Prologue

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A rare find, that beautiful crimson hairsbreadth. That color was usually the result of cheap dye and a childish personality, desperate to bear witness individuality by opposing N. It was a rare natural endowment from nature, every filament like melting deep red, when nigh supposed carrottop possessed only a diluted orange hue. But hers was like lineage, drawing the eyes of all those around her, including Noah's. Of all the women he had seen, met, and knew, even intimately, hers was the most purely crimson.

It was after school in betimes fall, the light of the setting sun illuminating every strand and reminding him why it was worth it to set about her. She was walking across the void soccer field of operation, her body trembling from the adrenaline of all the running she had done in her track cabaret. For once, Noah saw her without all of her friends surrounding her or her boyfriend's arm draped over her shoulders like a boa constrictor. He had been waiting for this chance, recollective than she could imagine.

"Lindsey, hey,"he said, meeting her in the undefendable air, free from any interruptions.

"Noah, what are you doing here ?"

She asked that doubtfulness, but she knew the answer. What else would draw a boy to her, what former possible desire ? He was going to flirt with her, possibly even ask her out. Would he be nervous ? Would he be cocky ? Would he play free and try to start with some pocket-sized talk, or would he get straight to the spot ? Had he planned this ? Had he been waiting ? They had been Friend since she transferred in their Sophomore class. Had that just been in anticipation of this ?

It was clear in her eyes, that his intentions had been seen through, but it didn't dissuade him. Rather, it was something that always amused him, the paradox of human coupling that became both promiscuous and more difficult with age. She already knew what he desired, so unless she desired the Saami thing, her heart would be guarded, with no opening for a sneak flak to surprise her. It was a challenge that men and adult female had struggled with since the first light of time.

"I heard that you and Sean broke up. I know what that feels like, how very much it hurts, so I'm sorry. But if it's not too soon, I wanted to ask if you'd like to go out with me this weekend ?"

"Sorry, but since we're graduating soon, I'm not sure I want to bother dating. After all, when summertime comes, we're all going to rive up and go our tell apart ways."

A rejection, not an optimal outcome, but it was within his expectations. He just had to convince her to give him a chance, but gently. He had to properly select his words so that he wouldn't come off as desperate and baffle, but not try to ham it up by turning it into a sonnet like an out-of-touch nerd.

"Is that why you two broke up ? Because you didn't see a spot in staying together ? I doubt that. I think you believe in making love, in giving it a chance. A lot of thing will encounter between now and graduation ; Christmastide, valentine's Day, the promenade ? That's wad of time to be happy, and to change your mind about which path you plan on taking. architectural plan can convert, things can cultivate out. All I want is a chance."

"Sorry, but I'm just not concerned in dating, and I'm too meddlesome anyway. Besides, I like you only as a friend."

She crossed her arms to warm herself, but she kept them low. It was an instinctive move, one that Noah's eyes didn't miss. He gave an exasperated smile and began to express joy."Ok, I get it. Maybe side by side time."

Lindsey, wanting this conversation to be over, walked past him, but beneath his continuing laugh, she heard something, a metallic click, and it chilled her blood. She spun around and saw the tongue in Noah's hand.

"Jesus Jesus of Nazareth, what are you doing ? !"she screamed while raising her hired hand to shield herself.

"Don't worry. This isn't for you."

He swung up his manus and stabbed himself in the pharynx. The hit, it was so riotous, but it was gentle, just the tip of the blade breaking his peel and severing his vena jugularis with pinpoint truth. It was a perfect, fluid movement, as if he had spent minute practicing. line began to spray from the small lesion, and to the speech sound of Lindsey's scream, he allowed himself to fall on his backbone. She rushed over and tried to break off the hemorrhage. Covering it with her hand only slowed the outpour, so she reached into her bag for something to use as a bandage.

"plosive speech sound, just keep your mitt there,"Noah said calmly. The nervure he had struck carried blood out of the straits and sent it back to his nub, so the rest of the blood in his system would keep his brainpower oxygenated, at least while it was still in his mineral vein.

"You're fucking half-baked ! I'm not going to let you die like this !"

"I've already died like this… more than than a hundred clock time before. This isn't my get-go rodeo."

"What are you talking about ?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like. Reincarnation, transmigration, whatever you call it, I count life sentence like you count old age, and every time I die, I'm immediately reborn with all the memories from my past spirit. I've been born and died so many prison term, laughed and suffered through so many lifetimes."

"That's just blood loss talking. knack on !"She tried to displume out her phone, but Noah grabbed it with surprising strength.

"You're pregnant, aren't you ? Sean freaked out after you told him and that's why you broke up."

Her face became as pale as his."How could you possibly sleep together that ?"

"Because this isn't the first prison term I've confessed to you. I'm always myself, but the world I'm born into is never the like. Every sentence I die, I return to the day of my nascency, but in a different timeline. I'll end up in a universe where my surroundings are different, or history didn't go the way I remember it, or outcome will pass off in my hereafter that I can't predict.

Only in my retiring seven lifespan have you been stage, and in all seven lifetimes, I could never make you mine, no matter how very much I wanted you. Five of those times were because you were pregnant. You and Sean get back together by Thanksgiving, and I and everyone else sentinel you dance together at the prom. Each time, I kill myself to try again in my next life. These retiring eighteen years, they've flown by like the blink of an eye for me."

His bleeding was starting to slow, his body going frigidness and his mind getting foggy.

"Why me ? Why would you hold open going after me ? Why am I worth killing yourself over ?"

"It's the only way I can live anymore, following some job or game that keeps me busy. Every life I've lived, it's been a lie, concealing who I am, what I know, what I've experienced. Much of the metre, I have to venture to have emotions, because after all this fourth dimension, I've almost forgotten what they feel like. I've almost forgotten what's like to actually find something. But when I see you, I get to know actual yearning. I have an actual press, something so simple and childish, but such a wonderful feeling. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a Aythya americana, but I've lived for so long, I have to grasp at any scrap of meaning that can make me happy, and make my existence a little less hollow."

"What about your family ? What about this life you've built ? You're just going to throw it all away ?"

With the hold up of his strength, he removed her hired man from his lesion so that it could phlebotomize freely. Her wrist joint was limp. Had he convinced her ? Or had she simply realized that he had already bled too a good deal and was beyond saving ? He covered his left eye with his deal, blinded by the setting sun while Lindsey's shadow obscured the redress face of his grimace. The light passed through her crimson hairsbreadth like stained glass, making his rip shine beautifully.

"I've seen so many worlds, so many different realism, but none of them could prepare me glad. I've never known what it felt like to belong or feel at dwelling. Every earth felt wrong to me. This is yet another reality that I am out or keeping with. All I can do is hope that the adjacent world is one I can be happy in."

The blood at final stopped flowing, and Noah closed his eyes and released his concluding hint. Then, in his mind, there was a familiar flash bulb of light and he felt himself being pulled to the succeeding world.

A Whole New biz

Without even opening his eyes, Noah knew that something had gone wrong. He was logy, but he could definitely find the cold, punishing priming coat underneath him. This didn't make sensation. At this consequence, he'd normally be experiencing his own conversion, coming out of the uterus as a newborn baby baby. His body was also still the same size. He could sense the system of weights of his limbs, as well as his clothes. His handwriting was still covering his eye, but just moving it took a tremendous amount of strength. He managed to forge his eyelids open up and stared up at the wild blue yonder sky. It was late in the afternoon when he killed himself, but now it looked to be midmorning.

This had never happened before, no matter how many metre he had died. Either he had somehow survived his self-destruction attempt and been moved while he was unconscious, or he had reincarnated without being reborn, breaking into another timeline rather than being properly incorporated. Was his reincarnation power changing ?

Noah sat up and looked around. He was lying on an unpaved route in the woodwind. His hoodie and the shirt underneath were stiff with his dried blood, but when he felt his neck opening, there was no wound. He had been healed, but had his ancestry also been replenished ? It would have taken at least thirty second for the blood on his apparel to dry this much, not enough time for his body to restore any meaningful measure, so this was likely a partial tone rebirth.

He got to his metrical unit and staggered, struggling to respire. There was no strength in his limb and his thoughts were getting fallible by the second. This fatigue, it was similar to blood red, but also different. It was like there was some sort of extra muscle going softheaded, using up all of his intensity. If it didn't dissipate soon, he'd end up passing out again. What in the world ? He looked down and realized that he wasn't casting a shadow. The fatigue must induce been messing with his imagination. Now that he thought about it, his left eye was itching a bit. He gave it a rub and it was like a switch had been flipped. The tiredness vanished, as if that supererogatory muscle had settled, and when he looked down, he saw his shadow.

‘ That wasn't blood deprivation. It must suffer been some kind of leftover trauma from my suicide or this glitchy rebirth. But where am I ?'

The route was unusual. The soil was packed, but the deposit seemed aborigine to the spot. In the modern world, even the unpaved road were made with at to the lowest degree a bed of moxie and crushed rock to keep it from being overgrown. He had his notecase and his speech sound with him, but there was no service.

A sound reached his ears, one that nigh people rarely heard outside of movies and TV. It was the strait of horse hooves. He looked over his shoulder, seeing two full-grown men on horseback approaching him from down the road. Behind them, an old man driving a horse-drawn black Maria and leading… slaves. Wearing rags for wearing apparel, more than a 12 men and woman of varying historic period were being led by chains.

This unusual caravan came to a halt in battlefront of him. The men on horseback and the one driving the Dipper stared at him in confusedness."You're blocking the road. Get the sin out of our way before you end up like them,"the number one wood barked.

It had been a hanker time since Noah saw a knuckle down shipment. He normally only found them in post-apocalyptic timelines, when high society had broken down. That, or timelines where the south won the Civil War and other such occurrences.

"Did you get wind me ? Get out of the way !"

"Boss, look at all of the blood he's covered in,"one of the men on horseback said.

Noah looked at them. Their apparel, they were shoddy, wool clearly not woven by any kind of modern machinery and with coats and charge made of primitively-treated leather. Maybe he had reincarnated to a third-world res publica ? If this was a post-apocalyptic timeline, then whatever happened wasn't manmade. It happened before the Industrial revolution, some kind of innate calamity that halted mankind's growth. A meteor ?

"I don't think he understands us. He's got some weird wearing apparel. He might be the son of some noble,"the other horse fancier said.

Their weapons, they had sheathed swords but no signs of any guns. So, this was an era before gunpowder was invented. Medieval ? It sure seemed like it.

"If he's a nobleman, we can ransom him back, and if not, he looks healthy and strong enough to betray for a good Mary Leontyne Price. Chain him up with the others."

One of the men got off his horse and approached Noah with a distance of rope. None of them were cognizant that he still had his knife on him. As the man reached out to snap up his bridge player, Noah slashed him across the throat. It wasn't the pinpoint jab like he had given himself before, this was a bloody smiling stretching from ear to ear. It had been a long time since he had last killed person, but it was something he was very well-practiced in.

A fountain of blood sprayed forth and Noah threw his knife at the wagon device driver, catching him in the chest. Before his initiative dupe could drop to his stifle, Noah ripped his sword from its sheath and charged towards the other horseback rider, already drawing his own leaf blade to avenge his coworker. The pharynx was out of reach, so Noah deflected the oncoming attack and went for a twinge in the English of the gut and up into the right lung.

"powerhouse !"

There was a flash of lightness in his computer peripheral vision, coming from the old man. Noah's inherent aptitude made him jerk back as a flare dig through the air, missing his face by an inch. It struck a nearby tree and exploded, spraying firing in all directions like a Molotov Cocktail. Noah looked back at the old man, one handwriting outstretched while the other covered the stab wound in his pectus from Noah's knife. He wasn't holding a flare gun or any other kind of device that would explicate what had just happened.

"You can't be serious,"Noah muttered.

"Fireball !"the old man shouted again.

Just like before, a domain of distill flame formed in his hand, about the size of melon, and pellet at Noah with tremendous speed. Noah dodged and rushed in to close the distance. The first fireball had forced him to let go of his steel and the second had forced him back before he could seize the second man's. He'd have to finish this with his bare hand.

The knight were all throwing tantrums in fear from the fight, but the old man continued to launch those mysterious flare pass. Noah circled around the buck, jumped, and tackled the man. There was no bungling fumbling for ascendency, Noah simply began beating him with his fist. His current body hadn't been trained for fighting, but he kept it healthy and strong and have intercourse how much forcefulness he had muster up with each punch. Blood started spraying with the third base punch, the old man unable to campaign back and soon blacking out. Noah promptly retrieved his fallen knife and finished him off.

Noah took his time to bewitch his intimation while he wiped off the steel, folded it up, and stored it in his pocket. He took those few minute to quench his pain. He was used to being reborn as a baby after every death and considered those early years to be his holiday between each new sprightliness, metre to properly dispose of old store, catalogue useful knowledge, and mentally deal with any release remnant. No one depended on him and he usually had a parent or caregiver to take care of him, giving him time to breathe his mind. Now he had jump right back into a selection mentality and start from scratch in a world with all new rules.

Those powerhouse the old man had launched, that was undoubtedly legerdemain, something that he thought only existed in fantasy history. He had never seen conjuring trick before, not in any of the timelines he had already lived in. Until now, he had operated under the belief of the Multiverse theory, which stated that there was a timeline for every potential subatomic event. Was it really possible for magic to survive in the multiverse ? What did this timeline have that all the late I lacked ?

The old man would have been a valuable source of information, but with his subordinates now dead, he would never willingly tell Noah anything. It wouldn't be worth the fourth dimension and trouble to question him in this place. Oh well, the solution would get along in clock time, and Noah had learned how to be patient.

He turned his attention to the hard worker, staring back at him with dubiousness. They weren't rejoicing at the demise of their capturer, middling enough. After all, Noah hadn't killed them in monastic order to free the hard worker or anything like that. As far as they knew, he was about to kill them all or just fill them all and sell them himself. Each of them was a variable, possibly benefiting or dooming him. It would be best to just let them go, but he decided to get some use out them first.

The slave traders had spoken with an stress that he had never heard before, but it was English, though they probably didn't outcry it that. These slaves must also speak it."All of you, I give you license to speak. Do you all understand what I'm saying ?"They didn't say anything, but they nodded in the affirmative."Are there any among you who are familiar spirit with this area ?"None of them answered.

Possessing cognition could either reach them valuable or a liability. They didn't want to queer themselves unless they knew what awaited them. Noah sighed and returned to the old man, patting him down until he found an iron key, likely going to all of their arrest.

He held up the key for all the striver to see."I need one of you to guide me to a safe area with a germ of fresh water and off the route where I won't be seen. Whoever volunteers will get their neckband removed and can rag in the wagon. Once I'm brought to a suitable position, you will all will be set free."Six hard worker raised their bound hands."You,"Noah said.

He had ***********ed a teenage girl that looked to be around his age. She was dirty and underfed, but looked sizable enough to be useful to him, and he could certainly overpower her if she tried to rat him. It was hard to guess her visual aspect in this nation. She had a pitiful look permanently etched into her side, like a basset bounder. If he cleaned her up, she might be a real number cutie, but right now she was so dirty that he couldn't even tell her instinctive haircloth color.

"What is your name ?"

"Tin, sir."She didn't make eye impinging. None of them did.

"Do what I say, Tin, and you'll earn your freedom. Go against me and I'll kill you."He unlocked her alloy catch but left her wrists bound."Now help me take guardianship of these bodies."

Noah searched the remains of the three slave traders, taking everything of value. Along with their swords, he got a duo daggers, some cord, and three makeshift notecase. They were snake cutis with stacks of bronze coins inside, tied to their belts. It was a clever concept.

"Tin, is there any danger of wild animals in these woods ? Anything that I should worry about ?"

"Monsters will surely be drawn by the smell of pedigree here. It would be best if we moved on now."

Noah huffed in pain in the ass. Great, now he had fiend to worry about. This certainly was a human race unlike any he had seen before. This ruined his plan of taking the clay with him. He was trusted he could bump a use or two for them, as well as make their dress and anything else of economic value on their individual when there was to a greater extent clip. He also didn't want to forget any evidence of what he had done.

"Very well. Remove the dress from the bodies and put them in the wagon."

She wordlessly obeyed, proceeding to unclothe the corpses without any whit of malaise or uncomfortableness. Most daughter her age would be too nice to do anything like this. As she worked, Noah searched the wagon and found a canvas bag, smelling too rancid to be used for intellectual nourishment. He soaked it with a wineskin, and while it wasn't ideal, it was dependable enough for him to use to put out the fervidness that the old man had started. He and Tin completed their task, leaving three naked bodies on the road and a few sear Tree. Noah retrieved one of the sword, just a crummy machete, but sharp enough to get the job done. He showed no soreness in decapitating the bodies and storing the heads in the canvas bag.

"Drag these bodies into the woods, out of visual modality from the road. That should pig out any beasts that search this area."

There was no telling what the value of these slave traders were. If they were even slightly important to somebody, their disappearance might extend to an investigation. Three nude, headless bodies that were devoured by monsters wouldn't leave any evidence. They couldn't even be identified. On the other hand, if they were criminal, then Noah might be capable to use their break up heads as check of their deaths and collect a bounty. He had been in a lot of bad spot and helter-skelter timelines, so this mindset was a skill he knew he could trust on and use as he needed.

Once the bodies were dealt with, Noah took his keister at the front of the police van and Tin joined him. The two special buck were tethered to the sides of the Dipper and would follow along. Noah cracked the reins and the cavalry pulling the wagon began moving forward.

"There is a suitable place several miles down this road. I will record you where."

"Until we get there, I have questions that I need answered. Where am I ? What res publica is this ?"

"This is the Algata Province of the body politic of Uther."

"How magnanimous is Uther ? How much of the continent does it submit up ?"

Tin bowed her oral sex."Please forgive my ignorance. I do not know the size of this country, nor what a ‘ continent'is."The way she had reacted, was she expecting him to punish her ?

Her answer was to be expected, though. A slave educated in geography would be an unusual uncovering. It would be honest if he could get his hands on a right map, though in this era, that was probably a lot to ask for. In a humanity with magic and giant, there was no telling what the planet's topography looked like, even the arrangement of the continents. He had traveled previous Earths legion time, but much of his experience was now obsolete.

"Relax, I'm not going to hit you for not knowing something. Just hold answering my questions as best as you can. Uther, is it a plentiful country ?"

"I… don't know for sure. Perhaps there is wealth in the capital, but this is the countryside."

"Does it operate under a monarchy ? Or do they elect their leadership ?"She looked at him like he had spoken in gibberish."Does it take in a king or queen ?"

"Oh, yes, sir. There is a purple family, but I don't know anything about them."

"What do they use for currency ?"

"metal coins, like atomic number 47 and gold."

Noah retrieved one of the snakeskin coin handbag and emptied it out onto the bum between them. It was about a XII bronze coins and a few silvers. The early two could be expected to carry a similar amount.

"How much would you say this is ? Would you say it is a bombastic amount of money or not lots ?"

She looked at the coins with her glum formula."I don't know. I've never handled money before."She picked up one of the silver coins and showed it to Noah."This is what I'm worth."

‘ Well, that's a depress thought.'“ What time of year is it currently ?"

"Mid spring."

That was beneficial for Noah. In ordering to get a foothold in this new cosmos, he'd need ample metre with the prospect of survival at its in high spirits. Winter would strangle his mobility, possible actions, and make lifespan a lot harder. Had he appeared in this world a few calendar month earlier, he could easily freeze to death before reaching civilization.

"You spoke before of monsters. What should I be cautious of in this timberland ?"

"The biggest risk is the wolves. They travel in packs and vote out whatever they see. There are also bears, large spider that hide in burrow, and goblins."

Giant spider and hobgoblin ? This humankind was getting more than fantastical by the second.

"Tell me about the goblins."

"They are pocket-size, only about the size of children, and maybe as smarting. They have weapons and often still-hunt travelers."

"The old man, what was that technique he used ? I've never seen anyone do that before."

"That was magic."

‘ idea so.'“ Tell me everything you know about magic."

"It is the boon of the God, letting mass call down divine retribution upon their enemies. It can create fire, control piddle, make you solid, and do all kind of things. There many different sort of wizard substance abuser. I've heard of some of them ; mages, champion, warriors, shamans, but I don't know much about what they can do."

"What kind was the old man ?"

"A mage, I think."

"So can anyone use it ? Or is it passed down through the bloodline ?"

"I don't know."

That was a trouble. If it was an ability passed down from parent to child, then he was screwed. His glitchy renascence left him with the veritable genes of his finale parents. If magical wasn't something he could memorise or acquire, life would get exponentially harder. Then there was the mentioning of god. He had spent several lifetimes searching for house of the existence of God, some presence of divinity that might explain his existence, but he always came up shortstop. However, in a universe where conjuring trick existed, perhaps gods might as well.

As they continued through the woods, Noah thought about the slaves walking behind the Plough. Letting them go might be a liability. They knew he had killed three hard worker traders, they knew where he would set up camp. The hard worker trader mistook him for the son of a noble, so if the slaves went into some Town and started blabbing about him and what he had done, people might amount after him. Perhaps it would be unspoiled to put away of all of them ? No, the chances of him managing to kill them all would be low and that would be a lot of clay to deal with, not to observe he didn't know if killing them would get him into difficulty.

‘ To think my indolence would recompense for my withered conscience…'

They were passing by a hill with trees blocking much of the vista, but all of the horses flicked their pinna to it. Noah didn't miss that tick and reached into the wagon. When searching earlier, he found a bow and a few arrows, none of which seemed very well made. He took aim up the hill, spotting a phantasm moving between the James Jerome Hill. It had been a hanker prison term since he had net used a bow. It was one of his hobbies about four or five lifetimes ago. This was aught like the Bodoni bows he was used to handling, but when he let the arrow slip justify, it shot between the Tree and found its mark. Noah didn't see what he hit, but there was a shriek of pain in the neck that he did not recognize and the sound of multiple entities running off.

"What was that ?"Tin asked.

"I assume that was one of those hob you mentioned."This was getting severe."You stay here,"he told Tin. He brought the estate car to a stop and went back with his tongue and the key. He cut the slaves'binds and unlocked their collars."You're all unloosen to go, get out of here. But don't even think of trying to follow—"

They ran off before he could eat up his sentence. Good, that would build him less of a sitting duck, and they'd draw the aid of anything that might want a piece of him. He returned to the driver's seat and turned to Tin, holding up one of the coin purses.

"Get me to that rubber speckle and this is yours."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The forest thinned a lit, the trees spreading out far enough for the wagon to go off the road and capitulum towards the sound of running water supply. They arrived at a clarification where a low waterfall thumped on disclose rock'n'roll. It was isolated, just the stead Noah needed. There was even a cave behind the waterfall where he could fix camp. However, they were not the only inhabitants.

"Tin, what the hell is that ?"he asked, looking at the brute sliding across the reason. At initiative, he thought it was hulk type slug, the beast about the size of it of a beer keg, but he then realized it was translucent. There were four of them.

"That is a gunk. They like damp places. Their bottom are like giant mouths, devouring whatever they crawl over. Their bodies are covered with a fragile skin, and if you tear it, its insides pour out and change the shape of its body."

"Are they dangerous ?"

"Yes. Anything that their underside touch will unthaw, Saame with anything you stab them with. The bigger they are, the faster it happens, and the faster they can move."

"How do I stamp out them ?"

"You have to hit their brains."

The slimes hadn't noticed them yet, so Noah took aim with the bow at the nearest one. It was hard telling the battlefront from the back of these things, but he spotted something floating inside, suspended, an apple-sized lump of substantial tissue paper. He released the bolt, missing the creature's wit by several inches. It rumbled in annoyance and its gelatinous insides spilled out of the wound like a runny nose. Upon contact lens with the air, the viscera began to congeal and develop a layer of skin. It formed an prolongation of itself, like a s keister, now searching for what had injured it.

‘ So, that's what she meant when she said it changed the shape of its body.'

Already, the arrow was halfway dissolved. That thing was like a giant moving stomach. He would make preferred to adopt charge of these monsters from a distance, but he didn't have enough arrow to throw away. It would also get glum soon, and he didn't want to try and look for another spot.

He turned to Tin and cut her binds, then handed her one of the coin purses."You're unloose. Go wherever and do whatever you want. But don't even think of taking anything from the wagon."

He got up from the wagon and approached the waterfall with one of the slave traders'swords in his hand. It was the worst of the two, utilitarian at least for experimentation. He approached the slime, already back to fully health after being shot with the pointer. It didn't appear to have very skillful imaginativeness, didn't even appear to have eyes. He picked up a pit from the creek and threw it, sending it bouncing a few metrical foot away. It pounced on the sway with surprise speed, smothering it with its trunk and absorbing it. So, these matter could chute. If it could see, it was probably short-ranged, based on campaign, or more probable it could sense vibrations in the footing.

He took another sway and threw it at the slime, this time hitting it. The rock ripped through its fragile skin and its moxie spilled out. The snow stunned it just long enough for Noah to sprint over and cleave through its head. As quickly as he attacked, he darted back. He had learned through numerous affair to always expect an enemy to get back up. Plus, he wanted to avoid getting sprayed with any guts.

Despite his concern, it was a clean kill. The monster, originally a nauseating yellow, turned grizzly, and its display inside began to smoke and dissolve. Unfortunately, hummer was also coming from his blade. This really was a nasty acid. Noah wiped the leaf blade off on the pasturage and then rinsed it in the river to cleanse it. It had undergone severe corrosion. Hopefully it would last until he killed them all.

One thing made him happy, though. When he killed the guck, numbers didn't appear in the air, displaying experience stage earned. He started having headache as soon as that firstly fireball was launched at him, and when Tin said it was a ooze ; he thought he had been reincarnated into some sort of RPG world. If at any point, she used the word ‘ layer ’, he would take permanently lost the power to keep a straightaway nerve and involve anything seriously.

Anyway, back to killing.

He repeated his strategy with the other three slimes. A clenched fist size tilt thrown with sufficient speeding and accuracy could pierce the teras and stun them long enough to cede a fatal strike. After the tierce goop, his sword broke in half, the end completely melting off. There was one slime leftfield, but it would be tricky. It was slithering around behind the waterfall, unaware of what had happened to the others. The vibrations of the water would probably disguise Noah's movements, but he didn't want to read the chance.

He crept behind the waterfall and threw another stone, striking the slime near the brain. Its torso curled up like a bullet sprinkled with Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, and Noah rushed over. This time, he thrust the break in blade straight person in. He managed to stab the mental capacity, but the sword slipped right into its organic structure. Noah pulled away before his inertia could send his hand plunging into the acidic muck, but several drops splashed him and he could experience his skin dissolving. He thrust his manus into the waterfall and steadied his external respiration as the pain faded. That was too snug for consolation. He'd have to come up with another way to block those things if he encountered them again.

The area had been secured, now to set up camp. He stepped out from behind the falls, and to his surprise, he saw Tin standing by the black Maria, as if waiting for him.

"What are you still doing here ? I told you, you're free."

"I… don't know what that means. I don't cognize how to be free."

"I gave you money. take aim it to the nearest townspeople and buy yourself something to eat and some new apparel. wait for anyone who will hire you, hopefully offering elbow room and display board in commutation. From there, start your new life."

"Is that an order ?"

"No, it's advice. You don't have to select order of magnitude from me, I'm not your master. I hired you to be my pathfinder, you got your money, and our contract is terminated. Now we section ways."She continued to fend there, looking like a pup in the rain."You can have got one of the buck. You'll be capable to get to town faster and outrun pursuers."

"So you want me to organize for your arrival into town ?"

This little girl was starting to get on his nerves."You're not listening. You don't have to do anything for me. You're your own individual now."

"But I'm not. I'm yours."She was almost whimpering now. Time for some street fighter dear.

Noah retrieved his bow and an arrow and took aim at her."Leave now, or I'll putting to death you and use your corpse for bait to get my dinner."

There was a gleaming in her eyes."If I can be useful as a corpse, I'll do that. Please, use me as bait."

Noah sighed and lowered the bow. Were he a harsher man, that wouldn't have been a bluff. This girl was needier than he would have liked, but her obsequiousness made her more trustworthy than anyone he could wait to find in this world. Maybe it would be unspoilt to throw an extra span of manpower to help him, at least until he got out of this timberland. Besides, it wasn't like this was the first time he had owned a slave. There were many darkness timelines when he followed the rule of ‘ when in Roma, do as the Romans.'

"Fine, I'll be your skipper. What skills do you have ?"

"I can count to one hundred, I can write some, and I can tend to livestock and work field of force, as well as perform household job. I am also very experienced in pleasing men, so I can service you whenever you desire."She bowed her straits as she spoke, not seeing Noah raise his eyebrows at her go sentence.

Depressing as her Bible were, he wasn't one to turn down an pass for sex from someone so willing. On the other helping hand, goose egg about her current coming into court stoked his libido. He was standing twenty understructure away and could smack her like it was twenty in. Sitting adjacent to her in the beach wagon had been very unpleasant. Just letting her bathe in the river wouldn't get the job done.

"Let's get camp set up and then we'll talk. You said you can tend to livestock, correct ? Then I'll leave the horse cavalry to you. Get them watered and fed and then remove these dead gook. I imagine they've lost their acidity in death."

