sleep with armor and wear it all day long and he wouldn''t feel a thing.


    Sandra went down the cave. And there was no shampoo, just like Will said. And also no towels, or anything to dry herself off with.


    "... Is this how Will has been living these past few months?" Sandra''s view of Will changed yet again.


    Before he was a spoiled kid but never acted like a spoiled brat. So she knew just how dependent he was on daily items like warm food, hot water, clothes, entertainment, and his parents. In fact Will would have never gone outside camping if it meant it''ll keep him away from all that he loves.


    But this was no different than living like a caveman.


    Will finally got up from his bed. Waking up in the morning is always the difficult part for Will.


    Will saw the bed Sandra slept on, and remembered that she is currently showering. His back slouched as if he was ashamed.


    "Damn. I have so much to do! The kingdom, the pain-in-the-ass scorpions, the golems, food. And then there''s the Empress who''s just waiting outside¡­ one problem at a time."


    While Sandra was busy taking a shower, Will exited his base. The Empress''s soldiers noticed him and informed Valerie.


    Will knew what they wanted, or more specifically the Empress. What she really wanted is the infinite ammo enchantment. He knows how powerful it is. But they also had something that he needed, that ''anti-hero'' metal. With that metal combined with his golems, they''ll be powerful. And who knows what other uses they''ll have.


    Of course he either needed to first hire a professional who makes human-like statues. Relying on his own skills to improve would take too long, and frankly speaking he didn''t feel life wasting time on that yet.


    And he didn''t need them to make golden statues, even simply statues like clay worked. All he needed to do was copy their design on one of his ''blueprints'' and he''ll be able to make golems using different materials.


    Will walked up to the soldiers who stopped him.


    "Hero, you need something?" The soldier asked as politely as he could.


    "Yeah. Tell the Empress that I am willing to make a deal with her."


    "I''m already here."


    She was washing the dishes when she saw Will. As for the hat, she just liked the hat for some reason. She''s not a chef but likes to wear it.


    Her soldiers stood beside her very closely. She wasn''t wearing any sort of protection. If Will were to shoot her while she is wearing nothing she''ll be as good as dead. At least if they were close to her they''ll be able to protect her.


    "At ease. He''s not going to harm me." Valerie firmly said as she tidied up her hair.


    Actually she didn''t know if that was true. But she needed to show Will that she is willing to trust him, so he could trust her.


    "So, you want to trade then?" Asked Valerie.


    "Yes-"


    "Hold that thought. Follow me." Valerie walked further away from her camp. No more than 20 meters she stood further from her men. If she didn''t order it her men would have followed her.


    "I didn''t want others to hear our conversation. I suspect one of them is a spy. Then again I could be wrong." Valerie wasn''t sure, but it was better safe than sorry.


    She knows how easy it is for men and women to be corrupted by greed. It''s so easy to be swayed by one''s own d?s?r?s.


    "You''re right. It''s a risky gamble, but I hope it pays off. If I play it safe all the time I would never get anywhere."


    ''Besides, I have a few things on me that can protect me if this goes wrong.'' Thought the Empress. She was risking it, but she wasn''t stupid enough to put her life on the line.


    "Fine. How much are you willing to trade that metal for my weapons?" Will said, getting straight to the point.


    "The anti hero metal is rare, and rather difficult to obtain but useful against heroes. It weighs about the same as gold¡­ so how about 14 pounds of anti hero metal per every single one of your weapons? That should be roughly the same weight as half a gold bar."


    Will thought about it. He didn''t know if that was a fair trade on his part. Because he''s worked with gold for so long he''s gotten a clear sense of what he''s receiving.


    ''The gold golems¡­ damn I don''t know how much they each weigh. But I suspect hundreds of pounds each. If I get 14 pounds of that metal per weapon, I''d have to sell¡­ a lot of weapons.''


    "Wait, where do you get the metal from?" Will asked.


    Valerie merely smiled. She expected this answer.


    "From the bottom of the ocean."


    "You just came to this world so you don''t know much about our world yet. Yes, most of the metal comes from the ocean. There was a meteor that once crashed into our world, it happened before the birth of the first heroes. Fragments scattered across the land so you might be able to find some of it on land, but the odds of finding one on land is rather low. But the majority of it fell to the bottom of the ocean."


    Hearing the word ''ocean'' any plans Will had about getting that metal was thrown out of his mind. He feared the ocean and everything that lived in there.


    In this world that''s filled with monsters, there''s a high chance that ''sea monsters'' are a thing.


    The kingdom doesn''t expand because it simply lacks the funds to continue to expand. The Great Sage did at one point expand the kingdom long ago and conquer more territory, but he realized he couldn''t be everywhere at once, and people took advantage of that. It wasn''t just people who took advantage of it, monsters as well. .


    It''s the main reason why the kingdom doesn''t have more territory, even though it has been around far longer than the empire.


    And it''s not like some people and even heroes haven''t tried either, but they all have failed, including the Hero Christopher Lawrence, the previous owner of the deserted lands, and even his own base failed after he died.


    Only the Empire could have achieved what no one thought was possible.


    ''Now that I remember, I think a sea serpent or something killed me on my first day.'' Will thought. He was glad he died quickly that time.


    "So, do we have a deal?" Asked Valerie.


    "Mana¡­ I think we do. Give me a second." Valerie took out her communication stone and messaged her blue-haired friend.


    Back in the empire, Veronica was temporarily in charge of running the empire while Valerie was out.


    If a situation should arise that is too much for her to handle she immediately contacts Valerie Via message.


    But the empire was rather peaceful, and there wasn''t much for her to do. Most of the problems were already fixed by Valerie.


    Veronica was currently exploring the large building that was made for the empress checking for dust bunnies. It was well maintained despite that the empress rarely ever uses this building.


    The huge building is not as big as the kingdom''s castle but it was just as magnificent. This building was actually built for the ruler before Valerie.


    "Dududududu. Oh." Veronica noticed her pocket was shining. The only one who could message her is the empress.


    {Veronica, please go to the storage room and tell me if we have any mana ores? I forgot if we have any.}


    "Mana¡­ oh, those things."


    They''re not hostile with the kingdom, but they''re not on friendly terms either.


    {Sure.}


    Veronica went downstairs through a secret door. At the bottom of the stairs was a 3 meter door that was locked with 2 giant keys. The doors were 5 inches thick, and made entirely of iron. The giant door leads to the empire''s treasury room. It was guarded by 6 heavily geared soldiers.


    There were 12 keys hanging on the wall beside the giant door. Only two of them were the real keys, while the rest were fakes.


    "Veronica, something you need?" Asked a soldier.


    The Empress rarely trusts others to enter the room. After all, the room has very rare and expensive items. Only her and a few people she trusts could enter. But even those people she is wary of them.


    "Valerie sent me."


    The guards look at each other. Valerie trusts Veronica more than anybody else. But still, it is possible that Veronica could betray her.


    "We''ll come with you. Just to be safe."


    "Yeah, I know. You guys are just doing your jobs. Besides, I won''t be touching anything. I just need to see something.''


    2 of the guards grabbed the right keys, and they inserted the keys at the same time. The door was unlocked, but it was a rather heavy do0r so 4 of them used all their strength to push it open.


    The inside of the treasury was emptier than one would expect, but that was because it was surprisingly a long room. There was hardly any gold or silver in it, that''s because the money they make is used for the people and the empire.


    The only valuable items in the treasury are the neatly stacked armor and weapons meant to be used in an emergency only. Some books and some maps were neatly placed on long tables on one side of the room. But the greatest treasures in this room are the magical weapons, and the anti-hero metals.


    Veronica entered the room. This would be the first time she''d ever seen the treasury room. 3 guards followed her into the room.


    "Where are the mana ores located?" Veronica needed to see it with her own eyes.


    "By the corner."


    On the corner of the room are at least dozens of giant crates that are 120x120.


    All of them had the words labelled ''MANA ORES'' which is good because it means that they didn''t have to check inside every single crate.


    "Can you guys open one crate? I just need to confirm." Veronica asked.


    One of the guards, who is an old man, drew out his sword to cut the lock. Inside the crate are various ''low-tier mana ores'' that easily number over 100.


    "I didn''t know we had a lot."


    "Most of them come from when Emperor Philip ruled the empire. But we''ve been getting quite a handful of mana ores lately."


    "That''s cool. Good job, Sebastian."


    ''Why ''good job'' though?'' Sebastian thought that he did nothing to be praised.


    Veronica took out her communication stone and wrote down {About a few.}


    Valerie received her message.


    "Apparently we have a ''few'' mana ores." Valerie knew her friend, and she knew exactly what she meant by ''few'' because it''s not the first time she''s done this.


    "Better than nothing I guess." Will thought that they had no more than 10 or 20, which is surprising because the empire is known for their resources. He expected them to have hundreds, not just a ''few'' of them


    "Why do you need mana ores?" Asked Valerie. If Will had ideas to sell the ores to the kingdom, she''d have to call off the deal.


    But she remembered how unfazed he was when she took out a pile of gold, so he most likely won''t sell it to the kingdom for profitable gains. Still she didn''t want the kingdom to get their hands on the mana ores.


    "I have some uses for them."


    "Very well. How about 5 mana ores per weapon?"


    "6."


    "Fine. 6."


    ''Crap. Should have asked for more. Idiot!'' Will cursed himself.


    "Okay then, 14 pounds of anti hero metal per weapon, or 6 mana ores per weapon. We have a deal?" Valerie extended her hand to Will.


    "Deal." Will shook her hand. He couldn''t feel her hand since he''s still wearing his dragon scale armor.


    "I''ll send someone over in about 2 weeks."


    Valerie then walked towards her men and signaled them to pack up and leave.


    Will was momentarily confused. He thought she would give him a communication stone or something to keep in touch, but she just left.


    Will didn''t know if this trade was good or bad, nobody could really know, but he was desperate for mana ores and stronger metals. If he were to mine for them again, who knows what else might pop out of the ground the next time.


    No more than 5 minutes later all of Valerie''s men successfully packed up and left. Their speed is something else. Obviously they were experienced in this sort of thing.


    Valerie left with a smile on her face.


    "That went better than I expected. Did not think that the 100th hero would prove to be the most useful one out of the rest of them. But that ''0'' on his head is something I still don''t understand."


    She kept a detailed list of all the heroes thanks to the spies she planted in the kingdom. A few of them interested her, but they still acted like kids, and she can''t trust ''kids'' because they''ll likely screw it up. She was just glad that Will was more m?tur? than the rest, and definitely the most useful one.


    Now that Will is making her powerful weapons, it''ll help her to accomplish her long awaited goal.


    And yes, that ''0'' did bother her for many reasons as it shouldn''t possibly exist. Most people in her shoes would rather kill Will than to ally with him, after all Will could be a threat to them.


    But Valerie knows something called ''common sense'' and instead of making enemies with Will she''d rather be allied with him. It is better to make friends rather than enemies.


    And she didn''t dare to invite him to live in the empire. It''s clear that he''s worked hard to live in the deserted lands. Asking him to walk away from it would seem rude on her part.


    It would be more beneficial for her if he moves to the empire, but she knows that not everything could go her way. She just has to work with what she''s got.


    "The ability to fly, the ability to create buildings and giant walls in a single night, the ability to make guns and dragon-scale armor perfectly, that ''0'' on the top of his head¡­ is Will, possibly another Great Sage? Only he is known to have multiple abilities.


    No, that isn''t it. While he does have multiple abilities he doesn''t seem to have the strength of the Sage, otherwise those scorpions would have been obliterated in seconds. Not only that but when he shook my hand it wasn''t a strong grip either.


    Either he''s very good at controlling his hero strength, or he isn''t a hero, which might explain why he didn''t teleport properly like those 99 other heroes. Hmm¡­ I just don''t know."


    Throughout the entire journey back to her empire, Valerie went into deep thought about Will''s actual identity. It wasn''t until halfway that she remembered something.


    "Crap! I forgot to give him a communication stone. Oh well."


    Meanwhile, Will was just happy that they left.


    "Hmm¡­ I already rebuilt most of my base. But all my camels are dead, so I need something like sheep or cows to raise, breed, and eat, just like in minecraft.


    Will entered his base again. He was surprised to see familiar damp clothes hanging on top of some stone pillars that were neatly stacked. These pillars were 2 meters high and 2.5 inches wide, and he crafted these before to give himself better ideas as to what to build.


    "Oh, I''m just drying my clothes. I didn''t bring an extra set."


    Sandra came out of his building wearing only her und?rw??r. She didn''t feel embarrassed as Will had already seen everything. It was just plain, white und?rw??r.


    Sandra had washed her dirty clothes that were filled with sweat and dirt. With the intense heat her clothes should dry out in no time.


    "It''s been a while since I''ve seen you like that." Will didn''t look away, or rather he didn''t want to.


    "Eh. So what are we gonna build now?"


    "You''re staying?" Will asked. The kingdom is a far better place to live. They have food, extra sets of clothes, comfortable beds and chairs, basically everything. All Will has is cold water and a bed made of leather instead of cotton.


    "Don''t you want me to stay?"


    "No, I do, but right now our ''kingdom'' isn''t exactly a 5-star hotel, I don''t think it could be qualified as a 1-star hotel."


    "More like half-a-star. Hehehe." Sandra chuckled to herself.


    "..." Will.


    "Kidding, I''m kidding. Yeah, you''re right, this isn''t exactly the best place to live, but what you said about Alex, you, me, never finishing that castle on our minecraft server, it really hit me. We should finish building this castle, even if it might take a couple of years.


    "Yeah, but didn''t you say you were trying to find a way to go back home?"


    "And how would I do that? I''ve been thinking about it, but no other hero has been able to go back and I am sure that most of them have tried. Yeah I shouldn''t lose faith, but I am not strong enough to explore this world and fight off the monsters that live here. I learned that when we fought those cyclops in that village."


    Sandra doesn''t lose faith easily, but she knows that she only has one life, and she shouldn''t overestimate her strength when it b?r?ly amounts to much.


    "You''re right." Will agreed. He wanted to go back home to talk to his family one more time, to tell them that he''s alright, but how would he go back when nobody else has been able to?


    "First, I am going back to the kingdom to buy some shampoo, towels, clothes, food, and everything else that we''ll need." Sandra said. Her clothes were already dry so she put them on.


    "I''ll lend you some money." Will got some gold, then he crafted it into coins and gave it to Sandra.


    "Your hero ability¡­ lets you turn metals into coins?" Sandra was gonna refuse his money as she still had money left over from protecting the villagers, but that surprised her. It''s like he has multiple abilities.


    "Yes."


    Sandra wanted to know what his ability is, but she can''t know because if she knows then the Great Sage will know once he reads her mind.


    "Oh, and before you leave." Will ran to get a piece of paper and some ink and wrote in it.


    "Please hang this on the job... board thingy when you''re in the kingdom. You know that board where all the jobs posters are."


    Will wrote down on the paper, "Am willing to pay a hefty sum of money to people who can create a perfect statue of a replica of a man by next week by sunrise. Doesn''t matter what materials you use to create said statue. I will be standing by the board before sunrise so you will know who I am."


    Last time he was there he wanted to make use of the job poster.


    Will wanted to have someone make him a perfect statue of a person so that way he could copy it down on his blueprint, then make functional golems using that blueprint. His crappy golems could b?r?ly walk or use their bodies properly.


    He didn''t just want to hire one man to do it, but wanted to have multiple people do it at the same time. That way he could pick the best one and copy it down on his blueprint.


    And he knows there will be some people who will do it. People are desperate for money these days.


    "... Um¡­ Will you know that a week isn''t even enough time to make a statue of a man, right?" Sandra knew that a week wouldn''t be enough time.


    "Really? 2 weeks then?" Will didn''t know how long it would take either. But he was impatient.


    "Eh, perhaps if they used clay or something easy like that. How about 3 weeks? Think you can wait that long? After all, if it''s rushed it won''t be ''perfect'' like those rushed video games you hate."


    (*Cough* Cyberpunk 2077 *Cough*)


    "Guess you''re right." Will grabbed a new piece of paper and rewrote it.


    "I''ll be back in a few. Take care."


    "You, too."


    Sandra ran back to the kingdom at full speed.


    Will went back to rebuilding his base. He also crafted more potions, made some weapons for the Empress. He couldn''t wait to get the anti-hero metal.


    Meanwhile¡­


    A certain loli, who was wearing plain clothes, was living peacefully inside a home with a loving family. The only weird part about her that stood out is the thick metal collar that was around her neck.


    This is ''Maid'' who is actually a dragon.


    Right after she escaped from the hero Josh, she came across this village and also a girl, who has helped her during all this time.


    Kat convinced her family to take care of Maid until they found her parents.


    Kat''s parents were eternally grateful to whoever rescued their daughter from the child murderer. So they saw this as a sign that they should help Maid, like a way to repay that person who brought back their daughter.


    Maid at first wasn''t planning to live in a human village, but the food, and the warm clothes they provided was just too good to pass on.


    At first they couldn''t understand her and she couldn''t understand him. But little by little, she is slowly learning their language but hasn''t made an effort to communicate with them.


    They tried to remove the collar, keeping it a secret from everybody else. No one else even knew about Maid.


    Kat''s dad knew that the collar is a slave collar, meant for large animals and elves. Removing or even attempting to remove a slave collar could mean they would be punished to death.


    But seeing the little girl, who is younger than his daughter, he knew he had to help her despite whatever she did to get that collar on her.


    The collar was tough to break or open. It was designed to be extremely resistant. If he used something powerful to remove the collar it could fatally injure Maid in the process.


    "Help, please! I''ve been lost for almost 10 years." A man cried out outside of the village, his voice could be heard from a kilometer away.


    The cry for help got the people''s attention.


    Maid woke up in panic. That voice was all too familiar to her. Rage welled up within her.


    Josh had arrived in the village. His clothes were torn or burned, the clothes around his private parts b?r?ly covered anything.


    Felicia and Naveah always knew which way to go and he followed them. Without them he has been helplessly lost in the woods.


    He thought they were kidnapped by a fat noble after he didn''t see them when he left the black market, (they weren''t) he wanted to go back to the kingdom to rescue them, but ended up getting lost in the forest for about 10 days.


    Josh b?r?ly ate or drank, there was nothing to kill in the forest, as if the forest was purposefully messing around with him because one time he tried to kidnap the elven princess...


    Maid immediately got a hold of a kitchen knife. She could finally get her revenge.


    The day she decided to attack the kingdom, she knew she could never bring it down or even kill the Great Sage, no one could.


    She attacked the kingdom for one reason only...


    To die from the hands of the Great Sage.


    And Josh ruined that when he showed her mercy and enslaved her instead! Had he not intervened the Great Sage would have killed her.

 Chapter 75 - Heroes should be defined by their actions

    Maid stared at the hero outside the window, her eyes red from the immense anger that was boiling up inside her. She tighty grasped onto the large kitchen knife as if she would lose it if she let go.


    Currently Josh is being fed by the villagers and surrounded by them, they all recognized Josh from the photos and drawings. Some of the villagers, especially the kids, started worshipping him like he is a god. It is their first time that they have ever gotten this close to a hero. This would count as a once in a lifetime experience for them.


    10 days lost in the forest without anything to eat or drink is beyond torture. Ordinary people wouldn''t survive, but Josh did because he is a hero.


    Josh counted himself lucky and thought it was his ''plot armor'' that protected him, the same one that actual MC''s have. But idiots sometimes get lucky.


    Maid kept a close eye on Josh. She would do anything to get her revenge on the annoying hero who enslaved her. But she is a little, weak girl right now. She would have to kill him when he is alone, has his guard down, and most likely at night when humans are least active.


    "Amelia? What are you doing with that knife?" A young girl''s voice called out to Maid from behind.


    Kat was scared to see Maid suddenly holding one of her mom''s kitchen knives, and looking outside the window with that crazy, bloodthirsty look in her eyes.


    Maid looked at Kat. She saw how scared she was so she put the knife down on a table. Only then did she realize how stupid it was to think of killing Josh while she still has the collar on her.


    Amelia isn''t her true name. It is just the temporary name they gave her because Maid isn''t willing to talk to them. And besides, she''d much rather be called ''Amelia'' than ''Maid'' because the name is dumb and the hero gave her that name.


    Maid could talk to them in their own ''human'' language but they''ll be b?r?ly able to understand her as she isn''t well versed in their language. She learned to sort of speak human tongue after spending all that time being enslaved byJosh, and now this family.


    And should she ever reveal her true identity, people would know that she is a slave to the hero. It''s not every day that a dragon can turn into a human. And then Josh would be able to find her. As long as she has the collar, she is bound to his every word. If he utters one word to her she''ll be powerless against him.


    "Did you hear that a hero is in our village?" Kat decided not to think about the knife too much, not like she could communicate with Maid. Kat and her family did notice that Maid could understand them perfectly, but won''t communicate with them.


    Maid nodded. She was beyond pissed.


    "Although that''s great and all, I think that Mr. Scary eyes is a real hero."


    Kat was referring to Will, who rescued her and the other children from the infamous child killer.


    Unlike most people Kat''s parents believe that heroes should be defined by their actions instead.


    Nobody knows him despite his heroic deed, as all the information regarding ''Mr. Scary eyes'' has been taken down by the Great Sage. Since Will took down the child killer, the Great Sage did him a favor and didn''t make him famous because he knew that Will did not want to be known.


    Maid didn''t respond. Taking one last look at Josh, the one she hated the most, she decided to head to the basement and hide there. As long as Josh doesn''t know she''s here she''ll be able to hide. That way she''ll have a chance to remove the collar around her neck.


    Once she is rid of it, she''ll be sure to kill Josh whatever the cost. But that would prove to be difficult as Josh has the strength to take down multiple dragons.


    Josh looked to the window where Maid was, but he saw no one there. He just thought he felt a similar presence but waved it off as nothing important.


    ''Man, I miss Maid. A little longer and she would have started falling for me. I made sure to compliment her clothes and figure, help her, and give her headpats on a daily basis. Surely she already fell in love with me, right? Damn. Wish she was still alive.'' Josh thought as he ate with tears rolling down his cheeks.


    How could he have lost such a rare and valuable slave/harem member?


    Unlike in fiction, real life girls don''t easily fall in love with someone just because they compliment them a little, or because they give them headpats, or because they enslave them against their will, and suddenly they decide to give their body and soul to them after only meeting them for less than a day.


    If it was that easy nobody would be alone.


    "Hero Josh, would you care to donate to the cause?" Asked an old man. He shook a giant metal can filled with coins in it.


    "Yes. We collect the money from the stuff we sell and most of it goes to the families whose kids were killed by the child killer. It''s to help them out as they were not as fortunate as the other families whose kids were saved from the bastard child killer."


    It was Kat''s parents and their friends who started the cause right after Kat came back to them. This idea spread to the other villages.


    "Um¡­ sorry, I don''t have money. Oh! Wait, I actually do!" Josh took out a single copper coin and dropped it into the metal can.


    A single copper coin is worth less than worthless.


    "Thank you, hero." The old man knew that it wasn''t a lot, but they thought it was the thought that counts.


    "No problem." Josh felt like he did a good thing, now his fortune will turn out for the better, right? Since he is the MC.


    But the truth is he currently has less than 800 gold coins inside a magical ring that can store items. A few gold coins could make a difference in one''s life, but he would rather give out a single copper coin.


    The money he practically earned by begging some rich people who gave him a few dozen gold coins each, mainly because it was a good idea to have connections with a hero, but it wasn''t worth going bankrupt for it.


    Some of it he earned by killing some monsters, plus he had some money leftover from when Will gave him money for the dragons he killed.


    ''I need the money to buy an elven slave. Can''t afford to give some to poor people.''


    An elf could go for 5000 gold coins in the black market. But Josh''s great idea was to use his hero identity to nab an elf cheaply, it was his last and desperate move.