Tin obediently went to work while Noah gathered all of the mountain chain and leash that had been used to top the slaves. There was also tidy sum of rope in case any of their binds broke during tape drive. Noah snapped the collars off the chains and used them as hammers to break the weaker radio link and split the chains into multiple scant segments. He split the Mexican valium into dilutant chain and set up a perimeter around the encampment, then hung the taking into custody and chains on it like Christmas ornament. Any trespasser that tried to move into would hit the tripwire and the jingling range of mountains and collars would consecrate them away. And in case they were set off by the wind, the horses would be the second gear subscriber line of detecting. If they started acting up, then a threat was nearby.

"I'm going to go collect some firewood. If any monsters approach, just holla for me and yeet some crap at them. The odor will drive them off."He then stopped and chuckled to himself. That's right, he no longer needed to use Modern slang.

Tin seemed to gist of what he was saying."Yes, master copy,"she said with a bow.

Noah set out into the woods with his lonesome brand and a satchel the old man had been carrying. He didn't want to wander far from inner circle, but he had to check out the area and make sure there weren't any close at hand dangers. One affair he was especially cautious of were the giant spider that Tin had mentioned. She said they hid in tunnel, so he kept a close eye on his foothold, avoiding any suspect areas that could be a possible ambuscade. Webbing on the primer coat was a telltale sign, test copy that he wasn't the only one using tripwires to detect enemies.

The first matter he did was gather pine tree boughs from around the internet site, accumulating a large pile that they would use for bedding and making frequent stumble back to the camp. Then he gathered all of the firewood he could carry, but focused only on specific trees. This world was very different to the one he was used to, but most of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree appeared to be the same. He also filled his pockets and the satchel with medicinal works and even some pabulum mushroom cloud. In every life, her erudite and relearned endurance skills to preserve the data branded into his head, so even if had forgotten their figure, he still recognized herbaceous plant that could be utilitarian. As he moved, he had a secure touch sensation that he was being watched, and he knew what was watching him, especially when he found one of their beat.

It was one of the Hugo Wolf Tin had mentioned, larger than any he had ever seen. His nose led him to it, the wolf reeking of decease and rot. The meat was well beyond eating and its fur and bones weren't worth the movement to harvest, especially with all the maggots and fly, but there was something that he could definitely make use of.

The sun was starting to set by the time he was done, but there was still plentifulness he wanted to do. Luckily, dinner party was already taken care of. The striver traders had packed enough food for themselves and their payload. It was severely bread and dry pith, something that Noah's spoiled taste buds would not appreciate, but he'd seen enough severely times to know how to be grateful.

Before doing anything else, he removed his hoodie and t-shirt. He had kept them on as an tote up layer of protection in lawsuit anything attacked him, but the blood had hardened into a punishing crust and he was glad to be capable to finally take them off. Had he known he would reincarnate like this, he would throw gone home base and just hung himself, preferably with his pockets stuffed with utilitarian prick. He laid out his shirt and hoodie under the waterfall, directing the nebulizer right onto the lineage stains. He pinned them down with stones so that they wouldn't be washed away.

He noticed Tin watching him like a curious feline. She had never seen musculus like his before. To survive in the countryside, men required heavy posture to farm and fight and muscle masses naturally accumulated. Noah's appeared more defined, like he had focused on improving the timbre of his muscles instead of just chasing after the vague definition of strength.

"Tin, deal off your clothes."

"I shall do my best to meet you, Master."

"Not like that. Put that dress of yours here under the waterfall. Do the same with all the wearing apparel you removed from those buckle down bargainer. It may be low-quality, but whether we use them or sell them, it would be best if we can at least take away the stink."

Tin removed her dress, though it was more like a raggedy potato paper bag with holes cut for her fountainhead and arms and a strip of textile for a rap. She was malnourished and scrawny, but he just had to fine-tune her up a little.

With the last of the light, he searched the river for stones. He'd test their hardness, striking them against the back of his sword. Once he started getting sparks, he returned to the riverbank and gathered up some tinder. He ground some dry birch rod barque into a fine dust and struck the rock against his blade over it. It took several attempts, but some Muriel Spark landed in the dust and it went up like petrol. From there, he built up a fire on the riverbank with all of the birch rod forest he had gathered. By the Inner Light of the flames, he started digging a cakehole using his brand and a metal skillet he found in the wagon.

"passe-partout, please allow me to do that instead,"Tin said.

"No, what I need you to do is start collecting clay from the river. If you dig under the silt, you'll find it. Make a big tidy sum of it here next to me."

The two of them continued to ferment, with Noah expanding the pit and Tin gathering the clay. Once he was done, he smoothed out the English of the pit and then began slathering on the corpse that Tin had gathered. He used the leftover clay to construct some cupful and bowls and put them in the fire to bake. He built a back fire, this metre putting it in the pit. It was with a lenient wood. He didn't even need to see Tin's face to smell out the oddment within her.

"I'm making a wash catchment basin. No offense, but you stink. But for now, let's eat."

With two fire burning, Noah and Tin dined on low-quality rations. There wasn't any conversation between them. Once he finished eating, Noah reached into his satchel and took out what looked like a giant shit clod. In reality, it was a lump of fleshly fat. He had gathered it from the carcass of the dead wolf, rolled it into a Lucille Ball, and packed it with a shell of dirt to keep it from making a mess when he carried it. It cleaned it off and put it in the metal frypan, then set it over the fire.

"Now, while that melts, let me see your teeth."It was a postulation that Tin wasn't used to earshot, but she obeyed, flashing her tooth like a snarling beast."Huh, not too bad."

Despite her poor lifestyle, her teeth were in good experimental condition. She grew up in a world without processed food for thought, dough, or chemicals, so despite never brushing, there was no rot that he could see. Her breathing time was pretty bad, but that was because she lacked the construct of flossing.

Noah walked over to one of the horses hitched to a tree, nibbling on the big money of grass that Tin had gathered for it. He cut a whorl of its hanker hair, washed it in the river, and returned to the campfire, where he braided several chain into a potent thread. He made a endorse and turned to Tin.

"return this thread and do as I do."He used the train of thought to floss his teeth, something which Tin had never seen before. The thread was thick and coarse and broke a few times, but it got the job done, and he showed her the pieces of meat from their dinner that he had gotten out.

She mirrored the action to the best of her abilities, and while she did that, he looked at the skillet, now with a puddle of melted fat. He gathered some white ashes from the flack and mixed it in, as well as some water.

"Now I'm going to prove you how to make soap."final, he added a handful of ground-up pine needle and started stirring the mixture together.

"Soap ?"

"You've never heard of it ?"

"I heard that the noble use it. It makes them smell nice."

"It's been a farseeing metre since I did this. If I had metre and proper tools, I could make something of a much higher quality, but this should get the job done."He set the skillet back on the fire so that the urine could be boiled away."Have you gotten every tooth ?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then take a mouthful of this."From side by side to the fire, there was also a cup made, of all affair, tin. It was full of water supply brought to a simmer, with priming coat charcoal and pine needles mixed in. He let it cool and then handed it to her."You said you could reckon, right ? Well swirl this around your mouth and start out enumeration. Once you reach one hundred, swallow it."

She took a mouthful and handed it back to him so he could finish it off. With that taken tending of, Noah took the skillet off the flak and examined his scoop. It certainly would never sell in a market store, but it would get the job done tonight. Next, he turned his care to the wash river basin and the shrivel up fire. The corpse packed onto the slope of the pit had hardened and could now retain water.

Noah carved the soap off the skillet and handed it to Tin."Here, use this to shovel as much charcoal and ash out of the basin as you can, then clean it in the river and use it to fill the river basin with water."

As Tin went to work, Noah started on his own labor. Like her, he went to river, but started collecting Oliver Stone. He'd bring them back and put them in the campfire to heat up. By the time Tin had finished with her task, the rocks were all sufficiently hot, and using spliff to do by them, he moved them into the basin until it had reached the perfect bath temperature. It was still ashy from the ardor, but that wasn't a problem.

The reason why he had used different blast for the basin and soap was because of one of the resulting chemicals, lye. Despite being a caustic substance, it was required for making soap. It was collected from the ash of hardwood, like birch. He had used a softer Ellen Price Wood in the fire to harden the slope of the drainage area so any leftover ash tree wouldn't turn the body of water too alkaline.

"All right, now to test it."

Noah stripped down to couple Tin and grabbed a piece of music of material from the wagon to use as a washcloth. He got it wet in the basin, rubbed some of the soap on it, and, satisfied with how it lathered, started wiping off the swither that had accumulated since his reaching to this world.

Tin held a piece of soap in her hand, staring at it with wide oculus."It smells… sweet !"

She mimicked Noah, using a makeshift washcloth and the soap to scrub herself raw. She was frantic, leaving no spot untouched. The two of them cleansed their peel, lathering themselves up and then rinsing in the river to keep the bathtub water clean. With the soil removed, much was revealed to Noah. Neither of them said anything about the countless scrape, bruises, and brand name that covered Tin's body. Finally, he had her lie on her back and lowered her head into the basin, then scrubbed her whisker with the liquid ecstasy until the bathwater turned as calamitous as ink. She sat up and telephone the piddle out of her tomentum as he stood up and stretched.

"Huh, so you're a blond. I honestly couldn't tell your cancel gloss. You were so dirty that I wasn't sure if the curtain matched the carpet."She didn't say anything back, just crouched by the basin, holding herself. time lag, she was trembling."Tin ?"

She looked up at him, and though her font was wet from the tub, he could clearly see her bust."I… I've never smelled this clean before !"

He rubbed the top of her head."I'm glad."

She reached up and grasped his hand, desperation in her middle."skipper, can I please service you now ?"

A small jape escaped Noah."My, my, what a prehensile little striver you are."

He leaned down, lifted her Kuki, and left a diffused buss upon her mouth. She shivered from that touch, gentler than any early in her animation. She took the initiative, kissing him in homecoming while her glossa slipped into his mouth. As they swapped spit, she reached out and began caressing his manhood, erect and throbbing. She had been eyeing it since the import he stripped down, her mind buzzing with all of the style she would delight him.

When Noah finally pulled his brim from hers, she knew what he wanted and was eager to bring home the bacon it. She leaned in, his cock disappearing into her sass, only to reappear with a glistening layer of spit. Tin wasn't shy in the least, she put all of her skills to work. She deepthroated him to make herself gag and salivate, then would use her hands to run the shaft while she slurped on his headspring like a lollipop. Despite her joy at being so fresh just a min ago, she was certainly making a spate, her brass covered in spitting with big foamy drops dribbling onto her breasts.

Noah rested his manus on her head and groaned."I'm glad I decided to keep open you."

She released his cock, gasping for air with her centre wide-cut of joy."Am I doing good ?"

"You're magnificent, Tin."

She went back at it, this meter with a different target in intellect. While she jacked him off, she sucked vehemently on his gem, rolling them around in her mouth and balancing them on her glossa. She switched between her technique with masterful skill, giving Noah no fourth dimension to brace himself. He didn't even need tell her when he was going to cum, she could severalise just by his breathing and the way his heftiness twitched. She swallowed his manhood like a voracious beast, her face pressed to his abdomen as he swirled around inside her throat.

Several thick squirt were pumped directly into her stomach, a salty dessert after her repast. Tin fell back, once again gasping for air."Master,"she panted,"please don't delay back. Use my body however you wish."

"You've done well in pleasing me, but has anyone ever took the clock time to give you pleasure ?"

He sat down cross-legged and pulled her across his lap like he was going to larrup her. He held her by the throat, just a gentle clench to celebrate her still, while he free mitt slipped between her legs and reached her honeypot.

"You're so wet. To think you took so much joy in your work."

Born and raised a slave, she had been abused and violated in all ways imaginable. She thought she had grown numb to it, but the feeling of Noah's fingers touching her most common soldier, sensitive area, they made her shiver and gasp. There was strength in his fingers, but his movements weren't rough or clumsy. Rather, she sensed that his experience surpassed her own.

His fingers penetrated her, making her groan in a way she thought she never again could. His approach was relentless, probing every sensitive maculation like an assassin striking her pressure points. She was a slender girl, eubstance fat being a opulence for a slave, but her flesh rippled from the vibrations drumming from her ass. She could experience the weightiness of her breasts with every movement, and the phone he was making, the sounds he was forcing her body to make, the squelching of soft, wet flesh, it was like she was experiencing this all for the maiden time.

The pleasure was beyond Holy Writ, she wanted it to go on forever, but her physical structure wouldn't obey her commands. Her musculus spasmed without pause like she was being tickled. She inadvertently tried to pull away, her body wanting to protect itself from these maven it couldn't contain, but Noah's grip on her throat remained firm. This position, what he was doing to her, it was so strange. She felt almost like an creature, like livestock, and Noah was the farmer, preparing her for breeding with some strange husbandry proficiency. Ironically, that wasn't far from the truth.

She cried out, climaxes rushing through her like a flash floodlight, but Noah didn't stop, even as she became limp. He continued mercilessly finger-blasting her, while his other paw released her throat and he forced his fingers into her oral cavity. She sucked on them like they had a honey glaze. They were her lifeline, all that was keeping her conscious. The movements of her tongue and lips, the palpitation of her throat as she slurped up the flavor of his fingertips ; if she didn't work with all her might, the almost cruel assault of orgasms would rob her of all view and crush her mind.

Only when her groan finally stopped did Noah let her experience peace. He laid her on her back and leaned over her. The lewd, exhausted smell on her aspect, the way she panted with flushed cheeks and swimming eyes, it was an verbal expression he always loved to see.

"You said I could do whatever I wanted with your soundbox, right ? Are you going to tell me that you can't prevent up with your lord ? That you lied and you can't fulfill my desires ?"

She reached out to him, her cheeseparing arms coiling around his neck to pull him in."Master, remove me,"she begged.

By the light of the campfire, he penetrated her, just as numerous men had done before, but none of them made Tin smell like this. His mouth joined hers, a passionate but aristocratical kiss, while in comparing, his thrusts, so dissolute and emphatic, made her cry out to the wizard overhead.

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Civilization

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The rising sun shining in his heart awoke Noah from his nap. It was not a mystifying eternal rest, due to his current circumstances, but he at to the lowest degree felt rested. It was his first dawn in this new earthly concern. He and Tin were lying on a pile of pine boughs, keeping them off the ground and insulated, and wrapped in the canvas police van back, which they were using as both a tarpaulin and a mantle. The freed slave was snuggled up tightly against him, both for warmth, and out of affection. The full term"freed slave"fit her ironically, as Noah had given her freedom, but she chose to remain his slave anyway.

As he started moving around, she slowly stirred."Master ?"she murmured.

"clip to get up, we have work to do."

It was a chilly morning, so the first thing Noah did was build up a fire while Tin collected their clothes from the falls. They had been set under the spray to be washed, and after a nighttime under the pounding water, they were clean as could be reasonably expected. They were hung up to dry around the fire, while Noah and Tin had breakfast. hold up night, Noah had made some cupful and bowls using the clay that Tin gathered and left them in the fire to bake overnight. Now, he was using them to churn water and pretend pine needle tea.

"What do you require to do, captain ? I can lead you to townsfolk if you like."

"How long would it lead to get there ?"

"Another two or three days."

Noah weighed his choice. This wasn't an optimal billet."No, we'll arrest here for another day. We have a defendable emplacement here, but if we return to the road, we'll be like sitting duck's egg. While I have faith in my fighting abilities, I can't defend myself, you, and the horses. Let's try to improve our luck before we set out."

"What should we do ?"

"Yesterday, while I was looking for rock music in the dark, I think I might have seen some gunk moving about. They're usually small, right ? Not big like the ones I killed yesterday ?"

Tin nodded."They're usually the size of it of rats."

"Perfect. First, what we're going to do is make a lot of lye."

"What's lye ?"

"It's the stuff and nonsense in ash that I used to make that easy lay last night. It's a very nasty chemical. I'm going to start gathering Mrs. Henry Wood. I want you to bail out the bathwater from the basin and fill again it. rainfall water would be ripe, but river water will have to do. Then take the stones and put them back in the fire. You remember what to do if something tone-beginning ?"

"Throw horse muck and roar for you ?"

"Right."

Noah departed, heading back into the timberland. Just like the day before, he was gathering hardwood from birch, oak, and maple trees. He moved cautiously, hearing movement all around him. He also returned to certain arena he had visited before, with target on his creative thinker. He came across a berth he had just yesterday done his just to avoid. There was spider silk on the earth, and nearby, an obvious trapdoor. Noah put a expectant spliff on his foot and readied his bow, taking aim. He kicked the spliff over by the trapdoor, and instantly a spider burst out to sequester what it thought was its repast. The thing was immense, almost five invertebrate foot in diameter.

Noah released his arrow, striking one of its eyes and leaving it screeching in pain. Before it could duck back into its pickle, he shot another pointer, this one drilling through its skull and ending its life. While it was still fresh, Noah rushed over, pulled out the second arrow, and force his fingers into the hole. He stirred his finger's breadth around in the spider's brain, causing its leg, now curled up into a clenched fist, to start spasming. While not familiar spirit with spider anatomy specifically, he was tickling what he hoped to be the cerebellum.

"Come on, where are you… Ah !"He found the magic billet, as the completely eubstance convulsed and the abdomen started expelling silk at a frantic rate, like he was squeezing a tube-shaped structure of toothpaste. Het got to his metrical foot and dragged the spider with him, laying out the silk so that it wouldn't peg to itself. He had come up with this idea on a whimsy and was overjoyed to see it put to work. When flow of silk stopped, he removed his fingers."That's right hand, gentlewoman, I am just that good."

He then began rubbing turd into the silk like he had with the animal fat he had collected the previous day, something to keep it from sticking to anything. It was good thick line, and strong as well. Next, he started gathering up the senior, diluent webbing it had used for its den. It was already dried out and had lost much of its stickiness, so it was ready to be collected.

He returned to the refugee camp, carrying the spider with him as well. He was sure he could think up something to do with his corpse, maybe use it like a straw man to ward off hobgoblin or something. When he arrived, Tin had completed her job and stared in amazement at the suddenly spider.

Noah walked over to the station wagon and pulled out a small wooden barrel. It had originally been filled with salt, which the slave traders used to save their food, but now there wasn't much left. What remained, Noah poured into some of his clay jars. He then hung the spider to drain its blood into the bbl. There wasn't much, and it had begun to congeal immediately after death, but that just made it glutinous like syrup. He swirled it around the inside of the barrel, covering every inch, and then filled it up halfway with some of the used ashes from the birch fires yesterday. He didn't touch the ash tree with his script, and upon closing the barrel, he shook it up. Once completed, the interior of the barrel was coated with thick layer of ash.

Putting it aside, Noah began moving hot Oliver Stone from the fervency and putting them into the washbasin, bringing the piss to a boil. Then, he started shoveling birch rod ashes until it filled up half the basin. For the adjacent half minute, Noah would swap out stones, making indisputable the water was always boiling. Soon a film began to settle on top of the water. It was melted lye, rising from the ash. Noah harvested it from the airfoil, measured not to touch it, and put it in the skillet on the flaming to boil away the moisture.

"Ok, I'm going to go back and get more firewood. I want you to continue swapping out the Edward Durell Stone so that the pee stays boiling hot, and as the lye gather on the surface, skim it and put it in the skillet. Whatever you do, do not let it tint you. The waterfall and the river are keeping the air moving in one direction. You want to appease upwind so that you don't breathe in any of the fumes. You got that ?"

"Yes, Master."

And that was how they spent the entire morning and much of the afternoon. They kept burning birch wood, and once the washbowl stopped producing lye, they would swap in fresh ash and resume harvesting. Between collecting firewood and tending to the flame, Noah created more pottery with the river Henry Clay and baked it in the flak. The frying pan was routinely filled with the lye potpourri, and once the water evaporated away, Noah would scrape the lye into one of his clay jarful. It was the midsection of the afternoon when he declared that they had collected enough.

"Now to prove it."With his knife, he collected a minor blow and put it on his arm. He could find it burning his peel like an aching burn. Had he taken his time with this, it would have been burning a crater into his skin, but in this instance, quantity was better than quality.

"Yeah, this will work on well. You did good,"he said, rubbing the top of Tin's head.

"Thank you, Master,"she replied with what he assumed to be a rare smile.

"Let's eat some lunch and then move on to the next step."

They moved away from the fire, sick of its heat, and ate by the waterfall. While chewing on ruffian jerky, Noah studied the horses. They weren't tied to any tree, at least not now, and were wandering around the campsite, nibbling on whatever they liked. The tripper wire was doing a good job of keeping them close, but they would probably run out of food for thought by tomorrow. They'd have to move on by then.

"captain, if my may ask, how do you make out how to do these things ? I've never seen anyone fight like you do, at least not someone your age, and you have the accomplishment of an alchemist. What kind of preparation have you done ?"

"An alchemist ? I kind of like the sound of that. Let's just say that I have a lot of life experience. I've lived through unspoilt sentence and bad. Anyway, we should move on to the next stage. I'm going to go along the river and catch small slimes. I want you to find the remains of the big gook I killed yesterday and try to collect their skin."

Tin was obedient, not voicing any of her dubiety and instead setting off to do as her sea captain ordered. Noah retrieved the cask he had tinkered with sooner and filled it with water, then began walking through the river, searching the banks. It was only up to his genu, and there were plenty of large Boulder for gunk to hide by. On his hands, he wore some jolty leather baseball glove that one of the slave trader had been wearing. The slimes he found were usually about the size of it of his fist, and with great care, he'd pick them up and put them in the barrel.

The water in the barrel, thanks to the ash, had a raised pH horizontal surface. The goo were acidic, but their pH spirit level wasn't very low. The alkalinity of the water system and the ashes kept them from melting through the slope of the cask. He also tossed in some solid food to hold open them from starving. Hopefully they'd still be capable to digest it. If they were all still alive by the next morning, his plan was a success.

When he returned to the camp, Tin had gathered up the peel of the numb slimes from the day before.

"I'm sorry, original, but the tegument are too fragile for any kind of use."Noah put down the barrel and examined the shed skin. It was crinkly and subdued, a far cry from any kind of leather, more like a snake's shed skin.

"No, they're perfect, just what I wanted."He handed her one of the daggers the striver trader had carried."Here, start carving them up into second power, about as long as your hand. You know how big, aright ?"

She nodded and went to turn. While she did that, Noah collected more long hair from the horses. He took the squares that Tin cut up and used them to roll up modest piles of lye, then tied them shut with the horse cavalry hair. The slime pelt, despite its breakability, still maintained many of its characteristics. ooze were like living acid, so they had to be able to see to it their pH level. Their skin not only stay fresh their guts in, it kept basic substances out, content like lye, making it thoroughgoing for holding it.

With their combined try, they were able to create just over thirty lye face pack, plus another twenty filled with alkalic ashes.

"Ok, let's run one of these out."Noah took one of the extra foursquare, filled it with ashes, tied it off, and threw it at a nearby boulder. The gunk skin held together while being handled and thrown, but upon striking a hard surface, it burst open and sprayed its subject in all focal point."perfective !"

"So we're going to throw these things ?"Tin asked.

"That's right. This lye isn't very firm, so it doesn't do much to shinny, but if it gets into your centre or you breathe it in, you'll go down. All we have to do is hit our opposition in the face and they won't stand a chance. Now, I know we're both bore, but we still have a few hours of daylight left. Let's work on a couple other shipway to better our situation, and tomorrow, we'll head for the nearest town."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

They departed the next morning at sunup, wanting to get an other offset. They were traveling at a faster tempo than before, mainly because there were no longer slave in tow. The two sawbuck the dealer had ridden were no longer walking alongside the wagon, but were now helping to commit it. With the spider silk Noah had collected and woods from the forest, he managed to create extra harnesses so that they were leading. The horses moved in a steady trot, nothing compared to the railway car from Noah's premature lives, but fast enough to possibly outrun an untrained man.

For Noah, this was a scene he was intimate in. He had fought in numerous wars and seen innumerable post-apocalyptic humankind, living through one lawless hellscape after another. He was intimate with the want to grow eyes in the back of his heading, to expect foe at all times.

"Master !"Tin exclaimed.

"Yeah, I see them."

Swarming from the English were a battalion of savage, each one almost as vauntingly as the Equus caballus pulling the Charles's Wain, but Noah had planned for this. He handed the reins to Tin who whipped the horses into a full gallop. He took out his bow and began launching arrows. nigh of these pointer, he had made himself. He had to rush them, so they weren't his best study, but they got the job done for short-range encounters.

The wolves dodged the arrows as they charged, but it managed to spook them into moving around back to attack from the tooshie. Noah climbed into the estate car and stared them down through the open back. Changing their attack angle had momentarily slowed them down, but they'd enchant up in seconds and flank them. Noah tossed a bundle of branches and greens out of the rear of the wagon, but they were more than they appeared. It was actually a net with thorny bushes and bristles woven in. The net was dragged behind the wagon, and the wolves that stepped on it cried out as their paws were spiked with sharp seminal fluid pods. Those who were injured gave up the chase, while the ease of the camp learned and split up to deflect the net.

Before they could provide his view, Noah opened up the barrel of slimes and began throwing them. Even if the small animal didn't make a direct hit, they exploded like water balloons. The acid splashed on the wildcat, who instinctively knew that slimes were to be avoided. The large number realized that this quarry wasn't worth all of the hassle and gave up. One threat had been neutralized, giving them sentence to breathe, but it didn't end there.

Bears and early forest beasts would pop up every now and then and need to be dispatched by arrows. The tiny deadbolt couldn't do much damage, but the pain would micturate the creature reevaluate whether or not to stay attacking. Any monsters he managed to down, he would harvest for parts. With Tin controlling the horses, he would make in the Charles's Wain, removing skin, teeth, organs, and anything that looked valuable or utilitarian. Every now and then, they'd even discontinue so that he could collect medicative plant life and mushrooms. But the more he fought, the more Noah realized how unprepared his body was for all this. He was healthy and strong, and had lifetimes of combat experience, but his hands hadn't built up a bed of callosity that a aborigine of these lands would throw. Every time he gripped his sword, he could feel blisters forming on his palm.

Then, in the afternoon, the next challenge revealed itself. In the space, a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree lay across the road. A passenger on horseback might be able to stand out it, but never a wagon like this. Whether or not it had fallen naturally, Noah knew who would use this opportunity.

"Tin, barricade the wagon."They came to stop a c one thousand from the tree."Turn the horses around. If I die, ride back the way we came. Stay at the waterfall until someone uses this road and then traveling with them."

"superior, are you sure about this ?"she asked with her basset hound eyes.

"I've handled worse."

He got off the wagon with his steel in helping hand, and on his arm, a shield made from the cuticle of the spider he had killed. He was wearing one of the slave traders'coats, the cheeseparing he could get to leather armour, and he also had his satchel, filled with lye packets. Rather than border on the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, he dove into the woodwind instrument. If there were any goblins in hiding, he'd flank them. As he approached the barrier, he spotted them, hiding behind the trees. They were the size of kid, but with sticking out venter and green cutis. Their ears and noses were pointed, their faces overall barely even humanoid. They were armed with swords and fore, likely stolen from slain traveler.

He closed in on the first one, his footsteps giving him away and causing it to screech in alert. Noah dispatched it with a swing music of his sword, overpowering its attempt to deflect and lopping off the top of its skull. The others, alarmed by the death of their comrade, turned their attending to Noah and attacked. They launched their arrow, albeit with deceptive aim, but it forced Noah to douse for cover. He pulled out one of his lye coterie, focused on a goblin with a bow, and threw it like a baseball. The small-scale inner circle nailed it between the eyes and exploded. The hobgoblin took an natural breath in, and then immediately screamed in suffering. Not only were its fistula and lungs filled with lye, but it had gotten into his eyes, leaving it blinded.

The way it shrieked was nothing less than unnerving. It was like a baby crying, it racked the judgment and made even Noah squeamish. The goblins, hearing those screech, became panic-struck. This was a cruel world, and living in the Ellen Price Wood, every day was a all-fired combat for survival. But none of them had suffered or seen somebody suffer a pulp combat injury and make that kind of noise.

Noah gave them no clock time to gather their courageousness. He dealt with the other hobgoblin archers the Sami way, leaving them howling in agony. With their long-range onset neutralized, he closed in. The remaining hobgoblin tried to put up a combat, but he slaughtered them with gruesome drudge and stabs. His spider carapace fractured whenever he blocked a golf shot, but it held together long enough to kill them all. These hobgoblin probably ambushed their prey, catching them by surprisal to make up for their weak bodies, but once they lost that advantage, they were easy to fling of.

He was closing in on the close one, slightly large than the others and armed with a club. It growled and made a wide baseball swing. Noah didn't try to block up and stepped back out of the monster's reach, then swung down his sword and cleaved the goblin's head open. To his discomfort, line splattered across his boldness and got into his eye. He rubbed it out until he could see, then nearly staggered, hit with a sudden fatigue.

"What the nooky ? That fight must have taken more out of me than I thought."He pushed through the sudden weight and returned to the road. It was exhausting piece of work, but he moved the tree diagram out of the way."Tin, come on through !"

The wagon approached and stopped where the tree had lain, but there was a expression of mental confusion on Tin's face."passkey, where are you ?"

"What are you talking about ? I'm right here."

Confusion turned to fear, Tin beginning to panic."Master, I can't see you anywhere !"

Noah couldn't understand. He was standing right in front of the horses. He walked over and grabbed her arm."Tin, I'm standing flop beside you."

touching her just made her yelp in surprise."I still can't see you ! What's going on ?"

That's what he would like to be intimate. Was something affecting her vision ? Maybe she had been hit with some kind of hobgoblin attack, or it was an illness, either a disease or some variety of toxicant from something in the forest.

"Tin, look around. How is your sight ?"

"It's fine, I can see everything clearly ! But I can't see you !"Was he the problem ? He could see himself just fine. beshrew it, his eye was still itching from the stock. He rubbed it with his palm and Tin gave another yip of surprise."Master, you're back !"

"I was here all this ti—"He stopped, noticing something. His fatigue was gone. It had disappeared just as suddenly as it showed up. The last meter he felt it was when he first woke up in this man. His eye… It had been itching as well. He rubbed left eye again, and Tin once again freaked out."Tin, can you see me ?"

"No, it's like you vanished into thin air !"

That fatigue duty, he was feeling it again. He stepped back and began kicking around foliage and shit."Can you see this ?"

"See what ?"

Well, that answered that question. For some reasonableness, the weariness seemed to change when he did that. He rubbed his eye again, and from the looking on Tin's typeface, she appeared to be capable to see him again."What happened to the road ?"she asked."It just suddenly changed when you reappeared."

Noah put his mitt over his eye again, not rubbing it, but just covering it. He repeated the experiment, making a mess of the road."Can you see any difference in the route ?"

"No."He covered his eye once more, and she nodded her chief."Yes, now I see."

"So when I disappear, you can't see what I do to the road, but when I reappear it suddenly changes, right ?"

"Yeah, sort of like flipping a page. Master… I think you're using magic !"

"legerdemain ? No, that doesn't make common sense. My parents were formula, I haven't even studied any kind of magic."

"That's the only thing it can be. But I've never heard of conjuring trick that could make up hoi polloi disappear like that."

"I'm not disappearing, I think I'm becoming invisible. It's… an illusion. I'm creating an thaumaturgy that makes me invisible… and when I alter something around me, it expands the illusion to hold in the change I've made until I release it."He covered his eye and felt the fatigue, then, covered it once more and it stopped."Covering my eye is the trigger that activates it."

He then remembered his last bit with Lindsey. He had covered his leftfield eye because the sun was blinding him, and he woke up in this world in that same position. His glitchy rebirth, it hadn't just preserved his eubstance at this age, it gave him some kind of magic. Maybe it was the magic itself that caused the error, the magic present in this new cosmos.

"Tin, do they have any sort of Book for the energy used for legerdemain ? I feel like something is draining out of me when I use it."

"They call it mana."

‘ You have got to be kidding me.'“ Let's see what happens when I cover my other eye."

The present moment he attempted it, he fell to his human knee, almost blacking out."passe-partout !"Tin exclaimed. She climbed down and helped him to his feet.

"So, you can see me. That means I didn't turn unseeable. But something clearly happened, or at to the lowest degree, tried to happen. I have a dissimilar spell in each eye, but not enough mana to use the indorse one. It must be like a muscle. I have to coach it to increase my staying power.

Anyway, let's get out of here before the sense of smell of those goblins attracts wolves."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

The next day, while Tin took town the tripwires set around their stopgap refugee camp, Noah was in use experimenting with his magic. He had come across a heavyweight wanderer, draining the blood from a capture rabbit. As he approached, Noah covered his eye and cast his illusion. His pes on the underwood, it should have given him away, but the spider didn't seem to notice. He decided to get more than noise, picking up a pin and snapping it, but still, the spider didn't seem to notice.

"Over here."

Finally, the wanderer spun around, its bootleg eye searching for the root of the haphazardness. It seemed that his head game also concealed phone, but not his voice. Maybe because he intended for his articulation to be heard ? He had been casting his spell on and off since he discovered it, to try and get a better flavour of his mana. He couldn't properly stress himself since he needed to pull through his strength for when he needed it, but he was starting to sense the period.

He drew his brand, a new one. After the fighting with the hob, he had taken their weapons, and despite being slightly rusty due to inadequate care, they were higher quality than the cheap panga that Noah had been using until now. He now carried a Medieval-style longsword, a suddenly sword, and his knife. He came up with arrangement with thoughts of ancient samurai, who carried a katana, a wakizashi, and a tanto dagger.

He reached out with his longsword and used it to rustle a nearby bush. The spider didn't see or hear anything. Noah could feel it, his mana flowing through his sword towards the Vannevar Bush, enveloping it in the illusion. He focused on the energy running through his arm and tried to decelerate the flow, to keep it from moving beyond his sword. It was exceedingly difficult, like trying to bend a muscularity he had never used before. It reminded of him of all the years he spent as a newborn, when his muscle tissue was just slightly baffling than gelatin. He tempered his breathing, driving out all misdirection from his mind, and soon, he could find the period of his mana, like he had grabbed a hold of it.

He pulled it back, leaving the sword enveloped, but this sentence, when he rustled the George H.W. Bush, the spider raised his movement peg and bared its fangs, believing an animal to be causing the upset. Noah slowly approached and tapped one of the wanderer's raised legs with his sword. It hissed in fierceness and swung at something it could not see. The illusion could halt strait from reaching his enemy, but it couldn't erase the mother wit of sense of touch, so he couldn't just turn invisible and pang someone without them feeling it.

There was something else he noticed. When he was invisible, he could sense the mana in others. Tin had very picayune, likely a star sign that she had no chemical attraction for conjuring trick, probably a cause why she ended up a slave. The ogre had even less, but not all of them. Lone wolves without ingroup and many wanderer, they seemed to be shrouded in mana. He didn't get the impression that they could use magic, more like it clung to them, like an olfactory sensation. What made them so special ?

This was just another question that Noah chalked up to something he'd learn later. For now, he should just extend utilizing his conjuring trick to its full potential. The wanderer had its safety raised, but couldn't sentiency the comportment of anyone or anything nearby, so it could do nothing to stop Noah from ending its aliveness. He harvested what he needed from the body and then returned to camp.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

It was a sweet relief to Noah and Tin when they finally left the forest. After two days of replicate lying in wait by predators and hobgoblin, the sea of tree diagram that flanked them on either position were replaced with heart-to-heart pastures, fields where farmers and their slaves were planting crops. The road became more uniform, receiving more sustainment due to the growth in traffic. In the length, they saw the town, Robert Clive, as Tin called it. It was surrounded by a log fence to keep the monsters out. It reminded him of the colonial village museum from his fifth-grade field misstep. The Creek from their waterfall camp joined into the river that flowed beside the town.

Guards in cheesy leather armor with a few metal home base were manning the gate, and they stopped Noah and Tin as they approached. One of them looked over the horses and the Big Dipper with a mistrustful eye.

"These belong to Garrow and his men. How did you add up by them ?"

"Were you close with Garrow ?"

"No."

Noah slipped the man a few bronze coins, while hoping that they were actually Charles Frederick Worth something that he wasn't trying to bribe him with pocket change."Then I suppose you're mistaken, right ?"

Seeming satisfied, the guard pocketed the money and then waved them in and Noah and Tin entered the townsfolk. For Noah, it was like he had traveled back in time to Medieval Europe. Peasants walked the muddy road, street vendors tried to trade their wares, and the air stank beyond all de***********ion. The buildings were brick and wood, only a few of them Sir Thomas More than two narration, with their windows using foggy glass.

"What do we do now ?"Tin asked.

"We're going to sell this wagon, everything in it, and the horses. That guard recognized them, so others may as well. Plus, I can protect a stack of coins meliorate than this load of pelts. We can just buy replacements if we need them."They rode past a beggar prevarication in the street and Noah brought the cavalry to a stop."You there, where can I find a artillery monger ?"

The bearded man pointed a quiver finger to the East. Noah didn't thank him, but tossed him a pig coin. They turned down one of the easterly streets and a sign caught Noah's eye. It had an anvil with two crossed swords in front of it like a crest. They stopped the wagon outside and Noah disembarked.

"Look after the police wagon. This stead is probably crawling with thief, so be wary."

She was armed with a sticker and he had faith in her competence. He stepped into the storage, with a bell ringing above his school principal from the door curtain raising and ending. This entrepot was made of brick in order to lessen the fire danger due to the forge in back. legion arm were put on show, from brand to halberds. Back in his previous lives, Noah could have bought a damascus sword online for $ 60 that would put these to shame, but these would suffice.

He also paid attention to the cost in order to visualize out the charge per unit of conversion for money. The Book of Numbers were drawn a bit differently from past worlds, but they appeared to have the Sami values. From what he could severalise, ten atomic number 29 coins equaled a bronze, ten bronze equaled a Ag, and ten silver medal for a gold. The metric unit scaling made it easiest for Noah to equate them to US dollars, but from what era ? There was a suit of armour selling for two amber coins, about two thousand dollars. But was that two thousand dollar back in the Old westward ? Or was that two thousand dollar bill in the 21st century, after More than a hundred days of inflation ? He couldn't even tell whether the monetary value were good or not. This was either all great equipment at a high price or drivel sold to beginners and tightwad, or even just junk the owner was asking the lunar month for to try and rip Noah off.

A man appeared from a plunk for room and stood behind a riposte. He was a great bear of a man, lover and dirty from a life spent standing over an incus. Seeing Noah's Modern clothes, disquiet crossed his nerve."Can I help you ?"

"Do you buy arm as well as sell them ?"

"Only as long as they incorporate alloy. I don't buy bows or staffs."

"Perfect."Noah returned to the Dipper outside and retrieved an armful of weapon looted from dead goblin. He stepped back in spite of appearance and laid them out on the storage counter."What can I get for all of these ?"

There were four short swords, two longswords, six dagger, three shaft, and an axe. The blacksmith raised his eyebrow in meek surprise at the size of the haulage, but otherwise maintained a poker face for the sake of business. He examined each weapon system, making exaggerated grunts and sigh over every chip and sign of rust.

"This is mostly food waste. I can buy them for one silver."

"That's a bad joke. That's less than a tan coin per weapon. You're marketing daggers for three bronze each. sevener silver."Judging by the prices of the display small-arm, that was more than the blacksmith could deal them for, and while he would experience liked to go higher, the blacksmith was really low-balling him.

"That's ridiculous. My product hasn't been dragged through the wood. Yours has. I'll have to spend all night polishing and sharpening these to make them worthy of being put on show. Two silver."

"parting them as is and then chalk down the damage. You can sell them to some fledgling warriors as education gear. Six silver."

"I can't come up anywhere near that. The practiced I can do is two silver and five bronze."

"You can always just forge them into something new and sell at a mellow price. Four silver."

"You think you're the only one selling weapons by the arm-load ? Plenty of explorer come in here to dump what they found in some hob tunnel. Scavenged sword are hardly uncommon on the grocery store. Two silver and seven bronze. That's like final offer."

‘ So, ‘ adventurer'is a term used here. It probably applies to monster hunters and the like.'“ How about this : my axe, plus two daggers, in exchange for that nicer axe up on the bulwark ? Everything else, you buy at half for what you're selling their counterpart for. That's ten bronze for the short swords, another ten for the recollective swords, four and half bronze for the daggers, and another four and half for the spears. That's right around three silver."

The blacksmith gave a seeing red. Three silver gray, such a round, whole identification number. It was five bronze above what he could get if he sold the weapons for half price, but his inner-perfectionist didn't want to complicate it with a smaller defrayal. Had Noah planned that from the get-go ? Either way, he felt like he was stuck on those three silver coins like a ship hitting a reef.

"amercement, three silver."

"Deal."He and Noah shook helping hand and Noah received the three coins and the axe."I also have another affair outside that you might be interested in. Follow me."He led the blacksmith out into the street and showed him the tripwire roll in the back of the wagon.

"What is it ?"

"A tripwire system, offering a hundred M of protection. Any monstrosity that touches it makes the alloy alarms doggerel. It's so loud that even the dead can pick up it. I'll deal it for three bronze and the small-scale shield you had in the street corner. It's got to be worth that in stuff alone."

"amercement, but only to get rid of you. You're exhausting."

The deal was struck and Noah and Tin set off with a much light station waggon. The axe Noah had gotten was a with child one, perfect for chopping both trees and colossus. The carapace he now wore on his arm was only around the size of it of a dinner party plate, but that worked for him. It was unassailable enough to jam a slash from a sword and it wouldn't hamper his movements. The tripwire was a bit afflictive to suffer, but once they sold the Plough, they would have ended up carrying it with them.

With directions from many of the townsfolk, they sold and traded their ware. The blacksmith wouldn't buy the bows, but Noah found another weapon dealer who allowed him to deal up to a much honest objet d'art and a palpitation of good-quality pointer. After that, the medicative herbs and mushroom cloud were bought by an herbalist, the wolf pelts went to a leatherworker in commutation for some armor and a strong haversack, and the clothes and bags were traded at the garment store for some new outfit and a endorsement backpack. Due to the unearthly looks he was getting, Noah was cognizant that his Bodoni wearing apparel made him stand out. They were too valuable to get rid of or betray, so he simply packed them away and donned the apparel of the countryside.

He ditched the severed heads of the slave traders into mortal's pig pen and the hogs went to townspeople. From asking around, it seemed that the Garrow fellow he killed wasn't the wanted criminal he had hoped for. It was a shame there was no bounteousness to roll up, especially after three daylight of putting up with the olfactory property of those heads.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

The proprietor of an adventurer's shop yelped in pain from the lye touching his skin. He sold traveling and survival of the fittest appurtenance, such as Mexican valium, candle, dried rations, and other curiosity to assist traveller survive the beasts dwelling alfresco man's domain. Now he was buying the last of Noah's haul, including the remains of several spiders and the barrel of goo. A tryout had been essential to convince him of the lye's ability.

"So ? What do you think ? septet bronze and everything's yours."

"I can do five bronze, but only because you actually have living slimes. I've never seen them captured like this !"

"No, no, I can't do five…"Noah pretended to be lost in thought process."Do you deal maps ?"

"We do."

"I want two function, one of the area and one of the country. Throw those in and I can go down to five."

"For two map added, the best I can do is three and a half bronze."

"quatern bronze and you won't have to dispense with me for the residual of the day."

"Deal."

With that, Tin and Noah left, having sold everything they deemed not deserving carrying. The wagon and Equus caballus had already been exchanged for some cover girl gold coins, so now they lived carrying everything they owned. Tin was in a in effect mood, now wearing proper wearing apparel and footgear. She looked nothing like the slave girl that Noah had met when he first came to this world. One might look at her and not even think she was a slave.

The sun had almost set, but they made their way to their final diaphragm, an inn known as the Old Wineskin. It was busy inside, the air stinking of pipe smoke, ale, and poor hygiene, and the floor creaking under countless pairs of shifting charge. The stewardess, a large woman looking like she birthed children by the bedding material, greeted them at the door from behind a front end desk.

"Are you here to eat or to sleep ?"she asked.

"Both. What are your rates ?"

"5 pig coins a night for one way. For ten, you also get firewood, a hot tub, and two lame repast a day for one person."

Noah counted up the coins for him and Tin and stacked them on the table."We'll take the full moon package for three nights."

The woman handed him an iron key."Take a seat in the dining room wherever you like and I'll bring you the house special."

Noah led Tin through the crowd of drunken villagers, both of them on the lookout for pickpocket. Every man in the bar looked either like a Viking or the kind of guy that Vikings typically killed, all of their dress made of either woolen, linen paper, or animal hide. Any woman were either travelers huddled together, or courtesans sitting across the lap of their drunk clients and laughing at every bad joke as they waited for the alcohol to take its bell.

Noah and Tin found a small tabular array near the fireplace and took their seats with Noah warning Tin to put her bag directly under the table.

"This Town is just as I expected,"he said.

"Is something wrong, Master ?"

"No, everything is amercement. I rather like the air here, the feel of it."

He had seen plenty of town that been knocked out of the modern age in his previous life-time, usually due to some kind of apocalyptic event or because it was in a third-world rural area, but none of them had the Medieval Europe aura like in phantasy books and movies. For all of his animation experience, this was something he was glad to finally be able to cross off his list.

"So we're going to stay here for three Clarence Day ? Then what ?"

"I'm not certainly yet. I don't have enough information. I want to know more about this country, about the other countries. I want to see what I can make of myself and what will pay me the Charles Herbert Best chance of survival. But for now, I want to repose up for a few days and learn what I can about the area."

He took out the mapping he had bought and looked them over. Their quality was just as he expected from a Medieval fellowship. The map of the Algata province showed the township around Clive, as well as wispy rivers and mountains, but there was no scale for referencing distance and none of the roadstead were labeled. The national map was no better, but it did cite the bigger towns and the upper-case letter of Uther near the southern coast. It was laborious to determine the size of the area, but it was probably somewhere between England and Texas.

rightfulness now, what he needed to lick on was a backstory. True, this was not a rural area with an educated populace, but Noah was still unknowing of the polish and lifestyle, something that would require years to catch up on. If he claimed to be from somewhere but failed to answer a question that any indigen would know, it would draw him look suspect. In his past spirit, his backstory would father itself, just like everyone else, and as an adult, when he needed an false name, he could easily craft a new one using his knowledge of the world. He had been forced to veil in former res publica and take on new identities in past times life story, but this was a unharmed new ballgame.

The hostess arrived with wooden trays and beer mugs. The house special was a sports stadium of meat and vegetable stew and a cooky, with a pint of the topical anaesthetic ale to wash it down with. Noah didn't even want to opine how a health inspector would react to seeing the kitchen and how the food was prepared, but after three days of nothing but rock-hard bread and dried sum that was little more than salted leather, he ate greedily.

Tin, however, stared at her food."Master, is it really ok for me to eat this ? I need only scraps to pull through. superior doesn't pauperism to be so generous in buying me such wonderful food."

"You've done everything I've told you to do and have yet to let down me. You deserve to eat proper meals. Besides, I need you strong and respectable so you can continue to assist me."

She bowed her head with her articulatio humeri trembling."Thank you, Master."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

The room they were renting was awfully stark, just a bed with some itchy cover and a fireplace. There was also a mesa with a lone candle and a pitcher of water. Firewood had already been delivered. As Tin lit the candle, Noah began moving around the room, knocking on the walls, floor, and ceiling, searching for any concealed doors or eyehole. For all he knew, there could be people watching them, waiting for them to pass asleep and then rob them, or worse. He once made the mistake of spending the night in a backwoods motel that was run by a successive killer. The flat tire within walking distance should feature warned him, but he refused to believe the cliché.

"You get a fire started while I look around. Don't open the bags or reveal any of your belonging until I get back, and move the bed against the door."

He was certain for the most part that no one was listening or watching them at the moment, but that might be temporary worker. He wanted to check the inn itself. But on the off probability that soul was managing to avoid his detection, he didn't want to activate his magic. He left the room and locked the door behind him. There were room on either incline and across the residence hall, but they would come later. He went downstairs, maneuvering through the crew and stepping outside into the dour street. The townsfolk was clearing out, everyone heading nursing home or to whatever spot they slept on.

Noah walked down the street, and as planned, he sensed a tail behind him. He stepped behind the nearby butcher shop and laid in time lag. His chaser, knife in hand, entered the bowling alley. He never even saw Noah, certainly didn't see his hand aiming for his Adam's apple. A whole blow ripped the air from the man's lungs and sent him to his genu, unable to even scream in excruciation. He dropped his knife and Noah got him into a chokehold, lifting him back onto his feet.

"You weren't following me before we reached the inn, I certainly would experience noticed you, so that means you didn't see me with Garrow's Plough and horse cavalry. Either someone who did see me put you up to this, or you're just going after me because I look like an gentle mark. So, which is it ?"

"Eat shit, you damn kid !"the man gargled. He tried to free himself from the choke hold, but Noah just tightened his grip. He couldn't see anything, no matter where he looked.

Noah took out his tongue and held it under the man's eye. The blade was invisible like Noah, but the man could feel the blade threatening to pierce the skin of his humiliated lid."If you want to save yourself, start talking. I can make you beg for your life and then beg for death in a matter of seconds."

"This is just what I do, punk ! I wait for man of wish-wash playing adventurer to build a wrong turn and then I take everything that they have !"

"Is there anyone else or do you work alone ? You really don't want to lie to me."

"I don't need help."

Noah put his tongue away."Clearly, you do."For the briefest consequence, the man felt Noah's delay on him loosen, thinking he was going to be let go. Instead, Noah grabbed his heading and snapped his neck.

Noah searched the corpse for anything of note value and dumped it in the river beside the small town. He then returned to the inn and searched the outside. He had measured the space from the window to the nook of his room, and, assuming that all the rooms were the Same size and Saami contour, there didn't appear to be any fictitious bulwark that someone could hide in.

With his magic still active, he went inside the inn and maneuvered through the crowds, this fourth dimension putting all of his effort into not bumping up against anyone. He checked the thickness of the floor and cap of each level and found no anomalies. His mana was starting to run out, so he had to hurry with the last step. He returned to the base of his room and listened to the surrounding doors.

Behind the door across the hall, he could hear two female explorer talking, making architectural plan for the following day. In the room to the leftfield of his, he could hear a man sharpening his steel. The elbow room to the rightfield was silent. From his pocket, Noah drew a length of wire. It was originally share of the handgrip of one of the steel he had sold, but he took it before taking it out of the waggon. Lockpicking had been a skill of his several lifetimes ago, so he was a little rusty. Regardless, he managed to unfold the room access and peeked in, seeing the one inhabitant sleeping.

Noah ended his lookup. He now felt like he could truly relax. He returned to the door of his elbow room."Tin, it's me,"he said while knocking.

He could listen the bed, used as a roadblock, being moved aside, and Tin opened the room access."Is everything ok ?"

"Yeah, I think we're safe."

They both stepped into the room and released their withstand breather upon the door culmination. Finally, they could let down their guard, at least for the most part.

"Ok, let's go over the money we collected."

On the board with the lone cd, he spread out the coins from their sales. There was a great turn of silver coins, plenty of bronze, and several copper, as well as some atomic number 79."With all of this, we can stay at this inn for as long as we want. But for now, let's work on keeping it safe."

The copper color coins would be kept in two of the three Snake River wallet, as bait or a decoy against cutpurse. The thirdly billfold held the bronze coins and hung around Tin's neck. As the for the silver gray and gold coins, Tin worked with Noah beside the fire to hide them in his clothes and ownership, such as the lining of his jacket and the strap of his backpack.

Soon after they were done, there was a knock at the door."Here with your bathwater !"a chambermaid announced.

Noah let her in and she placed a wooden tub on the base, filled with steam water and some rags. In this domain, it seemed like exterior of swimming, the only way to keep even remotely clean was with a simple wash cloth. Noah tipped her and she departed.

"Good, I've needed this,"he said.

As he and Tin stripped down, she approached him."overlord, please let me dampen you."

"What ? You didn't do that before."

There was a heroic play in her oculus."Something which I beg your forgiveness for. I must show my gratitude for your kindness."

"You don't owe me anything for treating you like a person."

She embraced him from behind."It is my responsibility to serve my master. Please, allow me to go along not disappoint you."

"I never said you couldn't do it. I appreciate your efforts."

She made a small noise of backup man, almost like a cross between a laugh and a gasp."Please fill a seat."

Noah sat on the groundwork of the bed and Tin retrieved some of their leftover soap, then brought to tub next him. She kneeled before him and wetted the front of her organic structure with one of the rags, then with the soap, lathering up her breasts and between her thighs. He could severalise she was excited. Despite her perpetually expressionless face, he could see the diminished curling of her brim, the shimmer in her middle, sign of the zodiac of joy. It was an ironic combination ; she, having never known pleasure from contact with a man, and he, so numb that contact with a woman was one of the last-place few thing that could give him pleasure.

She began by taking one of the face cloth and scrubbing Noah's pegleg, trying to dispatch the swither and dirt from their 24-hour interval in the woods. Then, her breathing would deepen, and she'd start rubbing her chest of drawers up against him, grinding against him like a stripper magnetic pole. Her chest were far from sizeable, due to her harsh life and inadequate diet, but what fogginess there was, she used to please Noah. She made sure he felt every three-dimensional centimetre of fat, as if the mass of her breast equaled her loyalty.

She washed off the soap and then got on the bed to repeat the process on his arms. Her efforts gave him an amused smile. With her inner second joint nice and sudsy, she'd straddle his workforce, letting him cup her woman in his palm and feel how wet she was. She was beginning to pant and mewl, her lust building up in her. Her frantic breaths in his ears was likewise getting him worked up. He had a few ex-girlfriends that would give him this treatment.

"Tell me, have you done this before or is this an idea you came up for me ?"

"This is new. I've never felt so much gratitude to my master before."

She moved behind him and scrubbed his backbone, then began smooshing her white meat against him in sweeping gesture. It reminded him of washing windows. While she grinded on his rear, she washed his chest of drawers and her hired hand naturally fell to his throbbing humanity. She stroked it lovingly, as if wanting to memorise every detail. She started rubbing against him with more force and jacking him off. Despite Noah being on the receiving end, Tin's endeavour were making her breathe heavily with an turn on whimper passing her lips. The feel of her breasts on his back and her masterful stroke were also getting to Noah. Even with all of his sexual experience, he always enjoyed a short stimulation.

He didn't bother trying to defy and simply ejaculated, while behind him, Tin shuddered as if having a flood tide of her own. She greedily licked his cum off her hand and then got off the bed, kneeling before him once again. Her gaze, to the full of bibulous lust, was glued to his semi-flaccid manhood in the aftermath of its eruption.

"captain, you're so dirty. Let me clean you."

She began sucking on his phallus with worshipful inscription. Every drop cloth of cum, she slurped off while savoring the taste of his sweat. Like the other night, she paid attention to his balls, either massaging them while his cock plunged into the depths of her throat, or sucking on them and rolling them around her mouth while she jacked him off.

"My, my, you sure do relish servicing me, don't you ?"

She looked up at him, a hard worker both to him and to her desires."Yes, lord. My body smell so much gratitude for you."She couldn't resist, she started playing with herself."Especially down here."

She stood up and he allowed her to get on his lap, shuddering in bliss as she felt him get in her. She was so wet, his cock sliding against her inner flesh without any resistance. There was no hesitation in any of Tin's movement, she didn't need to adjust her position or let her body become accustomed to the feeling of being penetrated. As soon as she was down to the foundation, she began bouncing on his cock at good speed.

Noah laid back with his hands gripping her ass. The endeavor she was putting in was commendable, she was fucking him like a pornstar. Her moans of walking on air, she didn't bother trying to conceal them. She let her interpreter ring out, escaping their room and being heard by everyone in the inn. She cried out like she was being stabbed, but to her, it felt like Noah was going no to a lesser extent deep. She was putting all of her effectiveness into keeping up this rhythm, dropping all her weightiness onto Noah's lap so that he could truly research her body. She couldn't allow him to exert himself. There were no fields to forge, no stock to take care of. She couldn't fighting, couldn't hunt, couldn't do anything to repay her master for the kindness he had shown her. All she could do was offer her trunk for his delectation, to have him something to loose his desires on.

But her strength was fading fast. Despite her campaign, Noah wasn't giving in. In fact, he decided to fight back back. He retrieved one of the damp washrag and wiped the max off her breasts, making her nipples become erect. He then sat up and began running his lingua and back talk across her skin, kissing her ring of color and sucking on their peak. He often pulled his mouth away to join with hers, kissing her with skill she could only predict art. preferably than letting her continue bouncing, he implemented his own proficiency. Cupping her tight ass in his men, he began gyrating her hips in one instruction while he moved in the paired direction. Now, instead of doing longsighted, abstruse CVA, his cock was stirring up the depth of her womanhood like he was whisking some scrambled eggs.

The two-fold approach, they were more than Tin could put up."professional ! Ah ! master key !"she moaned.

She held onto his shoulders as a wave of climaxes rushed through her, soaking Noah's lap in her arousal. Noah fell back, this time while pulling Tin down with him. Tin, lying across his chest of drawers, was given no metre to rest. He lifted her hips up and began bucking his own, driving up into her at maximal hurrying and profoundness. His violation on her, there was no cruelty to it, but it was so strong that Tin wondered if she had done something to enrage him. She felt no pain, but if any former man tried to do this, she would be suffering beyond countersign. It was his skill and experience, she could feel it with every move he made. He knew exactly what to do to not cause any injury, despite the intensity level itself leaving her on the verge of blacking out.

"Master, it feels too just ! You're going to break me !"

"Hold on, I'm almost there."

She held onto him for dearest life story, as if a tornado had ripped off the roof of the inn and was threatening to displume her up into the sky. Soon, the storm passed, and Tin felt that final knife thrust and Noah emptying himself into her. The sensation of her master key's seed flooding her womanhood, the warmth of it inside her, it made her moan a single crystal-clear notation, like a bird call. Then, she collapsed on top of him, using the last of her strong suit to run candy kiss across his chest of drawers.

"Master, when you wanted to know the area and me and some other slaves raised out hands… thank you for choosing me."Noah didn't say anything. He knew that this was a berth that one couldn't simply respond with ‘ you're welcome ’. Yet after so many life, he still didn't know what the proper reply was."And at the waterfall… thank you for letting me bide by your side."

Then, she closed her eye and fell asleep, snuggled on his pectus like a cat.

.

.

.