    What he doesn''t know is that slave elves just aren''t worth it. Those who lost the protection of their Goddess can''t use the power of nature anymore, the black market only sells these types of elves so they don''t suffer the wrath of their Goddess Lea. And so the elves are practically weak, but people only buy them for sick perverted acts.


    And the elves who are protected by Lea are too bothersome to enslave.


    Elves in general aren''t that different from humans, so they''re useless in terms of combat. For ordinary people it''s worth more buying a magical item, which is WAY cheaper than an elf for some reason.


    The only useful thing that the humans see in elves are when heroes decide to have offsprings with elves, that way those half-heroes half-elves have longer lifespans and are way more useful, but half heroes don''t hold a candle to a complete hero.


    "This village doesn''t seem to have a lot of people." Josh noticed that the village was rather large, but the amount of people here seemed too little for a village of such size.


    Surely they all would have gone outside to greet him, right?


    Josh just likes being in the spotlight to fill the endless void that is his ego.


    "Where to? The kingdom? Another village?"


    "Neither. They are headed straight to the empire."


    "Why?"


    "The king is raising taxes to such a degree that most of us can''t afford it. So our choices really are to either suck it up, live in the deserted lands, or move to the empire. Unfortunately most of the people who moved out have families to take care of."


    "That bastard king! I should have seen this coming! He''s an evil king! What is more important than the lives of people that the king has to strip them of everything they own?!" Josh felt mad all of a sudden.


    He looked mad, but in heart he felt that this was perfect for him!


    This is obviously the ''plot'' calling out to him. What kind of isekai world doesn''t have some sort of corrupted king?


    Well, a lot don''t surprisingly, but obviously this is not one of those worlds.


    This king might be greedy and s?xist, but if he were corrupted and vile the Great Sage would have removed him from the throne already.


    "I heard that the king is using the money for the heroes. So a lot of people who decide to stick around despite the high tax rate, they do it for the good of the heroes, like we do." The old man pointed to himself and others.


    People view all the heroes as their gods, saviours, idols. So why wouldn''t they give them what they b?r?ly have left instead to their families?


    "Really? Well¡­ I guess it''s too early to tell if the king is evil, am I right?" Josh laughed it off, his mood shifted to a perfect 180 degree turn.


    Josh thought that it was perfect!


    If people give the king their money, the king will then use the money on the heroes and forge weapons for them. And Josh knows that he is at the top of the priority list among the heroes, since he is the only hero with two abilities.


    Josh lost his magical weapon and desperately needs a replacement. And also has the strongest offensive ability out of all of them, aside from the Great Sage.


    ''Hm. Wait, I either have to choose to make the lives of the villagers better, or pick myself over them. Sorry villagers.'' Josh felt no remorse for the people anymore. As long as they give the king money it''ll be beneficial for his survival.


    "Does anyone here know the way to the kingdom? I need to go have a ''talk'' with the king." Asked Josh.


    "I do. I do."


    "Take me! I practically live there!"


    "Then why are you here?"


    People started to fight over who gets to guide Josh to the kingdom. This is a chance that die hard fanatics like them cannot pass out on.


    "Guys, come on, there''s no reason to fight over me. But, I''ll pick that one." Josh pointed to a decent looking girl.


    "Me?" The young girl pointed at herself in confusion. She wore a long, plain green skirt. She had long brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail. She was cute, and not even 16 years old yet. Her body was slender and healthy.


    "Yes, you. You seem like the most reliable one." Josh said with a smile.


    That was a lie. He just wanted to have a cute girl to ride with, and she''s the only girl who knows the way to the kingdom.


    And he also hopes that perhaps that along the way there will be a romantic development between the two of them. Since she is a little bit cute she''ll be perfect to add to his harem member collection.


    After all, there''s no such thing as having ''too many harem members'' when you isekai. At least that is what he believes.


    "Okay, um... I''ll get the carriage and horses ready!" The girl ran to get the village''s wooden cart and horses that they use for trading with other villages.


    She looked nervous and confused for a moment.


    Since most of the villagers were already present they had no objections to using the wooden cart and horses to aid a hero.


    "Sweet."


    Not long after Josh left with the cute girl. He lay down on the carriage as the girl guided the horses. People watched the hero leave the village with tears in their eyes.


    "Heroes are really divine. Now I can die in peace." An old woman said.


    "Lucky her. Wish I could help out a hero." Some villagers can''t help but feel envious that the girl is helping out the hero.


    Maid could hear the villagers talking, and realized that Josh had already left. She sighed. Still, she vowed within her heart that she''ll get her revenge on him.


    "Amelia, you there?" Kat ran downstairs to her basement. She saw Maid with her back against the wall. The basement was rather spacious and empty, but cold and dark as well.


    "Wanna play hide and seek?" Asked Kat. She wasn''t afraid of the dark anymore after her dreadful experience. Any kid would be traumatized after being kidnapped.


    Lucky for her no one has told her what her fate would have been like if Mr Scary Eyes didn''t save her. Otherwise her scars would be even deeper. She''s a kid, she doesn''t deserve to know, yet.


    Maid nodded.


    "Okay. I''ll go upstairs and count to 50. You hide." Kat was glad to have a friend, there weren''t many kids her age where she lived.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Literally less than 2 hours later¡­


    "Alright, hero, we''re here." A cute girl said.


    Josh woke up from his nap. The kingdom was in front of him.


    "Wait, how long was I asleep for?" Josh felt like the ride wasn''t that long. He thought it would last for days, considering that he was lost in the forest for over 10 days.


    "A little bit less than 2 hours. Our village isn''t that far from the kingdom."


    "You gotta be kidding me." Josh felt like a complete idiot.


    He was that close to the kingdom this whole time? Had he used his speed instead of traveling by cart he could have been in in less than 20 minutes.


    "Well, thanks little girl. Do you want to go with me?" Josh asked, he didn''t have the chance to bond with the young girl and form a relationship.


    "Sorry, hero. I wish I could but I need to help my grandma, so I can''t be away for too long."


    The truth is the girl didn''t offer to help him at all, he just pointed to her. She has her grandma to take care of, which is why she couldn''t help him despite wanting to.


    Maybe it''s because all the villagers were looking at her, and because she knew them, she felt like they''d hate her if she refused to help a hero. And because she was nervous and happy that she just agreed on the spot.


    "Shame. Well, if your grandma dies come and find me¡­ wow, that sounded way worse than I intended to."


    "..." Young girl.


    "Well, bye!" Josh left the girl on her own. He left a little girl alone, unprotected, in a world filled with dangerous monsters.


    The young girl hurried back to her village to help out her grandma.


    Unfortunately she never made it back to her village.


    Meanwhile¡­


    "Okay, that should be good." Sandra looked at the now empty poster board.


    Sandra left Will''s poster on the job poster board. Unlike the last time Will visited the kingdom, there were now fewer poster jobs on the board. Last time posters covered the entire board.


    The people were in desperate need of money so they took all the jobs they could take which is why there were only 3 left, including Will''s poster.


    And since people are in need of money people stopped putting up posters, which left people without a job.


    The other jobs posters were actually for mages and heroes, which required either killing powerful monsters, or travelling extremely long distances which is just as dangerous.


    The new taxes even affected the majority of the sorcerers. The kingdom even started posting sorcerer jobs outside the black tower so sorcerers could see it better.


    People immediately jumped to the poster as soon as they saw a new poster. This would be the first time people paid more attention to something else other than a hero.


    Sandra looked at how the people read the poster. At first they were confused, some left disappointed, while others quickly ran back to their homes to get to work.


    "How sad. This is just like covid all over again. People are losing their jobs, the economy is a mess."


    Suddenly Sandra felt like Will was smart to build his own base. This way the economy doesn''t affect him in the slightest. It may not be the best way to live, but it was better than being desperate like these people.


    At least these people had some money. Compared to the people from Jim''s village that Will visited, these people were doing 100x better.


    Sandra then bought the tools and everything else they needed, food, clothes, towels, etc.


    Sadly the items she bought were being sold at a cheap price. She b?r?ly spent 90 silver coins.


    Seeing some of the people in a bad state, she gave them money. She hoped that Will could understand. Will wouldn''t care, he had so much gold left to spare.


    Only did she realize that she didn''t have a way to carry a lot of stuff. So her hands were full of stuff.


    "I wish I asked Will for something to carry all this before I left." Sandra now felt like a wife, buying all the groceries, helping out Will build and decorate a house/kingdom, and Will brought home the money.


    Not exactly how she envisioned her happy life with Will.


    "Sandra?" A woman called out to Sandra.


    Sandra turned and saw a familiar s?xy woman with long blonde hair. She wore steel plate armor that covered her entire body, she also carried a long spear with her. This is Britney.


    "Oh, hi Britney." Sandra said in a hollow tone. Britney was Will''s first crush, and that made her a bit uncomfortable, especially after yesterday when she found out why Will asked her out.


    She doesn''t blame Will for having a crush on Britney, many of her classmates are the same, including some of the girls.


    "Wow, that''s a lot of stuff you''re carrying. Towels, food, and clothes¡­ are you moving out or something?"


    "Dunno."


    "Did¡­ did I say something wrong?" Britney noticed her tone. They weren''t exactly friends, but her tone sounds like they were on bad terms.


    "No, you didn''t. I''m just busy."


    "Oookay¡­ Listen, could you join our group?" Britney asked.


    Sandra just noticed Peter and Henry looking at them from a corner, like a pair of creeps.


    ''Why are they hiding?'' Thought Sandra.


    "Why do you want me to join you?" Asked Sandra.


    "Well, I heard that you, Bruce, Josh and Victoria are the only ones out of all of us that have experience in the outside world. We just thought we could use your help. We asked Bruce but he said ''no'' to us. And Josh is living in his own fantasy. And Victoria¡­ well you already know."


    "Wait, but I heard that your group also went outside, or am I wrong?"


    "No, you''re not wrong. It''s just that¡­ the furthest we travelled outside of the kingdom was like¡­ 5 blocks away. Most of the time we puss? out, especially Pete."


    "Then stay in the kingdom. If you guys can''t do it then don''t do it."


    "Yeah, but if we don''t do it by next week the king will have Victoria join our group."


    "Why would he pair you up with Victoria? It''s not like you guys are the only heroes."


    "True, but the king knows that we wuss out all the time. So he plans on having Victoria join our group so that we can get the ''courage'' to kill monsters and travel far. Like I said, Victoria is one of the few of us who has experience in killing monsters."


    These three heroes would never want to kill a giant monster, but what is worse than that is having Victoria joining their group.


    But still they are still braver than the other 90 heroes.


    "So, basically if I join you guys then Victoria won''t join you?" Asked Sandra.


    "Yes."


    Sandra looked at the bags she''s carrying.


    "Sorry, I am a bit busy." Sandra said. She can''t just leave Will alone.


    "Are you sure? We could really use your help." Britney asked.


    "Sorry. I really can''t."


    "Pst! That sucks. Thanks anyways." Britney felt terrible. Now all who''s left to ask for help is Josh, who was a better choice than Victoria.


    Sandra left running.


    Pete and Henry ran up to Britney.


    "I take it that''s a no?"


    Britney shook her head.


    Pete and Henry''s heads dropped.


    "Well, Josh is all that''s left to ask. Otherwise, Satan will join us." Henry was not looking forward to having the spawn of the devil joining their team.


    "That''s insulting, to Satan I mean."


    "Hilarious, Pete." Britney said in a sarcastic tone.


    "Oh, look, there he is!"


    "Satan?"


    "No, Josh."


    At that moment Josh strolled through the kingdom as if he owned it.


    "Hey, Josh, do you want to help us?"


    "No." Josh gave his reply and left them.


    "Aaaaaaand we''re screwed."

 Chapter 76 - Not a dream?

    The king was in a meeting room, but it was just him alone. Currently he is planning on dealing with the new tax laws, and the villagers moving to the empire.


    "Okay, so far only the majority of the villagers decided to stay, that''s good. But the rest who left will take a heavy toll on our economy. The only reason these people are staying is mainly because of the heroes, and I don''t want more of them to leave. Hmmm¡­ that gives me an idea."


    The king took out a giant piece of paper and some quill and ink. If he didn''t write something down he''d most likely forget it the next minute.


    "Have the heroes battle each other, but not to the death. Genius! That way people will see how great they are, and they won''t want to move to the empire! Now that I think about it I don''t think I was the first king to come up with this."


    He once heard that one of his ancestors many years ago, the king of that time, made the heroes fight each other in front of people. Unlike back then he didn''t have a problem with people leaving the kingdom, instead it was because of boredom.


    "It seems logical. About 90 heroes still don''t have the courage to leave the castle, and we''ve been keeping them fed, clothed, and clean for all this time. Not only that but Shaun has been training all of them about every day. So this tournament would be a good way to repay us for treating them well, and they might even have enough courage to go outside of the castle''s walls. I should have Morgan grab some decently powerful monsters for the heroes to kill, to boost their courage."


    "My king!" Andre, one of the king''s men came barging through the door.


    "What?"


    "Hero Josh just arrived."


    "Oh, good. Call back the people who were tasked to find Josh."


    Josh was gone for over 10 days and no one knew whether he was dead or alive. The 2 girls who accompanied him, Naveah and Felicia, both told the king what happened. No sooner than later the king sent over hundreds of his own men to find Josh.


    He needed to know if he was dead or alive.


    But hearing that he''s alive well made him sigh in relief. Losing a hero so early would be such a waste.


    God knows how many soldiers died trying to find Josh all because he had a terrible sense of direction.


    "King! I need to talk to you."


    Josh marched through the room.


    "Ah, Josh, so nice to see you again." The king found Josh''s behaviour a little too inappropriate, but he is a hero and must show them respect, especially after seeing just how fragile this group of heroes is, emotionally and mentally speaking.


    "It''s true."


    "Then please spend some of that money on me. I need another magical weapon, preferably a wand, please."


    "What happened to your magical wand that was given to you?" Asked the king.


    "I lost it¡­ when I was fighting a very powerful dragon."


    "That so?"


    "It''s true(not). So please, can I have another one?"


    "Why of cou-"


    ''Hold on!'' The King suddenly had a thought,


    ''This is a good chance to use the heroes to fix the problem.''


    "Who?"


    "To whoever wins first place in the tournament, the tournament of heroes!"


    "Tournament?! I''m in!" Josh''s eyes sparkled like beautiful little diamonds.


    Tournament arcs are by far one of his most favourite arcs in any story and movie.


    "Great. But I am afraid that I cannot start the tournament until at least 20 heroes participate. If they don''t join, there won''t be a tournament, if there''s no tournament then there''s no prize." The king acted sad.


    "Please, let me handle this. I''ll get at least 50 of my friends to join the tournament."


    "Okay, then. You have 10 days to make at least 50 heroes join, that''ll give me enough time to set up a place for the heroes to fight. Tell them about the first place prize, as well as the second and third place prizes such as money or something."


    Josh ran out of the room in a flash.


    Josh has been played like a fiddle and he didn''t even realize it.


    ''Instead of me asking the heroes to join, it''ll be better if they heard it from their own group.''


    A week went by in a flash.


    Currently Will and Sandra both are busy building their castle, and also making improvements to it.


    Because Sandra has a better imagination than Will, the castle looked a lot better, and is far sturdier than last time.


    Will didn''t want to let Sandra know about most of his system abilities, but that would be difficult to do so. It''s not that he didn''t trust her, but he worried that the Great Sage would know from reading her mind.


    Right now his greatest secrets are his system, the infinity enchantment, and the exotic flower seed. Those things he must never reveal.


    But because Sandra is now always with him he had to show her the sentry turrets. As for the golems they were still a secret. He decided to postpone using the golems for the time being, at least until he can make better ones.


    Sandra was at first weirded out that Will could make sentry turrets, something that shouldn''t be possible with today''s technology. If Will could make sentry turrets, then why can''t he make different kinds of advanced technology, like talking robots, or perhaps A.I.''s?


    She doesn''t know that this is the limit of his system, otherwise he would have done something like that.


    "Yes, I know." Sandra responded. This would be the 50th time she heard him say that. She could tell he cared for Adaline, but he was starting to sound like a broken record.


    Because Adaline wasn''t here his HP has been rising at an incredibly slow pace.


    ''Two more weeks until I can make a proper golem. Hope the wait was worth it. And I believe I have enough blueprints.'' Will thought.


    He checked the system inventory. He still could only place 10 items in his inventory because he still doesn''t know how to unlock the {System Inventory II}


    Inside the inventory was 3 blueprints, which wasn''t easy to obtain. Cutting down the trees and regrowing them was a painful, boring, and tiring process.


    The reason he has 3 is just in case he needs more. These blueprints are handy to have.


    In his inventory he has his golem cores, mana ores, 2 emergency enchanted weapons, healing pills, a bunch of steel knives, and 5 empty ?h?sts. Leaving him with only 2 empty inventory slots.


    He also had 3 weapons and 1 explosive bullet on his {Hot belt} (check chapter 31) that could store weapons inside no matter the size, and he could easily access them faster than accessing items in his system.


    After the surprise attack by the giant scorpions, Will realized how useful his {Hot belt} would have been had he remembered to use it. Because he never used it he had completely forgotten about it.


    But, he found something strange about the functions of the {Inventory}.


    As it turns out, enchanted weapons cannot be stacked on top of one another. Ordinary weapons can, but enchanted weapons cannot.


    The same goes for weapons with bullets in them. Empty weapons could be stacked together but loaded weapons cannot, including ammo magz.


    Even if the weapons are exactly the same with the exact same enchantments or ammo it can''t stack.


    As for the magical items Will doesn''t know yet. He still doesn''t have 2 identical magical items.


    "I think the castle is turning up real nicely." Sandra said with a smile on her face.


    They already made so many buildings, a large farm(under construction), a proper bathroom in each of the buildings, proper furniture, a giant castle in the middle that still needed time.


    The walls were thick like last time which had sentry turrets on top of the walls. The walls were by far the only thing that looked the same before it was destroyed.


    The farms have various fruits and vegetables, at first. Without Adaline''s help the fruits dried out fast, and the greenery was dying, too. Sandra had to run back and forward to the castle once every few days for food.


    "I think so, too. If it were just me I don''t think it would have turned out this nicely."


    "Alex would be proud."


    "Agreed."


    ''Rest in peace, Alex.'' Will and Sandra thought the same thing. This castle was for Alex.


    They were standing on top of the castle walls. They got a good view of the castle they were building.


    "I hear someone approaching." Sandra said suddenly.


    "Where?"


    "Behind us."


    Will couldn''t hear it, but that''s because he doesn''t have an acute sense of hearing like Sandra does.


    Turning around, from a fair distance, Will could clearly see 3 men approaching them on horses. Each of them are fully equipped with enchanted armor and weapons. Their armor carried the familiar symbol of the empire.


    Without Will''s enchanted mask he wouldn''t have been able to see the men. And yes he never takes off his armor apart from eating and bathing.


    "Sandra, I have some business to attend to."


    "Oh, right, the thing you have with the empire."


    Sandra didn''t know exactly what it is they''re doing, but she''d rather not question it. Still she is worried considering the rumors she heard about the empire, especially their Empress.


    "Well I am gonna take a shower then. Be careful." Sandra wasn''t going to shower really. She is just going to get her weapons and wait to hear if a fight were to break out, that way she can aid Will at a moment''s notice.


    "Thanks for believing in me." Will was glad that Sandra never asked questions.


    Now that he thought about it she didn''t like asking questions a lot, which is why she never suspected anything when she saw Alex in his house all those times.


    "Yep."


    Will sprouted his dragon wings and flew towards the 3 men. The feeling of being able to fly will never get old for him.


    "It''s him!" One of them shouted. They stopped the moment they saw Will. These three men were actually here the last time they accompanied the Empress, one of which is Rico.


    Since they were sorta trustworthy, and they already knew the way, the Empress trusted them with the task of delivering and receiving items from Will.


    Will landed in a superhero landing, making him look badass in front of them.


    ''Wooh! Superhero landing. Glad I practiced that before.'' Will patted himself in the back. He always wanted to do a cool landing in front of someone for no particular reason, he just wanted to flex.


    "So, did you bring the ''stuff''" Will asked.


    ''I sound like I''m dealing drugs¡­''


    "We do. According to the trade, 6 mana ores per weapon, or 14 pounds of pure anti-hero metal per weapon as well. Must be some preeeetty good weapons."


    The 3 men knew that anti-hero metal was very rare. They''d never thought that their Empress would give some of it up for a few measly weapons.


    They thought that their Empress must have some other motive to make such an unfair trade, like coaxing the hero to join them.


    "That sounds correct. Here." Will took out a small iron ?h?st from his pocket and tossed it to the ground. Once the ?h?st left his hand it grew in size.


    Will took out the enchanted weapons from the ?h?st while ignoring the shocked faces of the 3 men.


    "I have a total of 100 weapons that your Empress wanted."


    "100?" They weren''t sure if they had brought enough materials to cover 100 weapons. Not because they were poor, but because the Empress made an error to think that Will couldn''t produce more than 10 or less in a week.


    "Hold on, the Empress told us to inspect each and every one of them. Hope you don''t mind." Rico said, following her orders to the letter.


    Will shrugged his shoulders as he handed them a single enchanted pistol. The weapons only have the ''infinite ammo'' enchantment. Adding more enchantments would require him to waste more time and resources.


    Besides he knows that Valerie is only after the ''infinite ammo'' enchantment. Adding anything else would be unnecessary.


    Rico took out an enchanted magnifying glass to use it to inspect the enchanted weapons.


    Will recognized the magnifying glass, it was the same he saw when he made that trade with Josh. He couldn''t forget as it was the same day he ''stole'' their magical ring.


    Seeing the pistol, Rico was shocked.


    ''I made a mistake. No wonder the Empress wanted these weapons. I have never heard of this enchantment before.'' Rico thought.


    Even Valerie didn''t know it was an enchantment, but she knew it had to do with Will''s ability.


    "I am afraid we can only afford 12 at the moment. By next week we should be able to bring more."


    "Sounds good. But bring a lot more next time." Will wasn''t in a rush. He still had to wait 2 more weeks until he could make proper golems.


    Rico took out a plain silver necklace with a picture of his wife and son. The necklace might seem like a normal necklace but it is a magical item.


    Magical items with a ''space inventory'' type are one of the most common types of magical items. Other magical items such as teleportation, flying, sentient, or such are rare.


    Even some weapons have the ''space inventory'' function when blacksmiths make them.


    There''s no telling just what kind of magical item will come out when they are making one. It all depends on luck.


    Rico took out several blue metals, and a giant leather bag.


    Will saw a couple of precious blue metals. The blue color in it moved like it was alive, almost as if it was mimicking the gentle waves of the ocean,


    They were in the shape of half a gold bar instead of imperfect chunks.


    Inside the bag contained only 36 mana ores.


    Most of his golem cores were destroyed by the scorpions, leaving him only 2 golem cores intact. Ever since then he could no longer gather more resources.


    Aside from the golem cores, the mana ores had many other functions like exclusive crafts like the {portal ?h?sts} which is basically an ender ?h?st.


    Will wanted to know what other uses the mana ores had. What would happen if he crafted an {Advance mana ore}? What other types of exclusive crafts could he create?


    "36 mana ores, that equals 6 of your guns. And also 6 14 pound anti-hero metal, that also equals 6 of your weapons. Bringing a total of 12."


    "Got it. I may not be good at math, but I can do at least basic math somewhat." Will said.


    Will handed them 2 pistols, 2 ak-47''s, 2 shotguns, 2 turret pistols, 2 sniper rifles, and 2 submachine guns. The reason he made 2 of every weapon is because he was bored of making the same weapon every time. Besides this''ll show them that he can make a variety of weapons.


    Not like it''ll matter, because the Empress will soon realize that it is the enchantment that is overpowered.


    Will stuffed the mana ores in his inventory and the anti-hero metals. Once he touched the metal he had unlocked new types of craftable items.