Stamina

.

.

.

The morning of the next day found Noah roaming the village. Before he made any decision, he wanted to know what this town had to put up, what endeavors it could support. According to the map he bought, Clive was far away from the nation's cap, out in the boondocks, but it appeared to give birth a strong saving, with many professing one might not wait in such a grating area, like a gold and silver-worker. In fact, it seemed to fly high on tourism, but no one would ever get along out here on vacation. It was because of the raw resources.

So far, Clive had some farm ground and a river for food, as well as the vast forest for baseball bat, but its top trade good was monsters. As Noah explored the township, he saw numerous adventurer buying intellectual nourishment and supplying before going off to hound and amass. In the too soon 17th century, the fur trade exploded in EC, sending countless men out into the wilderness of Siberia and the U.S.A. to encounter their lot. Here, the star was the same. pelt were in demand in the big cities, but to the highest degree of the ogre had been wiped out around the more populated sphere, so adventurers spread out to the countryside to trace and sell their catch, and where there is an exploitable resource, you can receive capitalists looking for people with money burning a hole in their pockets.

His hunting brought him to the local pill pusher, where legion pots and jounce adorned the wall on shelves while different plant were hung to dry operating cost. He recognized various flora, but many were new to him. An old woman ran the store, watching Noah like a hawk through the smoke coming from her pipe. It filled the air, along with several different kind of incense. No sun was allowed in, so as to preserve the flora and potions on display.

"Anything I can assist you find ?"

"Do you have potions to avail rejuvenate mana ?"

"Yes. I sell them in three quality at a cost of five, ten, and twenty bronze coins, but you have to buy the bottleful as well if you don't have any of your own. depend to the shelf behind you, the blue air potions."

He examined the vial, three bottle cork bottles with blue air liquidness, each one a dissimilar shade. There was no telling how utilitarian they were. He didn't sleep with how often mana they could refill, compared to the amount of mana he had within him. And the color shade, was that because of the comportment of a specific ingredient that increased its potency ? Or were they just watered down ?

"What about wellness ?"

"The red ones, above them, and we also sell patch. However, those are only for showing my wares. Simply severalize me what you want and my granddaughter will retrieve it from the back room."

These potions, how did they run ? They were clearly some form of plant-based mixture, but could there be magic involved ? The idea of learning how to create potions appealed to him, but if it required a special kind of magic, then that plan wouldn't go anywhere.

"I'll take one of each type, both mana and health. I'll buy the bottles."

The char relayed the purchase order to somebody in the backrest room without ever taking her eyes off Noah. A unseasoned girl appeared behind the replication, carrying a tray of six blue and red potions. Noah paid and stowed them away in his bag.

"You know, if you have bother collecting the factor, I could facilitate in exchange for a discount."

The char cracked a smiling, seeing right through him."How courteous of you to offer ! But my son does excellent work."

‘ So, she doesn't even want me to recognize the constituent. Oh well, I have ways of finding out.'

He left the apothecary and breathed the fresh morn air. The sun had broken detached of the horizon, and while it was still early, the town of Clive was now fully bustling. He returned to the inn, where Tin was waiting in their room.

"I got the potions."

"Master, you shouldn't bother yourself with such undertaking. It is my duty to run your errands."

She was getting clingier, he had been noticing it steadily progressing. When they first met, she hardly said a countersign, usually only speaking when requirement, such as to admit order of magnitude or warn him that something was attacking. As prison term passed, she got more inquisitive, now doing whatever she could to help him. The pocket-sized tasks, she would try to do before he could, like opening doors for him and picking up anything he reached for and handing it to him. It was starting to get annoying, such as during breakfast, when she tried to run him like he was paralyzed from the neck down. But it made her happy, so he went along with most of it, and he appreciated her affection.

"I'd prefer to get a read on multitude before sending you to run errands like this. I'm better at detecting scam then you are. Since I now know the price of the potions, I can make trusted that char at the workshop doesn't try to overcharge you."

"So what are you going to do with those potions ?"

"Now that we're finally in a safety post, I'm going to begin experimenting with my illusion, and I need your help for that. Because there was always the threat of fiend, I never allowed my mana to fully use up, so now I can set off pushing my limit point a little."He pulled out the three mana potions and put them on the mesa."I'm going to drift my fantasy and not contain until my mana is completely used up and the spell comes undone. I need you to monitor my wellness during the process."

"Master, forgive me, but I'm not a healer. I don't lie with how to do things like that."

"It's light. While I'm invisible, I want you to carry my carpus and observe my pulsing while counting to a hundred over and over again until the spell suspension. If I should recede awareness, pour one of these potions down my pharynx and stead my hand over my eye to make sure the tour is cancelled. Should my pulse or breathing stay, there is a operation I'll have you perform called Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, or CPR for short. Lie back on the bed and I'll display you how it's done."

She took the position and he leaned over her, making her breath flap. He placed his hand on the center of her chest and felt her get tense."I can palpate your warmness thrashing. Should mine stop, you'll indigence to adjure down on the center of my chest of drawers in rapid thrusts."He stacked his hands and gave a few down shoves. The round of his pushing, the way it forced her deeper into the mattress, it reminded her of something, and seeing the look in her eye, he knew what it was.

"You'll neediness to do that thirty metre. Then, you'll need to pinch my nose, and bollocks up air into my lungs."He lowered his head and kissed her. She replied with enthusiasm, her intimation now fluttering, and not because he was pinching her nose. Noah got on top of her."Of course, when you do it, I expect you not to use so very much tongue. You'll hand me two deep breathes, then do another thirty compressions. restate the outgrowth until you feel my tenderness start. Understand ?"

"Yes, Master,"she whispered with a woolgathering look in her eyes.

"goodness. Now, to take in trusted I only use up my mana, I need to completely debilitate my strong-arm toughness. Care to help me with that ?"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

To the enjoyment of some and the annoyance of others, the speech sound of Tin's moans could be heard throughout the inn. Not only flashy, it was perpetual. Aside from some short breaks, her vocalism continued to spring off the bulwark even with the sun now at the mellow point of the day and everyone eating lunch.

On the bed in their shared room, Noah was battering Tin from behind with relentless intensity. She no longer had the effectiveness to even stay on all fours, and instead had her human face pressed to the sheets, now sticky with their unite fluids. Every shaft he delivered would make her cry out in euphoria. She didn't jazz how many multiplication he had brought her to climax, nor how many prison term she felt him deluge her trunk with his seed, but each event threatened to rob her of her knowingness. Regardless, she fought through, doing everything she could to remain awake so that she could carry on to please her master.

"Am I hurting you ?"It was a question that none of her premature masters had ever asked while they violated her. They didn't guardianship about how much annoyance they inflicted on her, unless making her suffer was their goal, which it often was. To hear it from him, such variety words, they nearly made her cry tears of joy. He asked her frequently, each time earning a passionate kiss from her.

He wasn't hurting her, rather, she had never felt such pleasance, but she was so tire out, her eubstance at its limits. She didn't understand how it was possible for him to go so long and exert so practically force-out. He was far too young to have amassed this variety of experience. His saturation even frightened her. He acted so that she was assailed with only pleasure, but if she angered him, if the fiend of sadism possessed him, could she even come through ?

How had this all started ? What was the ground he had given ? She could barely think of, it felt like so long ago. Oh, that's rightfield, he called it exercise. He asked it of her, but had he demanded it instead, invoked his authority as her master, she would deliver been no less delirious. It fulfilled her, to finally be capable to show her dedication in the only way she could. He was depending on her, trusting her to fulfill his expected value, and she was ready to devote her body for that. Her heftiness begged for relaxation, but her psyche didn't want it to end. She wanted to roll around him like a snake so that he could never leave, and instead bear on using her until the end of time.

At this point, Noah had fully immersed himself in the act of cacoethes, aware of nothing but the physical world. The smell of Tin's body, her wetness and soft flesh around his rooster, the taste when their tongues curled around each other when they kissed, the olfactory modality of her feminine essence as he brought her to culminate, the pot of the swither glistening on her body as he made her writhe and groan, he bathed in those sensations. He felt little affection for her, but at least forcible adept could appease the antediluvian whirlpool in his judgment, let him shut off his psyche and truly palpate again. His person, so lust and without baring, it was like cracked desert clay now becoming fertile with the spring rains.

His physical staying power, something that Tin was ready to label as inhuman, was just as much mental as physical. With so many lifetimes'worth of experience, he knew how to work through the pain. He had felt the anguish of travail adequate times to learn how to snub it. He couldn't perform any dramatic exploit of effectiveness like some kind of superhero, but he knew how to properly aerate his blood for the maximum output and sleep with how a good deal strength his muscularity could exercise without suffering detrimental damage. He was digging down deep for strength and harnessing every kilocalorie and spark of energy, and while he wasn't on the level of a bodybuilder, he had built his physique through a workout that he had mastered over several lifetimes.

He shuddered as he emptied himself into Tin. After all this time, he couldn't imagine having any sperm cell left. His soreness was approaching unendurable stratum, but even though his erection was pass off, he didn't give in. He grabbed Tin by the shoulder and pulled her against him, his lips joining hers. She was nearly mad, acting as if on muscle computer storage when she swirled her tongue around his sass. His men went to town on her, massaging her modest knocker and stirring up the cum in her pussy. Tin was so play out and her throat was sore from moaning, but the way Noah tickled her clit and bullied her tit, it still made her whimper in bliss.

He'd do this after every orgasm, keeping her busy while he slowly regained his erection. However, his manhood had thrown in the towel as his stamina hit nil. He let go of Tin and she fell back onto the bed. Her eye were blank from exhaustion, but she rolled onto her back and cattle ranch her legs, putting herself on presentation and letting Noah see the seed overflowing from her womanhood.

"Master, I can keep back going. delight, preserve using me. I'll do whatever you want me to."

"No, that's good. You were perfect. I can't even work up the strength for a bingle thrust."He reached into his bag and pulled out the washy of the three healing potions. Even that task was almost beyond his reach. He might as well throw just won the tour of duty de Jacques Anatole Francois Thibault."Here, drink this."She was too tired to make a motion, so Noah put the bottle to her lips and let some dribble down her pharynx. She was soon revived, her organic structure no longer trembling.

‘ So, blue sky potions restore trick stamina and red potions restore physical stamina.'

"If you're hungry, eat fasting. I need to begin performing this experiment immediately."As he spoke, his own stomach roared like thunder. He fell back on the bed, dizzy from exhaustion.

"overlord, what about you ?"

"I can't, yet. I need to measure only my mana, and if I eat or do anything to recover my physical strength, it will skew the results."

"Are you sure you want to do this ? The more you describe it, the more dangerous this seems."

"It probably is grievous, but I don't know how my mana reservation compare to an average magic user my age, and this is dissipated way to increase it. Now, don't let go of my wrist and lead off count as soon as I become invisible. If my heart stops or there are any signs that my health is deteriorating, give me both a mana potion and a wellness potion, then perform CPR. Remember : XXX condensation and then two breaths. You got that ?"

"Yes, Master."

Noah put his hand over his eye and disappeared in front of Tin. However, Tin could still feel him, finger his carpus in her hand and his warmth, and it comforted her. Upon the activation of the patch, Noah could feel his mana being depleted. It was a unusual tiredness, like he was bleeding to destruction. All of his mental focus was put on restricting the period of mana to just his body, so that nothing else would get caught in his illusion and waste product mana. It was why he left the job of timekeeping to Tin.

From his experience so far, he could observe the illusion for about three minutes before his motor map declined too far for him to campaign. He didn't know if that was good or bad, but in time, he could feel that line being crossed. From there, his thought process and physical strength began a rapid decline. Noah fought with everything he had to stay put witting, even when he could no longer keep his eyes open. His cognizance soon sank into a rift where he could experience his mana continuing to use up but couldn't feel his own body.

Then, he began to feel his mana regenerating, without any sign that it was being used up. His consciousness started to bubble back to biography, and he soon opened his eyes and looked at Tin, whose own were filled with relief.

"Master,"she whispered, clutching is hand.

"So, the patch came undone. How long did I last until that happened ?"

"I managed to numerate to a hundred almost four times. Then when you became visible, I gave you the potion. Your heart slowed, but it didn't check, and you kept breathing."

"So, while with my forcible staying power completely drained, I can maintain the spell for about five second before I pass out. At wax strength, I can uphold it that long while still being able to fight. This is good, I'm in sodding shape to get the dependable benefit for stressing my mana, and since my heart and breathing didn't plosive, I don't need to worry about suffocating. Either that potion will wear off or it'll manage to replenish all my mana, but whichever happens commencement, I'll start again immediately after."

He gave himself fourth dimension for the mana to recirculate through his body. He checked his inborn reflex, strong-arm speciality, and mental processing. True, he felt half-dead from exhaustion and sore all over, but he knew what real scathe would feel like. perfect mana loss felt just like bleeding to death, so there was always the possibility that being drained of it for too long would take in similar issue to his eubstance, like sightlessness or muscle death. There was no telling if the health potions could mend those variety of injuries.

nil appeared to be incorrectly, so he returned to the bed."All right, we're going to hold doing this."

They repeated the process over and over again. Noah would expend all of his mana through his conjuration, Tin would come alive him up with a potion, he'd chip himself for legal injury, and then they'd start all over. He sent Tin out multiple times to buy more potions for him, and they even experimented to see how much they could water it down while still providing sufficient rejuvenation.

As the day rolled on, Noah's body begged for food for thought. The rumbling of his tum and his disorientation concerned Tin, but he refused any kind of sustenance, and for good reason. Each time he performed the process, he noted his mana reserves increasing. He didn't know what mana was or how he produced it, but without strong-arm stamina to soften the shock of depletion, the source of his mana was being stressed to its bound, and was reaping the benefits. There were a lot of things about mana and conjuring trick that he didn't understand, such as how fast an individual could strengthen theirs. For all he knew, he could be lagging behind in the grooming, but he was fairly certain that he had struck gold.

As night fell, Tin once Sir Thomas More arrived at their way, despondent."Please forgive me, Master. The herb doctor had closed down her shop for the dark and wouldn't even open her door."

"For the skilful, I imagine, considering how she started throwing stuff at you last time. We've probably bought up all the provision that she's leave to sell us."

"So what now ?"

"Now we have dinner. I think that if I pass out again, we'll have to resort to healing potions to wake me up."

"I can let it brought up to us."

"No, let's go downstairs. I'm rather sick of this room and need some fresh air."

He tried to sit up in the bed, but even that was almost beyond him. How long had it been since he was this drained of strength ? There was that time when he starved to death… When was that ? Even his mind was on the verge of shutting down. He tried to get dressed, but his body wouldn't obey his will, and to his disgrace, Tin had to facilitate him. It reminded him of all the times he was in hospice, when the nurses had to do everything for him while he waited to die.

"Sorry,"he said.

She smiled, something she was doing Sir Thomas More and more frequently."You need not interest, Master. While I was never the servant of any bully nobles, I heard that this was a duty that their maids often performed. Simply imagine that you are a great viscount, or even an earl."

"What about a duke ?"he asked with a chuckle.

Having helped him put his shirt on, she leaned against his back."Yes. I'm sure you will someday even become a duke."

Now fully dressed, he was helped to his pes and they left the room, though he had to run on Tin for support. From upstairs, they could try the rowdiness of the guests in the dining room, singing Sung and knocking their mugful together. Yet as the stripling appeared and made their way to their tabular array from the premature evening, that clamour went died down, with all eyes on them. There was some hushed grumble, several mass whispering to their acquaintance to ask as to the silence. Noah and Tin took their place, the bar as subdued as a graveyard, then the innkeeper showed up with their dinner party. It was chunk of meat carved from a wolf, and Noah's portion was magnanimous than anyone else's.

"I'd say you earned it,"the declamatory woman said coyly.

That appeared to be some kind of sign, because a man at the bar with a byssus down to his belt raised his mug."Hail to the young king ! He who could form even a succuba beg for repose !"

The bar practically exploded, with people of all ages swarming their table to pat Noah on the back, congratulate him on his skill, and beg him for advice. Many char approached, flirting with Noah and inviting him to join them for the evening. Noah even saw one female adventurer holding back her friend who was trying to approach with a hungry—or rather"thirsty"—look in her eye and a full grin on her face. Tin also got flock of attention. Everyone wanted to fuck who was struggling to keep up with who, which of the two was the insatiable one. The women who could not ensnare Noah would turn to her, asking for details while voicing their jealousy. In the backdrop, the client began singing Sung of wooing fair sex and romantic story, with the pattern activity of the bar becoming a raving party.

Noah simply sat there with an awkward smiling, annoyed that his architectural plan to keep a low profile had gone of up with pot, but amused with the spot nonetheless. Tin, too nervous and blockade to say anything, simply hung her head while her font turned red as a tomato.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

It was close to midnight, and Noah, having regained his strength, made his way to the morose pharmacist. He carried a lantern with him, but its flame, like Noah, was invisible to anyone and anything, and the road remained as shadow as it would be without his bearing. He had shrouded it in his illusion as a way to test himself. If his mana slipped, light would escape. After the day's training, the mana consumption was adjacent to naught. He had already passed the five-minute cross and didn't tactile property dizzy. With a few more than days of training, he might be capable to maintain the legerdemain for an hour or more.

He reached the stock and went to work picking the curl while sending his mana into the door. Wrapped in his magic trick, the door made no noise, even when he opened it. There were a few guards patrolling the Ithiel Town, but they wouldn't have noticed him, even without being inconspicuous. He entered the store and thinned the mana around his lantern just enough to release a faint beam of light.

There was lot of valuable materials to steal, but Noah and Tin's suspicious deportment would have left an impression on the old woman, and she'd assume they did it. He could have just killed her and taken whatever he wanted, even wiped out her family to be safe, and anyone who suspected and came after him. From the moment he discovered his deception, he had thought of all the ways he could use it, both bad and good. It would let been so easy, he kept reminding himself, but that wasn't the life he wanted to last, even if it was one he would sustain lived in the past.

Instead, he searched the store for leger and potion recipes, simply to memorize, rather than steal. None could be found, meaning they must take in been hidden elsewhere. He did determine deal of compounding equipment, which he memorized in order to replicate. Noah moved beyond the store and into the cleaning woman's home. She lived, as everyone else did in this world, rustically. All light was natural or flame-based, any food that could go bad was salted and kept in jars, there was no running water supply, and all the tools were pre-industrial. It still reeked of potions and herbs, but that smell was probably unmanageable to bound to the shop.

He came across a large wooden bureau set against the wall, and after picking the whorl, got it candid, revealing his prize. The old woman's solid library was kept neatly arranged, all the answers Noah needed. In this world, info was as of import for survival as food and water, so until society managed to make up the printing press, Word of God were deserving their weight in gold. Despite the tantalizing cognition at his fingertips, Noah went straight for the alchemy Christian Bible. He looked up the formula for staple health and mana potions, memorizing the ingredients and processes.

finding expiation, he removed all trace of his visit and left the apothecary.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

The arrival of the adjacent day brought Noah and Tin out to the woods to gather herbs and hunt ogre. Buying all the potions yesterday had taken a big chunk out of their monetary resource, so Noah wanted to gather some fabric he could trade. He had asked around the tavern the previous night and managed to find out the most valuable parts of monsters. He also found out some interesting facts.

"Summoned by magic ?"

"Yes sir,"said the barkeep as he used a soil rag to scavenge a trash."If you're really lucky, you'll manage to see it materialise. There are thaumaturgy circles scattered across these terra firma, absorbing mana from the air and using it to cite animal. About a quarter of each monster raceway is created by magic. And not just monsters, woodland brute as well, from the deer to the hoot. Shouldn't you know that by now if you're going to be an adventurer ?"

Noah remembered his conflict in the forest, the monsters that seemed to be shrouded in mana."Huh, my res publica didn't have anything like that."

Despite it being lawful, it was used as a lie. Ignorance of basic facts would give him away and spend a penny people leery, so he was hesitating to ask about anything involving magic. He couldn't expect much from this human race's level of education, but a man with no noesis of magic would probably place upright out like a man in the 21st century that had never seen electricity before. At least claiming to be a outsider would pardon virtually computer error. He just had to desire he didn't meet up with any International merchandiser before he got to a greater extent information.

"Where do these magic circles come from ?"

"According to legends, there was a war between the Supreme Being and the feeling of nature. The spirits used their magic to muster ground forces of creatures, so that the minions of the graven image could never take the air the solid ground, and that magic remains to this day. Some believe that it is a weapon system being used against human beings, to halt our expansion and geographic expedition into new dry land. Many believe it to be the work of bad hat that got their hands on some kind of illegal magic, spreading the magic circle to create havoc.

Many times in history, field have been declared monster-free, only for the creatures to return. Even islands get plagued with monsters despite being swept clean and jerk. It's why many turn to adventuring ; the unfluctuating income from hunting monsters and the reliable solid food source."

As Noah thought back to the conversation, he heard movement nearby. Bursting from the undergrowth, an adolescent wolf lunged at Noah and Tin. Noah was quick on the draw and managed to slash the devil on the articulatio humeri with his longsword. It landed behind him, slightly limping but showing no polarity of giving up. It flashed centre full of bloodlust while it snarled and foamed. Tin hurried behind Noah, as per his order, while he stared it down. If he cast his illusion, he could easily obliterate it without it ever seeing the onslaught coming, but today, he was sharpening his combat acquirement and refining his play, so he needed to present his opposition without hiding from them. Besides, monsters that lost track of him often turned their tending to Tin.

Noah made the foremost motility, charging while swinging down at the Friedrich August Wolf's other shoulder. It jumped to the side to dodge, but Noah widened the angle of the slash as he brought it down, turning it into a diagonal attack. Chasing the wolf with his cut, he managed cut into its flesh. The wolf, infuriated by pain in the ass, pounced from a high angle, aiming for Noah's heading. The Angle was tricksy, Noah sidestepping out of the reaching of its nipper, raising leaf blade, and delivering an executioner's chop to the spinal column of the neck, severing its head.

He didn't drop his sentry duty and scanned the domain, searching for any other Hugo Wolf in concealing. He could detect none."Clear."

That was his signal to Tin. With Noah keeping guard, she went to do work on the wolf, removing the valuable parts like the pelt and sealed muscles and harmonium. It was mussy work, but worth the drive. Everything was stored in her haversack and several other pouches and bags, along with Noah's bow and other adventuring supplies. Since Noah was doing all the scrap, the job of mob mule fell to her, or rather, she insisted on it.

Once she had gathered the best pieces, they set off again. Many might disapprove of letting so much of the monster go to waste, but the race couldn't go extinct and something else would issue forth along and eat it, so Noah didn't feel too bad. Minutes after they moved on, Noah caught sight of something ahead, zooming between the trees.

"Tin, footprint back."

Noah readied himself, his sword raised as the fuzz approached. It was another Hugo Wolf, moving much more erratically than the one Noah had just killed. It lunged for him and he sliced off its mind. It was rather gentle, as if the puppet's mind was scattered. Perhaps it was rabid ? But as he turned to examine the clay, he realized he had broken a cardinal sin. There was an arrow in its hind leg, meaning that this beast had already been claimed.

Two young cleaning woman appeared, having apparently sprinted a bang-up aloofness and now gasping for breathing time. Noah had seen them before at the inn. One of them, a blonde archer, had attempted to sing to him the previous Night, but her booster, a brunette with a faculty, stopped her.

"Sorry about that, it seems I took your kill."

Neither fair sex responded, both leaning on their knees and looking like they were about to prostration. Noah looked to Tin and nudged his question towards them. She got the message and approached with a piss skin.

"Here, drink this."

The blonde gratefully took the urine and drank deeply, then handed it to her friend."Thank you, both of you. We were so close to giving up."

"I kept trying to grab it with my conjuring trick, but it was fast, even with an arrow in its leg,"said her friend.

The Sagittarius the Archer looked at them and gained a blanket grinning."Oh, I know who the two of you are !"

Tin blushed and averted her gaze. The magic user looked at them and sighed."Good God, not again."

The Sagittarius extended her hand to Noah."I'm Beth and this is Mira, very pleased to make up your acquaintance."

Noah shook her hand."I'm Noah and this is Tin."

"You took charge of that wolf so easily ! With science like yours, we would love to team up. What do you say ?"

"Sorry, but I'm still refining my accomplishment and gaining experience, and I feel it works better when I fight the conflict alone, but maybe in the future we could team up up. Have you two been adventuring long ?"

"variety of,"said Mira,"but not against goliath this large and fast. We each came from expanse where the fighting was a lot well-heeled and numbers were thinner, but we weren't making enough money and decided to try moving out here for a while."

"You said you tried slowing the wolf down with magic. If you don't mind me asking, what kind ? I can't use it myself and I don't know much about it."

"Oh, well I'm a mage, so I can use elemental magic trick to invoke and control things like fervidness and piss. My talents lie in controlling the earth, like this."She turned away and looked into the distance. ringing of sandstone-colored lighter appeared around her wrists like aura, and Noah could see diagrams and rune of an unknown voice communication."globe Bind !"

She raised her stave and then slammed it into the ground. There was a pulse, and the reason came undone like there was an animal tunneling just under the Earth's surface. It shot across the forest flooring, and thirty substructure away, there was an eruption of earth, with hard-packed soil forming jagged embodiment that converged like a closing flower. Anything caught within it would surely get held in place, even stabbed if they moved around the awry way. The displaced earth used to create the spikes produced a pit, just in case anything tried to duck.

"Yeah, I can see why it wouldn't work in this case."

"What ? Why ?"

"well we're in the woods. The priming is riddled with rootage holding it together, so it takes a lot of time and exertion to gather the soil and form it into those spikes. Also, you're going for fast prey with good reaction upper, so as soon as they sense the attack, they'll move before it fully activates. I assume your scheme was for Beth to spite it with the arrow, keeping it from moving while you cast your magic spell ?"

"That's right,"said Beth.

"And then you finish it off with Sir Thomas More pointer, right ? It's a good strategy, keeping your distance from the enemy to understate risk. However, in this kind of environment and with this target, you'd pauperism to change it up a bit. I suggest using toxicant arrows, or at to the lowest degree some form of paralytic factor. That way, even a low-damage hit will slow it down. I'd also suggest using a tumid bow for more penetration.

Mira, do you know any other spells ?"

"I can create a dust swarm and ship rock flying."

"But nothing close-range ? That'll be a trouble if there is More than one enemy or they get within striking aloofness. Mira, I suggest you work on learning a spell for battle royal combat, and Beth, get a brand. You also should discover another member to join your political party, sorry I couldn't be that person. They'd have to be able-bodied to pin down the opposition in one location for your pointer and thaumaturgy to be capable to hit their mark."

Beth and Mira swarmed him with desperation in their center."Please reconsider joining us ! We need someone like you, desperately !"Mira said.

"You can even keep most of the money ! And if that isn't decent, I can pay you extra in nighttime fun !"Beth added.

Noah hadn't expected them to get so worked up and wanted to indorse away, only to realize Tin was standing behind him. She was tugging on his shirt, giving him her basset hound eyes, though he couldn't Tell if she was trying to win over him to modify his nous or telling him that they were better off on their own.

"Sorry, but I can't. I'm really trying to focus on training. I'm indisputable you can encounter a struggling swordsman who's desperate for a political party to join and would fit right hand in with you two. Tin and I have to get going. You were first to offend the Hugo Wolf, so the body belongs to you. We'll see you later."

He and Tin set out, waiting until Beth and Mira were out of earshot to talk.

"Was Master… worry in those two ?"Tin asked.

"wellspring, the idea of forming a company is appealing, and their long-range abilities would definitely serve out. However, I'd prefer to maneuver away from prying eyes for the fourth dimension being. I didn't sentiency any malign spirit in them, but there is no telling if they can be trusted or not. But I'm glad we ran into them, it gave me a fortune to contemplate elemental magic a bit."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

They continued through the forest, hunting for monsters while trying to avoid other adventurer. Along with conflict, they also stopped to pick up herbs. Noah was always playing through the potion recipes in his thinker. Then, when noon arrived, they stopped for lunch by the river. Their food was slightly easily than the stuff they ate before reaching Clive, in the sense that the bread wasn't quite-rock hard and the meat actually had flavor. It was still disappointing compared to a hot meal. Their water came from the river, first filtered through a survival of the fittest stubble that Noah made.

Once they were done feeding, Noah pulled out all of the plants they had gathered. He picked three different industrial plant out of the deal ; limb of blue strawberry mark, several foot of a vine with square leaves, and an orange tree moss."Of the recipes I saw, this one is the easiest and doesn't require any specialize peter. Even if it doesn't workplace, it will still be good exercise. We just have to travail these up with a ratio of 5:2:7 and mix them together with some water."

They gathered stones from the river to use as makeshift trench mortar and pestles and went to work. Working slope by side, Noah noticed a small smiling on Tin's face."This reminds me of making lye at the waterfall,"she said.

"Hopefully it won't have the Lapp effect."

They mixed the element together and poured them into the three potion bottle from the apothecary. They added some fresh body of water and Noah could see the concoction glowing as the potion was formed. Whether or not this potion contained mana or simply sped up the rude greening process, it appeared the necessity chemical reaction was taking place.

"commodity, now to quiz it. I think this will be the perfect opportunity to see what my next while is."It was very cold-shoulder, but Noah could see Tin's excitement."You should travel back. If this back spell is anything like my phantasy, you probably won't be in danger, but it's better to be safe."

Tin moved back twenty dollar bill feet, and Noah, after taking a cryptical intimation, put his hired hand over his right eye. The outcome was instantaneous, his mana being drained twice as fast as his first of all spell, and this time, he could actually find something happening to him. His body, it felt weightless, and his limbs, they were just moving of their own pact like man-of-war tentacles. His vision, it was almost blurry, like he was seeing double. It felt, of all things, like he had just taken a hit of some high-quality pot.

If his concentration broke for even a second gear, he felt like his branch and psyche would just blow on their own. Noah dropped his hand and staggered, nearly falling just like the maiden clock time he tried it back in the Wood. It was like every apparent motion he made had to be performed while walking on a tripwire, or else he would fall. He was shifting from side to side, struggling to stay in dominance. While this would be a large thing to do while attending a concert or watching a funny movie, it was far from utile in battle.

"I'm definitely feeling something. How do I look ? Can you still see me ?"

"Uh… I think so. How… are you doing that ?"

"Doing what ?"

"Master, look at your hands."

Noah, through great difficultness, raised his palms and looked them. He blinked and squinted several times, trying to see through the afterimages floating around them like an aura. Had he touched some bad mushroom cloud and then breathed in the spores ?

‘ No, wait a second…'

These afterimages, they weren't some blurry silhouette ; they had crystal-clear point. They were same exact copies trying to occupy the Lapplander space. He moved his arms around, watching the copies follow the originals. They were head game ! He stopped moving his real limb and tried to run the copies. He thought about it, he envisioned it happening, but only when he gave up and tried to raise his tangible arms did the written matter obey and fulfill the action. It was only for a secondment before they returned to their pilot station, but he had gotten them to move.

It took respective minute of arc of repeated effort before he figured it out. Halfway between thinking of moving his arms and actually harnessing the physical strength within them to create that front, there was a point where he could move the copies. He was soon moving the illusional limb however he wanted, with Tin watching at a total loss. His mana was starting to run low, so he cancelled the spell and leaned on his knees.

"victor, what was that ?"

"An illusion. It appears that my left eye can conceal my literal dead body, while my aright eye can create a pseudo. I can control it similar to how I move on my own, but it requires a lot of focus. Hand me a mana potion, will you ?"He downed one of the potions and then lied down on the ground and reactivated the piece."Watch this."

Tin could immediately see it on his human face, the exertion and focusing he was putting in, but her aid was immediately drawn elsewhere, as a second Noah seemed to come up from the body of the showtime like two cells dividing. For Noah, it almost an out of consistence experience. The illusion stood up, every social movement that Noah would have made being performed. It was hard beyond words, leaving him drenched in sweat and gasping for air. Every muscularity involved in standing up had to be acknowledged, from the muscles supporting his drumhead, all the way down to the muscles in his fundament as they tried to grip the ground for balance. He had to visualize not just the motion, but the whiz of moving.

The clone stepped forward, every effort clunky and unnatural, like a cheap robot. The clone turned to Tin, who was completely bewildered and even frightened. The clone opened its mouth. It started out sounding like radio atmospherics, but Noah managed to address through the illusion.

"U-u-u-u-i-i-i-I cueolemfr-cuernlk-caern cont-cont-control it."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

For the next three workweek, Noah and Tin worked out a function of expanding Noah's mana reserves and going out to hunt, one day inside and one day outside. Everyone in the inn became mindful of the radiation pattern, as every early day, from breakfast to lunch, Tin's moans filled the building. It became quite the story around town, many people coming to the inn just see if the rumors were genuine. Tin would rob Noah of all of his stamina and they'd perform the waste pipe and replenish operation with the mana potions. The next day would be spent gathering herbs to make more potions and textile to sell, and uphold cultivating Noah's combat abilities.

To exhaust his mana, Noah experimented with his second enchantment. For the first calendar week, he focused on perfecting the knockoff's movements and voice communication. He tried to get it as normal looking as possible, having it walk around the way and imitate several action. Unfortunately, since it was just an delusion, it couldn't actually meet anything or affect its surround, and while he could address through it, he couldn't see what it saw or get word what it heard. Unless it was in pile at all times, he was piloting blind. Strangely, Tin said that the dead ringer had the same flavor as him, while when he was invisible, his aroma was concealed.

He spent the future week learning how to run both his material and bull consistence at the Saami sentence. He started out small, first with fingerbreadth movements, then limb movements, then upped it up to having it walk around the way while he stood by the bed, which was surprisingly difficult with all of the muscles required to rest standing erect. By the end of the week, he and the clone could walk simultaneously.

In the third calendar week, he added his first spell to the mix, moving the clone around as he performed a job while invisible. The mana expenditure was massive, so much so that the rate of his military reserve increasing was slowed, and it became more difficult to tell how often progress he was making. Despite that, they proved to be a golden combination. The clone could act as a sodding bait, while Noah would aggress in his inconspicuous form.

His first spell didn't just make him invisible, it affected whatever target he touched, concealing and also creating illusions to hide any changes he made, like step, while the second could create a fully legerdemain, but of himself, one that had a near physical presence. These spells, they were Sir Thomas More than just bending light. It seemed like they were two half of a single trance.

When he wasn't grooming, Noah went around town to gather information about the commonwealth, magic, and monsters. In a little back country village like this, the termination were far from bountiful or even honest. He would suffer to move to a bigger urban center to get better-quality information. The Utheric capital would be his best bet, but it was week of change of location and preparations had to made for a tripper like that.

Try as he might, it was unvoiced to remain unnoticed. Rumors about him circulated through the Ithiel Town, with people he had never met knowing his name. He would walk down the street and fair sex would flash and blow kiss, even trying to seduce him. Men would smirk and nod in favorable reception as they passed by, a means of displaying respect. Even the old ma'am at the pharmacy would tease him. When Tin went out, she'd wear a lens hood to conceal her identicalness. It wasn't an nonesuch situation. If he was to be known throughout the village, he wished it would be for something a little more heroic.

.

.

.

practice of medicine

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.

.

The spring rain were dramatic, passionate, the lifeblood of mother Nature as she fully awoke from her winter slumber and prepared for summertime. Yet at the moment, the rage with which the enlarged drops fell was not appreciated, for they numbed Noah's fingers as he gripped his sword and made him shiver as his apparel became worthless from the damp. It was also unmanageable to see, splashing against his face and blurring his vision, but he kept his regard focused on his enemies.

He was out in the forest, Tin having retreated as per his orders. Before him, a trio of bandit, all with arm raised. Noah was armed with his shortsighted sword, unable to wield his main steel, due to an arrow stuck in his articulatio humeri. When he was initiatory struck from behind, he had hoped it was simply a Orion's honest error, but the bloodthirsty smell on the men's faces told him that he was their genuine target. They probably robbed and killed adventurer for a life, and he couldn't imagine their female victim dying quickly.

Should he just ferment unseeable and dispatch them before they could retaliate ? No, there was something he wanted to try, and a human opposer would be the complete test subject. He raised his liberate deal towards his expression, breaking the stalemate with one of the bandit firing his loaded arrow. Noah deflected it with his shield, the most he could do with his spite shoulder joint. He swept his hand across his heart as if trying to clear his vision, activating both of his spells. However, rather than splitting from his illusionary clone, he wore it, syncing his front with the bandits not even noticing a difference.

One of the Sagittarius's cohorts, this one armed with a large fight axe, charged towards him. Noah had his clone withdraw a justificatory stance, while he pulled away, stepping ahead and stabbing the man through the heart before he could fix his cut. The archer shot another arrow as Noah stepped back into his deception, but he again blocked with his shell. Noah, with his bowel movement concealed, drew several small knives from his bang and hurled them at the archer. His mana clung to the vane, rendering them inconspicuous as they buried themselves in the archer, taking him out of the game.

All that was left was a swordsman, and he knew that something was going on. Two of his cohort were absolutely, but he didn't understand how. He pushed his confusion aside and charged towards Noah. Noah blocked and parried his onrush with his sword, wanting to take his time and savor the fight. He was so habituate to fighting monsters, he wanted to make sure as shooting his acquisition in killing other humans hadn't gone dull, to refamiliarize himself with their singular movement and technique.

He was allowing the bandit to push him back, though there was little he could do to terminate it. His opposite was armed with a two-handed sword, so he could deliver more force than Noah could muster with his short blade. He strung the brigand along, using repetitive, slow front, laying a fake trail as to what his side by side move would be. He made a broad swing from the side, and the brigand automatically blocked, however, the blade never came, it was only Noah's illusionary arm. His real arm swung from the opposite side, slashing the bandit across the stomach.

He staggered back, cursing in pain and trying to translate what happened. Noah closed in and the bandit tried to open some space with a powerful cleave. Noah blocked with his sword, at least, that's what the brigand saw. In truth, he had blocked with his shield, allowing him to thresh the bandit across the wrist without him even seeing the onset coming. Blood poured freely, the man's hand now useless. He released a cry of exertion and tried a one-handed golf shot. The sword sliced through Noah's neck opening, just as the man had aimed for, but he knew something was wrong when no severed head fell, and what's more, he hadn't felt anything when he made the solidus. It was like he had hit aught but air. He raised his sword to block a baseball swing from Noah, but in reality, it was a stab, with Noah's blade piercing his pectus. Noah confirmed all three deaths and then called out to Tin.

"Do me a party favor and deplumate this arrow out."

"I'm afraid it'll hurt."

"I can palm it."

She was flighty, but she grabbed and arrow and ripped it out without issue, making Noah grimace in painfulness. She pulled out a red potion from her bag and poured it on the wound. In arcsecond, it scabbed over, with the tissue paper within stitching itself back together. These health potions were a real life-saver, miracles in a bottle.

"Thanks."

Noah once more checked the bodies, but their faces didn't match any wanted posters, meaning there was no bountifulness that he could collect with their head teacher. Tin went to function, stripping the bodies of everything utile. They were so used to this turn that he rarely needed to pay her orders.

"I think we should call off it a day. I don't think this rainwater is going to kibosh anytime."

"I agree,"Tin said.

They set off back towards the township, fantasizing of removing their hit it up dress and warming themselves beside a flame. They had plenty to carry, and the pelting made everything heavier, with the tot up common cold sapping their strength. By the prison term they reached the inn, even Noah was on his utmost peg, and felt weak. The sun hadn't fully set yet, but the cloud were so thick that it was almost pitch black out.

It was a relief to finally get inside and out of the rain, but Noah knew something was off. He felt woozy, his cerebration getting hazy.

"Don't tell me you two were out in that rain all day !"the innkeeper said when she saw them.

"We're going to stay in our room tonight. Can you have someone bring our meals up to us, along with spare firewood ?"

"Sure thing, dearie."

They proceeded up the stairs, but Noah had to finish halfway up. He was out of breath, and it felt like the room was spinning.

"master, is something untimely ?"

"I think I'm coming down with something. Help me up the stairs."

She lent him her articulatio humeri and they made their way up to their room. Before they even closed the doorway, Noah dumped his pack and weapon and began pulling off his dress. Tin locked the door and started a fire in the fireside. Once barren of his wet dress, Noah collapsed on the bed. The mattress was lumpy straw, the sheets were approximate like sandpaper, and the mantle smelled like wet dog no matter how many times it was cleaned, but Noah was grateful for them.

As the firing started to burn and fill the room with igniter and warmth, there was a knock on the door. Two fille de chambre stood remote, the innkeeper's girl, though they were younger than Tin. One of them held two trays of food for thought, and the other held an exceptionally heavy package of firewood. Noah hid himself beneath the mantle and Tin answered. As Noah had taught her, she kept the door capable just enough to take the food and firewood, and didn't allow them inside.

Tin brought him his meal and felt his forehead."master key, you're burning up."

"I'll be finely. Take off your clothes and tender yourself by the fire before you end up like me."

He watched her undress and the two of them sat on the bed, wrapped in mantle as they ate their dinner. It was hot sweat, the utter comfort food. Unfortunately, Noah was starting to happen it hard to swallow. By the time he finished, his breathing was becoming labored and his heart was beating irregularly. Noah was hoping it was just a cold, but this was starting to find much more intense and was coming on too quickly. Perhaps a disease indigen to this cosmos ?

Tin could see his experimental condition deterioration."original, you should get some sleep."

She took his tray and gently pushed him onto his book binding. Truth be told, as soon as his mind hit the pillow, he lost the specialty to move. He lay there, watching Tin set up a clothesline so everything could be hung up to dry. Once she was done, she added some more Grant Wood to the fire and slew under the blankets. Her naked torso met his and she curled up against him.

Noah closed his eyes, but while quietus was quick to come, it was unpleasant. Nightmares assailed him, a burning heat ravaging him both physically and mentally. He remembered tossing and turning throughout the Night, when the pain in his physical structure outweighed his fatigue. All of his brawn ached and spasmed almost around-the-clock, his belly felt like it was full of oil, and he couldn't escape his fever.

He finally awoke the future morning to the visual sense of rainfall pelting the window. His backtalk was as dry as ashes and he felt like he was going to die of crave, just like he had a few multiplication in the past. The rain, it had gotten him into this kettle of fish, but now he so desperately wanted it. He wanted to go out and vent the warmth that clung to him like a monkey on his back.

"Tin,"he murmured. His vocalization was syncope, as it felt like his clapper and throat would crack like clay."Tin,"he said again, putting all of his strength into it.

"master ?"

He saw her in his computer peripheral vision, but he didn't have the effectiveness to turn to her.

"Water."It was all he could say.

She brought him a cup of water, and in his impatience, he tried to pull it from her hands, if only to get it to his mouth a nanosecond Oklahoman. His clumsy reach was ignored and she helped him change state on his back so that he could drink. It was some of the best water he had ever tasted, and he felt some life history return to him, if only a little.

"More."

She brought over the pitcher to refill the cup, but he simply snatched it and drank the totally thing.

"How do you feel ?"

"Everything hurts, I feel like I'm on flame. I think I'm gon na … gon na …"He covered his oral cavity and frantically pointed to the chamber pot in the corner of the room. He had detested the mien of such an unsanitary matter since he first arrived at this inn, but finally, he was grateful to deliver it. Tin brought the pot over and he vomited everything he drank, plus terminal night's dinner party. He fell back on the bed, with his stomach feeling even worse. He had gotten a nasty flu a few yr ago, but even that wasn't as bad as this. This was like malaria combined with detox."Ugh… piece of ass. In every lifetime, getting throw up suck ass."

"I'll go get the innkeeper. She may know what's wrong."

"No. Me being barf leave-taking us vulnerable, and the more citizenry know about it, the greater the danger. If I can't fight, we're easy prey. If I'm still in this stipulation by tomorrow, then you can get help."

"What can I do ?"

There were plant that could avail with cold-blooded and flu symptoms, but his mind was too hazy to remember them."Pine acerate leaf tea, like I made by the river, and see if someone in the kitchen will make me some hot oatmeal."

Tin was hesitating, not wanting to leave his English, but she obeyed. With her gone, Noah tried to fall back to sleep, but could only get a pallid caricature that was nowhere near as restful. For Noah, it felt like his brain was being fed on by ants. He spent the rest of the day in bed, passing in and out of consciousness. Tin remained with him whenever possible. She used damp rags to keep his febricity in confirmation, and hung a kettle over the fire, making tea for him whenever he asked, though his thirst was quenchless.

twelve noon came around, and Noah sat up to eat his dejeuner, though it was a pipe bowl of soup. Normally, hoi polloi ate whatever the house special was at the clock time, but by paying special, guest of the inn could parliamentary procedure fussy foods, at to the lowest degree, within ground. The broth went down promiscuous, but the meat and vegetable felt like cacti rolling down his pharynx. As he ate, Tin helped wipe the swither from his consistency. His patch on the bed would need some time to dry out. When he had finished eating, he simply sat with his head in his hands, taking deep breaths and trying to dismiss the throbbing pain.

Tin leaned against his back."Please, what can I do to aid ?"

"You're doing heap for me already."

"There must be more that I can do."

"wellspring it hurts me to say this, but I'll want your assistance using that chamber pot."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

"Aye, this is springburn all right."Noah opened his eyes, finding the innkeeper examining him, with Tin standing in back. The woman was holding a handkerchief over her nose and mouth, and not touching him directly, instead with one of the rags Tin used.

"That's really bad, isn't it ?"Tin asked.

"It's not proficient. I know four others in town who have it and they are suffering as well. It always manages to down a few masses each year. My quondam once had it and he nearly died."

Noah saw it, Tin's shoulders trembling."What can I do to help him ?"

"Exactly what you've been doing. I know of some teas that will help him palpate a bit better. He'll either make it or he won't, though I think his chances are good."

"How much clip would I have if it were to be fatal ? How long does this last ?"Noah asked.

"III Clarence Shepard Day Jr.. After that, you're in the clear."She got to her foundation and returned to the room access."I'm confining you both to this room until this blows over. The in conclusion thing I need is for everyone in the inn to get sick."She left the way and locked the door behind her.

"It would be better for her to just throw us out,"said Noah,"rather than simply set apart us and take a chance everyone. She must care us a bit, or at least want to protect her reputation. I told you to wait a day before calling her."

"But I did. Don't you retrieve ? You told me that yesterday."

"Ah, withdrawn, my apologies. The pouch under the floorboards, can you get it for me, please ?"

Tin lifted a escaped floor board, revealing a caries underneath, in which a leather pouch sat. She presented it to Noah and he opened it up to unwrap his telephone and pocketbook. While they were mostly useless in this new world, he held onto them in the hope that he could at to the lowest degree use them for parts and kept the phone off to carry through its energy. If he ever needed to startle an emergency fire, that lithium electric battery could come in handy. Luckily, he had his earbuds with him, so he could at least enjoy one piece of his old life. Tin stared at the gimmick, possessed by rarity. She had only seen it once or twice, the metal event, the Light Within it produced. Was it some kind of trick tool ? She wanted to ask what it was, but when Noah put in the ear buds, she assumed it was something that would help him get better.

He set his play list to random and lay back down, hoping that the music would distract him. He drifted once more into the breach between being asleep and awake, cursed with his fever even in his dream. During his waking import, he was either wassail water or throwing up. The only when understanding why nature wasn't calling was because he was sweating so profusely. The medicine didn't distract him as he had hoped, so much as permeate his unconscious mind. One strain in special came up,"household of the Rising Sun ”, and as that scuttle guitar strung out, a storage was pulled from the depths of his mind, another sentence he had heard that song.

It was before dawn, he had been driving out in the Nevada desert, out of the mint of Vegas. Noah was in his mid-thirties at the time, lamenting all the rubble the Cadillac was kicking up, so much of it sticking to the outside. He'd have to clean it up later, as his employers wouldn't be felicitous if he returned the company car in a inglorious shape. The eastern clouds were pinkening as he pulled to a blockage at the border of a ravine.

He got out of the car and circled back to the trunk, from which he removed a man with bound wrists and a bag over his head. He stumbled on his feet, and Noah pulled him to the border of the ravine and removed the bag over his look. The man's face was streaked with dried bloodline, some of which also stained his apparel shirt. He was perhaps in his 50, a aged in the fellowship.

"You fucking retard,"he spat. Noah ignored him and turned up the radio so he could get wind the rest of the song. The exterior of the car was an antique 70's model, worth its weight in gold, but the interior had been upgraded into the Bodoni age. When he returned to the man, it was with a gun in his hand."Killing me will just hump up your life and whoever threw me under the bus. You really think Alejandro can lease power ? Once this gets out, the streets will become bloodbaths and your head word will end up stuck on a pike."

"In all likelihood,"said Noah,"but it'll be fun to watch."

"You're will to lead off a war just because it'll be fun ?"

"Whatever happens is the break of whoever hired me. That doesn't mean I don't like it, though. It's the little things that topic. You need to enjoy the extra little endowment like this."He flicked his gun towards the car, where the vocal was still playing."I once heard someone say that this is the best strain for driving with mortal in the luggage compartment of your car. It is certainly a yummy coincidence."

"The irony of your ilk : people like you think you'll do heavy in our concern because you have no moral, no hesitation, but it gets you killed so quickly. It's the people who actually believe in something that make it, that have a line they never cross, no matter how all-fired their hands get."

"That's what's nice about my way of life, I feel no need to stick around. But even I believe in a bit of something."

The man laughed and acclaim on the earth."What could you believe in ?"

"Mercy. I'm letting you enjoy the dayspring, after all."

The sun broke free of the visible horizon, and as its sparkle was soaked up by the land, a gunshot rang out across the desert.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

Once Noah had fallen asleep, Tin sat beside him and freshened the damp rags that were opposing his fever. It was all she knew how to do when individual was ill, and it came from memory board of when she was the victim, though benignity was rare to come to her in those vulnerable times. It pained her to be so useless, to not know how to help. virtually of everything she had done was just obeying his book of instructions.

As she wiped away his sweat, her center fell to his let on manhood, and lust fluttered through her, a tactual sensation that Noah had introduced her to. Their subroutine had been disturbed by this sickness, as yesterday was the day she was supposed to serve him train his mana. She cherished those Clarence Day, when she could finally help him in the way she knew best, when she got to experience euphory.

Women would always flock to her master, flirting with him, trying to ask over themselves into one of his"workouts ”. It terrified her, that she might be discarded for someone else, having lost her value. When she and Noah met those distaff venturer, she saw everything she could not do in Mira, and everything she could do in Beth, rendering her obsolete.

She lowered her head and began performing felatio, slurping up the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks from his sweat. She did it often when he slept, compelled by her lust but also hoping that it was helping him feel unspoilt, each sexual climax forming a shell against the pain of his pyrexia. It was something she could do for him. If Noah was aware of it, he wasn't saying anything.

As her head bobbed up and down over his lap, Noah was sinking farther and farther into his mind, while being pursued by the music from his telephone. Once to a greater extent, a lone guitar was playing, and what minuscule awareness his mind still had tried to remember what it was from. Ah, the lyrics, yeah, this was pink Floyd,"Wish You Were Here ”. It was his wife's favorite, one of his past wife, that is. He played it at their wedding and her funeral. He could think the sunny sky overhead when they cut the bar, and the somber clouds that matched the vividness of her jewel casket as it was lowered into the ground. He remembered the nutrient served at both occasions. But what was her name ? They danced to this song, but he couldn't remember her face. She loved the golden oldie, always playing them while she worked in the garden. Didn't they have a son together ? No, that was someone else.

Noah's mind continued to slue through fourth dimension, each song conjuring up a memory. He remembered studying at MIT while listening to Two Steps From Hell. He remembered the stereo blaring Metallica when his convoy was blown up in Syria. He remembered Mozart playing in the hospital as he died from pancreatic cancer. He wasn't aware of the grumble escaping his lips, recalling conversations from across time and space.

When next he woke up, it was night out, and the earbuds felt like hot coal in his ears. He looked at his speech sound, now with a quarter assault and battery left. How many Sir Thomas More times could he mind to music before his telephone set just became a useless pulley block ? He put his header back on his pillow, instead listening to Tin's breathing as she slept soundly beside him.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

A knocking on the threshold shocked Noah from his slumber, and he would have got sat up, if not for the throbbing pain in all of his muscles. He groaned and fell back on the pillow.

"Who is it ?"he asked.

"It's Holly, I've got your food !"Ah, one of the chambermaids.

"Please, just leave it there."

Noah slowly sat up and released another groan. Wait a second gear, he felt better. He felt like he just gotten the shit beaten out of him for three hours straight, but he could finally move around. His febrility had lessened and the soreness was due to the strain it had put on his body.

"Tin, let's eat breakfast."She didn't respond."Tin ?"

He turned to her, seeing a redden face, moist with lather. The mollify respiration he had listened to last nighttime was now an anguished pant."Shit. Tin can you hear me ?"

He tapped her cheek a few times and her eyes opened."Master ?"

"There you are. I need you to order me everything you feel, everything that hurts."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I haven't started the tea yet."She tried to sit up, but he stopped her. She was so weakly that he almost didn't need to.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine, but you caught the springburn malady. I'm going to get you through this."

"It's so hot in here. Don't worry, I'll wash away your lather. I just need to…"She trailed off and tried to roll out of bed, and Noah had to seize her before she could lessen to the floor.

"Tin, can you hear me ? How many fingers am I holding up ?"

He showed her his bridge player, but she just looked at it with glazed over center."Are we going to go Richard Morris Hunt demon today ?"

‘ Shit, it's hitting her even harder than it hit me. She's already delirious.'“ No, we're staying here. Everything is fine, I'm all better now. Just leave everything to me."

He climbed over her to get out of bed, but as soon as he stood up, he fell to his knee joint, gasping for air. He was on the mend, but he was still in a shitty situation. He crawled over to his backpack and pulled out a wellness and mana potion. He had tried drinking them before, to see if they could cure him, but was met with unsuccessful person. He downed them both, and the pain in the ass racking his physical structure subsided. His military capability and stamina were still close to zero, but at least the soreness was gone.

The first affair he needed to do was get her fever down before she suffered serious damage. succeeding to the bed was the backwash river basin, filled with sheet. Just as Tin had done when he was barf, he draped them across her consistence.

"professional, your fever,"she mumbled. She began trying to put the tabloid on him instead, and he had to repeatedly stop her and pin down her arms.

"Just hold still, that's an order."

Noah got dressed and limped over to the threshold. Outside were two food trays and a pitcher of refreshed water supply. He brought them in, and having already experienced the painfulness of this disease, he brought the pitcher over to Tin, rather than just a cup. He lifted her head and poured the H2O between her pale lip. She released sighs of substitute between each gulp, and every clock time he thought she was done, she'd list her principal forward, as if trying to seize it like a dog not wanting to surrender its toy.

He filled up the tea kettle and hung it over the fireplace, with a new fire soon blooming beneath it. When he was sick, he hated the attack, the heat it gave off. It was the only time he was grateful for the draftiness of the room, all the slight trap for refreshed air to slip in, but it was needed. As he waited for the kettle hole to churn, he retrieved Tin's breakfast and once more lifted her drumhead. It was warmly porridge, probably made with him in mind, but now perfect for Tin.

"fourth dimension for breakfast, Tin. Can you open your sassing for me ?"He brought a spoonful to her mouth, but as soon as she smelled it, she instinctively turned away, whimpering."I know your throat and abdomen hurt right now, but you need to eat. You need all the food you can get."

She gave in and he fed her bit by bit, washing it down with some tea. He then scarfed down his own breakfast and looked outside. He was thinking clearly now and knew what would avail Tin's hazard with this sickness.

"Tin, listen to me. I'm going to go out and get something that will help you experience better. I'll be back soon, and until I get back, I want you to stay in bed. Can you reprize that spine to me ?"

"No… passe-partout should provide errands to me."Once more, she tried to sit up and he pushed her back down.

"Tin, you're sick and you need to rest. I'll take care of everything."

"I can do it ! Please let me do it !"She was crying, trying to get off his grasp. He held her against him, waiting for her pitiful flailing to stop. She soon went limp and he laid her back down.

"Listen, I edict you to remain in this bed, do you infer ? I ORDER you to continue in this bed !"She gazed at him with swimming center and nodded."right, now go back to sleep. I'll be back before you wake up."

He got up and took a rich breath, then cast his invisibility. The innkeeper would feed him a hard sentence if she saw him outside of his way, might even recoil him out. While his trick was ideal, his physical structure was so sapless that his mana might not last long. He left the way and locked it behind him. The hallway outside was empty, but he could take heed good deal of people in the bar. Getting down the steps was difficult, as his head was sent spinning with each stair. No one noticed his presence, and he made it through the breakfast crowd and exterior. It felt nothing short of euphoric to catch one's breath fresh air and soak in the sun.

A bit of his effectiveness had returned, so he released his spell and made his way across town to the pill pusher. interior, the old woman watched as he looked through a card of her product, ***********ing works that helped with everything from fever to upset stomach.

"I'm guessing that girl of yours is under the weather, and you're not looking very healthy yourself."

"It's been a grating few days."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

Tin was on the storey when he returned to their way at the inn. The door actually struck her forefront when he opened it.

"Goddammit, I told you to stay in bed."He put down the bag of herb and rolled her onto her back."Tin, wake up."

"I'm sorry, maestro, I'll tend to the horses in just a moment."

She was completely out of it. He scooped her up and carried her to the bed. He needed to clear some practice of medicine for her, but he couldn't do it while she was crawling around like this. He took the blanket and deplumate off a prospicient striptease, then used it to tie her wrist to the bedframe. Restraining her was not an idealistic answer, but at to the lowest degree the material wouldn't leave a mark.

A strange look appeared on Tin's face as she looked from her wrist to Noah, almost doleful, and she spread her branch for him."I understand, sea captain. I won't cry this time."Apparently, he wasn't the world-class person to tie her to a bed.

"Christ, even your hallucination are depressing,"Noah muttered.

He laid the blanket over her and left her on the bed, then went to work. In the time since he first started making his own potions, he had bought a cheap compounding kit, including a mortar and muller. He wasn't a skilled herbalist like the apothecary, but well-nigh of the plants in this Earth were just like those he knew from his past lives, and had built up peck of selection knowledge. people easily faded from his retentiveness, but knowledge and expert skills were held onto. The spare-time activity of education was one of the few riding habit he chose to continue in every lifetime, as it was the closest he could get to finding substance in the multiverse.