    "See you, hero." Rico and his men left and headed back to the empire.


    Will took a look at the new crafts he had unlocked.


    "That''s neat, I can make anti-hero pickaxes, even weapons and such. It''s even better than the dragon armor I am wearing, but I don''t know if it has an ability like ''flying'' or such."


    Will scrolled through the list of items he could craft. Then he checked the {Exclusive crafts] section. His eyes opened wide as he had unlocked 2 new useful crafts.


    One of the crafts is a thin glove.


    {Builders touch: Able to move any items you have crafted and ONLY the ones you crafted, nothing else. Like using telekinesis. Very useful for building. And only the system user can use its ability}


    {Note: Does not drop upon death}


    {Crafting recipes: 20 anti-hero metal(s)}


    {Hologram platform: Able to create, plan, and build different types of 3-D holographic pictures using this item. A very useful item for building and crafting various items that the system cannot craft. The only limit to this is your imagination}


    {Note: If you haven''t already unlocked or crafted a {Blueprint} do it now. Both of these cannot show their full use if they''re not used together}


    {Note: Now you can create golems easier with this. You''re welcome}


    {P.S. I just came to check up on you for a second and I cannot believe you didn''t unlock this item until now. How is your progress this slow?}


    {Crafting recipe: 100 blueprints, 8 anti-hero metal, 1 advanced mana ore}


    At first, Will was happy to unlock 2 new crafts. But reading that last paragraph made him think of that dream that he had of that man, the one who made him a system user.


    "That wasn''t a dream?" Will looked around, and sure enough he saw no one else.. It was just him.

 Chapter 77 - Hero Bruce

    Will was looking at the {Exclusive} crafts section of his book. He really wanted the {Hologram platform} which is literally the perfect item to use for building golems.


    "Finally! This is exactly what I needed!"


    Will thought of building golems obviously, but he couldn''t do it by hand since he had no idea on how to make working golems.


    But this item not only would help him create various types of golems, but also possibly vehicles, buildings, traps, and many other things.


    The golems are his greatest source of grinding materials while he''s doing something else.


    He had other golems in mind he wanted to build but couldn''t, like a golem with a machine gun strapped on his shoulders or hands, golems that fight, protect, gather, farm resources.


    One time he tried to add a sentry turret and a simple minigun to a golem, but it didn''t work for many, many reasons:


    Most of the time their weapons didn''t work, or their aim was off, or their arm and hand movements were limited, their sight was limited since Will couldn''t make eyes by hand, the weight of the gun was affecting their movement, they sometimes overheated the gun from overusing it, and more errors that he found out later.


    "Okay, so I got 6 half bars of anti-hero metal, but according to the system this only counts as 3¡­ not even close." Will rubbed the part of his nose where his eyes didn''t connect.


    Will, for a few months now, he has many questions about the crafting system, one of which is what counts as one item?


    For example, when he mines a single iron ore it counts as a single ore, but if he mines another ore that''s a little bit heavier or lighter it also counts as one. Same with the height, if it is a little bit different it still counts as one.


    Like say if you have a loaf of bread, it would count as one. But if he were to cut it in half it doesn''t make it two but rather zero.


    Will knows that this isn''t a video game, so it''s not surprising that not everything he mines is different in size, shape or weight, but what counts as a single item?


    If he were to cut an iron ore in half it doesn''t count as a single item but nothing, unless if he holds both cut halves it counts as one instead of two, same goes for the loaf of bread.


    Will doesn''t know how it works, but what he does know is that it''s a rule of the system and has no choice but to follow it.


    "Man, I need to grind a lot. Especially that 100 blueprints. Just how many trees do I have to cut down?" Will''s body ached at the thought of it.


    He had to switch to his exotic-wooden armor for that strength and speed boost, which helps him a lot when cutting down trees.


    A single middle-tier mana ore equals 10 low-tier mana ore. An advanced-tier mana ores equals 100 low-tier mana ores, which is actually not a bad deal, but that would mean he has to give up 10 golems.


    "Gah! Next week the Empress will send people to trade with me again, and I can use their mana ores and anti-hero metal to craft the {Hologram platform} but I still need those 100 blueprints. I don''t think 1 week is enough. Welp!"


    First he placed the mana ores and the anti-hero metals in the last two empty slots in his inventory. Will went inside his base and saw Sandra waiting for him.


    "Weren''t you gonna take a shower?" Asked Will.


    "I was worried about you. I thought that those people would try to attack you or something."


    "Thanks for worrying. Looks like we''re gonna have to put building the castle on hold for a while."


    "Why? It''s looking great."


    "It is. But there''s something I must do. I have to gather A LOT of wood." Will was just glad he could make trees grow fully in a night, otherwise he''d clear out entire forests.


    ''I remember MrBeast once made a thing called #Teamtrees and planted like 10 million trees or something like that I wonder if he ever cleared the garbage from the ocean would it be called #Teamseas? #Teamoceans? #Teamblue? Nah, #Teamtrees sounds right. Too bad I can never see him do it.''


    "Can I know why?"


    "Sorry, no."


    "Hm¡­ okay, then." Sandra was feeling let down that Will couldn''t tell her anything when she really wanted to know.


    She understands why he''s not telling her everything, but it still made her feel bad.


    At first she thought Will told her everything, but that story of Alex made her realize it was not the case. Of course Alex could have asked Will to keep it a secret for whatever reason.


    Sandra went down the cave to shower the dust and sweat off.


    Will took a lot of enchanted steel axes and stored them inside an empty iron ?h?st. Will carried with him more empty iron ?h?sts, flew all the way to the forest. which was far away from his base, and started cutting down trees.


    "This is not FUN! And here I thought I LOVED GRINDING! But NO! I really NEED to make a GOLEM who can CUT DOWN THESE DAMN TREES!" With every shout, Will swung his axe with everything he had. It''s as if shouting made it easier to cut down trees.


    Sometimes if he''s lucky he can cut down a tree in a single swing, sometimes two or three swings is all it takes.


    It might seem easy, but it''s so much work, it''s boring, the heat still affects him. Sometimes the trees fall on him when he''s not paying attention and crushing him to death, which has already happened two times now.


    And tiny splinters somehow manage to enter through the cracks of his armor, as well as sawdust when axes don''t work on certain situations, and he feels like dozens of bugs are biting him. And the stumps are a pain to get rid of, and if he doesn''t get rid of those stumps they become a burden to him.


    It was a pain. Will had never realized how people back then were so brave at cutting down trees with normal axes. He had a newfound respect for those people.


    "Will, do you need help?"


    Will looked over his shoulder, and he saw Bruce standing there, menacingly but not really.


    "Oh, you¡­ Peter, right?" Will had forgotten about him.


    "It''s Bruce,"


    "Right, sorry. What are you doing here?"


    "Came to check up on Sandra. Is she okay?"


    "Couldn''t you have messaged her or something?"


    "Can''t. You still have the communication stone I lent you."


    "Oh." Will had completely forgotten about that.


    "But, you need help with that?" Bruce pointed to the trees.


    "Yeah. Please." Will handed him an axe.


    Bruce was about to swing the axe, but Will stopped him.


    "Woah, stop. You can''t just do that! You need to make sure you know where you''re gonna cut the tree and where it''s gonna¡­ actually you don''t need to worry, I think your hero strength alone can carry an entire tree."


    Will was worried about Bruce, but remembering that he''s a hero he shouldn''t be worried at all.


    "Okay, then."


    "Oh man, this is satisfying!" Bruce cut down another tree, and another, and another, and so on.


    There was something about cutting down something that made it feel satisfying.


    "Actually Bruce, you don''t need to cut down that¡­ actually, I need 100 blueprints, each blueprint takes 1000 sheets of paper to craft, and each log gives me a minimum of 400 sheets of paper, and each tree gives me about 7-10 trunks. I actually have no freakin'' idea how many logs I need, so KEEP IT UP BRUCE!" Will shouted.


    Shortly after 30 minutes, Bruce realized that he was gonna cut down all the trees.


    "Oh, crap! I cut down too many."


    Bruce was your typical good guy. He never liters, always cleans up after himself, is polite to people, and always offers a helping hand. Although he''s a nice person he also likes to fight.


    He doesn''t feel bad about cutting down the trees, because every day humans cut trees because we need it. But he only felt bad that most of the trees that Will won''t use would go to waste and rot.


    "Bruce, good job. You made it easier for me." Will said. He handed Bruce a leather pouch full of water.


    "Sorry, I cut down too many." Bruce accepted the water. It was cool and refreshing.


    "That''s alright. Here''s your payment." Will handed Bruce a few gold coins.


    "What''s¡­ why?" Bruce asked.


    "It''s the reason you offered to help, right?" Will said.


    "No¡­ but I''ll gladly take it." Bruce put the money in his pockets. If it was given to him he had no reason to decline.


    "Want to make more money?"


    "Nah, I need to talk to Sandra about¡­ something¡­ important."


    Bruce''s eyes widened in shock when Will handed Bruce a pouch full of gold and silver coins.


    "Still don''t want to help me?"


    "What must I do?" Bruce completely changed his mind.


    Bruce is 20 years old. He might love fighting, but he also liked money. After all, what kind of normal person doesn''t want money?


    He still had money left over when the king rewarded him, Sandra and Jasmine, but it never hurts to have more. After all, he also wants a magical weapon to help him get stronger.


    Underneath his mask, Will smiled. He knew that Bruce offered to help him out of the kindness of his heart, which he was grateful but he wanted Bruce to help him cut down trees.


    It''s why he offered him a lot of money, after all he''s a strong, kind hero.


    He could ask Sandra for help and he knows she''ll help him, but he didn''t want her to suffer the same pain he goes through when he cuts down trees.


    "Help me turn the trees you cut down into logs. And once you do that make sure to place them inside the ?h?st."


    Will was only going to craft them into sheets of paper, but Bruce cut down so many trees that Will believes that after he''s finished he''ll have many logs left. It''d be a waste to leave them rot, so he decided to gather them in case he ever had a use for them.


    "No problem. Do you have another axe? This one is almost broken." Bruce pointed to the axe in his hand.


    "I have tons. Go nuts." Will took out a ?h?st from his pocket filled with enchanted, steel axes.


    "Wh-wha-what-what is your hero ability?" It''s the first time Bruce saw Will take out a tiny object and enlarge it. His best guess is the ability to shrink and un-shrink items.


    "Secret."


    A few hours of non-stop work, they finished. A part of the forest was gone, all that was left were the stumps where the trees once were.


    Will didn''t care. For every tree they cut down he planted 2 more. He could always remove the stumps at another time. But he planned to have his golems do it instead, when he makes them.


    "Ow, the splinters are on my ?ss!" Bruce sat down on the ground, but like he said various splinters impaled him.


    "Yeah¡­" Seeing Bruce like that made Will realize just how lucky he was if he didn''t wear armor.


    "But it was worth it." Bruce chuckled as he counted the pouch full of coins.


    "Are you a m?s??h?st?" Will would never think that any amount of money would be worth going through all that trouble. Then again Will has never suffered financial problems so he can''t relate.


    "What?"


    "Nothing."


    Bruce took off his clothes and used all his strength to whip time in the air making a loud *CRACK!* noise, like when one''s parents are preparing to use their belt.


    Whipping his clothes removed most of the splinters.


    "Man, I never realized that cutting down trees would be tiring." Said Bruce.


    "And a pain in the ?ss. Hehehe!" Will laughed.


    "Haha, I understand what you meant." Bruce and Will laughed.


    "Will, when are you going to reveal your identity to the kingdom? It''s been like 4 months since we''ve been here." Bruce wanted to know why Will just doesn''t ask the kingdom for help. He''s a hero, why wouldn''t the kingdom help him?


    "I don''t want to. It''s only a matter of time, though. A lot of people know about me already."


    Jack, Jasmine, Sandra, Bruce, the Great Sage, Clement, the Princess, the Empress and her men, some elves, and that''s it.


    He doesn''t know how long it''ll take until someone else finds out about him and tells everyone.


    ''Actually, I think someone else told everyone about me one time and I had to hide underground. Honestly that was pure luck and skill on my side. Heh.'' Will chuckled.


    "Oh, Will, can you pass on a message to Sandra? It''s late and I don''t want to bother her. And I also want to go back and wash off the splinters."


    "What message?"


    "Tell her that the king invited all the heroes to join the tournament of heroes. We need 50 heroes for the tournament to proceed, but we already have 60. I just wanted to let her know if she wants to join."


    "Really? When did he announce the tournament?"


    "A week ago. Everyone in the kingdom already knows. It''s already spread to all the villages. I just wanted to make sure that Sandra knows as well."


    "Huh. That''s weird."


    "What is?"


    "Nothing."


    ''Sandra last went to the kingdom a few days ago to buy food, there''s no way she doesn''t know.''


    Jack and Jasmine also know about the tournament, but they did not tell Will because he wants to keep his identity a secret, so it wouldn''t make much sense for him to join. And also they believed he already knew.


    "Okay. Please tell her." As Bruce was about to leave, Will asked him a question.


    "You like her, right?" Will asked.


    Bruce didn''t take another step. It was an unexpected question.


    "Isn''t it obvious?" Bruce didn''t deny it.


    "Yeah, I figured."


    Will saw Bruce accompanying Sandra when she was looking for him, and now he went through all this trouble to relay her a message. It was obvious he liked her, because Will was also like Bruce at first, doing everything he could for her, and always thinking about her, treating her like a queen.


    Their relationship started off a bit rocky from the start. Then again Will only confessed to her because Alex threatened to destroy their minecraft base, no relationship that starts like that will ever start fine. Thinking about it made him cringe. He was grateful to Alex but at the same time he didn''t feel thankful to him.


    But as time went on their relationship went smoother and better. It wasn''t love at first sight, but it slowly progressed to the point where they had s?x and loved each other like old married couples.


    Will could tell Bruce liked her, but Will loved Sandra and she loved him back. It made him realize just how much of an idiot he was.


    What if Sandra didn''t try to look for him? Would she have ended up dating or loving Bruce instead? What if he had died that day instead of being summoned here?


    The thought devastated him. The thought of him ending things with Sandra made him feel like shit. Even though it wasn''t her fault that Alex died, not like he lashed out his anger on her or anything, but he did cut her off from his life, the only woman who loved him..


    "Can''t say I blame you, Bruce. But don''t do anything to her. Or else."


    "Woah, Will, what kind of person do you take me for?" Bruce said, a bit annoyed.


    "What?"


    "I will not lie, part of me wished that you weren''t here. Over 800 students in our school, and out of all of those people you were summoned along with us. But do you know how Sandra felt when she was summoned here?"


    "No. What?"


    "Well, after she realized that she could never see you again, or her family, it devastated her. She tried desperately to find a way back. When she heard that the 100th hero wasn''t summoned like the rest of us, she held onto the thought that it was you but you weren''t properly summoned, and tracked you down to find and protect you. Honestly, if you weren''t summoned but somebody else was, I don''t know if she would be devastated to never see you again, or glad that you were safe at home."


    Will didn''t think about that. He remembered how Sandra was desperate to find a way back home. But after she found him she didn''t put much effort into it anymore.


    "After she found you, she''s been more at rest, happy. How can I take that away from her?" Bruce said, a bit heart broken.


    "You know, it''s funny. The very same day you confessed to Sandra behind the school, that exact same day I decided I too would confess to her. I decided to confess to her if I ever won a gold medal in a Jiu Jitsu tournament. I even bought her a dozen roses to match her hair color. I waited for her after school, but didn''t see her. Then I saw you confess to her, and I realized I was a step too late."


    Will faintly remembers seeing a bouquet of roses on the ground the same day as well. Bruce dropped them after being heartbroken. He never realized there was a story behind it.


    "I did think of ruining your relationship, only for a second. A few months since then I saw how happy you two were in school. Then I told myself ''how can I ever ruin that smile?'' it was then I thought it was better if I just¡­ moved on. I thought that in this world I would have a chance, but it seems like luck wasn''t on my side. Like my teacher once said, ''sometimes in life it feels like the universe hates you.'' and that''s how I felt. I still do."


    Will didn''t know what to say. He only asked him a question because he feels like Bruce would do something, and would only give him a warning. He felt like Bruce would somehow try to sabotage them.


    The reason he thinks that is because he would have done so. He pictured Sandra with another man, and it made him feel beyond pissed. But it looks like Bruce is stronger than him in other parts.


    "But Will, if you hurt Sandra, I will hunt you down like a dog, and bury you alive as deep as I have repressed my feelings for her for all these years. Goodbye."


    After saying his piece, Bruce left. Somehow he felt relieved to finally say that to Will, as if he was free of a burden.


    Bottling up one''s feelings is basically a ticking time bomb. People who bottle up their feelings have their own ways to release those pent up feelings, Bruce''s way was to say the words he''d been meaning to say to Will for years now.


    Will sat there in thought. It was already night so he thought he should go back to his base. He carried all his stuff, put on his dragon armor and flew back. Once he flew back to his base, he saw Sandra making some clay pots.


    She was in her casual clothes, her hair was in a ponytail position, her hands all covered in mud from making clay pots. This world didn''t provide them with a lot of entertainment aside from playing with instruments, reading books, or something else.


    A few days ago Sandra wanted to try out pottery because it looked interesting, and she''d always wanted to take pottery classes. Her pots weren''t turning out great, but she was doing her best.


    "Oh, Will!" Sandra heard Will.


    "Hi, Sandra."


    "Do you want to eat something?"


    "No. I had something to eat. I''ll take a quick shower." Will went to the cave to take a shower. He threw away his exotic-wooden armor to wash the splinters later.


    He plucked the splinters that were stuck on his body. It was annoying as hell, which is why he hates cutting down trees.


    After a while he finished. He stood in his bathroom thinking about Sandra.


    This time he decided to only put on casual clothes and not his armor. He always wore clothes underneath his armor but never took off his armor apart from using the bathroom or eating.


    He saw Sandra heating some food for him. It wasn''t a stove or something fancy, just a small campfire with a frying pan on top of it. She was cooking him some delicious steak.


    "Oh, Will." Sandra didn''t look at him. She was just focusing on the food to make sure it doesn''t burn.


    "I know you said you didn''t want to eat, but knowing you, you''ll just eat something in a few minutes."


    Will smiled. He walked up to her and hugged her from behind.


    "Will?" Sandra''s heart jolted. She realized that Will wasn''t in his armor. His touch felt soft, and yet sturdy, as a result of doing heavy labor work for almost 4 months.


    "I love you so much." Will gently held onto Sandra''s chin and kissed her gently.


    Sandra felt her body tensed up at first, then it succumbed to him and he embraced her body, locking closer to each other.


    "Will?" Sandra felt weak all of a sudden. It was a sudden surprise that she didn''t expect.


    "Can you ever forgive me? For everything I did?"


    Sandra knew exactly what he meant.


    "I already have, long ago."


    She hugged him tighter than ever, and their bodies lingered. Their clothes flew everywhere as their ?ust took control of their bodies.


    One could only hear the sounds of pleasurable m??ns echoing through the night.. By sunrise the sounds stopped.

 Chapter 78 - Finding Grace

    Will woke up startled from a dream he had. He noticed he was n?k?d on his bed. Beside him Sandra was also n?k?d, but the sheets covered their bodies.


    ''Right¡­'' Will remembered what happened last night, he couldn''t help but smile. He put on his clothes and dragon armor quickly and quietly.


    Sandra woke up.


    "Will? What time is it?" Sandra said weakly. She was still half asleep.


    "Go to sleep, Sandra. We b?r?ly got any sleep." Will was also tired, but he felt like he had to check if he had enough logs to make 100 {Blue prints} to make the item he needs.


    He dreamt that he lacked a single piece of wood to make 100 {Blue prints}. It was more of a nightmare than a dream.


    "Last night was¡­" Sandra smiled as a light blush could be seen on her face.


    "But, what happened to you that made you want to do that?" Asked Sandra. They''ve been living together in their castle for over a week now, but this is the first time they''ve done it.


    "A lot of things happened last night. I''ll tell you later but I need to check something."


    "Okay." Sandra fell into a deep sleep once more.


    Will exited the building and checked all the logs he and Bruce collected. Seeing the large quantity of logs in his ?h?sts made him feel great. It''s like having so many diamonds that you don''t know what to do with them.


    "Man, Bruce, you are a lifesaver." Will could have never gotten this many logs in a single day.


    Of course one by one he crafted hundreds and thousands of sheets of paper using those logs. Using those sheets of paper he crafted the {Blueprints} that he so needed. It was a boring process, but Will was used to this sort of thing.


    1 {Blue print}, 12 {Blue prints}, 37 {Blue prints}, 68 {Blue prints}, and finally 100 {Blueprints}.


    "Like I thought, not only did I have enough but I have so much wood left over. Maybe I should hire Bruce again if I ever need him. Nah, by then I''ll probably have made enough golems to do it for me. And I am talking to myself, again."


    ''Now, I just need to wait for the Empress to trade the mana ores and anti-hero metals. I wish I had a way to mine for anti-hero metal. I wonder how the Empress is able to collect anti-hero metal when it''s at the bottom of the ocean.'' Will thought.


    ''Hmm¡­ perhaps I should make some sort of water golems? Fish golems? Man, that''s not a bad idea. But the real question is ''how'' exactly can I do that?''


    Will placed all 100 {Blue prints} in his inventory so he doesn''t lose them. His inventory was already full, and he still didn''t know how to expand his inventory. Still he''s grateful to have 10 slots.


    Will went inside the large building. He saw Sandra was already up. She was looking at herself in front of a mirror. She was tying her hair in a ponytail.


    "Hey, Will, what would you like to eat?"


    "Whatever''s fine. Just no eggs, please." Will sat down on a comfy sofa that he crafted. Now that he crafted 100 {Blue prints} he could only wait for the Empress to deliver the mana ores and the anti-hero metal.


    Will hates eggs more than any other food.


    "Yeah. Sounds good." Sandra already knows Will''s hate for eggs, but she likes them.


    "Before I forget, I talked to Bruce yesterday. He said that there''s a tournament of some kind? A tournament of heroes?"


    "Bruce was here?"


    "Last night. He said that the king sent him to deliver you a message or something, the message was to let you know about the tournament."


    "Oh yeah, that. I already knew about the tournament. I saw the posters 4 days ago when I was on errands. Seemed like it was nothing special. Apart from that the first place gets a magical item, and second and third place gets some prize money."


    "Having a magical item seems like a nice idea. Why don''t you join the tournament? You might win." Asked Will.


    He knows just how powerful and useful magical items are. He has a cloak with the ability of short distance teleportation, a weird gun that he took from Clement, a ring and a bracelet that allows him to store stuff inside.


    Will also has a magical item that can help him find and identify other magical items. Sadly he could never find the magical item he wanted, the item to change the weather to his own choosing.


    "Unlike in fiction, I don''t think I''ll make it far like the main characters. My odds of winning are low, and I don''t like the idea of fighting our classmates and beating each other up. And it seems kinda like a waste of time. First, I am not the strongest hero, or have the most experience in fighting, probably Josh, Britney, Peter, Henry, Bruce, or Victoria will get the first spot. And even if I do get second or third place the money will just be gone. I''d much rather stay here."


    "I understand. But I have to admit it sounds like fun. Do you want to go see it anyways?" Asked Will.


    Right now they have no way to entertain themselves like back in their world. What this world had to offer as ''entertainment'' could be considered boring back in their world, like reading, writing, pottery, and so on.


    And it reminded him of when they lived back in their own world. Every time there was a new interesting movie playing in the theaters, he''d always invite Alex or Sandra to watch movies with him, most of the time they''d see it together with the three of them. Alex loved watching the MCU movies more than anything.


    It wasn''t just the movies, sometimes he would take her on normal dates like the zoo, the mall, a park, a carnival, or ask her out to play video games with him. If it wasn''t for Alex Will would have never had the courage to ask her on 50% of their dates.