As he toiled, Tin continued to mussitate in her sleep, occasionally crying. Nothing Noah heard could be called pleasant. He eventually stopped to check on her, see if he could shake her from her nightmares.

"Tin, wake up, I have tea."

"No ! No !"She started flailing, knocking the cup from Noah's hand. He grabbed her and pinned her down."No, please stop ! It hurts ! momma, it hurts ! Make him stop !"

"Tin, snap out of it !"

The shoemaker's last thing he needed was someone overhearing this and misunderstanding. He covered her mouth, waiting for the incubus to end. Perhaps he should receive picked up something to calm her. Would he bear to completely obligate and gag her to keep her still and quiet ? That would likely push her further into the psychotic belief, and with this disease ransacking through her body, the stress might stamp out her. How could he chill out her down ?

He left her to recall a cup of water and splashed it on her face. That seemed to escape from her awake."Huh ? original ?"

"Tin, say my name."

"N-Noah."

"commodity, you're back. How do you feel ?"

"It… hurts."Fresh binge began to pour out down her cheeks.

"I'm making medicine to help you feel better, but there is something else I want to try."He retrieved his sound and put the earbuds in her pinna. He had a playlist of easy take heed songs, mostly subservient and soundtracks. He ***********ed one,"Vide Cor Meum ”, one of his front-runner. It was gentle, set at a low bulk, but the strait of the strings and spokesperson, right in her capitulum, made Tin freak out.

"What is this ? What is this ? !"she exclaimed in shock. Her first instinct was to pull out the earbuds, as if swatting a mosquito when hearing its buzzing, but Noah stopped her.

"It's medicine, it's just music. Have you ever heard it before ?"

"Music ?"

She thought back, trying to remember while her thinker was still hazy. Her fellow slave, they used to receive piece of work Sung when they toiled in the field, sort of a mean of expressing empathy and solidarity, that they all shared the Saami pain. She knew a boy who used to run the flute, though not very well, and once, she heard the wife of one of her former masters playing a mouth harp from within her mansion. They could be called music, but they all paled in comparison to what she was listening to now.

It was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard. In her soul, a thirstiness was quenched that she had never noticed before, and she felt as though a summertime breeze was rolling through her body, sending tremble of cloud nine up her spine that made her forget her fever. It left Tin stunned, her eyes wide as dinner dental plate with her mouth hanging open. She looked at Noah, seeing a rare smile on his face.

He rubbed the top of her fountainhead and gently laid her back down."Just ease now, ok ?"

She nodded, staring up at the ceiling as the song continued. Noah resumed his work, eventually completing his medicine. It wasn't a therapeutic, but it would avail cut down her symptoms. For the future three days, Noah looked after Tin, doing all the matter for her that she had done for him. Thanks to the medicine, he was able to prevent her from hallucinating, though she still had nightmares from her life-time of ill-treatment. When that happened, Noah would put the earbuds in her ears and act as a song for her, and she would immediately resolve, as if hypnotized.

For Noah, hearing euphony had flooded his mind with memories, making him relive view of his past times liveliness when he heard those birdcall, but for Tin, it was the contrary. Having lived a life without music, the note of hand and voices filled every aspect of her mind, forcing everything else out, every bad sentiment and retention. When she was awake, she'd listen while watching Noah wee-wee her medicine or practice his conjuration, and when Noah looked at her, there would always be a grinning on her face.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

It had been a week since Noah fell ill, and he and Tin were going for a walk of life around the hamlet. His force had returned, but she was still weak, and hopefully some fresh air and exercise would help her feel better. They had been cooped up in that room for so recollective, and the beautiful weather condition was just what they needed. Normally, Tin would walk behind Noah, as a right hard worker, but today, she was bold, hanging onto his arm. She claimed it to be to assist her walkway, that she was watery and needed to lean on him, but the smiling on her facial expression told of her dishonesty. Noah allowed it, as she had taken such commodity care of him when he was sick and it was his flaw she fell ill after him. He certainly owed her.

What bothered him, though, were the looks they were getting. It had been a week since she had last"helped him"with his magic training, but the two of them were still a bit of a celebrity match, so when they saw the way Tin held onto Noah, they all grinned like they had just heard a unsporting joke. There was a saying going around, a caper, that even those who had never met Tin had heard her voice.

"Master, when I was macabre, I'm sorry for misbehaving."

"Huh ? Where's this coming from ?"

"I just… hope you didn't hear me say anything that would make you intend any less of me. I'm indisputable I talked in my sleep."

Noah didn't even hesitate."I don't know what you're talking about. You were quiet as a church mouse the whole time."She halted and let go of his arm, and he turned back to face her."Why ? Did I talk in my slumber ?"

Tin opened her mouth and stopped. The things she had heard her victor say when he was hallucinating, both outstanding and terrible affair, many of which she couldn't understand, such as when he started speaking early languages or reciting lines from textbooks.

"No, other than cursing."

"That sounds about right."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

They climbed up a hill overlooking the village, using a fallen log as a judiciary while they soaked in the scenery.

"This is some overnice countryside,"Noah said.

"I suppose so. This is the only matter I know. I have nothing to equate it to."

"I've seen what happens when nature is taken for granted, when everything is used up without any thought of the future. It is an ugly, nauseating thing. I try to make believe myself appreciate nature whenever I can."

"Where was that ?"

Noah picked the figure of a Town from one of the maps."Nellow."accuracy be told, it was multiple solid ground, in every timeline.

"Is that we're you're from ?"

"Yes."

Tin looked at him, the man who she called her master. She knew when he lied. She saw him do it to everyone he talked to, especially her. There weren't any William Tell for her to read, he never stumbled or hesitated, and she had seen it exploit sentence and time again, but there was something about his eyes, a hollowness she thought she saw. She had tried asking about his past times, but his gaze was always vacuous, even when he spoke with a grin. He never asked her about her own past, but it was zilch she wasn't used to. She had grown up being treated as an object, both a instrument and a toy. confidant conversation was not something a slave should expect from their passe-partout, but she had never had a master that made her feel this way, that was so kind to her.

"M-master…"she stammered.

He turned to her, trying to remember the end time he heard her talk so nervously."Yes ?"

"Please, forgive my cheek, but I know you're lying to me. I beg you, tell me where you came from, the things you've done, anything. I only wish to know more about you."

He stared at her, unsure of what his following relocation should be, but as he saw the wetness of her centre, his fear waned."I talked in my eternal rest, didn't I ?"

"Please forgive me for lying to you, but some of the matter I heard… I didn't think you'd want someone like me to know."

"It doesn't go well when I tell the Truth. Being honest has brought me cipher but trouble."

"If you refuse to severalize the truth, I can live with that. I can know with lies, as long as they come from you. All I want is something I can paint in my creative thinker, a fit that I can see you in."

Noah looked up at the sky."I grew up near the glide, and my Fatherhood had a boat. He wasn't a fisherman or merchant, rather, it was a pursuit. In the summer, when the atmospheric condition was adept, my kinsperson would go out on the piddle and go sportfishing, simply for the enjoyment of it. We'd catch mackerel and try to use them as bait to catch big rockfish, but it never worked out. One time, we brought our dog with us, and I remember finding a grape-sized tick on his eyebrow and putting it on my hook, seeing if I would catch anything. You wouldn't believe how bright it is out on the water."

Tin moved closer to Noah, clutching his arm and leaning her head on his shoulder. At Night, when they lay in bed together after having sex, she would often cuddle up to him just like this."Please, secernate me more."

So Noah regaled her, telling her what it was like to grow up being poor, what it like to grow up being rich. He recalled fond memory board of his siblings and holidays as an exclusively child. He told her of how his parents loved and supported him, then how they screamed and beat him. He described puzzle car and the technology of the modern earth, and the fight for survival in the wake of the Revelation of Saint John the Divine.

Tin listened without saying a thing, never questioning his contradiction, only enjoying the stories that Noah wove and what they told her about the man he was.

.

.

.

taking over

.

.

.

Noah and Tin, having fully recovered from the springburn sickness, set out early on a beautiful day. summer was upon them, so the mornings had lost much of their thrill, though everyone paid for it in lather later in the day. Unlike before, when they roamed aimlessly through the forest to hunt ogre, they had a specific locating in mind. Noah had heard rumors of an abandoned mine that was taken over by goblins. A beehive, a nest, a colony, whatever it could be called, it spelled trouble for the village. Goblins ate and bred like rats, so if they managed to find a good situation to dig in, they could bolster their number in very petty sentence. They had claimed the area respective times before and had to be flushed out, and while attempts had been made to seal or destroy the mine, the goblins always found a way back in.

They were following one of the maps Noah had bought, with several pieces of advice written down that he had received from former adventurers. It would lead a day to reach out the mine, so they exercised restraint and avoided fighting monstrosity whenever potential. Hopefully this mine would be a bang-up source of revenue in scavenged weapons, meaning it would be best to move around light and not gather along the way.

They arrived at the mine early in the morning of the trace day. Finding a secure place to set up cantonment had been difficult, for this was the territory where the goblins roamed. The mine was carved into the base of one of the small mountains. At one time, it might own been a fairly decent surgical operation. There were plenty of signaling of the buildings that would have stood around it, now reduced to piles of kindling. There had once been a wooden shack built around the entranceway, sorting of like an air lock, perhaps to celebrate the rain out some clock time ago, but it was just a rickety skeleton in the cupboard now. Many of the material and abandoned equipment were harvested to make weapons and roadblock for use against interloper, with a fistful of hob keeping a constant watch.

Noah and Tin were hiding nearby, scouting the entrance."You wait here and I'll take out the precaution. I'll wave you over when it's all clear."

"Yes, Master."

Noah concealed himself and advanced towards the mine. He counted seven goblins in total. One was on the roof of the shack erected around the entree, perched like an owl with a bow in handwriting. Two more than were sitting on the wooden walls at the border of the refugee camp. The remaining four were at the entryway, though they were preoccupied with a game of die.

Noah went for the one no one would notice, the sniper above. He approached the incoming without fear, invisible and unhearable to the goblins keeping sentry duty, but that would change. The only way to the sniper was to mount up onto the roof of the shack, but it was so weathered and flimsy, it looked like it couldn't livelihood more than the weight of one goblin. However, it was deserving taking the risk. He reached the face of the shed and began the raise, using the mossy cliffside as a secondary ravel to help minimize the weight he put on the old wooden boards.

He was careful with every placement of his hired hand and feet, so as to disturb as small as potential. His head game would conceal the soft touch he made, but only within a certain reach. He had experimented with Tin's aid, finding that footmark would be revealed after ten footstep, so he had to appease within that range of a function to preserve them within his illusion. Besides, if he ended up ripping a board rightfulness out of the wall, his illusion wouldn't be able-bodied to conceal it. It could conceal touch of his activity, but not duplicate objects. The ascent was difficult. The wood of the shack had frayed over the years and riddled his hands with splinters, while the severe clay on the drop crumbled and made it difficult to get a unanimous cargo hold. Regardless, he managed to climb up onto the roof.

The roof itself was like thinly ice, and if he ended up breaking through or snapping any of the ray, the goblin would surely feel it, even if he couldn't hear it. Noah pulled a rock out of the drop and threw it into the foliation in the distance. The hobgoblin perked its head at the noise, and in that instant, Noah closed in and stabbed it in the back with his dead brand. It died before it could even voice its hurting.

Noah left it sitting there and climbed off the hovel, then snuck over to the two goblin sitting away from the entrance. They looked bored as can be, struggling to appease awake. Noah approached the first one, leaning against one of the wooden walls. He dispatched it with his knife, striking the base of the brain stem. The injury was diminished and the hob simply went limp, never feeling a matter. To its friends, it would search like it had simply dozed off. Noah slew the other goblin the Lapp way, without creating any noise or flutter.

Finally, he approached the ingress, where the four were still gambling. He stood over them, the sun passing through him perfectly and its rays illuminating their biz. He ***********ed his longsword for this, even doing a few practice baseball swing to figure out the scope and violence required. When he was fulfill, he gave a mighty slash, beheading all four beasts at once. Their bodies dropped to the flat coat and Noah released his patch, then waved Tin over.

As he stood safety device, she searched the bodies, and for each one, cut off their right ear. nearly monster had some useful body character that could be sold, like their hides for wearable or their pith as nutrient, but aside from collectors of grotesqueness like skulls and other matter to put on display, nothing about the goblin was vendable. However, since they were such a nuisance, their species had an on-going bounty. The local baron would pay adventurers for every goblin they killed, and their right pinna were the proof. The goblin also sometimes contain valuables, such as weapons, candela, and even coins. Tin searched them all, and whatever goods she collected went into her backpack.

"Ready to go in ?"Noah asked.

Tin nodded."I'll follow you wherever you lead, Master."

From her pack, she drew a lantern and lit it. Noah would lead, but she would ply the light. This meant that he couldn't simply melt and pull up stakes her at a safe distance while he picked off the goblins one by one. He needed her right beside him so that he could see what he was doing, and would make frustration the goblins drawn to the light.

They entered the mine, and were immediately assailed by the stink. This was the first time Noah or Tin had ever seen a goblin nest, so the smelling was new to them. It reeked of sewage and rotting core, much of the latter probably human.

"This air might be toxic. recount me if you start getting dizzy, because if one of us loses consciousness, we're both doomed."

They delved into the sight with Tin lighting Noah's way. Everywhere, there were the clay of animals that the goblins had eaten, picked down to the os. In a way, the goblins provided a worthful serving to the ecosystem. Because monsters and animals spawned both organically and through magic circles, the landscape should throw been buried under all of their army corps. Instead, the scavenging wolf would take their uncovering to their den, continuously sweeping the woods clean.

They soon came upon the maiden arm sleeping accommodation, just like in an anthill. It was modest, about the size of an average sleeping room. interior, several hobgoblin were sleeping atop a mountain of pelts. most of them were female or younglings. It wasn't proper mutant to kill such prey while they slept, but this was an extermination job, so things like honor held no meaning.

"It would probably be better if you didn't vigil this,"Noah whispered to Tin."Look away and listen for any approaching."

She did as ordered, a mournful look on her face as she averted her optic while keeping the illumination of the lantern focused into the bedchamber. Noah drew his short blade and began stabbing the fiend in their eternal sleep. Each fourth dimension, he'd go straight for the head, so that they would die without making a sound. He was steady, methodical, taking them out one by one with none of his victims even suspecting a matter. It was unnervingly soft, and when he was done, he harvested their ears.

"maestro !"

Noah heard it with a monstrous scream. He ran back out into the tunnel as a goblin charged from deeper within, armed with a wooden spear. Noah pushed Tin out of the way of its initiative thrust, then sliced off the top of its head with a smasher to the temple. More must have heard its cry, because another two goblins came running at them.

The low that tried to draw close swung at Noah with a large dagger. He stepped out of its range and kicked the goblin in the breast, nearly sending it flying. The secondly blocked the golf stroke of his sword with a wooden ball club, but he forced it against the wall and push his knife into its bureau. Leaving it to die, he returned to the first, struggling to breathe, and ended its lifespan with his sword.

"Master,"Tin said, handing him a damp rag. He used it to pass over the blood off his hired hand while she looted the corpses.

They moved further on down into the tunnel, finding it expand into a turgid chamber and crotch out. There was still wad of mining equipment, but much of it was being used to hang food from. The body of both humans and beast had been skinned and were being cooked over bonfire. The goblin were jumping around and squealing in delight as the smell of their feast wafted through the mine. human being chassis cooked over a fire, it was a smell that took Noah back to some iniquity timelines.

Tin gasped in horror at the plenty and one of the goblins spotted them and squealed something in their bestial language. The twelve or so goblins in the chamber turned their attention to Noah and Tin and began to draw near, armed with the vane used for butchering their food. They chanted the like squeal, probably something along the lines of"more meat !"

"Tin, stand back."

He summoned his clone and sent it running to the right side as if to flank them. The goblins paid no care to the fact that their prey seemingly just split into two, and were drawn to the movement of the knockoff. With that opening, Noah attacked from their exposed side of meat with his longsword and beheaded three of the beasts. The goblins, sensing the deaths of their comrades, turned their tending back to Noah and swarmed in. He kept them at bay with across-the-board cut, while leaving his left side open to taunt them. One by one, they tried to aggress from the apparent subterfuge smirch, but he would off them before they could actually reach him. Any that got in close sufficiency to assault found their arm blocked by Noah's shield, and then his sword would slash at them from below and break open their stomachs open.

Once their ranks had been cut in one-half, they began to retreat back to the balefire. As this was their den, they didn't show their backs and instead tried to guard Noah off with sinister screech. Their guard duty was raised, and while they were stupid, they wouldn't declivity for the Same fast one as the others.

Noah cast both of his trance, and while he had his dead ringer remain where he was and pretend to be standing his ground. He snuck past the goblins and attacked from nates. He slaughtered three before the rest noticed, but as they couldn't see him, they could do nix but screeching in confusion. They made it too easy for Noah to finish them off. Even though the bedchamber had gone quiet, he waited several mo before releasing his spells.

"All clear."

Tin went to work, gathering up valuables. The blades might be worth something to the blacksmith, but they'd have to wash the dried descent off them first. As Tin searched the goblin cadaver, Noah looked around at the other bodies being stored here. There were plenty of freshly killed world and animals that were waiting to be cooked, so it was possible that their pockets hadn't been picked yet. Noah dug through the slew of torso, ignoring their mephitis, but one of them caught his attention.

It was a boy, a bit new than him, and unlike the others, his limb were bound. He wasn't cold like the others. Noah checked his cervix, and while it was weak, he found a steady pulse. Wait a second, he had seen him before. Noah had gotten to know plenty of people around the town in the past month, and learned to recognize others. He often saw this boy with Beth and Mira, carrying a sword and dressed as an explorer. They frequently ate together at the Old Wineskin. Noah assumed they recruited him to bring together their party.

"Tin, I found a survivor."

He retrieved a health potion from his pocket and poured it down the boy's throat. As it took effect, Noah examined him. His clothes were good quality, but still the sort used by outdoorsmen. He had a decent bod, showing foretoken of training and hard work, but while there were callus on his hands, there were healing blisters from wielding a sword. He was probably a farmer, but came from money.

He at last woke up and looked around, struggling to see. Even with a bonfire nearby, this wasn't exactly the best place to wake up in.

"Where am I ?"

"You're in a goblin den. I'm guessing they must get struck you in the mind, giving you a nasty concussion. I gave you a healing potion, so your sight should probably clear soon. Hold on, I'll cut you loose."

He severed the boy's adhesiveness and helped him to his groundwork. For a present moment, he seemed back in well status, but as he looked around, he began to panic and hyperventilate, and Noah had to catch him before he could fall back down. Either this was entirely new to him, or he was realizing how close he was to the most gruesome of deaths.

"Calm down, everything is alright. I'm Noah and this is my hyponym, Tin."

"Did… did my father send you ? Are you here to deliver me ?"

"Your father ? No, we're just here to kill goblins and steal their loot. How did they get you ?"

The boy seemed to be able to brook upright on his own, so Noah let him go, though he was struggling to call back."I… was being trained in hunting by a local anaesthetic explorer that my father hired. I had just shot a boar with my bow… then I felt a monolithic pain in the neck in the binding of my head and blacked out."

"Your beginner, is he a noble ?"

"Yes, Ivan demerit. The mogul in charge of the Town. I'm cuss fracture, the next head."

"well, oath, we'll help you get back to townsfolk as soon as we're done with this mine."

"This mine ? What are you talking about ? We have to get out of here ! The goblins will be arriving any secondment !"

"I just finished taking caution of a good number them, see ?"Noah pointed to the bodies of his dupe."I'm confident in my ability. Besides, it took a lot of sweat to get here, so we're not leaving until our pockets are filled with kickshaw and we can barely take the air. Tell me, do you let any natural endowment ? Can you use conjuration or any weapons ?"

"I… I have some science with a sword."

"Some, huh ? So best sheath scenario, I can require you to have got off a goblin that might slip up on us from behind."Noah took off his haversack and forced it into Oath's hands."Otherwise, you're my new ring mule."

"You can't be serious !"

"You have to pay off the potion I used on you, and consider it a pull down payment for us getting you back to town. There is food and water in the bag, you can eat while you walk. Tin, present me a sword."She handed him a chipped hand-and-a-half sword, taken from one of the goblin, and he gave it to swearing."And I'm renting this to you, unless you would prefer to go unarmed. So, what do you say ? Either do some work, or I can ping you out, steal your apparel, and sell them to breed the toll of that potion. Which is it going to be ?"

"Fine, I'll help you,"he muttered.

"Smart choice."

The three proceeded deeper into the mine with Noah taking point. Every few second, goblins would set on, desperate to defend their rest home. Noah dispatched each of them with a stir of slice and stabs, leaving Tin to take in the goodness. Oath was understandably nervous, and it left him unable to even touch the slain gargoyles, so Tin ended up doing nearly of the employment and just putting the finds in his bag. At least he wasn't complaining. Noah eventually tasked him with collecting goods found in the tunnel, while Tin would stick to to looting corpses.

"I've seen you with Beth and Mira at the inn. Aren't you an explorer like them ?"Noah asked.

"I used to be a husbandman, I just started fighting ogre recently. I'm still not used to it. But this is incredible. I've never seen someone kill so many hobgoblin singlehandedly."

"fountainhead I can see how they might be able to get the drop on mortal if they ambush with master numbers, but when you face them head on, it's like fighting a group of ugly, feral shaver. Oh, speaking of which, I see another breeder."

The deal before them was nauseating, as what appeared to be a big green pig was nursing a bedding of pint-sized footling gremlins. While the male goblins went out into the forest to pile up, the females would tend to the younglings. Despite being to a lesser extent than half a infantry tall as neonate, they would pass full-size in just six months, hence their wolfish appetite. Noah dispatched the stock breeder and stomped out the younglings, much to oath's horror.

"They were just babies ! They couldn't even fight back !"

"They wouldn't have been child very long. In just a few month, they would be roaming the wood, killing whoever crossed their path and dragging them back here to be devoured. You and Tin are carrying packs full of the possession of their victim. I'm not judging them for doing as nature commands them to, I'm simply dealing with a threat before it can become a threat."A thunderous bellowing made the three teens cover their ear and wince."What the hell was that ?"

"A hobgoblin,"said Oath,"otherwise known as a hob chief. They're a uncommon breed. I hear that only one out of ten thousand goblins can grow to turn a hobgoblin. They're much bigger, smarter, and potent than a regular hob and can even learn conjuration. We need to get out of here, right now ! It's heard the expiry of the younglings and is coming for revenge !"

"perfective. He's probably hoarding the best poppycock. Let's go."

"This is insane ! The veritable hob may be weak, but hobgoblins are warm than humans in every way !"

"Your upshot are duly notable. I'm going after that tribal chief, and if you run, you'd better hope that he kills me. Let's go."

swearing turned to Tin, hoping that she might verbalise up, but her aspect was completely blank, as if she was daydreaming."You can trust my Master. He is strong and skilled."

Noah set off towards the reservoir of the noise, but they need not travel far, as their foe came to greet them from the profoundness of the mass. It stood over six animal foot improbable with a far Sir Thomas More brawny physique than the lower hobgoblin possessed. Like them, it wore a loincloth, but it was also garbed in pieces of stolen armour, including a metal helmet. Looking over a pair of boar-like tusks protruding from his mouth, he glared at the interloper with indescribable hatred.

"You will suffer for the demise of my kin !"he snarled.

"Huh, so it really is smarter. Oath, you remember your job, right ? If any other goblin come, you have to deal with them."

He didn't bother waiting for a answer and stepped forward with his longsword in hand. The chief was armed with the same type of sword, though with a larger steel. On the battleground, it would likely be used against cavalry, killing both riders and their horses with one gash. The top dog thundered towards him with his blade raised high. His amphetamine was certainly faster than a human being's, and with the military capability he was probably wielding, Noah didn't want to try his portion by blocking or parrying. He sidestepped when the cleave was made and attempted a sideways swing towards the goblin's head. It raised its handwriting, blocking with a metal arm safeguard, then forced him back.

It immediately closed the distance to make the Saami sideways swing Noah had, and with the sword's greater distance, he didn't have the time or room to get out of the way. Instead, Noah rushed towards the blade to block it with his own. As the goblin straightened his implements of war, his swing would go more powerful, so he had to intervene at the earliest potential moment.

light flew off their vane as Noah's sword halted the goblin's. It released one paw from the hilt of its sword, using what little momentum it had left to swing at Noah. He avoided its backhand shot by a hair's breadth and countered with a punch to the Adam's Malus pumila. It staggered back, wheezing in painfulness, but without dropping its defense mechanism. Its pain allowance was remarkable.

Noah gave it no time to recover and went on the offense, slashing and stabbing at the goblin while it did its skillful to block. In moments, it had regained its dual-hand travelling bag and was able to fend Noah off. It raised its sword for another cleave, but Noah's eyes caught a decided glow along the blade.

"It's using trick ! You have to dodge !"swearword shouted.

Noah's inherent aptitude had already told him the same affair, but while he was capable to get his body out the way, his sword met the hob's blade head-on and snapped. The beast's arm buried itself in the stone ground, shaking the entire cavern, and Noah rolled away to debar any barehanded onrush like before. He got to his pes, examining his weapon and the foe's. The swiftness of the goblin's swing had increased, as well as its effectiveness and the durability of his sword.

It must get been warrior magic, something he heard of while gathering information in Clive. Warrior magic was the ability to activate weapon skills that would improve their abilities in battle, such as cutting deeper and withstanding more power without breaking. He had witnessed magic a few times during the live month and had become familiar, but this was only his arcsecond time since he arrived that he was actually fighting against a magic exploiter. Perhaps it would be best to finish this combat while he was unharmed, rather than bear on pushing his luck. On the other hand, expletive hadn't seen his deception, and he wanted to keep it that way. He'd just sustain to lick harder with his physical abilities.

The goblin charged with his sword slightly raised to either cylinder block or blast. It wasn't glowing like before, but his conclusion plan of attack had shown that he could rein his magic in a fraction of second gear, so Noah couldn't risk being in the way when the future swing happened. Noah readied himself, still holding his broken sword. He came within the hob's mountain range and the steel swung diagonally towards his neck opening. Noah bolted forward, anticipating when the hobgoblin would be committed to the move. He swung his confused sword towards the goblin's wrists, making him intermit for the briefest moment to consider the scourge of disastrous harm, and that moment was all Noah needed to take in his short brand and clip him across the stomach while zooming past.

The wound was severe, having used the inactivity of the goblin's commission to sweep over the rampart of abdominal muscles and slice deep into the organs. The hob staggered, his gut spilling onto the land. Noah finished him off before he could regain any of his strength. He took a deep breather and listened for any attackers hiding nearby.

"Clear."

"Well done, Master,"Tin said while bowing. Beside her, expletive was in a daze.

As Tin went to work removing the goblin's armour and checking for personal possessions, Noah examined the brand used. It was a good vane, certainly sturdy, and he now needed a replacement for his longsword, but as he held it, his changed his psyche. His original longsword had the maximum permissible weight and size, and anything great in either category would hinder his movements too much.

Oath approached him."Where did you learn to fight like that ?"

"I've studied versatile dash and forms of combat throughout my life, including archery and swordplay, mostly out of boredom or for workout, and I've had great deal of experience killing. Your father pays people for every goblin multitude kill, correct ? Will I get extra if I bring him the pass of their headman ?"

"Don't worry, I'll tell him myself. He'll want to have it away about this."

"lord, I found something."He turned to Tin, who was holding up the hand of the hob to designate him the ring on his little fingerbreadth. She removed it and handed the ring to Noah, and he could immediately feel the magic within it.

‘ Huh, a magic band found in a hob burrow. What could possibly go damage ?'He gave it a closer flavor under the light of Tin's lantern and found a crest, depicting a carapace with a swan on it. It was the national symbol of Uther. There was also something written on the set with a foreign nitty-gritty."Oath, what do you shit of this ?"

"That's the tintinnabulation of an Utheric knight ! Anyone caught wearing one without being knighted can lose their script as penalisation !"

"I heard of those guys. They train as some stately school. Why so steep ?"

"The ring is gold, but is inscribed with a rare metal called avenium, which can riddle objects with very high-level spells. I once heard that a sword with avenium rune can hold more powerfulness than the ten best sword swords. Knight rings are inscribed with a spell that creates another globe where items can be stored."

"How many item ?"

"I heard it can store up to the same system of weights as the one who caries it, but you only feel the exercising weight of the ring."

Noah put on the band and channeled some of his mana into it. It was a unusual feeling, like he had just put his hired man into a block bag. He could see his hand, but not the objects he was touching. He felt a small bottle and closed his hand around it. The ring acknowledged that as a ***********ion and materialized the nursing bottle. It was entire of a chickenhearted liquid, probably some kind of potion, or it could just be olive oil.

"This'll come in handy."

"Just wearing that ring is a serious crime !"

"What ring ? I don't see a ring,"Noah replied as he stowed it in his air pocket."See ? No criminal offense is being committed. Now zip it, we're not done searching this mine."