    "Aren''t you¡­ like in hiding?" Asked Sandra. Why else would Will hide in the middle of the deserted lands?


    "Yeah¡­ but it''s not like I am a criminal. And also the Great Sage already knows about me¡­ Actually, you''re right, let''s not go." Will quickly changed his mind.


    "What made you change your mind?"


    "I just remembered Victoria is going there."


    "Ohhh. Right. Are you still scared of her?"


    "Me? No. Not anymore at least. It''s just that I feel like if I ever see her ugly face, I won''t be able to hold myself back from putting a bullet in her head." Will said with anger in his voice.


    Will hated Victoria more than anyone. She''s almost on par with that actress who ruined the life of a great man with her lies and deceit, who''s last name rhymes with ''Turd.''


    "Well if you don''t want to go then that is fine with me. I didn''t want to go anyways. Let''s just continue building our castle."


    "Mhm. Oh, Sandra, I just remembered but is there a word for racism against animals?"


    After all this time, Will still wanted to know what the word is.


    "Racism against¡­ I understand what you''re saying, but if there is, I don''t know."


    "I call it ''animal-ism'' sounds neat, right?"


    "No. No it doesn''t."


    "Fair enough. Sad thing is that without the internet, there''s no way to fact check it."


    They went on with their day like they normally would.


    Meanwhile¡­


    A certain elven woman was placed in an isolated room with a bucket, and a b?r?ly lit candle. This elf is Grace, who failed miserably to protect even a single elf from the black market buyers.


    During these past 2 weeks she has been constantly thinking, planning on getting out. The problem is that she wasn''t able to do it, no matter how much she planned it


    Tricking them, taunting them, anything didn''t seem to work. All they did was give her food through a tiny slot in the door, a lit candle, and empty her bucket once a week.


    Both of her captors have guns. They made sure to keep their distance from her when opening the door. So there wasn''t anything she could do to escape without dying.


    They made sure to keep the contact as minimal as possible.


    As Grace was lost in her thoughts, she heard a loud commotion happening behind the door. As if a mob fight broke out, with loud crashing noises, and a large monster pouncing and damaging everything in its path.


    "Wait, wait, wait, GEUAAH!"


    Two men shouted in pain, and their voices disappeared all of a sudden along with the loud noises.


    Grace didn''t like that sound at all. Did a monster break in and kill her captors? Would that mean that she''s about to die if the monster finds her?


    ''Dammit! Is this how I will die? I guess it''s better to die than to be defiled.'' Grace had long accepted that something bad might happen to her someday.


    *SLAM*


    The heavy door was f?r??b?? pulled back with a great force. Only a monster with such great strength could pull it off.


    ''It''s over.'' Grace thought as she tightly closed her eyes, tears running down her cheeks. She didn''t want to die.


    "Grace!"


    To her surprise, she heard her dad''s voice. Upon opening her eyes, which her vision is now hazy because of her tears, she saw not only her dad, but many other elves in the room with her. Including her mom, Rias, Arbor, and her grandfather. They were all carrying weapons and some wore armor with enchantments on them.


    Elves have a special metal called ''metal-grass'' which is the only metal that can grow like a plant, and be made into weapons and armor.


    "Dad? Mom?" Grace couldn''t believe it.


    Arbor took down the chains that bound Grace to the wall, by cutting them down with his enchanted blades.


    "It''s okay. You''re okay." Arbor hugged his daughter tighter than he ever did. Tears also rolled down his cheeks. Grace''s mom, Joyce, also embraced her daughter tightly.


    "How did you guys find me?" Grace asked, sobbingly.


    "Adaline did." Silvas answered with a smile.


    On the other side of the room was Adaline along with a bunch of other elves. There are also two men binded by Adaline''s vines, behind them was a cracked wall.


    Because Adaline was mad she made them fall unconscious when she used her body to slam them into the wall.


    They also raised their weapons on her which made her all the more furious. Arbor and the other elves couldn''t even help Adaline because she took them down faster than they could.


    "Adaline did? So is Will¡­"


    "No. He stayed behind, said that he couldn''t help." Rias answered Grace before she could complete her question.


    "Figures."


    "This is why I say we should kill humans. They kidnapped Grace, and so many others as well! Silvas, please let me kill the two bastards who kidnapped your granddaughter! They don''t deserve to live." Radix voiced out his thoughts, which a lot of elves also thought.


    The tension between the humans and elves is already so bad. There is one reason that they don''t just raid the kingdom, The Great Sage. As for the empire, it''s just too far away, and they don''t enslave elves. But if they have the chance, they''ll kill the humans from the empire as well.


    "Hm¡­ not yet. I''d like to question those first." Silvas said calmly. But inside he wasn''t calm, he was furious.


    As much as he''d like to slash those two''s throats right now, something bothered him about this.


    Not only were these two ordinary humans able to kidnap Grace, who is protected by Lea, but they didn''t even attempt to sell her to the black market. And it seemed like they didn''t do anything to her. It was more like keeping a bird in a cage.


    Humans always have a reason to enslave elves, to satisfy their ?ust, for their own personal gain, or simply because they''re bored and want an elf?


    But why did they kidnap Grace and bring her to such a remote place?


    A few weeks ago right after Grace went missing, they secretly infiltrated the black market. Destroying it is still too difficult for them. If they were to raid the black market then many elves would die.


    They successfully managed to brainwash a single person who is a member of the black market. That didn''t go so well as they had hoped, because that person is merely an ordinary person in the black market, so he had no idea about the slaves or anything really.


    Adaline was the one who had to use her own roots, dig her way to the black market''s secret underground base, and confirm that Grace wasn''t there.


    They only found Grace after carefully planning it out, now that they knew that Grace wasn''t being held captive in the black market..


    They knew that Grace should be in a spot where there isn''t even a single blade of grass, otherwise their goddess, Lea, would have told them already or protected Grace, which is why they searched the black market.


    There are many spots where their goddess can''t reach. After searching those spots, most of which were near the black market, they found Grace thanks to Adaline. Because Adaline could feel the vibrations on the ground, she felt something underground, and that was how they found Grace.


    "Take them to the prison. I have some questions for them." Silvas ordered his men.


    "Wait, since when do we have a prison?" Asked Radix. They have no use for bringing back slaves or prisoners, as they would either kill them on the spot. As for elves, they exile elves should they ever commit a foul deed.


    They really don''t have a reason to imprison humans, mostly because their Goddess Lea would kill them.


    "Since now." Silvas said angrily.


    "..." The elves felt like he didn''t make much sense, but they could understand because Silvas was angry.


    They had no idea where the ''prison'' is, so they just dragged their bodies somewhere far until Silvas''s anger cooled down.


    "Silvas, please give me permission to kill those two." Radix asked.


    "Patience, Arbor. You''ll have plenty of chances to kill."


    Silvas squinted his eyes when he looked at Radix. But he shook his head and focused on Adaline instead. He gently patted her head.


    "Thank you, Adalis, or Adaline. If it weren''t for you, many elves would have died, and I might have never recovered my granddaughter." Silvas was grateful for Adaline''s help.


    Before Adaline arrived, they were ready to raid a few nearby villages who actually have some slave elves who have lost the protection of Lea. They thought that it was most likely where Grace would be.


    Most of those villages aren''t even close to a single tree, because they know that elves rely on their goddess to protect them. And those villages are also protected by the ''black market'' but compared to the kingdom or the empire, they were severely lacking in power and men, but still shouldn''t be taken lightly.


    Silvas knew about those villages. But in order to bring back their elves, a lot of lives would have to be sacrificed. He knows this because he has done this before, many, many times.


    Before he could rely on the Great Sage to deal with the problem peacefully, but now he can''t be relied on anymore.


    ''Perhaps my old age is starting to affect my thinking as well. Just like Morgan(Great Sage).'' Silvas thought.


    Adaline merely ignored Silvas and went outside. Outside of the secret room was basically nothing. The doors were perfectly covered in stone that blended in with the environment.


    Compared to the deserted lands, it wasn''t nearly as hot. But it was indeed warm.


    Adaline laid down on the ground, looking to the north, to where Will was. She missed her ''home'' where she could laze around and eat delicious scorpion and dragon meat.


    Using her roots she drank from some groundwater that was deep underground. Extending her roots far because she was bored, she sensed something abnormal. She found a small box that was wrapped around in a dirty, old cloth. It had obviously been buried there, it looked like a woman''s clothing was wrapped around it but old and worn out.


    Sometimes she would find little surprises every now and then. Mostly skeletons from monsters or in rare cases humans or elves. It wasn''t that fun but since she was bored it was fun to her, and it helped her pass time.


    One time she tried to extend the greenery like she did the deserted lands. It was a success and she didn''t need to tend to it because it wasn''t as hot as the deserted lands.


    Adaline saw that the box was as big as an ?du?t''s palm. She hid it underneath her body between her vines.


    Adaline''s body is made of organic material, mostly thick vines, some beautiful flowers, and a giant beak in her mouth. As she hid the box between the lines of her thick vines, one could faintly see dozens of exotic flowers as well.


    During the first few days, Adaline continued to produce exotic flowers like it was nothing. But one day she just stopped. The exotic flowers she produced she hid from the elves, letting nobody else know as Will had told her to.


    The reason she stopped producing exotic flowers after a few days, is because Will stopped feeding her. That''s it.


    Just like how Will can make trees grow in a single day, or how he can grow batches of crops and fruits in a few hours, or how he can make animals like camels produce baby animals very quickly and make them grow quickly as well. It was all part of his system''s passive abilities.


    After a while Grace and the other elves left the hidden room.


    "Adaline, thank you for rescuing me." Grace was happy to be alive. She hugged Adaline tightly, so did Arbor and Joyce.


    "I love a happy ending." Rias said from the side.


    "Yeah. Happy." Radix was pissed and he did a poor job to hide it.


    If it weren''t for Adaline they would have had a perfect excuse to raid and kill humans in those villages.


    And because Adaline is a part of the hero he failed to kill, it just made him angrier.


    "Relax, Radix. You''ll get your chance to kill humans." Rias comforted Radix.


    "Mhm." Radix left angrily, rumbling to himself.


    Silvas approached Rias when Radix left.


    "Rias?"


    "Yes, my king?"


    "Was it my imagination, or did Radix seem pissed?"


    Silvas didn''t see a reason not to be happy right now. They just rescued Grace.


    "Yeah. You know him, he just really wanted to kill some humans, like always."


    "I thought you also hated humans." Asked Silvas.


    "Not as much as compared to Radix. But I feel like Grace will soon be headed to the same path."


    "Ah¡­ I know what you mean." Silvas said.


    Because humans kidnapped Grace, there is no doubt that this would make Grace and Radix hate humans more than ever. Should Grace have died, even Silvas would have trouble controlling his anger, and might have ordered to kill and destroy any and all human villages.


    "Hm¡­ Rias, can you keep a close eye on the prisoners?" Silvas said.


    "Sure."


    "And if by any chance you see Radix going near those humans, don''t do anything, just tell me if anything happens, okay?"


    "Uh¡­ yes, my king." Rias didn''t know what Silvas wanted, but nonetheless she is going to obey his every word.


    Silvas kept a close eye on Radix, and also some of the other elves who have immense hatred for humans.

 Chapter 79 - Failed product?

    "Man, we really are a bunch of pussies." Pete said, dejectedly.


    Peter, Henry, and Pete were currently ''trying'' to explore the outskirts of the kingdom for the sixtieth time. Sadly they can never seem to make it further than 5 blocks away.


    "Indeed, Peter. We are indeed pussies." Henry admitted that they are indeed pussies.


    "Don''t call me ''Peter'' just ''Pete.'' you know I hate that name." Pete said annoyed. For some reason he just hates it when people call him by anything that isn''t his name.


    "Then we should travel further today, just a little bit more. At least 10 blocks this time. Baby steps." Henry said.


    "Yeah, perhaps not. I mean didn''t you hear that recently a girl got killed and she wasn''t that far from the kingdom?" Britney commented.


    "Yeah. Happened on the same day we last saw Josh. Poor girl. I think her grandma died of a heart attack or something, not long after receiving the news of her daughter?" Henry said sadly.


    "Wait, that happened?"


    "Yes, Pete. I think I heard that a large monster killed her, a cyclops or an ogre did it. Even the carriage she was driving was smashed to pieces." Britney closed her eyes to pay respect to the dead girl.


    It''s the same one who accompanied Josh to the kingdom.


    "How do you guys know this? We are literally together almost every day."


    "I know this from Britney." Henry said.


    "I know from Colby and Ali since they are a bunch of chatterboxes. While you''re asleep we sometimes talk to them. How do they know? I have no idea. But they do seem to know a lot more about what''s going on than we do." Britney said.


    Sometimes Britney talks to her classmates. And she used to date Colby a few years ago, until she broke up with him once they graduated from high school.


    "That poor girl. Welp, I am going to bed. See ya!"


    Henry grabbed Pete by the collar of his shirt and dragged him back slightly. All Pete wants to do lately is sleep. Henry basically has to drag Pete outside every day. He''s only doing this for the safety of his friend.


    Pete doesn''t really care about getting stronger. Someone else can be a hero in his place, or at least that is what he thinks.


    "You''re not going anywhere. We are going to get stronger!"


    "But why? We literally don''t have to do anything. We can just live inside the kingdom our whole lives without going outside, like quarantine but less boring. There are like 100 other heroes who can do this, this, whatever we''re doing." Pete said.


    "What we''re gonna do is get stronger, at least strong enough to kill a dragon."


    "I don''t see the point. The Great Sage can do that easily, and so can Josh. And besides, the Great Sage has been around for 300 years, I believe he''ll last long enough until we grow old and die of old age."


    Pete merely wanted to live a simple life that doesn''t include risking your life everyday killing terrifying monsters, like a game of monster hunter but with less awesome and beautiful looking creatures to kill in their own habitat minding their own business.


    Pete suddenly remembered the huge dragon they saw when it attacked the kingdom. The very same dragon who turned into a loli.


    Pete was never afraid of anything before. But when he saw that dragon, his body froze, and he couldn''t move. He knew he was safe from harm, but his body still froze, and he couldn''t move no matter what.


    ''All I wanted to do was eat a delicious Snickers bar, order some pizza, watch some Rick and Morty in the comfort of my own room. Was that too much to ask, God?'' Pete thought.


    That was his plan right before he was summoned.


    To this day he believes that one day he''ll be back to his home, and eat that Snickers bar. All he wants is to go back home and enjoy his comfortable, boring, and not so deadly life.


    "Well, first because our time is limited. Unlike the Great Sage, and Shaun, we won''t be able to love a long lifespan, so we need to get strong quickly. And second: don''t you get it? This is our chance to exact our revenge!" Henry said.


    Britney and Pete looked at Henry confused. What did he mean by that?


    "Have you guys heard about the tournament of heroes that''s gonna happen in two days? Without a doubt Victoria is gonna join the tournament! This is our one chance to finally punch her in her fat face, for all those years of torture!" Henry said that with so much rage in his voice.


    Henry and Britney''s eyes widened open. They didn''t think of that.


    "What are we waiting for then! Let''s get stronger and kill that ugly monster! Wait, does that mean we have to kill each other if we join?" Asked Pete, suddenly scared for his life.


    "No, the tournament forbids killing other heroes, obviously." The current king might be scum, but he is not dumb enough to have heroes kill each other for no good reason. That would be a huge waste.


    "But it''s a fighting tournament, ''accidents'' happen every now and then. What if a terrible accident fell on Victoria?" Britney said.


    "Well, the Great Sage is gonna be there to supervise us most likely. But it''s worth a shot."


    Their hatred for Victoria got to the point of wanting to kill her. But these three were merely joking, as they don''t even have the courage to kill a goblin, not to mention a classmate of theirs.


    "Now we sound like those bastards plotting to kill the MC in a typical wuxia novel. Heh." Henry said, chuckling to himself.


    "Wuxia?" Pete and Britney look at Henry confused, again.


    "Seriously? Have you two ever read a light novel?"


    Both of them shook their heads. They have seen some anime, but never read manga or light novels before. These three never even watched Naruto but have heard of it.


    Henry has read ''some'' light novels in his spare time. Some of those books have indeed piqued his interest, but he wasn''t that big of a fanboy compared to other people. It was one of the few things that got him through quarantine.


    "Nevermind. Let''s get stronger!"


    And the merry trio finally found the courage to travel further away from the kingdom, and to train for the purpose of beating up Victoria. Even if they couldn''t ''accidentally'' kill her, it''ll be satisfying enough to hit her once or more.


    "By the way, we were kidding about killing Victoria, right?" Pete asked unsure.


    "Yes and no." Both Henry and Britney responded at the same time.


    "Wh-what does that mean exactly?"


    "Mhm."


    "..." Pete.


    Inside the kingdom, Bruce was training with the hero Shaun Quincy.


    "What''s weighing on your mind, boy?" Shaun asked Bruce.


    They were sparring in the training area. Currently only the two of them are using it. Bruce only used his fists merely because he doesn''t know how to fight with weapons. Shaun uses a magical spear, but for the sake of the other ''soft'' heroes he doesn''t use it.


    These two would spar on a regular basis. Bruce did so because Shaun is a very experienced fighter, not just because he''s the second oldest hero, but because he is also an experienced military soldier with over 100 years of fighting experience. He was the perfect training partner for him, as there are no suitable heroes right now to even spar against Bruce.


    "Well, the girl that I like is- AH!" While Bruce was talking, Shaun pinned him down so fast and held him in a rear n?k?d choke hold.


    "Don''t ever be distracted in the middle of a fight, Bruce. Haven''t I told you to treat our spars as if it were the real deal?" Shaun said seriously.


    Bruce nodded while being choked. Then he tapped furiously on Shaun''s arms once he was about to black out.


    Shaun let go of Bruce, and Bruce started gasping for air.


    "*Cough* *Cough* But you asked me a question?" Bruce said angrily. He couldn''t even react to Shaun''s movements. He was so fast.


    Shaun''s hero ability is having a longer lifespan, which is why he looks young despite being over 100 years. Even so Shaun continued to grow strong enough to overpower a dragon with ease.


    This is the reason why the Great Sage is planning on having Shaun replace him when he retires. Currently Shaun is without a doubt the second strongest hero alive.


    "I did. And I cannot believe you fell for that trap. Always be on your guard, especially against other heroes. You must suspect everyone." Shaun smiled.


    He liked Bruce more than the other ''soft'' heroes.


    "What do you *cough* mean?"


    "I mean trust no one, Bruce. Do you think that people won''t betray you just because you''re a hero, or because the Great Sage is protecting the kingdom?"


    There have been some instances of heroes betraying humanity, which is why they''re referred as ''fallen heroes'' with the first fallen hero being the Witch.


    Shaun also remembers one hero from his time betraying humanity, and being killed on the spot after robbing a store or something. He didn''t like her that much, so he was glad when he heard that she was killed.


    "Why are you telling me this?" Bruce was confused because they weren''t even talking about anything remotely related to the current subject.


    "Oh? I thought you were gonna say that the girl you liked betrayed your feelings, and leaped in the hands of another man, or something?" Shaun said, faking a surprised face.


    "Well, kinda, but not like that I mean. It is kinda sad-GAH!"


    Once again, Shaun held Bruce in a rear n?k?d choke hold.


    "You''re a good fighter Bruce, but you''re pretty gullible most times." Shaun said seriously while smirking to himself. In a way Bruce was like his punching bag,


    He worried that Bruce''s good nature would affect his fighting style.


    Shaun learned before that perhaps these soft and pitiful heroes were a sign that he did a good job at preserving the peace in his old world.


    It took him a while to learn and accept the fact. Still his opinion that these heroes are a lost cause hasn''t changed one bit. And he hoped that he could turn these citizens into fine soldiers, and improve their chances of surviving in this world.


    Bruce tapped furiously on Shaun''s arms and he released him, again.


    "*Cough* Again? Really? *Cough*" Bruce gasped for air. To be taken down the same time twice was annoying.


    "Again? Well if you insist, soldier."


    "Wait, nononono, not what I meant- AH!"


    ''Can this be considered a spar anymore? Ah, it''s whatever.'' Shaun thought. It reminded him when he was training in the military, it wasn''t a walk in the park. If anything Shaun thought that he was being too lenient.


    In a real military camp, every single hero would have thrown up on the first day. Till this day only 3 heroes have thrown up from overworking themselves.


    If they weren''t so s?ns?t?v? to every single topic, perhaps Shaun would have already trained them to be fine soldiers by now.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Will and Sandra were currently planning on what to add to their kingdom.


    "I think we''re pretty much done, don''t ya think? All we need is to focus on the interior." Sandra said.


    Right now there wasn''t much to add. They added walls even taller than the kingdom''s, so many sentry turrets everywhere including on top of the walls, many buildings enough to fit 100 people in their kingdom, and a farm that''s still in progress.


    But they weren''t satisfied yet. They needed to make a kingdom that surpasses the kingdom of Reyes.


    "I mean, I could always tear down the walls and expand the kingdom. Or just add more walls without tearing down any walls, I hope that sentence made sense." Will said, confused at his own wording.


    "I know what you mean. But I don''t think it''s wise to have a large kingdom if nobody else is gonna live here aside from the two of us."


    "Well¡­" Will thought about it, and she was right, there wasn''t really a point to expand the kingdom any more.


    He doesn''t plan to have people living in his own kingdom for reasons: because one nobody is crazy enough to live here apart from them. Two: he doesn''t trust people easily to let them inside his kingdom, not with all the secrets he has to hide. Three: he just doesn''t like the idea of leading people and having hundreds of people rely on him.


    And besides he built this kingdom in Alex''s name and nothing else. And also because he always wanted to live in an epic castle.


    He has the ability to make his own castle, so why not use what he was given to fulfill his dream?


    "You''re right, we should focus on the castle''s interior design first." Will said.


    "First we should remove the gold throne." Sandra commented.


    "Agreed!" Will agreed without hesitation, because he sat a few times on the gold throne without wearing armor and it was super uncomfortable to sit on.


    Castle''s have thrones as they are exclusively for the royal family. But thinking about it better he wondered if those kings and queens would get blisters on their ?sses from sitting too long in such uncomfortable thrones.


    ''If I could make some bean bag chairs, I''d replace them for the thrones.'' Will liked that idea. He just wanted to feel comfortable when he sat down on the throne. Reminds him of when he used to go to school and sit in uncomfortable chairs for hours at a time.


    "Do you know how to make gaming chairs?" Sandra asked.


    "Of course! Gaming chairs! Why didn''t I think of that? With a cup holder on the arm rests" Will cursed his own stupidity. Replacing the thrones for gaming chairs simply made so much sense.


    "Oh, and also we need to figure out how to make a working castle gate that opens and closes."


    "We''ll figure that out later. It can''t be called a ''castle'' without a working gate." Will asked.


    "Definitely. A working castle gate sounds cool." Sandra also loves the idea of having a working castle gate.


    "Hm? I hear something. Something heavy is coming to us at a great speed." Sandra suddenly said.


    ''How very anime of you.'' Will thought. He never liked anime, unlike Alex. But he has seen several epic scenes from various episodes that Alex showed him from time to time.


    "I''ll check it out."


    Will flew up high. With the help of the enchantments on his mask he could see very clearly a familiar organic creature headed this way. On top of her was a single elf, Rias..


    "Adaline?" Once Will saw Adaline he had never been happier. He quickly flew down and landed in front of her, not caring about the two elves she was carrying.


    "Adaline! I missed you" Will hugged her tightly, and in turn she too tried to hug him but her happiness couldn''t be contained, she was just jumping and running everywhere like a happy dog.


    He has never been happier than before.


    "Will?" Rias jumped off of Adaline. She was shocked when she saw Will fly towards her with his dragon wings, she almost thought it was a baby dragon.