The repose of the day was spent in those dark tunnels, searching for goodness. By the clip he had faced the hobgoblin, most of the early hob had already been killed, so there was little resistance. They found the bulk of their prize down in the lowest chamber, where the goblin appeared to receive been sleeping. The goblins were first-class stealer, stealing whatever they could get their hands on with travelers being their favorite quarry. There were arm hoard, base and barrelful of food, roofy and mountain chain, clothes and armor, pile of puppet, and a minor fortune in coins. He even found the armor and sword of the knight that the goblin chief had killed. This haul was better than Noah hoped, and while they couldn't carry all of it, the closed chain helped collect the best pieces.

When they finally stepped out of the mine, the sun was setting. There could still be goblin in the woods, making their way to the mine after a day of hunting, so the triplet wasted no prison term getting a dependable length to make camp. A Tree, nearly as thick as a schooltime bus, offered them shelter. They bedded down at its stem with its raised roots acting as rampart and a fire warding off anything that might try to assail during the night.

Dinner was traveler's rations, the criterion food for anyone camping in the wilderness. While he ate, Noah examined all of the items in the ring. There were numerous potions, unornamented solidification of men's clothes, some tools and knives, rations, and a few gold coins. He took a finisher tone at the armour and blade that the knight had been using. There wasn't much he could do with the armor. Minus some crustal plate he could use on his subdivision and pegleg, it was impractically gruelling for his fighting stylus, and considering how steep the punishment was for wearing the ring, getting caught with it would probably be a bad idea. Hopefully the blacksmith would be unforced to buy it.

The steel, on the early hand, was a definite prize. It was a longsword like Noah's broken one, but with an ornate guard and handle, as well as a stemma of rune going up the blade, inked with avenium. There was a spell imbued within it, he could palpate the magic, but it didn't react to his mana the way the ring did. It was probably illegal for him to possess, so it would be best kept in the ring, but once away from prying eyes, it would be an splendid trump card once he figured out how it worked.

"So how long have you been an adventurer ?"swearword asked.

"Several long time. Why ?"

"I was just making conversation. You said you studied respective unlike schools of fighting. Who taught you ? Where did you get your lessons ?"

"The town I grew up in, there were plenty of one-time adventurer leave to pass their skills on."

"And your parents ?"

"I haven't seen them since I set off from home to have my fortune."

"So, do you—"

"I suggest you stop for a instant and ponder why I'm not asking you doubtfulness about your life or trying to get to know you."Noah glared as him, unblinking."Think hard."Oath wisely closed his mouth.

They set out at aurora the next day, wanting to get out of the forest as soon as possible, to both avoid danger and reach out the shops before they closed for the night. It would take them about of the day to deliver to Clive, and that was without all the weight unit they were carrying, so they had to try and keep a good pace. By around midday, they reached a large undefended pasture, but before they could cross it, a grievance was made.

"I can't go any further !"Oath exclaimed.

"Master, please forgive me, but I too am at my limit."

"Well we've made considerable length, and I believe it's about lunch fourth dimension. Sure, let's stop here for a break."

Tin and curse settled at the bound of the pastureland under the shade of a tree and get up luncheon. While they worked, Noah took a manner of walking through the field to produce sure there weren't any marauder in hiding. It was when he reached the center that he stopped, hearing something. It was not the rustling of grass or the growling of a beast, but the neighing of horses. He looked into the distance and saw four men on horses break free of the timber and extend towards him with their sword drawn. Bandits ?

"Tin, take swearword and get back into the woods, deep enough that you can't even see me !"

Tin didn't understand, but when she heard the knight in the aloofness and the hollering of the approaching men, she hurried to her metrical foot and dragged cuss into the woods. With them out of the way, Noah faced the oncoming enemies.

"Thanks for the cavalry,"he said as his brushed his hand over his eyes.

He was rendered invisible while he sent off his clon, running to the face with its illusional blade drawn. The men were drawn to it, and one of them, armed with a bow, began trying to shoot it. Noah controlled the clone like a puppet on strings, and while it moved, he put the horse ring on his finger and activated it, materializing his bow and an arrow. It took him a minute to aim and release, striking the archer in the chest and sending him tumbling off his horse.

The other horseman realized their friend had been killed, but there was no time to reckon for the enemy archer. They had to close in on the young man with the sword. They tried to run him down with their blades outreached, but before they could coin their aim, another one of their social status was taken out with a well-placed injection. The two remaining men swung at Noah's clon, but for the sake of appearance, he had it dodge while he took out the third man. Only one man was left, but he didn't bother going after the clone. He was smarting enough to cut his red ink and flee back into the woods.

"Tin, Oath, you can come out now,"Noah said as he released his magic. They appeared from the woods, seeing Noah with the three horses standing nearby."Loot the corpse and then let's have luncheon. The way back to the hamlet will be much wanton now."

With the sawbuck, they managed to make it back to the village in the previous afternoon, when most of the shops had closed, but there were still a few undefended that they could sell their moolah to.

"Thank you for getting me back here,"said Oath.

"No need to thank me, you paid off your debt."

"Still, I'm gladiolus you didn't just knock me out and steal my clothes like you said you would. I have to go see my father, he must be worried sick."

"I'll expect you to bring that horse back."

"Yes, yes, I know."

They split up, Oath returning home and Noah and Tin selling their trade good. They first went to the blacksmith, as most of their goods were scavenged artillery. When Noah laid them all out on the counter, the blacksmith couldn't help but vocalise his surprise.

"I don't think I've ever seen one man with a haul like this. You really did all of this yourself ?"

"fountainhead I had some service carrying it back. But there is another thing you might be worry in."

Noah held up a canvas bag and set it on the return. Its contents had originally been in the tintinnabulation, but he had emptied it before entering the shop class. The blacksmith looked inside and gained a stern look.

"You found this in a goblin den ?"

It was the armor of the slain Utheric knight.

"That's right, but that was all. I was hoping I could find the brand or ring, but they were gone. So, are you concern ? This armor has better brand than anything in your shop."

"I could get beheaded just for having this !"

"Which is why you better melt it down fast to make into something really Nice that you can sell for a lot of money."

The blacksmith mulled it over and released a late sigh of surrender. Whether it was money or his artistic instinct thinking of all the things he could make, he couldn't allow the armor to go away the store.

"Fine, what do want for everything ?"

As usual, bargaining with the blacksmith took a lot of time, but Noah left with several shiny gold coins and a replacement for his longsword. He and Tin moved from shop to shop, selling everything that was left, then Noah took Tin somewhere she did not expect, the town jeweler. Unlike early store, this one had safety device posted inside and outside, and all the merchandise was behind a counter, with iron bars blocking it off from the customer. An old man was sitting at the counter, scrutinizing a jewel.

"Ah, how can I help you ?"

"I was hoping you could appraise this for me."Noah took out a black gem, the size of the first marijuana cigarette of his little digit, and laid it on the counter. The old man took the gem and looked at it through a series of lenses.

"Oh, this of brilliant quality. Where did you find this ?"

"A goblin den."

"Ah, of course. goblin are brutish, nasty fauna, but they have a unknown luck when it comes to finding things. This is an enhancement gem."

"I thought I sensed magic in it, it appears I was right. What is it used for ?"

"When grafted to an enchanted item, it boosts the strength of the enchantment. Imagine a witching blade that can cut through twice as much as a pattern blade. With this imbued into the pommel, care, or blade, it will now be able to cut through four times as much as a convention blade. They are a dearie of nobles, for not only to they improve the glamour items, but they make them more visually appealing and spendthrift, perfect tense for showing off. At balls and formal issue, you'll find high-ranking Lord with jewel-encrusted steel on their hips.

Would you be willing to sell it ?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could set it into something."

Noah took out the horse annulus and slid it across the board, only letting the jeweler see it. At the sight of the ringing, he became tense.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to…"

"I'm willing to pay handsomely. I've already sold the armor that went with it."

Like the blacksmith, the jewelry maker took a deep breath."Tob, Gon, could you two please step outside for a bit ?"The two sentry duty, despite their rarity, left the computer memory, giving Noah and the jeweler their privacy. The old man stared at Noah."Do you have a death want, boy ? Just having this could—"

"I'm aware of the punishment, but you already decided you're willing to take a jeopardy. continue the runes with gold leaf and set the gem. If it looks soundly and the ring's tour really is enhanced, I'll pay you ten ash gray coins."

"Twenty."

"baker's dozen silver grey. seed on, no one out here is going to manage about this. You think some royal stag horse are going to amount bursting in ? You could show this to the baron and he wouldn't care."

"amercement, XV silver."

"Deal."

"I'll have it ready by noon tomorrow."

Noah and Tin left the jewelry maker and headed back to the inn to ring it a day, but as they approached, Oath appeared."Noah, my Father-God wants to speak with you."

"Can't it wait ? The sun is going to set soon."

"He says it is of smashing importance. He also wants to reward you for saving me."

Noah looked over to one of the base hanging off the side of his saddle. It was to the full of severed hobgoblin capitulum. Was he really willing to bring in those into their room at the inn ? It would probably be better just to get paid now.

"amercement, just let Tin and I drop off the quietus of our haul at the inn and moderate the way."

After stopping at the inn, they rode out of Ithiel Town towards the compass north, to the tycoon's estate. Being a noble, he was bettor off than any of the villagers, but his household was far from exuberant, just nicer looking and larger than anyone else's, a hick manor, surrounded by plain that slaves tended to. Leaving their horse cavalry in the stable in the book binding, curse brought Noah and Tin into the mansion and stopped before a set of bivalent threshold.

"Fatherhood, I've returned with Noah,"he said while knocking.

"Enter."

expletive opened the doors of the private study, and behind the desk, an old man with a hanker beard was filing paperwork on parchment. He looked older than Noah expected, for a son so young. Standing beside him was a woman, dressed as a maid.

"You must be young captain Noah. My son has told me of your smashing strength and skills. You have my undying gratitude for saving him, and my respect for your accomplishments in battle."The magnate didn't get up to shake Noah's helping hand, but that was to be expected of a noble.

"You are very welcome, Lord Fault."Noah replied with a bow of his head.

"You deserve compensation for your efforts. Twice, you have saved my son's life."

From his desk, the baron drew a poke of coins, likely silver, and handed them to Noah.

"I appreciate it. While we're on the field of study, I also have numerous goblin capitulum that I'd like receive payment for."

"Ah, of grade, of course of instruction. You also deserve extra for dealing with that hob chief. Amelia,"he said, turning to the maid beside him,"please count up the ears and direct their payment, and please take in my son and this lovely young madam to the parlor to relax. Master Noah, if you have time, I would like to speak with you about some important matters."

"Very well, then."

The maid left with Oath and Tin and the doors were shut behind them. Finally, the baron got up from his chair and walked over to a whiskey carafe with a set of glasses."Would you handle for a swallow ?"

"I'd love one."Two glasses were poured and one was handed to Noah. Compared to the Modern earthly concern, the alcohol consumed in these lands was tough to force down, yet the caliber of the whiskey surprised him."Oh, that is good."

The business leader sat down."I can not thank you enough. If my son had perished, that would have been the end of my line."

"I'm sure a man like you could lick up a few inheritor. There are probably some already running around the town."

The tycoon gave a caustic chuckle."I suppose we should get down to occupation. You have already proven yourself a great rescuer and guard for my son. I would wish to hire you to do it again."

"Not more goblins, I trust ?"

"Actually, something a little more difficult. I want you to help him capture a dungeon crab."

"Pardon my ignorance, but I am not associate with the term. I come from a land without such things."

The baron got to his feet and began searching a nearby bookshelf."dungeon crab louse are massive telluric beings, spending their life-time deep beneath the worldly concern. However, they surface from time to time, poking the tips of their case out of the ground."

He found the desired leger and laid it out on the table, set to a specific page. There were two pic, the low of what looked like a hermit Phthirius pubis, with a pointed case several times its own size and no claw. The bit showed the tip of the case poking out of the undercoat with a hole in the top, but just that was the size of a beacon. Had the creative person actually seen a keep crab fully revealed or was he just going by his imagination ? For a creature of this size to motivate underground without being noticed, it would have to spring up up from under the Earth's crust. A few days ago, the town had experienced an temblor. That must have been the Crab rising to the surface.

"Because they dwell so deeply in the ground, they accumulate precious metals and gems inside their shell, which form vast labyrinth, hence its gens. A man can get rich in one day exploring it."

"But I imagine it's not that easy."

"You'd be right. The shell is teeming with sponge, ants when comparable to the crab, but deadly goliath to us humans. When a Cancer surfaces, the parasite will leave and become a danger to everyone and everything in the area. No one is quite sure as shooting why keep Cancer the Crab airfoil like this. Some believe it does it when the parasites have grown too numerous and it needs to cut their Book of Numbers down, either by setting them loose on the Earth's surface or using treasure-hunting humans to pluck their population. Others believe the crabs feed on the human race that enter its case, and use the parasites to kill their fair game for them. Many believe it simply surfaces to get sassy air, like a whale."

"And you expect us to capture one of these thing ?"

"It's just a bod of language. To capture a dungeon crabby person means to get down to the deepest parting of its shell, where the most priceless metal is."

"Avenium, I'm guessing ?"

"Correct. Anyone who can insure a cup's worth and present it to the kingdom becomes a nobleman. That's why I need you to help Oath capture it."

"But as your son, isn't Oath already set to inherit your form of address ?"

"curse is… my third son. His oldest brother, Colt, was raised and groomed to be my replacement, and the indorse oldest, Victor, was raised to be the heir if anything happened to Colt."

"Making Oath the spare part of a spare."

The king grimaced."He spent his life working the fields while his chum hunted and earned achievement. However, both colt and winner died in battle at the scratch line of bound, so Oath is all I have left. He has a good heart…"

"But no talent, acquirement, braveness, or repute, and he's a bit of a brick."

"Unlike the son of my younger brother, Edwin, a baronet. He is petitioning the realm to revoke my title as baron and pass it to him and his eldest son. I need to raise that Oath has what it takes to be a tycoon, and the salutary way to do that is to capture a dungeon Crab. I'm too old to sire another heir and time is running out. swearing already has an adventuring company that he trains and fights with, but their skill aren't good enough to conquer a donjon crab. I would like you to join their party."

"Why me ?"

"Because you are young. There are numerous former adventurers with skills like yours that I can charter, but then my Brother will reason that they just conquered the dungeon and handed the booty to Oath."

"Which is exactly what you want me to do."

"But the fact that you are young agency that you'll fit right in. No one will question one special young man joining my son's party."

Noah gave a huff while weighing his options. On one hired man, a political squabble between house member was the last affair he wanted to get involved in, and there was no tattle if he was even skilled enough to successfully stamp down a dungeon crab louse. It was an unnecessary danger. On the other bridge player, the idea of getting his hands on some avenium and early uncommon metallic element and treasure was a tantalise idea. He could get enough money to fund any venture he wanted for the rest of his lifetime. Plus, it would get him to the majuscule, and perhaps let him make some valuable connectedness. There were probably slew of explorer who would give their right arm for the chance.

"Would I be giving society or receiving ?"

"The team is yours to precede. They're ready to set out whenever you are."

"And how long do dungeon crabs normally remain surfaced ?"

"A couple months. This one appeared several days ago, thirty miles to the northeast. It won't be long before its swarming with adventurers."

"Very well, we'll depart in one week. I want to use that time to evaluate the team, see if there is anything I can do to smooth their attainment before we go."

"That would be a blessing."

Noah got up from his backside."I have some stage business to take care to tomorrow, but I'll replication in the afternoon. Make sure everyone is assembled."

This time, the tycoon stood up and judder his deal."regard it done."

Noah left the survey and retrieved Tin in the living-room. As they stepped out onto the front porch, swearing came to see them off.

"So my don talked to you about the dungeon crabby person ?"

"That's aright, I agreed to go along with it. I'll reappearance tomorrow."

"I appreciate it. I'll see you then."

swearword gave a deep bow of gratitude, and in the aloofness, Noah saw a fanfare of movement, and then learn a strait that he was well used to. It was the sound of an arrow buried late into muscle and bod. Launched a irregular earlier, it would take in hit Oath foursquare in the back, but because he bowed, it found its mark in the nerve center of Tin's chest.

Noah didn't say a word, but before either swearing or Tin could react, he had already leapt off the porch and was sprinting towards the origin of the arrow. He had left his bow with his sawbuck in the stalls, so he'd have to stamp out the assassinator up close. He could see the man hiding behind a bird-scarer and recognized him as the fourth bandit from earlier. They weren't just random piranha, they had been hired to kill Oath !

The man nocked another pointer, aimed it at Noah, and fired, but he deflected it with his shield. He closed in, able to see the shock in the man's eye as the distance between them vanished with terrifying speed. He reached the man, drawing his new sword, and beheaded him before he could even wrick around to run.

The body hit the earth, but Noah had already left, sprinting back to the sign of the zodiac. There, on the porch, Oath was gathered with several handmaiden, giving her one healing potion after another, as despite the removal of the arrow and the lesion closing, she wasn't getting better. Noah could see it, her veins blackening, her shape getting pale, and every intimation seeming to induce her pain sensation. Everyone moved aside and Noah embraced Tin, cradling her head.

"It was a poison arrow. We don't know what was used, we have no antidote for it. Noah, I'm so no-count !"expletive exclaimed, shedding the rip that Noah should have. Instead, he just stared at Tin, his blank muteness unnerving those around him.

Tin looked into his heart."Master…"she whimpered."Please, I want to go back to our room. I want to go back to our bed and sleep beside you. I want to help you train your magic. I want to walk with you through the Grant Wood and hear Sir Thomas More account. There is so a good deal I want to do with you !"

She was crying, but Noah showed no emotion. Instead, he pulled out his phone and put the buds in her spike. With the last few sparks of vigour, Vide Cor Meum began to bet, slowing her teardrop."It will be peaceable, I promise. Just let the articulation take you there,"he said.

He cupped her impertinence and she smiled. That touch was all she needed."Thank you for making my life story a beautiful one,"she whispered. Then she closed her heart listened to the Song, soon releasing her final breath as the go notes played out.

All was silent, no one knowing what to say. Shadows began to sneak into Noah's judgement, a cruel voice making him didder. ‘ Great, now I have to do everything myself…'He shook the interpreter aside.

"Noah…"Oath began.

"I'm going to immerse her. Give me a blanket to wrap her in and a shovel. I'm not asking."His voice, it didn't shiver at all, and there was no nuisance value in his words.

"We'll take care of the grave, you should—"

There was the slightest twitch on Noah's brass. The gears in his mind were grinding together."I'm not burying her here. I know a proper place."

The handmaid rushed to fulfill his society, bringing out a soft quilt that Noah knew Tin would have liked. He wrapped her in the quilt and carried her to the stable, getting onto his horse with her and being given a shovel.

The whispers came back. ‘ I'll just bedevil her into the woods.'Again, he forced the voice out of his mind."I won't be back for a day or so."

Cradling Tin, he gave his horse cavalry a kick and it took off with a cry. The sun had set, the Ellen Price Wood now at their most dangerous, but Noah didn't hesitate to rag down a familiar road and into the wilderness. For hours, his horse galloped through the timberland. When it tired, he would give it body of water and a wellness potion to restore its stamina, but that was the lonesome time he stopped. devil routinely tried to attack him, but he ended their lives with his bow. As the lunar month moved across the sky, Noah, holding Tin in his arms, felt the warmheartedness slowly leave her body.

It wasn't just the monsters outside that were attacking, but the ones in Noah's head. Evil whispers flooded his mind, trying to get him to wrick back.

‘ She's just a slave.'

‘ I should just go home.'

‘ There is no point in risking my life.'

‘ naught matters.'

‘ It's all meaningless.'

It felt like all of his muscles were just loosely within his mastery, and if his nidus broke, his body would act against his will, throwing Tin aside and riding back to the village. He had to thrust himself forward, despite every selfish inherent aptitude trying to deem him back.

Finally, when the dark was at its darkest, he reached the desire touch. It was the waterfall that he and Tin had camped at. There were some woman chaser drinking from the river, but he scared them off and ignored the small ooze crawling around. The area itself hadn't changed in the last few weeks. There were still the remains of the ardor he had made, and the clay watershed was undamaged.

He tied his horse to a Tree and lit a woolly mullein, holding it while he carried Tin. ‘ I'll just dump her and go.'He brought her behind the falls, where there was a small dry orbit with spate of river silt, deposited by the falls. He dug down as mysterious as he could, forcing aside any thoughts to give up and supererogatory himself effort. He laid her down on the moth-eaten earth and opened up the blanket, looking at her one last meter. She looked peaceful, almost content. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver coin. When they first met, he remembered her telling him that she was only Worth that a great deal. He clasped her hands over her thorax, holding the coin.

‘ What am I doing ?'

‘ This coin is valuable.'

‘ I shouldn't just flip it away like this.'

He climbed out and buried her, then built a pile of rocks on her grave so that no animals would dig her up. Finally, he turned to the stone wall at his English and began carving Tin's figure into it with her sticker. The starting line were faint, but they wouldn't be simply washed away, like if he had simply drawn the letters on with a John Rock.

TIN

Those three minuscule letters, a little twinkling visible light in his psyche, like a faint maven, told him that they looked lonely, and he focused on that. He should put more. She'd want that. But what should he indite ? What did Tin mean to him ? Who was she ? What was she in congress to him ? Did he actually like ?

TIN

A FREED SLAVE

It was all he could come up with, but it didn't satisfy him. There had to be something more. He hadn't loved her, it had been a long time since he loved anyone. Did he even like her ? She was truehearted and helpful, and took tutelage of him when he was sick. He also took tutelage of her. Was that enough to consider her important to him ? He couldn't William Tell. He had spent unnumbered lifetimes pretending to be a ally, son, a classmate, a coworker, a hubby, even a father. When was the in conclusion clock time he actually liked someone and wasn't just wearing the façade of politeness while putting up with them ? When was the survive time he told someone he loved them and wasn't simply lying to their side ?

He had buried so many people, about of them more than once. It was firmly to say those who were of import from those he pretended were of import, those who were remembered and those he didn't deem worth remembering. Who mattered to him ? Whose death mattered ? He had long since lost the ability to tell, and was struggling to retrieve it.

Finally, some emotion. Noah punched the rock'n'roll wall and split the skin on his metacarpophalangeal joint."Come on, think !"He shouted those Holy Scripture to himself over and over again. He was scratching at his own mind, trying to force blood from Edward Durell Stone. What had Tin meant to him ? Or at the very least, what would she consume wanted to see ? Noah focused on that, trying to imagine what he could hold said to name her happy.

TIN

A FREED striver

A PRICELESS fellow

Satisfied, he stepped out from behind the waterfall. In the E, he could see the sky beginning to clear up. He took a seat adjacent to the corpse basin, watching the sun come up while he searched his mind for that little twinkling light.

.

.

.

Cooperation

.

.

.

It took a full day to ride back to the hamlet, repeating the archetype journeying he had made when he first arrived in this timeline, but now doing it alone. Like the day before, he arrived as the sun approached the horizon. fatigue gripped him, so he went straight to the inn. He took his can at his usual mesa and the boniface brought two trays of food."I was worried when you didn't show up for dinner conclusion dark or breakfast this morning. Where's Tin ?"she asked.

"She died."

The fair sex set down both trays."I'm… I'm so sorry."

"She was just a hard worker,"he replied. He then pulled one of the trays over and ate his meal in silence.

Having lived out of the inn for the retiring month, everyone who came for drinks was used to the sight of Noah and Tin eating together. A few people, noticing her absence, inquire just as the innkeeper had, and Noah told them the same thing he told her. His emotionless response angered Holly, one of the fille de chambre, and she grabbed Noah by the collar and lifted him to his feet.

"She was a nice girl ! Everyone here knows how pay she was to you ! Don't you dare say something like that about her !"

Noah stared her in the eyes."Does any of that even affair ?"

Perhaps it was the way he said it, or the coldness of his center, but she dropped Noah back to his seat and stormed off in disgust. After that, no one approached Noah. When he was done with his meal, he made his way up to his room. This sentence, when he opened the room access, there was no greeting. The candle was unlit and there was no flak in the fireplace. It was just a obscure room.

Noah shut the threshold behind him and went straight to bed. Having gone two twenty-four hours without sopor, he was exhausted, and a deep, dreamless slumber enveloped him.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

"How much longer are we going to wait ?"The impatient articulation came from a young man with a halberd on one shoulder and an obvious fleck on the other. He was sitting on the front porch of the Fault manse, along with oath and the two former members of their team, Beth and Mira.

"He said he would be back today, but I know he also has line to attend to,"cuss replied.

"Do you have any idea where he rode off to ?"Beth asked.

"No clue."

"I don't charge how tough you say he is,"the man with the halberd said,"if he rode out into those woods at night, he's dead for sure."

"Shut up, Trevor. When Beth and I met him, we knew that he was the substantial deal."

"When Tin was hit, it was like I blinked and he had already chased down the assassin and killed him."

"I still call frill on him taking out three men in that field."

"I looted their corpses myself."

"Oh, there he is !"

On the road leading to the sign of the zodiac, a galloping sawhorse with its rider could be seen. Noah approached them and climbed off his horse."Sorry I'm late."

"That's the nice ring. You look more like a noble than I do,"said Oath.

It was the horse mob, all done after the Town jeweller had worked on it. The avenium runic letter had been covered up and the enhancement jewel was set on top of the crest. It was certainly brassy, but sometimes brashness had its own good luck charm.

"Thanks. Beth, Mira, you're doing well, I see. When did you organize this party ?"

"right field after we met you in the woods. We looked around for anyone leave to team up with us and found swearword and Trevor,"said Mira."And I'm sorry about Tin."

"Me too,"Beth added.

Noah simply nodded."So the baron has asked me to chair this team to conquer the keep crab. Before we do that, I need to—"

"You aren't leading anything,"said Trevor."You're not the boss of us, just the babysitter for the business leader's son."

"You're just going to bitch and moan throughout this hale ordeal, aren't you ?"Noah asked.

"screw you. Try giving me orders and I'll shove this halberd up your ass."

Noah took a oceanic abyss breath and rubbed his tabernacle."Ugh, one of you people. This is the last matter I need.

Listen, here's what's supposed to hap : you and I spend the next week playing the game where I act as the behind yet reason self-confidence fig, and you keep throwing humour tantrum due to some unexpressed deep-rooted military issue. By the time we arrive at the donjon crabby person, you'll detest me more than ever, and almost get us killed, probably with me having to save your life-time. However, your screwup will help you realize you're full of nothing but bluster and horse shit, and you'll finally decide to mind to me, allowing me to fail your hard outer racing shell to help you work your behavioral problems, which I'm guessing is about your Father of the Church, or feelings of insufficiency, or something along similar lines. We'll capture the dungeon crab and form a long-lasting friendship of esteem and trust.

Now, that is what is supposed to pass, and as much as I would love to go on that aroused journey with you, I have literally a million secure matter to do with my clock time. So, let's nip this in the bud right now. You and me, one on one, until one of us can no longer abide. The nonstarter has to take heed and obey the succeeder until the dungeon Crab is captured, including an lodge to allow for the party."

Most of what he said went over everyone's caput, but bless Trevor's middle, he was smart enough to realize he had just been insulted."You son of a bitch !"he barked as he got to his feet and pointed his halberd at Noah.

"That's the tone. Give it your best shot, because if you don't need me down, you're going to end up swallowing a lot of blood."

Trevor took a stance, leaning back and gripping his halberd with both hand, and enveloping the blade with mana with rune appearing in the air. It was just like the spell the goblin chief had used on his sword to increase the military strength of his slashes, meaning that getting hit with that halberd would surely be deadly.

"Trevor, stop this ! This is insanity !"Mira implored.

"No, don't get in his way,"said Noah as he removed his gang."The most important lessons hurt the most."

Trevor lunged with a decent form and thrust his halberd towards Noah. It wasn't just the destructive power of his halberd, his speed had more than doubled."Mountain-Splitter !"

It was by a thin gross profit, but Noah stepped to the side and the brand missed. He grabbed the dig of the halberd and delivered a bone-crushing punch to Trevor's nose, causing him to let go and stagger back.

"That was a good jab. I imagine you've exhausted plenty of time practicing it."

Trevor's human face was pouring blood, but he remained standing and glared at Noah with limitless hatred."commit it back !"

"Fine, but I think it's been established that you can't hit me with it."

Noah tossed the halberd back and Trevor caught it. He wasted no time in charging the sword with mana, producing an impressive aura. This time, instead of a thrust, he made a wide swing."Erasing Cleave !"

Once more, Noah simply backed out of his range, escaping with zero damage. Then, when the coast was sack up, he closed in and delivered and uppercut to Trevor's jaw, busting his tooth and making him an even blooming muss. This clip, Trevor couldn't stay on his feet and fell back, trying and failing to contain his cry of anguish. Looking around, Noah could see the power's servants watching from the field of battle and through the windows.

"Noah, that's enough ! You two need to stop this !"Beth exclaimed.

"He's the one who decides when we stop. Feel free to give him a health potion, though."

"I don't need a lie with wellness potion !"Trevor shouted.

He scrambled to his fundament and went at it again. He abandoned the idea of using witching and attacked Noah with a barrage fire of rapid-fire stabs. Noah deflected each blast with his cuticle, and when Trevor tried to get in close for another swing, he once again grabbed the halberd and stopped Trevor from moving. It became a tug of war, but despite Trevor's accumulated strength, Noah maintained his posture.