    "Oh, it''s you." Will said in a depressing tone. He didn''t have a favourable impression on Rias, and hasn''t forgiven her for breaking down his base. He had forgiven Grace already, but not Rias.


    "..." Rias didn''t say anything because she knew why he was angry with her. She just didn''t expect Will to hold a grudge.


    "Do you want some food? You must be starving." Will said with a joyful tone.


    "Sure." Rias responded quickly.


    "I was talking to Adaline."


    "Oh. Will, in case you want to know, Grace is okay. But she was kidnapped by-"


    "Save the sob story for ''America''s got talent'' I am gonna take care of Adaline now. See ya." Will gently led Adaline back to his castle. He purposely made a door big enough for her when she returned.


    Will would be lying if he said he didn''t care about Grace. But hearing that she''s okay made him feel slightly relieved, because now Adaline can stay with him.


    ''Where¡­ How do I go back?'' Rias didn''t think about it, but she had no way to safely reach her home now. And she thought she could stay inside Will''s base. But she was too naive to believe that Will had forgiven her,


    And also she had somehow forgotten that she destroyed a part of his base.


    The reason she''s with Adaline is because she was the only one who could ''protect'' Adaline should she ever find herself in trouble. Rias didn''t think that Adaline needed her protection in the first place, not like she could protect anybody.


    But these were Arbor''s orders, so she had no choice but to follow his orders. And also Rias is the only one that Adaline trust''s compared to the other elves she''s never met.


    Arbor and Silvas are currently taking care of Grace in their village. This is the first time she''s been kidnapped, so Grace was most likely to be mentally scarred from the traumatic experience. So her family was there for her all the way.


    Arbor could tell that Adaline wanted to go back to Will. Arbor wanted to go with Adaline to protect her, but staying by his daughter''s side was more important. So he sent Rias with Adaline for no good reason other than to worry about Adaline, like a doting parent worried for his other child.


    If he could he''d keep Adaline by his side forever, but he knows he can''t do that.


    As for Radix, Adaline still hated his guts when he shot an arrow through Will''s head. So Radix was out of the question. And the only one left who could go with Adaline was Rias.


    "I missed you so much, girl. I even managed to store some more scorpion meat while you were gone." Will said happily.


    The corpses of the scorpions who destroyed his base didn''t go to waste. He had stored their bodies for Adaline, and it also helped to clean up his base. Will and Sandra did not have a fear of giant insects, but found it disgusting to touch and clean their dead bodies.


    "Will." Sandra ran up beside Will, before stopping when Adaline was growing at her.


    *GRRR*


    Adaline still hasn''t gotten used to Sandra, yet.


    "Um¡­ hi, Adaline." Sandra awkwardly waved at Adaline.


    "Woah, when did you learn to growl like that?" Will asked. Unless he forgot, he has only heard her hiss at people and nothing else.


    Adaline gently nudged Will to a building. This building Will made it for Adaline, like a dog house, only that it was bigger than a cheap apartment.


    "What''s wrong, girl?" Will asked after being nudged inside a building by Adaline.


    Adaline showed a spot on her body that was filled with exotic flowers, and a box.


    "I didn''t know you could do that." Will was amazed to see Adaline can do that. Now that he thought about it, how does an organic creature''s biology work, or even look like?


    Adaline led him into the building so that no one could see the exotic flowers she brought. She hid them everyday for the last 2 weeks, even from Arbor.


    Adaline then handed Will a small box.


    "A box?" Will was confused. He unravelled the old cloth and opened the small box. Inside were various small items: Two pictures, and a cross with a small Jesus on it. That''s it.


    Will didn''t know what to think when he saw the cross.


    In this world there is no such thing as religion. The Great Sage personally sought that it does not affect this world. Many heroes were religious, some were Christian, Jewish, etc. But they never could bring their religious beliefs to this world.


    Why did the Great Sage do this? No one knows. It could be for many reasons, because he knows that bringing religion to this world could upset the balance of power?


    Or because there was no need to pray for a god when there is literally a powerful sage living in his tower?


    If the Great Sage existed on Earth, without a doubt he''d be hailed as a god.


    Back to the story.


    Will, seeing the cross knew that the box belonged to a hero, without a doubt. Who else in the world would carry or even protect a cross?


    "That''s interesting, I think." Will placed the cross inside the box again. He took a good look at the pictures. The photos were old fashioned with no color, it was just black and white. The pictures were sorta damaged from being exposed by the elements, but one could clearly see everything in the picture.


    One picture was a decent looking man with a gorgeous girl beside him. Both were smiling and looking at the camera while holding hands. They were both wearing traditional wedding apparel.


    In another picture was the same couple inside their house in a room, only this time there was a newborn being carried in the man''s arms sleeping.


    "Hmm¡­" Will used the masks'' enchantment to see clearer, like using a magnifying glass.


    Will saw the man wearing the same cross around his neck. It was a bit hazy but Will could make it out.


    "I thought it''d be something interesting, but nothing. I don''t even know who this guy¡­ hold on."


    Will almost didn''t notice it. But in the second picture with the man holding the baby. Will noticed that behind the woman was a shield hanging on the wall.


    "The shield¡­" Will suddenly remembered where he saw the shield.


    "Adaline, stay here. I''ll be right back!"


    Will ran down the mine, completely ignoring Sandra. He ran at full speed down the stairs, almost falling down several times.


    Will reached the hidden temple. The temple is a tomb where the hero Christopher Lawrence died, and buried himself in it along with his family and friends.


    Will remembered that this tomb had a rusty, copper shield. It was only a normal shield.


    In the picture, the shield had a ''+'' on it. Will took a better look at the shield in front of him, and without a doubt, there was a ''+'' on it as well.


    "Without a doubt, this is the same shield as the one in the picture. Then the one in the photo is Christopher, and his wife and son. But where did Adaline find it? Wait¡­ Hold on."


    Will realized something important. He ran up the stairs full speed, even using his teleportation cloak to save himself a few seconds, like a speedrunner.


    Once he made it out he ran towards the castle building.


    "Will?"


    Once again Will ignored Sandra.


    "Where is it? Where did I put that thing?" Will rummaged through his ?h?sts.


    "Aha! Found it!" Will took out the magical item that Grace lent him for the time being. It was a magical item that can locate other magical items, except itself.


    Will ran inside the building where Adaline was. She was still there, along with the box and other stuff. And he activated the magical item. Suddenly it glowed a bright yellow color. It meant that there was a magical item nearby..


    "Seriously?! Oh¡­ wait." Will was happy at first. But then he remembered his magical cloak that was on his back.


    He placed the cloak inside his inventory. Since it was full, he threw one of his weapons like it was garbage and placed the cloak inside his inventory.


    The cloak counted as a magical item, so obviously the magical item locator would glow when it senses the cloak. But if he places the magical item inside his inventory, the magical item locator can''t locate it.


    And the magical item locator was still glowing.


    "So it is¡­ GAH!" Will remembered that he had a magical bracelet, and a magical ring with him.


    Will threw the ring and the bracelet to the other side of the kingdom. Sandra stared in confusion to see Will suddenly throw out two magical items out of the blue.


    ''Did he hit his head or something?'' Sandra asked herself.


    Will set the magical item locator range to only 10 meters. Just enough so it can''t sense the other magical items. Making sure that he had no other magical items, apart from the one on his hands.


    At this moment, Will prayed to the video game gods, to RNGesus, to the genie from Aladdin, to anybody who could answer his wishes.


    "Please, tell me that this is it."


    Will was hoping that one of the items in the box was the magical item he had been looking for, the magical item that can control the weather.


    And just like that, the magical item locator glowed a bright yellow color. Will pointed it at the box, and the color glowed brighter than before.


    "The box?" Will checked the box carefully. He took out whatever was inside it, but the magical item locator was still glowing very brightly while pointing at the box.


    Will tapped the box with his finger to give him a clearer explanation. It''s one of his system''s abilities, it can tell him many things about the item he pokes with his finger.


    {Magical box}


    {Able to store larger items inside and be hidden from plain sight}


    "What?" Will was hoping that the box was the magical item he was looking for, but it was not.


    "Christopher, you''re really not making it easy for me. If this is a prank you''re pulling off on me, I''ll¡­ ah whatever, you''re already dead. What can I do to you?"


    Will checked the box inch by inch. He found something irregular on the bottom of the box.


    On two parts of the box were two little square bu??ons that Will could b?r?ly make out. If he didn''t have his enchanted mask with him, without a doubt he would have missed it.


    "Interesting." Will pressed one of the square bu??ons. As soon as he did, a golden ball appeared from the box and dropped on the ground making a loud noise.


    Will was shocked, and so was Adaline. The ball came out of nowhere.


    Will picked the ball. It was heavier than he expected. He poked it and read its description.


    {Failure 29}


    {Able to control the weather to whatever its user wishes}


    {A heavy ball that was made by ''The Conqueror'' it is a failed product that he deemed ''worthless'' but gave it to his child who likes to play with her father''s creations}


    {This item cannot be broken, or rust. It is made from an indestructible golden material that is not from this world}


    ''Finally.'' Will teared to finally have the magical item he d?s?r?d for so long.. And it was all thanks to Adaline.

 Chapter 80 - Toss a coin to your builder!

    "Failure 29? The Conqueror?" Will read the description properly.


    ''Failure 29'' is the name of the magical item that can control the weather. Only that this magical item did not seem like a magical item at all, it was¡­ unique. Not only that but it''s creator ''The Conqueror'' thought it was useless.


    It is made from a gold material that is not from this world, and that cannot break or rust. Making it already a very unique item.


    "Huh. Now I know why Christopher didn''t break the magical item. Not because he didn''t want to but because he couldn''t. If he was smart, then he wouldn''t even have mentioned this item in his diary, or at least lie and say that he broke it. But thank god he didn''t, ''cause the item is now mine."


    Will wondered a few things about Christopher, but seeing the item explained a few questions he had.


    If he were Christopher, he''d destroy the magical item before he died, so that way nobody would be able to abuse its power.


    "Still, not from this world¡­ I think that maybe some meteor hit this planet and that''s how this ''Conqueror'' was able to make the material¡­ or he was an alien. Probably the first one."


    Will heard from the Empress that the anti-hero metal came from a meteor that crashed into the planet. But he has never heard of an indestructible gold metal, not even the anti-hero metal could be called ''indestructible.''


    "I''m probably still too ignorant about this world¡­ unless."


    Will went inside his ''castle'' that was still being built.


    "Will, are you okay?" Sandra asked.


    "I''m fine. I''m happy, really." Will''s face didn''t show it but he was happy, but he just wanted to know something. There is something he is curious about, who exactly is the Conqueror?


    Will searched through his personal ?h?st, grabbed his communication stone, and messaged Jack.


    Will waited a few minutes before Jack responded. Jack is his friend. And also is a blacksmith, so his knowledge on rare metals must exceed his own. It wasn''t until a while ago that Will didn''t even know that anti-hero metal existed.


    {Gold exists, but I have never heard of an indestructible gold metal. The toughest metal currently is without a doubt anti-hero metal.} Jack responded.


    Jack found Will''s message to be weird. As a blacksmith he knows that gold is a very soft and heavy metal.


    ''So it''s either so rare that even Jack doesn''t know, or¡­ this is the only indestructible gold metal in the world.'' Will thought as he looked at the golden ball in his hand.


    {What about someone named ''the Conqueror'' perhaps he was a hero? A blacksmith? Someone?}


    {No, I am pretty sure I never heard of someone with that title or name. I know all the heroes'' names by heart, especially yours. And I know some famous blacksmiths'' names, but I have never heard of ''the Conqueror.''} Jack responded truthfully.


    {I know you didn''t ask for my opinion, but I have never heard of him either, and I know all the famous sorcerers names.} Jasmine suddenly responded. Their handwriting was all too different.


    ''Perhaps the Great Sage knows, he''s the oldest man alive. But, if I start asking him the same sort of questions I am asking Jack, perhaps he''ll suspect me, and that is the thing I least need right now.'' Will thought.


    The existence of the golden ball is too powerful for people to know.


    "It''s better to just leave it be. Not like learning about the Conqueror is that important, whoever it is." Will said to himself.


    {Thanks Jack and Jasmine.}


    Will placed the communication stone away and started to carefully inspect ''failure 29'' to figure out its functions.


    He had hoped that if he learned who exactly is the Conqueror, perhaps he could learn more about the indestructible gold metal, or something useful.


    "Okay, so it must be simple considering the fact that even an ordinary hero was able to use this item¡­ Hm¡­ make it rain?" Will said, gently to the ball.


    Nothing happened.


    "Okay¡­ make it rain, please?"


    Nothing happened.


    "Sunny. Let there be sun! Praise the sun!"


    Nothing happened.


    "I wish that it would snow."


    Nothing happened.


    Will rubbed the golden ball with the sleeve of his armor, but nothing happened.


    "Welp, no genie inside. Don''t know why I thought of that, this isn''t a magic lamp. Then how about¡­"


    Will cut his finger with an iron knife he crafted just now. He dropped a bit of blood on the ball in hopes that something would happen.


    In some movies he''s seen all it takes is a single drop of blood for something to happen.


    Nothing happened.


    "Okay, how the hell was Christopher able to figure out how this item works in the first place?"


    Will got a bit frustrated, so he instinctively tightened his grip on the ball, which activated a hidden bu??on on the ball.


    The ball revealed it''s true form, and it opened like a bakugan ball.


    "GAH!" Will was spooked out by the ball that he accidentally let go and it fell on the ground. Since it was heavy it made a loud noise.


    The golden ball split itself in half, revealing inside a little golden cylinder, though to Will it looked more like a pencil without a pointy tip. It was the length of the ball''s radius.


    On the tip of the cylinder was a golden shaped eye, like the symbol of the eye of Horus that the Egyptians have. There were even three long golden eyelashes attached to it that were evenly spread apart.


    "Woah¡­ what the hell." Will has never even thought or heard of something like this.


    "This isn''t a magical item at all. This is something else entirely." Will thought, and he knew it made sense.


    The magical items that Will has seen or used are not this complex. They''re just ordinary items that defy all logic.


    His cape is a cape that can teleport him at short distances. The bracelet and ring he has cans store items inside. Valerie''s earring lets her see people''s biological clocks, but she''s the only one who knows about it.


    But this item in his hands, is more like a machine.


    "Wait¡­ if this is a machine, then." Will scanned the golden machine with the magical item locator, and it did not glow. The box where Christopher hid the ball in is a magical item, which is why it glowed.


    "Knew it." Will sat down and thought about it. Such a powerful item was intentionally made from scratch. Magical items are only made by chance, and even then the chances of making a magical item are very low.


    "Somebody was seriously able to make this? Seriously? Then how come I didn''t unlock it the second I touched it? How was he able to do it?" Will asked himself, but he knew he couldn''t give himself the answer.


    Usually when he touches a new item, the system will tell him all the materials needed to make it even when he hasn''t discovered the other materials. For example, Clement''s weapon needed mana ores to fix it, even though by then he hadn''t discovered a mana ore. But this time it didn''t work.


    This meant that he needed to make it by hand, like his golems, or his castle and buildings.


    Or it might be something else that he doesn''t know yet. Unfortunately the system won''t help him, as Will had figured out the system''s functions by himself, and he still had yet to learn everything about his system.


    Will wondered if Christopher knew that it wasn''t a magical item, but a powerful machine instead. Was he that dumb to never realize it?


    ''Christopher must''ve been dumb. I mean I''m an idiot and I was able to figure it out in a second. Well, that doesn''t matter. I shouldn''t dwell on it too much.'' Will decided to let those needless thoughts be put to the side.


    Someday he hopes that he''ll find out the questions sooner or later. Who was the Conqueror? How was he able to make such a machine?


    He felt that for every question that gets answered, two more questions pop up.


    "Now, to find out how it works." Will looked through the golden eye, like looking through a telescope. Since there were no other bu??ons on the golden machine, and there was a golden eye, this meant that the eye had a function or something.


    Will was going to figure it out himself, again.


    "Am I not supposed to look through the eye? What would Markiplier do?"


    Markiplier is one of the greatest puzzle solvers Will has seen on youtube. There are others who are better indeed, but Will thought that he was the greatest.


    "Hm¡­ the only thing that''s out of place are these 3 freakishly long eyelashes. Why three only?" Will thought that it was weird, since an ordinary person has many eyelashes. Then again this was a golden machine, so it did look normal somewhat.


    Will pulled on the eyelash that was on the right, to see if anything would happen.


    And to his surprise something did happen.


    Without using much force the eyelash dropped down before going back to its original spot by itself. It even made a very soft sort of ''click'' noise, like gears at work. It was so faint, but Will could hear it because he was alone in a room.


    "That didn''t do anything. Unless..."


    Will looked through the eye once more. And to his surprise, it seemed very dark. Barely any light was visible. as if somebody had turned off but one light.


    Will pulled the machine away, and his room looked normal.


    "What does that even do?" Will pulled the middle eyelash this time.


    *Rumble*


    Will heard a thunderstorm outside the castle.


    "Could it be? Actually?" Will ran outside the castle. To his surprise, he saw thunderclouds forming above his castle, covering the entire northern lands.


    Adaline merely hissed at the thunderclouds. This is her first time ever experiencing a thunder cloud, and it freaked her out slightly..


    "Thunderclouds? But it was sunny literally seconds ago." Sandra said, confused. Weather isn''t supposed to be like this. Then again, this is a new world so she didn''t know if this was normal or not.


    Beneath the mask of his, Will smiled. He wanted to laugh out loud like a madman. For the longest time he has been waiting for this moment.


    Now he can finally live in this land without the heat bothering him anymore. Now the kingdom he envisioned can finally come true.


    Rias, who was sitting against the castle walls for some shade, looked at the dark clouds above.


    ''At least the sun is blocked. Too bad I don''t know how to protect myself from the rain, or the gold'' Rias thought as she curled herself into a ball. She had no way to go back home safely, so she''ll spend the next few days outside of the castle until Grace or someone can bring her back.


    "What happened, Will?" Asked Sandra. She asked because she knows that the weather never changes here.


    "I don''t know." Will lied, he didn''t want her to know about the magical device he wielded now. Secretly he placed it inside his inventory, and will never show it to anybody else.


    A few drops of rain started to fall. Then a heavy pour followed covering the entire place in water.


    "Inside." Will gently pulled Sandra inside his castle, with Adaline following them inside. Will purposefully made the castles have doors bigger than 3 feet, the reason for that is because of Adaline, and because both Sandra and Will found giant doors to be awesome looking.


    It was easy to make giant doors. The temple underneath them also had giant, heavy doors, but Will made them a little smaller and lighter for his castle.


    "Now if you''ll excuse me, I need to use the restroom." Will walked inside of the bathroom, much to the confusion of Sandra. He was acting weird and she knew it.


    "GAHAHAHAHAH!" Will started to laugh like a maniac.


    ''I knew it. Something amazing happened to him.'' Sandra recognized that laugh of his. For the many years they''ve been together Sandra has learned of Will''s strange behaviour.


    Rarely does he ever laugh like that. And when he does laugh like a maniac, it can only mean one thing, that he just accomplished something amazing.


    She remembers when he laughed like that when he recovered the Blades of Chaos in God of War 4, like they were his babies. Or when he found a wither skull in minecraft, or when a powerful item dropped in Terraria, or when he found a shiny pokemon he wanted, or when he finally beat a Dark souls game, Sekiro included.


    If he were still alive to see Sora in Smash, without a doubt he''d be laughing like a madman.


    Will was only starting to get comfortable now in this world, which is why his old habits are starting to show.


    "Ahem." Will exited the restroom.


    "Wow. That is possibly the world''s shortest bathroom break. Not even 5 seconds passed." Sandra pointed out.


    "I was holding in a fart."


    ''Uh-huh¡­"


    "Anyways, going outside now." Will headed up to further test out the magical device.


    "It''s pouring outside. Shouldn''t you wait until the storm is gone? You''ll catch a cold." Sandra said, worried for him.


    "Ha! You afraid to get wet?"


    "... Okay, for how long have you been saving that?" Sandra knew where that line is from, it''s his favourite movie series.


    "Ever since the movie came out." Will ran up the stairs in a hurry.


    Sandra smiled. Even with that mask she could tell he was in a very good mood.


    *Hiss!* Adaline hissed at Sandra. Adaline, who was already tired, lay down in the corner of the room to sleep. Now that she was back, she could finally rest and eat properly.


    Will was on the roof of his building. The thunderstorms were still there, but there was no lightning for some reason. Only heavy rain, and strong winds.


    "Okay. Now to figure out how this works." Will looked through the magical device''s eye. It looked pretty much the same.


    Will pulled down the eyelash on the right while looking through the eye. Much to his surprise, he could see a change in the weather by looking through the eye. There were no clouds anymore, it was just sunny. But the second he stopped looking through the golden eye, all he could see were the thunderclouds.


    "Woah. How did I activate the device again?" Will pulled down the eyelash in the middle. And in literal seconds, the dark, ominous thunderclouds disappeared in a second.


    It was replaced with clear, blue skies, and a yellow sun that shone the entire area.


    This wasn''t the temperature Will knew. The heat was unbearable for anybody, but the weather now was just perfect, like camping out in the middle of the day.


    It was sunny, the heat was normal, not too hot, it was sorta chilly. It was simply perfect.


    Will took off his mask and helmet. He felt the sun kiss his face and not scorch it. He felt like it was an exaggeration to say it scorched his face, but that''s what it felt like to him. It''s why he spends most of his time in cool areas, Adaline as well.


    "I was worried I could never change the scorching weather into a normal one. Now I can say for sure that the castle will be perfect once we''re done building it, Alex. Man, I wish you were here to see this."


    For the next few hours, Will continued to test out the device. He had found out a few interesting things about this device.


    1. The device can only change the weather only as far as the eye can see in a perfect radius. An average human can see as far as 3 miles away. But if he were to fly, he could see much further. And if he used the device while flying to change the weather, he could change the weather even further than standing on the ground. Plus with his enchanted mask that enhances his eyesight, he could change the weather even further.


    2. When he looks through the eye, it can tell him what weather he can change it to, like it shows him the weather he can make happen. When he pulls down the right eyelash, it changes the type of weather. And when he pulls the middle eyelash, the magical device activates and makes the weather appear that he sees through the golden eye. As for the left eyelash, it''s the same as the right eyelash but it goes the other way, like swiping for choices on your phone.


    3. He can only set the weather that the eye allows him to see. His choices are, sunny, cloudy, light or heavy rain, snow or heavy snowfall, hail, light thunderclouds or very strong and wild thunderclouds, strong winds, and scorching hot.


    4. As far as he can tell it seems the device doesn''t have a power or fuel source that it relies on. Which means that he can use the device indefinitely.


    That''s all he found out by testing it many times. There is a chance that there are more things he hasn''t found out yet, but he''ll discover them in time, that is if there is anything left to discover. The more things he found about the device the more amazed he was, and the more he wanted to learn who the Conqueror was.


    Of course he didn''t change the weather that many times, because Sandra was still here. He knew she was smart, and would figure out that he has a device that can change the weather, unless she already figured it out.


    "Why would this machine ever be called a failure? It''s literally the greatest device ever. And this is the 29th device he created. What about the other devices he created? Were they more fearsome compared to this device?"


    Will had so many questions to ask, but just like the system he won''t get the answers he''s looking for.


    He left the weather on ''sunny'' which he found to be perfect. Now Adaline can grow the greenery around here without putting much effort into it anymore. And now he can bring in other types of livestock that won''t die from the heat. Camels are the only livestock he knows that could survive the intense weather.


    "I finally did it¡­ now what?" Will looked at the magical device. For the longest time he only needed it to change the weather around his base, but never actually put much thought of what he''d do with it after he got it.


    It''s not like he couldn''t plan ahead, it''s just that he didn''t expect to ever find the device.


    "Seems like it''ll be a waste to just throw it away. I don''t know what else to do with it. Welp, I''ll never know when I''ll be needing this again, might as well keep it in a safe spot." Will placed it in his inventory. That spot will be it''s spot forever.


    Will could not imagine what could happen if this device fell into the wrong hands.


    "What to do¡­ what to do¡­" Will did not know what else to do. He could focus on the castle''s interior design, but that sounds boring now. And he needed to wait until the Empress''s men arrived with the mana ores and anti-hero metals.


    Will walked back into his castle. He found Adaline sleeping peacefully. And Sandra was planning the castle''s interior design already.


    "Oh, Will! Do you want to take a break from building?" Sandra asked. She too was getting bored of building and building.


    "You read my mind. What do you have in mind?" Will sat down. He found it strange that Sandra did not ask about the weather, or the fact that he was outside for a few hours.


    He had realized his mistakes too late. If he tried to correct them now it''ll make him seem even more suspicious.


    "You remember the tournament of heroes that''s coming up?" Sandra said.


    "Of course I do! I thought we said we wouldn''t go because Victoria will be there." Will felt disgusted by even mentioning Victoria''s name.


    "No, we should go because she''ll be fighting in the tournament."


    "Yeah, I don''t see why we need to see¡­" Will halted his sentence at the sudden realization.


    "Now you understand."


    "It''s so simple! Why didn''t I think of that?!" Will wanted to pull his hair out.


    If Victoria is participating in the tournament, chances are that she''ll get hurt, because the majority of the heroes also hate her and would most likely want to hit her once or more.


    Will wanted to find out if he had an IQ in the negatives. How could he have not thought of this?


    "I change my mind, we''re going."


    "Tickets are 50 copper per person."


    "Shut up and take my money! And keep the change." Will tossed a silver coin to Sandra.


    "But, this is the exact change¡­ nevermind." Sandra almost forgot that he was bad at math.


    1 silver coin = 100 copper coins. And since there are two of them, and they each needed 50 copper coins for a ticket, it equals exactly 1 silver coin.


    "Wait, I just tossed you a coin. That reminds me of that one song."


    "I know exactly what you mean." Sandra knew what song he was talking about. It was the song that they both sang for months. Only Alex found it annoying, not because it was a bad song, but because the two lovebirds wouldn''t stop singing it.


    "GASP! Do we have a shelf by any chance?"


    "Yeah. Over there. It''s empty though." Sandra pointed at the shelf on the other side of the room.


    "Perfect! And now all we need is an elf! Where did that elf go?"

 Chapter 81 - The Pit (Part 1)

    Will searched outside his castle for Rias by flying everywhere. There is something he''s been meaning to do to an elf for many years now, pushing them up against a shelf like the song goes.


    He could have asked Adaline to point in her direction, but she was sleeping peacefully, and Will didn''t want to bother her anymore.


    While looking he noticed two things, his castle is bigger than he thought, which he pat himself on the back for a job well done. And also, now that he thought about it, the idea of pushing an elf far back on the shelf seemed cringe when he thought of it.


    "She probably went back to her forest or whatever. This was a cringe idea from the start. Oh well." Will gave up. He thought that Rias was already long gone.


    Rias had indeed left the castle. With the current weather it was actually possible for her to travel by foot back safely to the forest. Travelling across the hot climate seemed risky to Rias.


    Weighing the pros and cons of her current situation, she''d figured that it was better to take the risk and run back home to her village. She didn''t know when Grace or Arbor would visit, so she couldn''t wait for them, it could be days. And Will doesn''t seem like he''ll be forgiving her any time soon and offer her a ride back.


    And lastly, she needed to feed her zombie father before he started decomposing and rot away for good.


    For the rest of the time Will had decided to take it easier. He and Sandra still worked on the interior building designs. Meanwhile Adaline slept, but with her here now and with the new weather, it was possible to finally make a proper farm. Now even if Adaline is gone again, the farm would be alright as long as it''s cared for.


    "I don''t know how you did it, Will, but this is starting to look like a proper kingdom. The weather is just perfect." Sandra was happy that the scorching weather was gone.


    "Yeah." Will knew that it would be stupid if Sandra didn''t figure out that he had something to do with the weather. Not only that but he changed the weather dozens of times in the course of an hour.


    Plus Will already knew that Sandra was a very good observant, like a professional detective, to him at least. Some people are just naturally good at things.


    Sandra is the kind of person you wouldn''t want to marry if you plan to cheat on her. You''ll get caught right away.


    And besides, even if Will tested out the magical device while Sandra wasn''t around, she''d most likely realize it was Will who did it. The weather in the deserted lands was the same since Hero Christpher Lawrence died, and not once did it change after that, until today.


    Two days passed in the blink of an eye. During these last few days Will was looking forward to seeing Victoria get injured. He hasn''t been this excited since he pre-ordered a PS5. Sadly he died before it was released. It''s one of his greatest regrets in life. And also never being able to play the other awesome upcoming games like Hytale.


    And yes, there is a risk of being recognized by his classmates and getting his identity exposed. But at this point he really doesn''t care as a lot of people already know. But most importantly, he wouldn''t miss this for the world.


    "No matter how many times I eat these, they never get old." Will ate another exotic pill like it was nothing, and he watched as his HP increased. Much like the flower itself, the pills were crunchy and yet they melt in your mouth, like eating crunchy cotton candy. One would have to eat it to understand what he meant.


    He''d gladly give this to Adaline and Sandra, but this is poisonous to them. Actually Adaline did absorb an exotic flower long ago, still he didn''t want to risk killing her and putting Adaline or Sandra through such an unbearable pain, and possibly lead to their deaths.


    He still remembers how painful it was when he ate the flower the first time. He didn''t even hesitate to want to kill himself in order to put an end to his suffering.


    {HP: 4075}


    Thanks to Adaline his HP continued to increase by the day. Sadly when Adaline left to find Grace she stopped producing exotic flowers because he couldn''t feed her anymore.


    Will is grateful that his HP is now 4075 compared to the 50 HP he started out with. Still when he thought about the Great Sage, dragons, and the other powerful beings his HP was insignificant. Their HP went over the hundreds of millions.


    "You ready yet, Will?" Sandra called out to him. She wore her plain clothes, and tied her hair up in a ponytail.


    "I''m ready. Are you sure you don''t want to participate in the tournament?" Asked Will. He wore his armor and plans to take it with him.


    Should something happen, he is ready to fly away with Sandra. He didn''t know what to expect, but he hopes that nothing bad happens. But really it''s just an excuse to show off his amazing dragon armor. So he likes it when people compliment him.


    "I am absolutely sure." Sandra didn''t feel like fighting anyways. She just doesn''t like participating in pointless violence, but she''s not against spectating on the sides.


    And yes, the magical item is tempting, but she knows that she''ll never be able to get it because their classmates are stronger than her, well if they compare their abilities to hers.


    "But are you sure you want to wear your dragon armor? You''ll stand out less if you wear normal clothing, obviously." Sandra pointed out the obvious.


    "Yeah, but then I won''t be able to fly and we''ll be late to see Victoria get hurt. Adaline! We''ll be back soon! Stay off the internet." Will shouted to Adaline, who was still sleeping.


    Adaline nodded once and went into lazy mode.


    "I don''t get the joke. There''s no internet in this world." Sandra pointed out.


    "It''s just something my parents always said to me before they left the house, but I always played online video games as soon as they were gone. Nevermind, just forget what I said." Will realized that his terrible joke did not make sense at all. Adaline doesn''t even know what ''internet'' means.


    "Wait, aren''t we riding on Adaline to the kingdom?" Sandra could make it by herself, but Will isn''t as fast as her. She thought that they would be taking Adaline with them since she is not only fast but big enough for 3 people to ride.


    "No. She deserves to rest. We''ll be leaving like this."


    Will carried Sandra in his arms, and they both flew off straight to the kingdom. Sandra tightened her grip around Will''s neck.


    It''s not the first time Will carried her while flying, and she doesn''t fear heights, but it did scare her that he could drop her at any moment.


    "Hold on a second! You''re telling me you could fly to the kingdom this whole time?"


    "Why are you confused? This is not the first time I''m flying." Will was confused.


    "But you can fly that far without falling or something? All the times I travelled back and forth to the kingdom, you could have done it faster than me?"


    "To be fair, you never asked. And second, I know you liked going back and forth because (A) you liked shopping in the kingdom, and (B) you wanted a reason to leave the scorching heat."


    "Wow!" Sandra was amazed.


    "What?"


    "This is the first time I''ve seen you observe something with so many details. Coming from you is impressive!"


    Sandra wanted to clap for him, but that would mean letting go of her grip.


    She''s been with him for years, and most of the time they''ve been together he has always missed the obvious. Will is not known for being that observant.''


    "Don''t let me go." Sandra said, softly.


    "I won''t."


    "..." As the time passed, Will realized that he was changing, or more like this world had changed him already.


    Now that he doesn''t focus most of his time on video games like in the past, he''s changing for the better. He''s stronger now, in shape, is learning a new language (elven) and has become reliable, something that he wasn''t before. With all the pointless distractions gone, he''s been focusing on more productive things.


    ''I remember in one of my mom''s COUNTLESS lectures, that back then people didn''t have as many distractions as in our generation, like video games, movies, music, internet, etc. Which is why they were better people than we are now. She''s not wrong. But did I change that much?'' Will thought.


    This kind of boring lecture is something that gamer children with caring parents have been lectured on at least once or one hundred times in their lives.


    Like how parents like to tell their children how they crossed the 7 seas, fought through the scorching deserts, climbed the tallest and coldest mountains all in one night, all to make it to school and back and still have enough time to care, cook, and clean their houses for their 9 siblings and bedridden parents, and have 5 full time jobs, do their homeworks, get perfect grades and attendance, and repeat.


    Anyways¡­ Will didn''t feel any different, but he was different, it is just easier for other people to see how much you''ve changed than you yourself can.


    If someone told Will 5 months ago that he''d be a reliable, better, and productive human being, he''d slap them so hard that CyberPunk 2077 would have won game of the year.


    This world doesn''t have as many distractions as they don''t have the luxury, like back in ancient times. In this world they focused on survival, and power.


    If video games were still a thing in this world, Will wondered if he could fight off the temptation to play them. Video games are addictive and fun without a doubt, which is why Will could never really remove video games from his life.


    Parents like Will''s could never understand how difficult it is for their child/children to part with something they hold dear.


    Later, Will landed safely a bit far from the castle''s gates with Sandra.


    "Are we late?" Will asked.


    "Not sure. They don''t exactly have portable watches, although they should."


    "But, can you please put the dragon armor away?"


    "You don''t like it, do you?" Will was reluctant to remove his dragon armor.


    "I do, but you''ll stand out easily."


    "This coming from THE ONLY hero to have red hair. If anything YOUR red hair and face will stand out more than my dragon armor."


    "Ah! But¡­ no, you''re right. How did I miss that?!" Sandra somehow forgot that she also stands out. After spending over a week with Will she had forgotten how much attention she brought.


    "Okay. Let''s go inside." Will said.


    Before they could enter the kingdom, they saw the endless line of people before them. It was like a line you''d see in a famous rock concert.


    "I thought you said that a lot of people left already to move to the Empire?" Will asked.


    "That''s what I heard." Sandra thought that all those people who left would have left the kingdom a bit empty. If anything it looked more crowded than before.


    "Holy balls! It''s a hero!" A soldier, who he thought he saw something fly, went to check it out and saw that it was Sandra.


    Most of the guards are huge fans of the heroes. Some of them had even worked with them and had recognized their faces.


    "Hello." Sandra said awkwardly. She is good with faces, but she doesn''t recognize the man in front of him.


    "Is something wrong, hero? I thought I saw a monster fly near here." What he saw was without a doubt Will, but mistook it for a flying monster.


    "Nothing here. Um, could we by any chance skip the huge line?" Sandra didn''t feel like waiting in line. She doesn''t do this much, but she''s going to ''abuse'' her hero status this once.


    She knows she could enter freely, but nothing could be said about bringing in Will using her hero status.


    "Of course! You don''t have to wait! But, about your friend here, I need to see some paper proving his identity or something. Not that I am disrespecting you, hero, but it''s the Sage''s and kind''s orders." The soldier said, nervously.


    "How about this?" Will showed the man an obsidian badge that was dangling from his neck.


    "Woah! An obsidian badge! I heard that someone recently got one, to think it was you. Please, go in you two. Don''t let me keep you waiting." The soldier said, respectfully.


    Will got the obsidian badge from the Great Sage after trading in the dragon corpses with Josh for money.


    Will had completely forgotten about the badge, and he only remembered it because he was rummaging through his stuff that he found it in his ?h?st by accident.


    Since today was an important day, he thought he could use the badge since he might need it.


    "When and how did you get that?" Sandra didn''t know the significance of the badge, but she was curious about it.


    "The Great Sage gave it to me, after I solved the ''Taker'' problem."


    "Ah." Sandra understood.


    They entered the castle without any problems. It usually isn''t this busy. It''s just that today people are going crazy to witness a tournament of heroes.


    The inside of the kingdom was even crazier than before. People were going crazy everywhere trying to get a seat.


    It was so loud that Sandra and Will couldn''t even hear each other, like it was a crazy sporting event.


    "Follow me!" Sandra grabbed Will by his wrist and brought him inside the castle.


    The 10 or so guards guarding the castle''s entrance recognized Sandra, but didn''t recognize Will at all, especially with that weird but amazing dragon armor.


    There usually aren''t this many guards guarding the castle, but with all the people crowding the kingdom the king decided to have more guards stationed everywhere, in case anyone wants to start trouble.


    "He''s with me." Sandra said to the guards.


    The guards looked at each other. One shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hm." As if he doesn''t care. So they let Will and Sandra inside.


    The reason they could act like it wasn''t important is because the Great Sage is the one who deals with the heroes, while they deal with smaller matters. It wasn''t worth messing with a hero and getting fired from their job.


    "Woah!" Will said in amazement from the castle''s interior design.


    The castle building was as tall as a dragon, with multiple exquisite marble pillars supporting the building. The floor was smooth and shiny like a mirror, one could even see their own reflection perfectly. The three thrones were atop of a stone platform, made out of gilded wood, some gold and some silver as well, with the king''s throne looking more mightier than the other two thrones.


    Behind the throne were large, colorful, fancy stained glasses that appeared old, and ancient, and clean.


    One of the stained glass had a very young Great Sage, like if he was around his 20''s, sitting on the king''s throne holding a different staff than the one he usually carries. He had a serious, cold expression on his face. The staff wasn''t made of wood but silver instead, and was shorter. This is to symbolize that no matter who sits in the throne, the one in power and in charge is the Great Sage.


    Two other glass panes were nearly identical. Both had the Great Sage as his current old self with one being just a bit younger in his mid 30''s, while another one looked to be in his late 50''s.


    The current Great Sage looks to be in his 80''s and nearing his 90''s.


    Instead of sitting on the throne like the first one, both could be seen that he''s levitating from the ground. Behind him were countless strange people, well over 100 in each pane. In both he had that same, cold, serious expression on his face. Keep in mind that each glass panes


    Will could faintly recognize one person from that glass pane, Hero Christopher Lawrence. His face looked nearly identical to the one in the photo.


    ''If he''s there, does that mean those other people behind him are heroes?'' Will thought, and he was right. Every hero who ever lived has been drawn in every glass pane, even those who have fallen.


    In the last glass pane is the Great Sage in his 20''s, along with an old man wearing what appeared to be a long robe. Both were seen to fight a disgusting female figure whose skin was all black, like burned charcoal, it didn''t even look human. Her eyes were white. Behind her were monsters also covered in dark, with their eyes white for some reason.


    "I never told you about this, have I?"


    "No. But I''m guessing those hundreds of people behind the Great Sage are heroes?"


    "Right."


    "And I guess that the Great Sage is fighting the Witch along with the third hero?"


    People usually talk about the Great Sage, and the Witch. But rarely is the third hero ever mentioned. Nobody knows about, not his abilities, not his story, the only thing they do know is his face.


    "Right, again."


    "And the other one is the Great Sage, becoming a king or something."


    "Wrong. I was never king." Someone suddenly spoke.


    "AH!" Sandra and Will freaked out. Behind them was the Great Sage. He held the round device in his palm that lets him speak through it.


    "Well, well, well, I knew you''d return, but I didn''t expect it to be this late." The Great Sage, said.


    In truth, he expected Will to come to the kingdom after falling victim to the harsh reality of this world. But surprisingly he lasted way longer than he imagined.


    He sensed two people, one was sorta familiar, and another one he could tell was Sandra. He could sense them lingering around the castle. He just didn''t expect Will at all.


    "Did you come to join in the tournament?" Asked the Great Sage.


    "No." Will said with no emotion.


    "Hm¡­ I understand. So long." He read Sandra''s memories, and found out that Will just wanted to see Victoria get injured. He couldn''t read Will''s memories because he carried an item that blocks off telepathy.


    He left them both by teleporting once he realized that it wasn''t important, and frankly he didn''t care. If Will had indeed come to join the kingdom with his other hero friends, it would be a hassle for him since it would mean work for him and less time to rest.


    He just wanted to sleep, eat some corn soup, and do nothing. And now he has to take care of this tournament.


    Sadly, as much as wishes, he cannot retire, because if he does ''quit'' everything will go into chaos. He once said that as a joke to the king 100 years ago, and the kingdom fell into chaos, and he managed to keep it down as best as he could at the time, and the chaos never made it outside of the castle.


    If it was true, then chaos would indeed spread across the kingdom like a plague, and every toilet paper in existence would cease to exist from all stores.


    He is the only being who keeps the peace in this world. The most powerful being alive. If he were to die or quit, there''s no telling what would happen.


    "What''s his problem?" Will asked. All he did was appear out of nowhere, ask some questions, and leave.


    "Dunno. Let''s go find our seats."


    They made it to the back of the kingdom. It was underground, and it was almost as big as a football stadium. This place is used for the heroes to train killing monsters that the kingdom captures, it''s mostly goblins and ogres.


    But long ago, when the king at the time was bored, he turned it into a stadium for the heroes to fight and for people to enjoy, like a boxing match but battle royale style.


    This place also has a name, The Pit.


    It was the size of a football field. The middle of the PIt had a small, round, stone platform meant for the heroes to fight. It stood 1 meters tall.


    On the two ends of the stadium were two giant walls made out of pure wood and metal, each door were identical to each other. Each was 10 inches long, and were half as tall as the castle''s gates.


    The Pit was full of people everywhere cheering, yelling, shouting, and praising and everything. And it hasn''t started yet


    Some took this as an opportunity to start selling snacks and drinks.


    As Sandra and Will were searching for their seats, which they all have their own number, they stopped dead in their tracks as the crowd suddenly became eerily quiet.


    Once the king revealed himself everything became silent.


    He leisurely sat down in a nearly identical throne from the throne room. Beside him were his Queen and the Princess also seated in their thrones.


    The royal family were at a high place, looking down on everybody present. Below them were over 30 people seated in comfortable chairs, with food and drinks. These are the heroes who didn''t participate. Weirdly enough they all decided to come watch the tournament.


    "Ahem! May the participating heroes please present yourselves on the platform!"

 Chapter 82 - The Pit (Part 2)

    Exactly 61 heroes entered the Pit in a not so orderly fashion. Some of them are understandably nervous about this tournament. But it was comforting for them to know that none of them will die.


    They were all young, with the youngest being 16 years and the oldest being 21. Most wore parts of heavy armor which did not affect their speed in the slightest.


    Weapons for this tournament were exempt. Only armor was allowed. Since shields technically count as a type of defensive armor, some of the heroes were smart enough to pick shields and use them for bashing other people.


    Only Bruce and Josh didn''t wear any type of armor. The reason is because Josh thinks he''s the main character, and firmly believes that he''ll win the tournament easily with or with no protection.


    Bruce however did not like to wear armor or weapons even, because he is used to only using his limbs like a karate fighter.


    They were all classmates and were all summoned because they went to the same school. The school they went to was very large, so they had highschoolers and middle schoolers in a single building.


    Weirdly enough this would be the first time that the summoning circle would have ever summoned heroes who were close to each other. The rest of the other times the heroes were strangers to each other. No one knows why that is, or why any of the heroes are chosen.


    Many believed the summoning circle randomly chose people, but this time it seems like it deliberately chose them, and no one knows why and they think that they''ll never know why.


    Looking closely at the heroes, Will did not recognize most of them.


    Somehow seeing those familiar faces brought back some sad memories.


    He remembered how he was alone at school, or as people would call him ''the quiet type'' Will did not become the quiet kid because he liked it or wanted to be, but rather it''s just that every one of his classmates decided that for him.


    Will would sometimes get the courage to talk to them even before he met Alex, and in turn sometimes his classmates would invite him to be their group during lunch time to eat with them.


    That alone made Will extremely happy, to be a part of a group of people his age.


    In all the times he''s with a group they usually ignore him, even when he tries his best to talk to them, as if he didn''t even exist, it didn''t matter which group he was in, it was all the same.


    He tried talking to them about games they might be interested in, like various topics that were at the time, but they always ignored him, or sometimes answered with "eh." or "sure." or "whatever." and then they would continue to ignore him.


    He put up with those groups throughout his elementary and most of his middle school years. Will believed that he could make a friend if he just continued to hang out with him.


    The last time he was with a group of his classmates, he heard one of them mentioned playing ''clash of clans'' and it turns out everyone in that group liked the game, including Will.


    He saw this as his chance to play with them so he said, "I play clash of clans, too! Maybe we could play together after school? Or I could join your guild?" Will just wanted to have people play with him.


    This is not the first time he''s said something like this. But it was the last time.


    All they said to him was, "Nah. It''s okay. We''re good." And they resumed talking to their own group even when they invited Will with them.


    Hearing those words Will realized something, no matter how hard he tried he''ll never find a friend in this dumb.


    Instead of changing himself for the 100th time, he started eating by himself in the desolate parts of his school, playing and listening to music at school using his phone and earphones. Only during school was he quiet. At home he was a lively child.


    Will began thinking that being alone wasn''t all that bad.


    Will, for the longest time, always wanted a friend or friends to play games with, or someone to hang out with, to be them. It has been like this ever since he started elementary.


    He even had to beg his parents to play with him, but they were too busy with "more important stuff" and usually only his dad rarely played with him for 10 minutes at most. They were loving parents, but they just could not love video games like Will did.


    Will sadly learned that he was alone at school, and that he will never find a friend there.


    Thankfully he met Alex. Alex was a true friend to Will. He realized then and there that you didn''t need a group of fake friends to have fun, all it really takes is a single true friend.


    It''s the reason why his death hits him harder than it should be. He had lost his one and only friend in the world.


    "Will? Are you alright?" Sandra asked.


    Will''s train of thought was interrupted by Sandra.


    "I''m good." Will said.


    Both Will and Sandra were sitting very closely together, not because they wanted to but because they were being squished by the people sitting next to them. As for why don''t they just move to a different spot? It''s because there was no space left anywhere.


    Sandra wore Will''s helmet in order to avoid any attention to herself, her red hair basically gave her identity away. But her face was still exposed. As long as nobody paid close attention to her, nobody would recognize her.


    And nobody would think that a hero would be sitting in with the common people when they all sat in such comfortable seats next to their hero friends and the king.


    ''Remember, I''m only here to see Victoria get what she deserves! I am not here to relive the memories of my sad, pathetic past.'' Will thought.


    "And those are all the rules of the tournament. Do you heroes understand?" The king said while seated.


    Many heroes nodded, but many of them clearly didn''t understand because they were too stupid to understand simple rules. If they weren''t so nervous and in front of thousands of people, they''d ask the king to repeat it, or to simplify it, or both.


    "Eh?" Will didn''t hear the rules. He was deep in his thoughts that he missed it.


    "Basically what he said is ''free for all, no killing, if you fall off the ring you lose, and the last remaining hero gets the prize.'' pretty simple standard rules." Sandra knew Will wasn''t listening, so she explained it.


    "Good. Now heroes spread across the arena, My lovely daughter, the princess, will start the tournament!"


    The heroes spread themselves. Some of them were in groups, others were going solo.


    The Great Sage was floating by the side, like a Fairy GodParent, keeping a close eye on the heroes with eyes that were devoid of life.


    ''I''m gonna win! In these tournaments the main character always wins!'' Josh thought happily. He wished that his loyal harem would be here with him, but this was a tournament for heroes only, so they''re cheering for him on the side.


    Felicia and Naveah, who were basically Josh''s harem at this point, found Josh, explained what had happened, and they got back together and acted like nothing had happened.


    Josh had completely forgotten about those two. Nonetheless he was happy that he was still loved.


    Peter, Britney, and Henry were obviously in a group together, there are no rules against teaming. Honestly the group thought that they didn''t have a chance of winning at all. All they really wanted was to hurt Victoria or see her get hurt.


    Victoria was all by herself. She had a face like she was pissed and didn''t want to be here at all, but that was her normal face.


    Her right arm was slightly shaking, not due to her nervousness, but because of the pain she felt on her right side of her body.


    Harmony stood up graciously, exuding the aura of someone who was calm and m?tur?. She looked very pretty with her elegant dress and expensive accessories. There were no signs of her thirsty version when she was with Shaun. No one would have thought that she would ever fall in love with her captor.


    "Begin!" The princess shouted.


    Then the crowd began cheering loudly for the heroes, screaming at the top of their lungs.


    None of the heroes made a single move. They all stood still like statues.


    "Ahem." The king coughed to signal his daughter.


    "Oh, um, begin!" Harmony said, louder.


    But once again, no one moved.


    ''Well¡­ that''s anticlimactic.'' Will and thousands of people thought. They all thought that they''d be witnessing an epic battle, a clash of the world''s strongest heroes fighting with all they''ve got. This is an event that had happened only once before.


    The reason that the heroes didn''t take a single step is not because they couldn''t hear Harmony, but because they were all so nervous. Most of them were even shaking uncontrollably, some even started sweating and getting colder. They were all cold, and sweating buckets. Even Josh, the one who thinks he''s the main character, was also slightly nervous.


    This was to be expected. These heroes are basically still kids who have never even killed a monster before. If they were fighting monsters it would be easier, but they were fighting people that they know.


    What they were afraid of is that if someone made the first move, then they would be hated by the others. No one was willing to make the first move.


    ''Even after all that¡­ so much time and effort poured into these losers¡­ wasted!'' Shaun thought as he covered his face in shame. If this happened to him 100 years ago, many of them would have begun fighting the second it started.


    There''s a reason why this new generation of heroes is also referred to as ''the worst generation'' which is ironic because that''s what they are also called back in their world. And many of the heroes would agree but find it offensive.


    Josh looked at everyone around him. He began thinking to himself, ''No, this is good. As long as they''re scared of me like that, then I have no problem winning this tournament! That magical item is as good as mine!"


    "JUMP!"


    "GAH!" Josh screamed suddenly in pain.


    As he was deep in his thoughts, a giant fish tail, yes a fishtail, more like a whale''s tail, appeared out of nowhere and punched him and sent him flying out of the arena and crashed into a wall.


    The other heroes were obviously paying attention, which is why they managed to dodge the attack.


    The Great Sage could have saved Josh some pain and stopped him from crashing into the wall, but he just didn''t feel like doing anything.


    ''Oh?'' Thousands of people thought the same. Finally! Something interesting had happened.


    Some heroes thought that he had it coming.


    Only two people were very saddened when they saw Bruce knocked out like that.


    Will, and every other hero weren''t surprised in the slightest when they saw that person make the first move.


    "If none of you losers want the magical item, guess I''ll just take it for myself, not like I would have let any of you have it from the beginning."


    The one who said that, and the one who punched Josh out of the arena was none other than Victoria. She made her arm into that of a giant animal and took out the hero she believed was the most problematic.


    Victoria''s ability lets her transform into animals, and can even transform parts of her body as she wills it.


    ''Weird.'' Sandra thought. Victoria had used her left arm, when she was clearly a right-y.


    Had she used her right arm Josh would have been even more injured, many other heroes would have been taken out, and the Great Sage would have done something instead of nothing.


    The biggest animal Victoria knows is without a doubt the blue whale. Dragons are much bigger than whales without a doubt, but for some reason she just cannot seem to transform into a dragon, or even other types of animals really. She cannot think of a reason why that is.


    Victoria turned to face a group of her classmates, who were scared shitless. As she ran up to them, someone kicked her on her face.


    Using her superior hero reflexes she transformed her arm into a giant grab arm, and stopped herself from falling off the arena by plunging her entire crab arm into the floor of the arena. There was a large large where she planted her crab arm.


    She looked at Bruce with an ugly expression on her face. She spat out two teeth that broke when Bruce kicked her. It didn''t matter, as her teeth had already regrown.


    "That¡­ hurt." Victoria said very angrily, almost like growling.


    Bruce was so focused that he didn''t say anything.


    Her ability did make Bruce nervous. But remembering his teacher''s words when she taught him how to deal with someone who uses a melee weapon, he calmed down,


    ''Remember, do not let the appearance of a threat threaten you. Move only when you think you should move, and not before.''


    Bruce held his teacher''s words with high regards. Always following her advice even till now.


    This time, Victoria transformed her arm into a giant tentacle and attempted to whip Bruce off stage with it.


    But Bruce grabbed it tightly, then he pulled the tentacle as hard as he could so that he flung Victoria up high, and he used all his strength to make her crash on the pedestal, leaving a giant hole in the middle.


    Victoria might have the advantage with her ability, but Bruce has years of experience fighting. And thanks to Shaun sparring with him on a regular basi, Bruce was better than ever.


    Shaun nodded in satisfaction. Bruce is without his favorite of the entire useless pack of rodents.


    "The hell, Bruce! Be careful!" Several heroes were almost crushed when Bruce brought her down like that.


    Shaun felt ashamed when they complained like that. All they ever did was complain.


    ''Man, I wish I had brought popcorn.'' Will, and several other heroes thought. They''ve been waiting years for this. Most of them didn''t think that Victoria would finally get what she deserves. It was like watching the best movie that they had ever seen.


    Many of them held a tight grudge against Victoria. But none of them had the actual courage to face her much less hurt her.


    No one would have thought that it would be Bruce who would finally make their dreams come true.


    Some heroes, who were still complaining to Bruce, which is all they know what to do back in their world, found themselves being strangled by smaller tentacles that were coiling around their necks.


    Victoria came out of the ground unscathed, but her face told everyone that she was hurt. On her left hand, her fingers were replaced by long, small tentacles.


    She tried applying more strength on their necks, to maybe perhaps break their necks in order to vent her anger, but no matter how much strength she applied, she couldn''t hear a ''snap'' on their necks.


    When she turned, she noticed the Great Sage waggled his finger slowly, as if telling her ''I know what you''re thinking, and I won''t allow it.''


    Victoria has heard of his power but never witnessed it. She didn''t even know what he did that didn''t even let her use more of her strength.


    As she was distracted, she found Bruce already centimeters away from her.


    Bruce noticed how she was distracted. He used this moment to run towards her and deliver a volley of attacks.


    First, Bruce stepped on Victoria''s foot firmly, making her unable to use her foot.


    Next, he successfully delivered a volley of elbows, wrist punches, palms, punches, all in her unprotected areas which was her face, stomach, side torso, or so on. He used enough strength to keep her in one spot as he continued his attack, it was basically like fighting a sandbag.


    Many of these attacks would be considered ''illegal'' in tournaments back in their world. But Bruce knew that even though this was a tournament, it wasn''t like back in his world. He treated it as if this was the real deal.


    He was glad that his teacher had taught him these illegal moves, should he ever need it to defend himself in a real fight.


    Victoria couldn''t protect herself from Bruce at all. Her right arm was injured one day before the tournament, and only she knows how she injured it. Even with her regeneration ability, she could still feel the pain.


    She tried to scream, but every single one of Bruce''s punches were very heavy, and every time he punched in her stomach she could feel the air being expelled from her lungs.


    Much like how if someone kicked a soccer ball right in your stomach, you''d have a difficult time breathing.


    Her left arm was being used to choke out other heroes, which means that she had basically given up any way to defend herself, and one of her feet was planted on the ground by Bruce, keeping her in that spot.


    And she is not used to fighting with her feet anyways, at this moment she couldn''t think properly if she wanted to.


    Some fighters have a bit of a hard time using their legs during a fight, it was like when learning to first shoot a rifle, most people tend to open only one eye instead of two, even though using two eyes is much more effective. Some people just have a hard time getting used to it.


    Like Deku, it took him several seasons to figure out that he could also use his legs to fight.


    But Victoria is not a fighter. All the times that she killed those monsters she only used sneak attacks, brute strength, and her hero ability to deal with them. Never has she been in a real fight before with someone of greater power than her.


    And why did Shaun not teach her anything? Simple, because like many heroes like her, she didn''t feel like learning anything from him.


    "HIYA!" With a final kick to the face, he yelled just like Bruce Lee would, and launched Victoria out of the stadium flying.


    Shaun tried to fix Bruce''s habit. For some reason he just liked to say "HIYA!" every time he finishes destroying his opponent.


    "Ow! What happened?" Josh woke up.


    *Bang*


    Then his entire vision turned black, when he felt something big, heavy, and round crash down on his entire body. Victoria had landed on Josh by mistake.


    "Oof! Sorry, Josh!" Bruce said apologetically. It wasn''t his intention to do that.


    The Great Sage thought that maybe Bruce went over the line with Victoria. However he thought that this might be good for her, and she might become a better person if Bruce injures her like that.


    Or¡­ she could become a worse person than she already knows. In truth he didn''t know the answer, but he just didn''t care. It was all bullshit thinking.


    "Bruce, thanks man. But couldn''t you have done that faster? Are you that slow and stupid?" One of the heroes said, gasping for air, he was one of the heroes that was being choked by Victoria.


    Bruce extended his hand to Jerry, as if to offer a truce between them.


    Jerry grabbed his arm, thinking that Bruce was helping him. But, he found that his feet had left the ground.


    "YEET!"


    Bruce launched Jerry so far that it almost reached the people watching on the seats.


    Jerry had no way to recover from this. He crashed on the floor, leaving only 58 heroes remaining.


    "Bruce, what the heck?! How can you do that to innocent Jerry?" Other heroes felt like Bruce was out of line when he launched Jerry like a weighted ball.


    "It''s a battle royale.. Have you all forgotten?" Bruce got into a defensive stance, ready to face everyone if he had to.

 Chapter 83 - The Pit (Part 3)

    ''EEEEEEK! I WISH I KNEW HOW TO CRAFT VIDEO CAMERAS!'' Will was squealing from delight, like a happy little girl. When he saw how Victoria got pummeled by Bruce, he felt eternal happiness.


    Will always hated it when he failed to record a clutch moment when he played video games. And this was one of those times he''d wish he could record!


    Bruce was by no means a terrible person who enjoys bullying others. If anything Bruce is the nicest guy out of the group of heroes. He doesn''t even like to curse.


    Bruce is the type of character one would meet in a Final Fantasy XIV server, since the vast majority of the community is always nice and helpful.


    But he just likes fighting.


    "Bruce, back the fu?k off." A random hero said. He was nervous.


    "Sorry." Bruce apologized to them in advance. When it comes to fighting in tournaments, he didn''t like to hold back, especially when he could get a prize if he wins.


    Bruce did his best to not injure the heroes. Those who didn''t fight back he''d push or throw them off the stage.


    But those who defended themselves, Bruce would use a little bit of force to knock them out. He would never use as much force as he did with Victoria.


    Seeing the heroes being flung off the stage like it was nothing was actually¡­ funny and underwhelming.


    People expected some epic clash of heroes, with awesome duels, betrayal, blood, or something.


    They might have power that goes beyond what a normal person is able to achieve, but without properly knowing how to utilize their abilities, it''ll become useless.


    Shaun was disappointed and proud at the same time. Disappointed because the majority of the heroes were ''duds'' as he likes to call them. Only one turned out to be decent, that one being Bruce.


    ''I am so glad I wasn''t born in this generation.'' Shaun thought.


    "Sandra, why doesn''t anyone use their abilities?" Will asked.


    "I¡­ think, it''s because they forgot? I actually have no idea." Sandra said, confused.


    All of them would only have simple powers, like super jump, a little bit more speed, a little bit more strength, healing powers, x-ray vision, more stamina, flexibility, and flying, plus more. Many of these abilities were simple but useful, and many heroes would have these abilities that were very common.


    No hero has ever come close to having had an amazing power to the Great Sage''s, or the Witch.


    Every time that heroes are summoned, only 1 or two heroes would have abilities that would stand out from their peers.


    The hero who stood out the most 100 years ago is Shaun Quincy, who has the ability of aging slower, which is the only time a hero has been given this ability.


    But this time, 4 heroes, Josh, Britney, Pete, and Henry, would turn out to have never before seen abilities, and those abilities were indeed great, especially Josh''s destructive fire power and huge stamina.


    "Oh, look, someone remembered to use his ability!" Sandra pointed.


    Bruce was slowly towards a short person while keeping his guard up. The short man is named Ali. He stretched his palms to Bruce.


    "Sun flare!" Ali was using a ripped off version of Solar flare/beam. Once again, there is no need to name and call out their abilities.


    A bright but small orb of light appeared out of his hands and fell on the ground. It stood there, lighting up that spot. One could hear a faint ''fart'' noise when the spark of light fell on the ground.


    "Oh¡­ I thought that would work." Ali said. He didn''t know exactly what would happen, but he hoped that something would happen.


    His ability is called ''light orb'' he can only produce light orbs, making him the perfect human light bulb, an uncommon ability but not useful for combat.


    Ali''s plan was to place all his energy into this attack, and produce a very powerful light ray or something, like fictional characters use the ''stronger'' version of their signature move.


    "Sorry about this." Bruce picked up Ali by the back of his shirt, and threw him out of the stage.


    "Look! Is it a bird!" Someone yelled.


    "That''s a person, you blind idiot!"


    Ali saw that it was his friend, Colby, who caught him.


    "Ali, as long as one of us makes it through the end, we''ll get that magical item." Colby said.


    The pair of heroes made a plan beforehand. As long as Colby flies and avoids contact with the other heroes, they would win the tournament. It''s a cheap way to win but they didn''t care.


    Bruce wondered how he should deal with him. Seeing the bright orb that Ali left on the ground, he got an idea.


    He picked up the orb, and noticed that it didn''t weigh anything. If anything it was like holding a marshmallow, it was very soft and squishy. It didn''t even lose its round shape after fondling it.


    "Heads up!" Bruce yelled as he threw the light orb at Colby with perfect aim.


    "The fu?k!" Colby didn''t expect Bruce to do that. With Ali in his hands he couldn''t move as agile as he wanted to.


    He closed his eyes, bracing himself. But, what he felt was like a marshmallow hitting his ribs.


    "Hehehe, I had nothing to worry about!" Colby chuckled.


    "Hiyaah!"


    But then he noticed a b?r?, dirty, foot close to his face. The foot kicked him right in the center of his face, sending Colby and Ali all the way back to the spectators.


    Before they could crash on top of the spectators, an invisible force stopped them midflight. Many obviously knew it was the Great Sage who stopped them.


    Bruce''s plan was to use the orb as a distraction. His real aim was to kick them out of bounds.


    Bruce hates it when people try to win using cheap tricks.


    However Bruce was making a risky move on his part. By jumping to kick Colby off stage, he also jumped away from the fighting stage, leaving himself to fall off the stage.


    But Bruce exerted a little more strength when he kicked Colby in the face. By using Colby''s face to jump from it, Bruce calculated how much force he should apply in order to make it to the stage.


    "Woah! Woah! Woah!" Bruce said, flailing his arms like a maniac, b?r?ly keeping his balance after b?r?ly making it by the size of his toes to the edge of the stage.


    "Quick! Go, Peter!" Henry said. Bruce was a threat to them. If they can take him out they will have a higher chance of winning.


    "Me? Why don''t you go?" Complained Peter.


    "Hurry up, man!"


    "No, you go!"


    "You''re closer!"


    "You''re faster!"


    "Guys!" Britney interrupted them as he pointed at Bruce.


    Bruce successfully regained his footing in a matter of seconds. He sighed in relief as it was the riskiest thing he''s ever done.


    "Dammit, Peter!"


    "Why are you blaming me?"


    In truth, there were other heroes who were closer to Bruce. But they all had the same thought: ''Someone else hurry up and do it!''


    "Uggggghhhh!" Shaun ?r??n?d out of the sheer stupidity of these heroes. They literally had the chance to take down the greatest threat to them, and no one took action!


    Bruce took 3 seconds to regain his footing. Had one of them run towards him and lightly shoved him, there''s a high chance that Bruce would fall off the stage.


    3 seconds is a very, very long time when it comes to fighting. And yet not one took action during those precious 3 seconds.


    In a real fight, a second is more than enough time to change the outcome of the battle. Which is a phrase that is overused by this point.


    After that, Bruce continued to take down the heroes one by one. It seemed like it was too easy.


    "I''m not gonna lie, Sandra. This is kinda boring." Will said. After a while, everything started to become predictable and plain. Only one person was dominating the entire tournament. Nobody else put up a fight.


    There were only 2 fighters left, Bruce and some other guy.


    The heroes who were injured or knocked out either sat on the side and watched the tournament, or went crying to their rooms like little kids who rage quit in a Call of Duty game.


    Some even yelled in anger as they have a hard time controlling their emotions, even in public, much like a certain famous streamer who lost a game of chess in 6 moves.


    "Agreed. But it''s almost over."


    "Hiyaah!" Bruce kicked the last hero off the stage. He took a deep breath, and exhaled in a dramatic manner. Whenever a fight ends, Bruce always does this. This is the result of watching too many action movies.


    "YAAAAY!" The crowd cheered even louder than ever for Bruce. The cheering died down after a while, but when the fight ended, they began cheering.


    ''They are cheering because it''s finally over. Heheheh.'' Will thought.


    The Great Sage was also glad it was over. Frankly all he wanted to do right now was sleep.


    "Ahem!" The king raised his hand, then the crowd went silent.


    "Hero Bruce Man. I congratulate you for winning this year''s tournament of heroes. Here''s your prize. *Snap*" The king snapped his fingers.


    A young, good looking sorceress, wearing a skimpy outfit flew down from the sky because why not? She had a sword in her hands that she held with a cloth.


    The skimpy outfits were a new thing. A hero gave the idea to the king a few days ago, and he loved the idea.


    The idea came from the hero who liked watching boxing matches, when the good looking women were wearing b?r?ly anything to cover themselves up, as they showed a huge sign with a number written on it.


    The weapon had a golden handle, with some very fancy carvings in it to make it stand out more. Other than that it looked like a completely ordinary sword.


    "Cool. What does it do?" Bruce said. It''s his first magical weapon.


    "If you coat it in blood, it''ll repair itself. Neat, huh?"


    "I guess that''s neat." Bruce did not like the idea of using weapons. But, one of his greatest role models, Bruce Lee, said something that he''ll never forget:


    ''Be formless, shapeless, like water. Be water, my friend.''


    Of course he knew the meaning behind those words, it means to adapt, change, grow. By learning to use a sword he''ll be following his role model''s advice. It''s why Bruce didn''t just learn BJJ, but other types of fighting styles as well.


    Currently he is learning from Shaun, who has military training, and over 100 years of experience.


    "And with that, the tournament has concluded. Good night, everybody!" The king left in a hurry. Even though it is the middle of the day, he said ''goodnight'' like he was going to sleep.


    "Wait, I thought that the second and third place would also get a prize?" Will asked.


    "Same here. Guess he forgot. Then again I noticed he was falling asleep during the tournament."


    "What kind of important person, like the king, would fall asleep just like that? In front of thousands of people?"


    "Beats me."


    "Anyways¡­ You go ahead. I need to check something out." Will said.


    "Okay. Here." Sandra took off her helmet and gave it to Will. It belonged to Will, but Will gave it to her to wear so she wouldn''t attract attention with her red hair.


    They split up without saying anything else. They both have communications stones so they can both message each other should anything happen.


    The first place Will went to visit was surprisingly the summoning circle, the one that summons heroes every 100 years.


    During these past few weeks he has been doing some thinking.


    Moments before he died before arriving in this world, he vaguely remembers seeing a message on his VR headset. He didn''t think of it much because he died.


    But now that he knows that the man who appeared in his dream wasn''t actually a dream, but real, did that mean that he was the one who sent him that message moments before he died?


    "No matter how much I try, I cannot contact that guy. I need answers!"


    Will remembers his dream. How he called him a ''lab rat'' or something like that. And how there were others before him. It didn''t make him mad, but he needs more detailed answers than what he was given! He needs to know! It''s the reason why he''s here.


    Of course the only clue he has that can possibly answer a question of his, is the summoning circle.


    One of Will''s system abilities let''s him see detailed descriptions of items he touches with the tip of his finger. It''s how he knows the backstory of the magical device he owns.


    Something tells him that once he reads the description of the summoning circle, he''ll learn something from it.


    Perhaps¡­ there''s a small chance he can craft another one, and find a way back home?


    "Problem is, it''s heavily protected. Well¡­ ish." Will took a look at the iron fences that surrounded the summoning circle.


    The truth is the summoning circle was terribly guarded. There were only a few normal soldiers there, not even sorcerers, and also a tall iron fence gate surrounding the summoning circle.


    Will could easily break in there. But the problem was the Great Sage. It''s why the kingdom is so lax about the summoning circle being exposed in the middle of the kingdom.


    As long as he was around no one could touch the circle.


    "I don''t think I can convince the Sage to let me near the summoning circle. Or if I ask him he''ll grow suspicious of me or something. Problem is in order to get him to trust me, I need to remove the item that blocks his telepathy. But once I do I''ll automatically think of the exotic flower, and seed, the device that can change the weather, and even my system! He''ll read my mind and therefore I''ll be exposing my greatest secrets!"


    Will has thought about it. Was it worth it? What if the summoning circle didn''t give him the answers he''s looking for? What if exposing his secrets might bring him heaps of trouble?


    The Great Sage may not care as much as he used to. But Will really doesn''t want to take a chance keeping that in mind. There is truly no telling what might happen.


    "Hero Will?"


    Will heard someone call to him. They were guards of the kingdom. Or more specifically nobles.


    ''They know me?'' Will thought.


    "The Princess has summoned you. She told us to tell you that if you don''t listen to her, she''ll expose you to the world."


    Hearing them say that made Will a little pissed?


    The two nobles actually found out about Will through the Princess during the tournament.


    Meeting the 100th hero, someone who everyone thought was either dead, or never existed, shocked them beyond belief.


    The Princess had the best seat in the Pit. She could clearly see the stage, as well as all the people seated on the sides.


    While Bruce was easily winning the tournament, her mind drifted from boredom. She noticed someone standing out from the stage, Will.


    The armor he wore stood out from the rest. It was a different armor set he wore when she first saw him, but without a doubt she knew it was him, who else would wear such armor?


    People do wear dragon scaled armor, but no one is crazy enough to wear it like Will does, because it would be too heavy to move. And also dragon scale armor is useless, because it''s heavy, it couldn''t really protect them from anything aside from attack from other humans, meaning that it''s useless against monsters


    Dragon scaled armor would be deemed as the ''strongest'' or ''greatest'' armor in fiction, but this is reality.


    Will also knew that his armor stood out. But knowing that the Princess and the Great Sage already knows about him, it''ll only be a matter of time before he''s exposed. To him it was better to wear the armor and protect himself and Sandra, than to go in secret. Besides, he is getting a little tired of hiding, just a little bit.


    And he was right. The Princess was planning on getting back on Will someday, she just didn''t have the time.


    Because Will is the reason why Clement got caught, she plans to get back to him. If Clement hadn''t escaped from being executed by her father, she''d have had Will''s head on a silver platter.


    "Tell her to expose me. I don''t care honestly." Will thought about it, and there was really no point in hiding anymore. But as long as he doesn''t reveal his greatest secrets, he thinks he''ll be alright.


    "She also said that she''ll offer sweets, like cake and such."


    Princess Harmony knows that the majority of the heroes love to laze around and eat nothing but sweets. If her threat doesn''t work, she can lure him with sweets. She didn''t have a better plan to talk to him other than those two ideas.


    "Wow? Really? Okay then. Can you also lead me to the bathroom first? I''ve been holding in a REALLY huge fart for the longest time now. It would be a shame if I released it when I am with the Princess."


    "Um¡­ sure."


    The nobles honestly weren''t surprised by his rude behavior. The majority of the heroes were worse honestly. At the beginning they were okay, but as they got used to being treated like gods, their behavior started taking a turn for the worse.


    Will only accepted Harmony''s offer because he really wanted to eat something sweet, since nobody sells any type of sweets, as it''s reserved for the heroes and the royal family. So even though Will has the money, nobody is selling any sweets.


    ''Finally! I can eat some sweets! Hold on¡­ couldn''t Sandra just have brought us some sweets? She is a hero after all¡­ well, we''re stupid.'' Will thought.


    The reason he wanted to go to the bathroom is so he can tell Sandra that he was okay. He didn''t want to worry her.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Sandra was strolling through the kingdom, as always. She bought whatever she liked or what she thought she needed for her and Will. And buying stuff from people in a way helped them, as the economy is doing terribly as of late.


    ''I don''t see the point of all that tax money going to the heroes, honestly. Most of them haven''t even stepped foot outside the castle. Honestly it seems like a waste. Hm?''


    Sandra noticed a few guards taking out furniture out of a home. There was also a woman crying, pleading at a half-noble who seemed to be in charge. She carried an infant in her arms, as it was soundly asleep.


    With her heightened senses, she could make out what they were saying.


    "My husband is coming back with the money! Just give us more time!"


    "Ma''am, your husband hasn''t returned in a month! We originally only promised you 2 weeks to pay off the tax money you owe us, but out of pity for your child, we extended another 2 weeks! I am sorry, but I cannot give you more time! There are a lot of people who would like to live in the kingdom, people who pay on time."


    "Please. The kingdom is the safest place for my son! I have no other relatives here for them to take care of him!"


    "Sorry. Nothing I can do. Not unless you manage to pay the 33 gold coins, and 25 silver coins you owe to the kingdom."


    Living outside of the kingdom would be the same as risking your life. You never know what might pop out and kill you, whether it be monsters, or men.


    The villages closest to the kingdom also pay higher taxes, as they are protected by the Great Sage as well. But the further you go from the village, the lower the taxes are, but the less protected they are.


    Sandra understood what was happening. As she was about to step in to help the poor woman and her child, a man in rags stepped in first.


    "How much do we owe?" Asked the dirty man.


    The man was dirty, as if he hadn''t showered in a month. His clothes were torn, his hair all messy, his pants and boots all covered in mud from his long travels on foot.


    "Hon!" The woman ran to the dirty man, who is indeed her husband. She cried as she hugged him tightly. Part of her really believed that he had abandoned them, so he wouldn''t have to pay the taxes they owe.


    The dirty man broke when he saw his wife and child in that state.


    "Oh, good you''re here. You owe us 33 gold, and 25 silver coins." The man said with an expressionless face.


    The dirty man took off a large pouch that was dangling from his h?ps. He took out a bunch of gold and silver coins.


    "Here! This is what we owe! Take it and leave!" He said angrily. In truth he understood they were doing their job, but nonetheless he was still angry.


    "Do you want us to put your stuff back in your house?" Offered the man.


    "No. Just go."


    "Fine."


    The half-noble, and the rest left. The furniture was left outside the house.


    "Hon, what happened to you? Where did you go?" The woman asked, worried for her husband.


    "It''s nothing. Listen, we cannot continue to live here. The taxes are just too high to afford living here!"


    "I know. But if it was just us, I can understand living outside to avoid paying. But Sebastian''s health and life comes first! And where did you even get the money?" Until right now she realized that her husband just came and rescued them from a financial crisis.


    "I know our son comes first. But if we stay any longer they''ll chase us out."


    "But¡­ where would we go?"


    "I know a place. It''s the place where they gave me money to pay back our debt. While I take a shower and change clothes, sell the furniture! Sell everything we don''t need. We''re traveling light."


    "But-"


    "Trust me." He cut off his wife. "I am doing this for our son, and you. Just trust me once again."


    "O-okay." She nodded.


    ''Huh. That was unexpected.'' Thought Sandra as she left. The family doesn''t need her help as it turns out.


    She expected she would come in to save a poor family, like a poor cliche that is written in so many mangas. But no.


    Then she wondered, who gave the man that much money to pay back their debt? And where would they go?


    A few silver coins today is a lot to many families, not to mention over 30 gold coins. It seemed that the family was doing terribly before the new taxes were added.


    Her communication stone glowed brightly. She read Will''s message and her concern grew. It read: {I''ll probably be unavailable for a while. Don''t worry I''ll be fine. But should something happen DO NOT COME LOOKING FOR ME. Go straight to the base! Trust me! If I don''t send a message in an hour, just please go back to base. Please.}


    This was obviously Will saying that something happened. But at the same time he was okay?


    ''What happened?'' She couldn''t see anything bad happening while in the kingdom, not with the Great Sage around.


    ***********


    MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 Chapter 84 - Cake

    Currently, Will was being brought to the Kingdom''s Princess by 2 nobles. Nobles are descendants of heroes, they are not as powerful as the heroes, but they are powerful compared to ordinary people and even sorcerers.


    Will at first did not want to talk to the Princess at all since he could not think of a good reason to talk to her. If anything, talking to the king would be better since he holds more power than the Princess.


    But he decided to talk to her because he likes cakes, because he hasn''t had anything sweet since he came to this world. Will loves all sugars and sweets, so eating cake will be the best thing he''ll ever taste in the last 3 months.


    He began thinking while he was walking. Perhaps talking to the Princess would be beneficial. After all she does hold some power in the kingdom, maybe they have rare ores and materials that he could use? Not very likely due to the kingdom being in a poor state.


    Although there is one thing he wants to know, how do blacksmiths make magical weapons? Will asked Jack, his friend, but neither he or his uncle have the ''thing'' to make magical weapons anymore. Jack''s uncle did have one, but he had to sell it when Jack''s mother accidentally dragged Jack''s uncle into poverty.


    ''I am curious to talk to the Princess. Who would first threaten me then offer me cake? Doesn''t make any sense when you think about it.''


    "Gah! I should have won that tournament easily."


    Will noticed Josh walking towards him. Josh seemed terribly pissed about losing the tournament, especially being the first one out which is the worst feeling in the world.


    Just as they crossed paths, Josh was heavily focused on Will''s badass dragon-scaled armor.


    "Woah! Dude! Sick armor! Where did you get those?" Asked Josh, very impressed with the armor.


    Not a single sane blacksmith would make dragon armor out of dragon scales, since it has been deemed useless against monsters and even other people in general. If anything, using energy shields is the best armor one could have.


    The nobles halted in their steps, so did Will. Nobles are told to always respect the heroes. But do they treat Will the same as they would with heroes? They really aren''t sure.


    "From the blacksmith shop. On the other side of the kingdom." Will lied. He didn''t want to waste a second talking to Josh. By the time Josh searches for the dragon armor he''ll be long gone.


    It''s not like he didn''t like Josh, it''s just that he found him annoying. When he saw that he enslaved dragon loli his impression of Josh fell to rock bottom, not like he had a good impression of him anyhow.


    Will, just like Alex, never liked the idea of slavery. It''s different in video games because no one gets hurt. But in real life slavery is messed up.


    ''Huh. Now that I take a better look at him his face is very punchable. Did he always have such a stupid look on his face the last time we talked?'' Thought Will.


    The last time they talked was when Josh was selling him dead dragons. He honestly could not remember if he always wanted to punch Josh in his stupid face.


    "Really? Oh! A blacksmith shop! Of course! You beautiful man, you just gave me the best idea ever!" Josh ran away all joyful, almost as if he had just heard the best news in his life.


    ''Wait, he looks kinda familiar¡­ ish.'' Josh did not think that Will is the same person who he sold the dragons to. At the time Will was wearing a different armor set.


    "Okay?" Will had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.


    "This way, please." The two nobles said respectfully. They had no idea if they should treat Will like every other hero, or treat him differently.


    Will shouldn''t possibly be alive much less here. At this point no one had any hopes that the 100th was successfully teleported.


    "This way." The nobles brought Will to a fancy and feminime room. The room was very large but also spacious. There was a large pink-red bed, with multiple bedsheets and fancy pillows. On the side were various books that are mostly related to the heroes and their history.


    "Welcome, Hero Will." Harmony acted calm, composed, and had an aura of nobility. Behind her were 3 more nobles protecting her at all times.


    After being kidnapped by Clement, the King had tasked 5 powerful nobles to protect her at all times.


    "Eh¡­ hello?" This was a different Princess that he had seen before. First time he saw her she was kidnapped and bound by Clement. The last time they met she did not have the same composed and noble aura as right now.


    "You 5 can leave. I have important matters to discuss with the ''lost hero'' over here." Harmony waved the nobles to leave the room as she sipped her tea with her pinky sticking out.


    Some hero told the nobles that fancy people, like nobles or people with power, always hold out their pinky while drinking. Now everybody does it.


    "Forgive us, Princess, but we cannot do that." A noble said.


    "Why not?"


    "His Highness, the King, has ordered us to watch over you no matter what."


    "Steward! Highness is referred to only Princesses and Princes. ''Majesty'' is what we refer to our king."


    "Wait, I thought ''Majesty'' refers to the Queen only."


    "We''re not having this conversation a fifth time!"


    "I only want 5 minutes alone with the hero. Just step outside for a second." Harmony said a little bit louder.


    "Do you want us to step out for a second or 5 minutes?"


    "Just go."


    "Like I said, your Highness, we cannot defy his ''Majesty''s'' orders."


    "That''s better, Steward."


    "Yeah, I was promised that there''d be cake here¡­ and I don''t see cake." Will interrupted. His main priority was cake.


    "Yes! You 5, go and get the cake!" Harmony suggested.


    "But-"


    "Go, go right now!"


    "Like I said, your Majesty¡­ Gah! No! I meant Highness! Highness!"


    ''This is gonna take all day isn''t it?'' Will thought, annoyed.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Bruce was in his room, thinking about the magical sword he got. Honestly it wasn''t impressive in the slightest, to him anyways.


    A gun would be way more effective than a blade. He tested the blade on some nearby trees and rocks, and he broke it. He could easily repair it if he applied some blood to the blade and it would repair itself, but he honestly thought that it was a garbage weapon.


    If his sword would pierce or easily kill dragons or cyclops''s, it would be amazing. But it won''t even make a dent on the dragon''s scales, or probably wouldn''t be able to pierce a Cyclops''s thick hide, not that Cyclops''s are known for having thick skin.


    ''Wait¡­ why are people still using swords? We have guns for a reason!'' Bruce thought. Nonetheless it''s the prize he got for winning the tournament of heroes, a tournament that he thought was way too easy.


    And he was right. Swords are useless against actual threats like dragons, and giant monsters in general. Although it is sort of ''good'' to use blades to repel heroes, guns are so much better. It''s the reason people back in his world stopped using any. Even right now Sorcerers rely on guns more than any other weapon.


    "Yo, Bruce!"


    Bruce heard someone calling out to him from outside his room.


    Opening the door of his room he saw dozens of his hero companions looking at him in awe.


    "What?" Bruce asked.


    "Dude, you gotta teach us how you did that! You defeated even Victoria like it was nothing."


    "I.K.R." This hero likes to speak like she was texting. She very dearly misses her phone.


    "Oh my god, Stacy! Speak properly! Not only is talking like that cringey as hell, but literally nobody else but us understands what you''re saying!"


    "So¡­ Bruce? Can you help us?"


    "Wow¡­ sure I''ll help." Bruce said happily. Back in his world he used to guide younger kids who were interested in B.J.J. This reminded him of those wonderful times before COVID.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Shaun Quincy couldn''t help but contain his smirk. So far everything has been going according to plan.


    His plan was to help this new generation of heroes become stronger, better. Shaun was the one to convince Bruce to defeat everybody as best as he could. If it were up to Bruce, he would have shown some sort of mercy, but it was one-sided, like a noob fighting a Dark Souls boss for the first time.


    The point was to show them that Bruce, a hero, just like the rest of them, could easily overpower all of them. And with enough time and training, he could also turn them even stronger than Bruce.


    Of course forcing them wasn''t an option since they''ll just wh?n? and complain like always. Shaun wanted them to choose for themselves, that way others would follow as well. It''ll be more efficient that way.


    Once they see Bruce''s strength, a hero that wasn''t blessed with combat abilities, surely they''ll be motivated to practice.


    ''Shame. If Bruce was lucky he''d have been given a combat type of ability. All he got as an ability was thermal vision or something.'' Shaun wasn''t blessed with a combat ability as well. But his longer lifespan ability helps him stay young for much longer, and gives him more fighting experience than any other hero would have.


    "Now¡­ all I have to do is wait." Shaun waited patiently on the training grounds. He could already imagine those worthless heroes becoming actually strong and powerful.


    There is no other reason he wants to train the heroes. He just wants them to become stronger to survive. God only knows how long it''ll take for them to get bored inside the castle and decide to roam the outside world.


    And so he waited¡­ and waited¡­ and waited.


    And waited¡­


    And waited¡­


    Shaun waited for 4 hours now. He would have stopped at the first hour, but he just had such high hopes for the heroes.


    ''What the hell happened?'' Shaun thought.


    He left the training grounds and headed straight to Bruce''s room.


    *Knock*


    "Yeah?" Bruce said from the other side of the door.


    "It''s me. Open up."


    Bruce opened the door. He was shirtless, and he was ripped. He was sweating a bit from doing leg exercises. He was all alone.


    "By any chance, did any civilians¡­ heroes, show up to your room?" Shaun asked. He had a habit of calling others ''civilians'' a habit he''d been meaning to get rid of for some time.


    It''s the same with the Great Sage. He still has a habit of talking in Old English but tries his best not to.


    "Yes, they did."


    "And?"


    "Well, at first they were really eager to train."


    "Go on!"


    "But, when they started asking for the ''quickest way to git gud'' or ''easiest way to do something I dunno'' I got annoyed as there are no shortcuts. Then I told them how long it took me to learn to fight, not to mention how tough it is. And soon they all left saying ''I''ll do that tomorrow'' or something. Here''s what happened¡­"


    In a quick summary: The heroes were all genuinely eager to get stronger because they too wanted to be like Bruce.


    But once they heard how much time and effort it required, most decided to give up and not do it. They thought that perhaps over time something will happen and they''ll get stronger by doing the minimum amount of work.


    A few stayed to practice with Bruce. After 2 hours of practice they quit as well. Their will to get stronger vanished without a trace.


    Here''s the thing about this new generation of heroes: they''re weak minded, weak spirited, and have trouble accepting the reality that if they don''t work hard they won''t get anything.


    Many of them are like Josh. They all think that without putting in any amount of work they''ll suddenly become overpowered. As if some god will descend from the sky, or visit you in your dreams and say "Do you want power that you don''t deserve? Here ya go! Enjoy the adventure, make a harem or whatever the hell you want!"


    Some of them even had bets on ''who among us is the main character'' something which makes no sense at all.


    Bruce was disappointed to see them all leave. He honestly had hoped that at least some of them went to Shaun to practice. No one did.


    "Ugh¡­ this is what I get for getting my hopes high." Shaun said, deeply disappointed. Like a parent who just saw his child''s report card.


    ''At this rate, they''ll only learn when reality hits them and one of them dies.'' Shaun thought.


    "Is there something I can do, sir?" Bruce asked, politely.


    "No. For now rest. Tomorrow we''ll learn how to use swords. Just the two of us, so don''t bother waking up your friends for morning practice, not that any of them come anyway."


    "Just us?"


    "Yes. Just the two of us." Shaun smiled, but in reality he smiles whenever he is pissed. When he''s truly mad he lashes his anger on others and curses them. He didn''t want to lash out his anger on his favorite student.


    In his mind, Shaun thought, ''You know what? Screw them. If they don''t want to learn then it''s their loss. I''ll just teach my favorite student for now.''


    Shaun can only try so much. It''s what made him so mad that they cannot see just how dangerous this world is.


    If the Great Sage weren''t alive, Shaun would have trained them all since day one to become soldiers, like he is.


    He doesn''t blame the Great Sage for how the heroes turned out. But he is mad that the Great Sage doesn''t care enough to push the heroes to practice and learn for their survival.


    Now that they are heroes, they all have a weight of responsibility to carry until the end of their lives.


    A while ago¡­


    Harmony pushed the nobles out of her room after convincing them for a whole 15 minutes.


    "Phew. I thought they''d never leave." Harmony wiped the imaginary sweat off her forehead.


    "If you have that much trouble commanding the people who work for you, then this kingdom needs a lot of help." Will said as he ate some cake with full delight. A maid brought them some cake.


    He only showed the bottom half of his face so the princess doesn''t get a clear look of his face. Why? Will wanted to feel mysterious.


    ''Hmm¡­ cake. Shame they don''t have chocolate bars or sodas.''


    "Listen, Hero Will."


    "Wait, how do you know my name exactly? I never told you my name." Will didn''t think about it but the nobles who brought him here also knew his name. He didn''t think much about it until now.


    "Clement told me."


    "Clement? Oh, right. That guy." Will had completely forgotten about him.


    "Yes. Now I brought you here for one reason only: Give me Clement''s gun back."


    Will looked at her. There was a silence between them.


    "That''s it?" Asked Will.


    "What?" Harmony asked, confused.


    "I thought you wanted something else. Like I''m the 100th hero, the missing one. There are so many other reasons you could have called me here!"


    Even the elves wanted to know some things about Will, like why was he teleported wrongly, or what are his abilities?


    "I got to be honest, I really don''t care about that."


    "Wow."


    "I just want his gun back."


    Harmony still loves Clement. All that mattered to her was getting his gun back.


    "Yeah¡­ no. Not gonna happen." Will resumed eating his beloved cake.


    "What? We had a deal!" Harmony said louder.


    "We did?"


    "Before! The last time we met you said you would give Clement his gun back and you never did. That''s why he was caught."


    "He was caught? But yeah I think I remember that."


    Harmony was feeling angry.


    As for Will, he couldn''t even remember what he had for breakfast yesterday, not to mention something that happened long ago.


    "Our deal was that if you didn''t deliver that gun to him, I would expose your existence to everybody."


    "Kinda late for that, isn''t it?" Will said, mockingly.


    "What?"


    "Well, a lot of people already know about me already. You already told the king about me anyway so what''s the point of me keeping up my end of the deal?" Will asked.


    "I didn''t- I haven''t told my father yet." Harmony was confused. Why would Will think she told her dad?


    If she did tell her dad, the king, then she''ll miss the chance to retrieve Clement''s gun. Or at least she believes so. Either way she just wanted the gun back without having her father or anyone else intervene.


    "You already told those 5 nobles about me, and my name as well. It''ll be a matter of time before they tell the king."


    "I already made them swear that they wouldn''t say a word to anyone, especially my father!"


    "Oh yeah, sure, I believe you. It''s just that I find it hard to believe that they''ll keep their word when you have trouble keeping them out of your room, because they are more loyal to your father than you."


    "Um¡­" Harmony was at a loss for words. He had a point there. It was suspicious that she knew his existence, and even his name, when even the king didn''t know that.


    She wanted to ask the Great Sage''s help at first, as he is more trustworthy, but he did not care about helping her and went to sleep. It''s why she had no choice but to ask her 5 nobles for help, because she was desperate.


    Will stood up and prepared to leave.


    "Well this has been a waste of time. So I''ll be going now."


    "Wait! Is there anything else you want? I''ll trade anything I have for Clement''s gun."


    "Yes. Give me the device, or machine, whatever it is that makes magical weapons."


    This was Will''s plan. He knew she was desperate for Clement''s gun for whatever reason. So if he made it like he was leaving, then she''ll be even more desperate for his gun.


    Clement''s gun is a magical item that has many functions, but it is broken, and benefits sorcerers the most.


    Will tested it out and would much rather use an ordinary weapon with the infinity enchantment.


    For some reason, when he tries to enchant his magical items, the system tells him that there''s a high chance that they''ll break and therefore become useless. Will cannot risk that happening. It''s why none of his magical items are enchanted.


    "Hm. That''s easy. Follow me."


    "And-And that''s not all! I also want a lot of¡­ a lot of¡­ dammit!"


    ''Idiot! Think!'' Will cursed himself a second time. He rushed in so fast that he didn''t think it through.


    "A lot of what?" Harmony asked because she didn''t hear what he said.


    "I''ll¡­ tell you after." Will said, staying calm composed.


    Meanwhile...


    Josh brought his two harem members with him to a blacksmith shop.


    "Hero Josh, why have you brought us here?" Naveah asked.


    "It''s simple, really. This is where we''ll find magical items!" Josh said, his eyes shined like stars.


    ''This place?'' The two girls had trouble believing that. Master blacksmiths can only make magical items, and only those work inside the kingdom. Creating any kind of magical item is difficult and risky.


    Expert blacksmiths and lower ranked blacksmiths work in shops like the one in front of them. There is no way that they could ever create a magical item. If by some miracle they did, which has happened before, they''d sell it to the kingdom and not keep it around their shop.


    Josh entered the shop. It was packed with weapons, mostly guns. It''s full of items not because the shop is doing well, it''s because no one has bought anything in a while.


    "Sup." A woman, who was high out of her mind, greeted the first customers she''d seen in a while.


    "Hello. We''re just browsing." Josh couldn''t help but contain his smile. He was gonna buy a magical weapon for cheap.


    In most manga''s he''s read, the MC always finds a heaven defying item just conveniently lying around in a shop at the same time he''s there. And only the MC is able to recognize said weapon.


    After looking around, nothing caught his eye. Everything looked the same to him.


    "Oh! Before I forget, is there by any chance a weapon here that you won''t sell but still have it on display? Like a cursed item or something? I''ll take anything!" Josh said. He really needed a powerful weapon.


    "Whatever you''re smoking, give me some of dat, too." Said the high lady. Cursed items? No such thing.


    "Okay fine. Is there by any chance something on the back that is very powerful but cheap?" Josh asked, getting closer to the lady.


    "Powerful and cheap? Like I said, give me whatever it is you''re smoking buddy." The lady laughed a bit. What kind of person would ever do that?


    "Do you not recognize me? I am a hero."


    "And I''m a blacksmith. You''s gonna buy something?"


    "Sure. I''ll take¡­ this?" Josh''s hand hovered over a random weapon. He wanted to see if the lady would react to it.


    He firmly believes that there is a weapon in that shop that''s cheap and very powerful. He just doesn''t know what, and he can''t afford to buy everything in the shop.


    The lady however was just confused. So were Josh''s harem members.


    "You know what? I''ll take a couple of bows. I always liked ranged weapons." Josh got 3 bows, since for some reason they were the shiniest bows.


    "But, hero Josh, if you like range weapons why not go for a gun instead?" Naveah said, speaking logically.


    "Because I know that one of these three bows are actually magical."


    "Really?!" Felicia said, in utter shock. Naveah was confused. The high lady thought that Josh was just very dumb and high out of his mind.


    And so Josh left the store poorer, some arrows, and 3 useless bows.