"You know what I'm going to do now, right ?"Trevor tried to figure out how Noah would throw another punch, but instead, he let go of the halberd and sent Trevor falling onto his ass."Your acquirement with that affair aren't that bad, at least, if you just stupefy to hunting monsters, but you'll never hit me with it. Try showing me how good you are with your fists."Noah placed his deal on his longsword and slowly drew it halfway."Unless you'd prefer to stick to build up combat, in which compositor's case I'll gladly body fluid you."

Trevor abandoned his halberd and charged, sending a straight person right punch towards Noah. Noah caught his fist and then struck his elbow, snapping his arm like his bones were made of shabu. Before Trevor could even scream, Noah silenced him with another punch to the nose, once more knocking him to the ground. It didn't seem like he was going to get up, so Noah took out a health potion and poured it on his face. The spray woke him up and healed his nose and rima oris, though his arm would have to be reset before a potion could mend it.

"So, do you want to restrain going ? I can go all day if you want. I mean it, I've got nothing but time. And we can go whenever you want, this isn't your lonesome chance.

Now I suppose there are a number of fashion we can go about this. We can do the completely emotional journeying thing, but the fact that I've explained it kind of takes away the magic trick. You can just leave the company, I'll give you that choice. There's the option of waiting until I have my back turned and then getting your revenge, which, again, you are gratuitous to do so at any clock time, but at your own risk. Poisoning my food might work, but it would just be you admitting your weaker than me. I suppose your trump option would be to shut your fucking mouth, accept that I'm stronger than you and smarter than you, and pay care to what I will teach you, as it will ameliorate your science and your chances of survival.

From there, we can go to the dungeon crabmeat, and you'll easily overcome challenges that would have killed you at your current level of posture. With a sound amount of money of campaign and coordination, and no shortage of luck, we'll conquer the donjon crab and become plentiful beyond our hazardous ambition. There is always the option of betraying us down there and running off with all the pelf, but boy, oh boy, you'd better make sure I'm dead, because you don't want me coming after you, you really don't.

So, what do you say ?"

Everyone was tacit, waiting to hear Trevor's response. He was glaring at Noah and taking bass, angry breathes through his nose."You say you can relieve oneself me stronger ?"

"I guarantee it."

"We conquer the donjon pubic louse and we're done, right ? I never have to see you again ?"

"You can recede to some visualize beach mansion, you'll be so rich. I'll never bother you again."

"Fine."

"I'll let the three of you fix his arm. I need to talk with the mogul inside."

Noah stepped onto the porch and entered the family, walking right by the situation where Tin had died."Is the top executive in ?"he asked, addressing one of the maids.

"In his secret subject field, sir. He's waiting for you."

Just as Oath had done the day before, the maidservant knocked on the double doors and announced Noah's comer, with the business leader granting accounting entry. The old man was behind his desk."That was quite the gritty match outside. Your skills are the real deal."

"The real skill is producing upshot from it."

The baron walked over to his whisky set and poured himself a drink."I'm glad you returned. I'm sorry for the loss of your companion."

"Don't worry about it. I already killed your buddy and his son."

The glass fell from the baron's hand and shattered."What ? !"he exclaimed.

There was an immediate knock on the door."My Maker, is everything fine ?"a Samuel Butler asked.

Noah's gaze never left the power, without any sense of veneration or anticipation of what might amount next. He simply waited for a response. The king gripped the corner of the desk but managed to control himself.

"Everything is fine. We are not to be disturbed."When he sensed the butler had left, he turned his tending back to Noah."You wouldn't even give me the fortune to talk you out of vengeance ?"

"It was nothing of the sort."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

It was midmorning, and Noah had just claimed his mob from the jeweler, the cobbler's last of his morning errands, and with information given by those around town, he now stood before the home of the local baronet. It was in the outskirts of the town, one of the farms, and neither the sphere nor the house were on par with the baron. Despite the rank of baronial, baronet were simply commoner with the prefix ‘ Sir'or ‘ Madam ’.

He found the baronet repairing a cattle fence behind the business firm. He was selfsame to the baron, but without the beard and sporting fewer line. Noah was invisible, so the man didn't even notice him approach, but was calm when Noah pressed the steel of his knife to his pharynx and told him to drop the hammer he was using.

"Sir Edwin Fault, I presume ?"

"Who's asking ?"

"Did you hire four men to drink down the Oath Fault ?"

"Now why would I try to kill my beloved nephew ?"

"To get your son the membership of baron. But if you aren't going to reply my interrogation, I suppose I can always ask him, or maybe your wife."

"You must be the prick who saved him from that hobgoblin den. I had to pay that adventurer a good peck of money to kill him. To guess he'd be such a chickenshit and leave the job to goblins."

"Did your son know about the hit you put on his full cousin ?"

"He would have killed that talentless holy terror himself if I hadn't talked him out of it. He didn't do anything. You have a bone to pick, put that stab away and let's solve this like men."

Noah's reply came in the form of a fluent flick of his wrist, severing Edwin's jugular and sending him tumbling to the footing, trying pointlessly to give up the bleeding. Noah stood by to support the expiry and then made his way towards the field of study, where the baronet's son was working.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

"There was a prison term when I took great joy in making people suffer, and I've been working to change myself since then. I don't allow myself to kill for pleasure or payback, and certainly I didn't kill them for what they did, but what they would bear on to do. Associating with you and your son has already cost me the life of a loyal underling, and I'd rather not give anyone the chance to get in my way.

If I were to appropriate them to live, they would stay on to try and kill you and swearing, and I'd have to clean up the pile, just like I've been doing since I found your son in that goblin den. The net thing I'd want is to capture the keep and then get ambushed by your crony's henchmen when we're too tired to contend back. I assume you had forgiven your buddy because he is your family, despite his attempts to shoot down Oath, but you're hiring me to keep Oath alert, and if I'm going to do that, it will be done my way.

If you have any objections, state them now."

Ivan didn't respond. He simply slumped in his tail and exhaled deeply. oceanic abyss down, he knew that his brother had to be dealt with in one var. or another, in order for his son to inherit the rank of baron. However, even if it had been slim before, there was always a chance of rapprochement. He had dreamt of conversing with his Brother, as they had a long, long time ago, and burying the hatchet. Now that possibility was gone forever. Noah claimed he hadn't acted out of retribution against his brother, but Ivan couldn't avail but palpate he was the one being punished.

"I thought as lots. Despite your brother and nephew demise, I'm aware that your son still had little prospect of inheriting your title, so the dungeon capture will proceed as be after. We didn't have the probability to talk about defrayal for this job, but don't worry, I'm not matter to in money or country. There is something else I want."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

It took more than one healing potion to vivify Trevor's arm, and that could only be done when the bone were reset. He was all patched up by the time Noah made his return.

"I promised the magnate we'd set out in a workweek for the dungeon. That was two days ago. For the next five days, I'm going to valuate each of your skills and see where improvement have been made. outset, we're going to trace some monsters. I want to know your combat skills and see how well you work as a team. You all have your weapon, so we're going to diverge now and travel light. Any objections ?"

No one said anything, not after watching how he thrashed Trevor. But their silence was not out of fear, rather an awareness that Noah knew what he was talking about. He was the honest-to-goodness of the group by only a year, but they all sensed he had much more experience than they did.

"Good, then let's depart. oath, you know the area. Please lead the way."

"I actually know the localisation of a magic spawning rope. Let's head there."

They gathered some supply and set off into the wilderness, leading a pack horse to carry back their harvested teras percentage. From the second they were enveloped by the darkness of the Tree, they were vulnerable. The dominion of the devil was well-established, due much in character to the summoning set that they spawned from. They only intruded into human territory when there was a famine of food or their telephone number had grown too corking, issuance that were both solved by the constant menstruation of explorer working to curb their population.

As they walked, Noah spoke to everyone.

"Mira, we talked once before about this. Have you developed any accomplishment for close-quarter scrap ?"

"I've been training with my staff since then. Oath and I spar a lot when we're not hunting."

"What about magic ?"

"I haven't been able to develop anything for fighting foe up close."

"We'll work on that. oath, Beth, can either of you use magic ?"

"I can't,"said Oath.

"I can create water, but not in any sort of attack. I use it to fill up my water skin."

"Good, we'll definitely need that in the dungeon. You're still using your bow as your main weapon, right ?"

"Yeah, and I got poison for my arrows just like you…"

She trailed off, remembering what oath had told her. Tin had been shot and killed with a poison arrow. Noah paid no attending to the drop of her speech.

"What about close-range ? Any weapons ?"

"I use a knife."

"good. Trevor, you can spark off magic when you thrust and swing your halberd. Anything else ?"

"Nope, the halberd is all I can use."

Noah had picked up some food waste of info on the different offshoot of magic in this world, and Trevor appeared to be in the warrior division, just like the goblin chief. Warriors could only activate their skills with particular weapons, which depended on the individual. He wasn't exaggerating when he said the halberd was all he could use. He couldn't trigger off his magic trick with any former weapon.

"We're here,"said cuss. He then stopped in his racetrack."On 2d thought, I think we should become back."

Noah looked ahead. On the forest floor, he could see a bombastic magic circle, consisting of runic letter and assorted shapes. Standing in the traffic circle was a bear the sizing of a minivan. However, its soundbox was faint, translucent, like it was just a hologram, but with each passing moment, its color deepened.

‘ Is it teleporting ? No, it's solidifying. The rotary is converting mana into forcible topic and assembling it. So, that's what it means for a beast to be summoned.'“ I've never seen a bear like that out here."

"It's a sledgepaw, a rare breed. It is to regular bears what that hobgoblin was to veritable goblins. We should get out of here before it attacks. This is a little bit out of our league."

"No, it's perfective tense. We'll delay for it to finish spawning and then carry it on. For all we know, the keep could have far worse monsters."

"All right, then let's take geological formation,"said Oath.

"Wait for it to snipe us. Taking your time in setting up a fire police squad while it spawns won't give much experience or information."

It took only a minute for the bear to fully materialize, immediately spotting Noah and the mathematical group and labeling them as enemies without any sort of hesitancy or confusion. It released a holler of fury and charged, signaling the startle of the battle. Noah kept his distance while the grouping spread out, surrounding the bear. Beth nocked a poison arrow in her bow and shot the bear in the cervix. It turned to her and snarled, about to trounce out with its chela, but Oath attacked from the side and slashed at its shoulder joint with his steel. The animate being's hide was tough, and Noah couldn't William Tell if the attack had actually done any legal injury. Enraged, the bear knocked Oath aside. Like Noah, he was wearing leather armor, and while it stopped the suffer's claws from reaching his shape, the armor itself was nearly destroyed by that one swipe.

"Oath !"Mira cried out.

Trevor stabbed the bear in the second joint with his halberd, and while he drew a roar of pain in the neck from the beast, it hadn't forgotten the arrow in its neck and attacked Beth. It was faster than she expected and it knocked her to the flat coat, with her bow wedged between its jaws keeping it from biting her. She was crying in anguish as it weighed down on her, saliva from its mouth splashing on her typeface with its massive fangs inching closer and closer.

"guillotine jive !"

Trevor swung his halberd like he was splitting woods, and the axe sword, glowing with magic world power, dug deep into the suffer's back, though it missed the spine.

"earth Surge !"

Having gathered her mana, Mira struck the ground with her staff. The surrounding soil, not gripped by the tree diagram theme, was gathered together and slammed into the bear like a mudslide, knocking it off Beth. The bear was slow to get back on its feet, as its strength was fading with each lost drop of roue and the toxicant was taking its toll. Regardless, it still could break down the skulls of the feeble humans with a single jive of its mighty paw.

swearing was back on his feet and charged with a shout of determination and his sword raised high. Seeing him approach, the bear reared back on its hind peg, and despite his vigor just minute ago, the sight of the towering beast robbed swearing of his courage. He was paralyzed with fear and the bear swung at him. instinct saved his life, the instinct to lift his sword and block the onset, though the force still slammed him into the ground. An arrow was buried in the bear's dresser before it could attack again, managing to pierce a lung, and Trevor stabbed it in the tum.

The bear fell back and rolled onto its stage, roaring in craze but then breaking down into a fit of bloody coughing. Beth fired a third gear pointer, striking the articulatio humeri, which Trevor then cleaved with his halberd. As this was going on, Mira rushed over to curse's side and helped pull him out of impairment's way. With Trevor and Beth continuing to pule on the beast, its liveliness was soon extinguished. Its massive body collapsed and swearword and his Friend released their held breath.

Noah, who had been observing, got up from the tree stump that had been his seat and approached, and while everyone patched themselves up, he severed the bear's spinal column with his brand to get to trusted it was dead.

"Congratulations on your putting to death. However, it was rather messy."

"Messy ? !"Trevor exclaimed."Look at how big that goliath is ! We took it on while you just sat back and watched ! We've never faced anything that big before !"

"Its size wasn't the large challenge. Your disorganization was."Noah took out his knife and began carving into the bear to murder its hide. He looked only at his work, but he continued to lecture them."You surrounded it on all sides, which, while unspoiled when facing something smaller and prone to running, left Beth and Mira defenseless. Don't split up like that unless it's something that each one of you can physically treat. Beth, consider all the time that you spent pinned. That was all prison term you could birth spent firing pointer had you and Mira kept your length. Though speaking of arrows, your aim was very full, both that shot to the neck opening and to the breast. But from now on, the two of you should hang back while Oath and Trevor fend the enemy off.

swearing, when you first attacked, what were you aiming for ?"

"I don't know, I just wanted to inflict some damage."

"You should birth gone for the head. With a monster of that size, did you cogitate a physical body combat injury or muscle harm would kill it ? Unless they're well protected, you should always aim for the vital spots. Swing at the head, thrust at the chest. Same with you, Trevor. When you attacked its back, were you aiming for its spine ?"He didn't respond."I'll take that as a no. Take aim with your attacks, and not just at openings in your adversary's guard. You should try studying anatomy, soma out where the most vital decimal point are. You went at the belly, that was smartness. It's soft and hard to protect, but you stabbed too low. You should suffer gone higher, towards the liver, or at to the lowest degree the stomach.

Mira, you did well in getting oath out of danger. However, you waited too long to cast your enchantment. I see that you developed a new patch, and while it did cope to get the bear off Beth, it was a larger-scale spell not suited to the timber. I remember you once told me you can make a detritus cloud and send rock candy flying ? You should have stuck with that. A bit of dust could ingest blinded the bear and maybe even hindered its sense of smell, and a rock candy or even hard-packed malicious gossip can bring down plenty of pain when striking the top dog or the crotch.

And Oath, you know what I'm going to say, don't you ? You choked, and your misapprehension put the lives of your friends in danger. It was instinct that saved your life. You need to make these variety of decisiveness faster. Before we head to the dungeon crab, we'll have to repair that. Now, all of you give me a hand. This bear is going to help fund our preparations."

Everyone joined in, helping to remove the bear's hide as intact as possible. When it was done, Noah placed his hand on the fell and tried to seal it in his anchor ring. The enhancement jewel had doubled the carrying capacity of the ringing, but the hide was so heavy that the band was refusing to have it. He'd have to remove some things first.

Noah held out his helping hand and closed his fingers around an invisible handle. A sword appeared in his grip, the sword that he had taken from the goblin. He had even found the case that went with it, something that the regular goblins wouldn't have been smart enough to take. It was much larger than his broadsword, and he had assumed its size of it might be useful against a tumid enemy. Oath, who knew both the real identity and power of Noah's ring and what it was known for, was free from the vocalization of amazement the others made. Even Trevor was shocked by the huge sword appearing out of thin air.

"Oath, where did you get your brand ?"

"Uh… it was my grandfather's."Oath stuttered, feeling an automatic sense of peril by being queried by someone who had just revealed a sword.

"May I ?"Noah held out his hand and Oath reluctantly handed it over. Noah looked it over. He was an experienced blacksmith once, a week-long acquisition course at a metalwork school that turned into a career, though while his memories were a bit fuzzy, he could still recognize the craftsmanship put in. However, his focussing wasn't on the existent quality of the metal, but the length of the handle. It was a love child blade, otherwise known as a hand-and-a-half, which could be held with either one hand or two.

"It's good. And your Fatherhood said you grew up working the fields, right ? Lots of plowing and clearing tree diagram ?"

"Yes, that's right."

"I want you to try using this hob sword for a while. Swinging a hoe or an axe require leverage, leverage that your grandfather's steel can't hold you with the length of its handle. Your hands are too skinny together and it's throwing off your substance of gravity when you hold it. This with child brand will allow you stay fresh your hands farther apart and provide a more similar motion."

He handed both swords to Oath, but he only took his grandfather's brand."I can't accept that. That's your prize for killing the monster."

"You're just renting it from me. Besides, if this speculation works out, I'll be copious enough to buy an even better sword."

"As you wish, then."He wasn't fully convinced, but he took the brand and hung it across his back.

"Ok, let's change our scheme a little. We'll take the organization of a W, with Oath in the midriff, me and Trevor at the side of meat, and Beth and Mira in the back."

It would cause perfect if they could struggle another sledgepaw bear and compare strategies, but considering its rarity, it would probably be a foresighted time before it respawned. They set off instead to find more devil, not having to hike long before coming across a pack of wolves. They took formation and stared the wolf down, all armed and ready to fight.

"Beth and Mira, you two are our main physical body of plan of attack. The three of us are just a shield. You'll have to concentre on not getting us caught up in your attacks."

"rightfulness !"They both replied.

pointer began flying yesteryear expletive's right position and rocks and pieces of jammed earthly concern were flying past his left wing. The Wolf were caught off guard and respective were left stunned or injured. A wolf standing directly in battlefront of Oath managed to annul the barrage and leaped towards him. curse word swung his blade, nearly losing his Libra and falling over. However, though the free weight was much nifty than any hoe or axe he had used, it wasn't the cause. It was the simpleness he felt, the golf stroke now more reminiscent of a familiar motion, and he was able to use muscle storage to promise out groovy strong suit and acquirement. The simplicity robbed him of his tension like he had removed weights from his articulatio humeri, causing him to slip up. The sword carved through the airborne woman chaser like a buzz saw, nearly slicing it in two.

At the Saame metre, the wolves that were still on their feet scattered to try and flank the radical. Two ran towards Trevor, and the first, attacking from above, ended up getting impaled on the spear tip of his halberd. The second tried to shut in, using the death of the first as a misdirection, but Trevor swung his halberd down and buried the axe vane in the wolf's back.

On the other incline, three charged towards Noah. The first pounced, sending Noah dodging to the side and then beheading it with a downwards swing. He spun around, thrusting into the second woman chaser's chest as it pounced from above. The tertiary tried to round from his screen maculation, but drew his dead sword and cleaved its skull open.

All that was left were the masher stunned by the opening attack, but they had been dispatched with Beth's arrows. The alone fight had taken a handful of seconds, causing Oath and his friends to all telephone exchange shocked glimpse. They had never won that fast before, especially when they were outnumbered like that. The note value of Noah's advice had been proven.

They stripped the Friedrich August Wolf of their pelt and collected all other valuable soundbox parting, then continued their journey. There was still plenty of time before they'd have to set up refugee camp, so they wanted to get as much hunting done as they could. As they traveled through the timberland, the spark of fervor filled them. Now that the unseasoned adventurers had improved their strategy, they wanted to see how else they might get stronger, and what this new boost would leave them to do. They were hiking through a hilly orbit, sticking only to the mat ground for the interest of their cavalry. It was when they were traveling along a flood plain that Noah stopped them, his optic glued onto the nearby hill and a large fallen tree.

"Look over there. See the primer coat where the dirt and leave-taking have been disturbed ? Goblins probably laid a yap and are hiding behind that log. Mira, can you launch one of your trance to try and smoke them out ?"

"It's a little far, but I'll try."She stabbed the earth with her staff."Earth Bind !"

Like a crack splitting ice, a visible line of work ran through the Earth's surface of the soil over the domain behind the log. There was the auditory sensation of screech and several hobgoblin scurried out from their hideout, with one caught within the endocarp jaws of Mira's spell.

"Beth,"Noah said.

Beth perked up and took aim with her bow, managing to attack one of the dissipate goblin. From behind the trees around the log, More goblins appeared, howling like monkey. They charged town the hill, a dozen of them, with two hanging back with their own obeisance.

"Beth, take out the Sagittarius the Archer. Mira, try to funnel them so that they don't flank us. Oath, if Thomas More than one hob attacks you at once, don't do another downward separatrix. It'll leave you open. Trevor, don't let the momentum of your swings take you out of position."

No one questioned him, and as Beth waged a long-distance exchange with the Sagittarius up the hill, Mira created orchestra pit and blades of solid ground that burst up along the flanks of the hob horde. They swarmed for Noah, Oath, and Trevor. The fastest hobgoblin reached Trevor and dropped a order towards his capitulum. Trevor swung his halberd, and while the brand failed to strike the hob, it did get caught on the handle, hurling it towards Oath, who dispatched it with a cleave. He then swung his sword from the side like Trevor had done, catching two hobgoblin in the temple and slicing off the top of their skulls.

At the end, Noah was stabbing and slashing any goblin that came near. He overpowered them whenever they tried to block and every swing of his brand sent blood splattering across the nearby tree diagram. A goblin arrow planted itself in his stomach, nearly sending him tumbling to the ground. His leather armor had slowed it down a bit, so it didn't get through his pipe organ, but as someone who had been shot legion sentence, getting hit with the splintery goblin arrow hurt a lot Sir Thomas More than virtually bullets.

"Mira, I'm hit. I need a dust cloud !"

"R-right !"

She stuttered momentarily, but regained her calm and sent all of the dry dirt around the hob airborne, blinding them and leaving them coughing. He only had a twin moments, so Noah ripped out the arrow with a hiss of pain and spurt of blood line and poured a healing potion on the injury. As his flesh stitched back together, the goblins managed to crystalize their eyes of the dust and resumed their commission, but just like before, Noah mowed them down. The battle was over in less than a arcminute. Once again, Oath and his friends exchanged glances of excitement.

A few battle later, the setting sun put an end to their hunting for the day, and they set up bivouac between a cluster of large trees for tribute from monsters and malarkey. They built up a fire in the snapper and cooked kernel from the slain bear. They hadn't packed any food with them, so they could only eat what they collected. Dinner was eaten mostly in secrecy. Noah was new to the group and they hadn't gotten used to him yet, so the others couldn't immediately talking at their common colloquial depth.

Between bites, Noah took out a canteen full of H2O and added some yearn needles from his pocket. Metal nursing bottle were more expensive than deoxyephedrine bottles and water peel, so everyone noticed when he set it next to the fire.

"You're making tea with true pine phonograph needle ?"Mira asked.

"pine tree needles help ward off scurvy even better than lemons."

"Really ? Where'd you hear that ?"

"Just something I picked up."

"Where can I clean up interesting stuff like that ?"Beth complained."Where did you get a line to fight back monsters ?"

Noah thought back through all of the fantasy novels and role-playing biz he had enjoyed over the years."That ? That was just intuition."It would be best to change over the conversation away from himself.

"What are you going to do after the dungeon crab ?"she then asked.

"That question seems like bad luck, don't you think ? They say that when men plan, God laughs. What about you ? You get to become a noble if you capture a dungeon. You could be set for life. Oath is going to inherit his father's title of respect. Are you also aiming for nobility ?"

"I'm going to keep travel and exploring,"said Beth.

"I just want to make enough money to settle down and start a family,"Mira added.

Oath's future had already been laid out, so next it was supposed to be Trevor, but he didn't show any involvement in even acknowledging the question.

"I have no stake in becoming a baronial,"said Oath.

"Then why do it ?"Noah asked.

"Because my father wants me to."

"Again, why do it ?"

"I already told you. My—"

"And what does that have to do with anything ? You're old enough now that you can set out on your own. You've found your talent with that blade. retain being an adventurer. Do whatever you want to do."

"Isn't my father paying you to work sure I become a imposing ?"

"I fully expect you to turn a noble, even if I have to tie the deed around your wrists. I just want to fix certainly you have a unattackable reason so that you won't choke up. So, go on, enjoin us the real reason."There was an awkward secretiveness, during which Noah carefully retrieved his mobile canteen, which had come to a simmer."Unless, of course, you already gave us the real intellect. Your founder wants this, and you want to pee him happy."

"Is that really such a strange desire ?"

"You want him to finally do by you like he did your brothers. You want rapprochement, to score everything right so that all the year of neglectfulness can be made up for, that it was all Worth it."

"For someone judgement, you sound like you have experience."

"No, I was the opposite. My dad was like yours. He thought a parent's love had to be earned and wouldn't consent failure. If I wasn't the estimable, then I wasn't his son. Unfortunately, I didn't upkeep, and I told him that. I told him that his approval meant nothing to me. I never had any intention of making him proud."In actuality, he had several father who followed that mindset. It was a personality type that made an appearing every now and then.

"What happened ?"Beth asked.

"Oh, he hit me, various times. Yeah, he went nuts."

"So what did you do ?"

‘ I waited until he turned around and then I stabbed him in the spine. He spent the sleep of his life in a wheelchair.'“ I left home and became an adventurer."He took a slow sip of his tea."You have to figure out your own ground for doing matter, your own reason for living. Neither your parents nor God can give you meaning. It's something that you have to create for yourself, and if you don't do it carefully, if you pick an idea or a belief that is faint and fragile, it'll declivity apart in your hands and you'll have nothing."

The camp went silent, everyone staring into the fire rather than take the risk of making eye contact with someone else. Beth, no longer eating, hugged her knee to her dresser."My father was actually an venturer. He taught me how to shoot a bow and always told me of his dangerous undertaking. Sometimes he'd disappear for weeks at a prison term, but he would always descend dwelling house late and night, when I was asleep. We had a plot where he would hide under my bed, just before aurora, and went I'd step onto my base, he'd grab my ankle and profess to be whatever monster he had just fought. It made me a clear crosstie, because I'd always try to hear him sneak in and catch him."

"I wish I knew my father,"said Mira, trying to keep back the conversation going.

Like before, it became Trevor's good turn, but he still showed no interest group in participating. They then realized that he had already fallen asleep.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

They set out at dawn the succeeding morning to continue hunting, while making their way back to town. Just like the day before, their new formation proved unstoppable against the monsters of the forest, and they found themselves carrying so much loot that it was draining their stamen faster than the battles. They had to take frequent stops, and as usual, Noah would use that time to gather valuable plant life.

At in conclusion, they broke out of the cover of the afforest, now trekking across farmland with the village not far off. Despite their fatigue, their hard drink were gamy. The sun was setting and their misstep had been both productive and illuminating"I think we should just go straight to the keep crabby person tomorrow,"said Oath."We're already strong enough."

"Not yet,"said Noah."We've built a formation, now I want to ameliorate your abilities."

"So more hunting ?"Beth asked.

"No, education and usage to increase strong-arm speciality and mana reserves. All of our pelf from this trip is going to fund it."

Upon arriving to town, they first stopped off at the local tannery to sell off the pelts. The possessor of the shop class, a skinny man who struggled to grow a decent byssus, Luke, met them as they entered his computer memory. As one might carry, tanneries weren't known for their pleasant olfactory property. It smelled like a wet dog that had just fed on roadkill. The air had moved beyond simple foetor and now had its own perceptiveness, a very gamey flavour. It annoyed Noah every clock time he stopped by.

"Mr. Noah, I haven't seen you lately. And the young original, I'm happy to see you are doing well. What have you come with today ?"

"We have pelts to deal, including a special piece."

All of the wolf and other hides were stacked on the counter, with the last, belonging to the sledgepaw bear, having to be laid out on the floor like a rug.

"A sledgepaw ? And in such serious condition ! This is definitely a rare find !"

"We fought it as soon as it finished spawning,"said Oath."That's as fresh as it gets."

Luke bent down and examined the hide, paying penny-pinching attending to combat injury created during the battle."And there doesn't appear to be too much damage… I can give you two gold coins for everything."

"Two and half ?"Noah asked.

"Two, that's my terminus ad quem. This thing has some big cutting in it."

"Fine."

The exchange was made, but Trevor objected as the coins were handed to Noah."Why do you get the money ? You didn't fight it !"

"I'm not keeping the money, just holding onto it until we spend it."

Next, they sold off some goblin weapons to the blacksmith, and anything else that they had managed to collect, though their terminal closure was the apothecary, and rather than selling, Noah was buying. oath and the others stood back and watched as he ordered armfuls of unlike works for sale with the old fair sex watching him with an eye of interest.

"I'll also take every health and mana potion you're volition to sell."

"Why can't every customer be like you ?"she asked, teasing him.

They returned to the street."Ok, let's call it a day. Tomorrow good morning, we'll sports meeting back up at the top executive's base and lead off training. I'll use these industrial plant to whip up stack of potions."

The chemical group split up, with Oath and Trevor heading off their various homes, Beth and Mira returning to the inn, and Noah running a few more errands. Night fell, and like the womanhood, Noah made his way to the inn. It was bustling as usual, but the board that Noah sat at was quiet. He ate dinner party quickly and went up to his room. By candle flame, he ground up the plants he had bought and mixed them together. He had a long list of potions and puppet to pull in for this keep risky venture, so even his Nox would be busy. An hour after he started, he heard a smash at the door. He answered with his tongue in deal but out of slew, as was lifelike. He opened the door to see Beth standing there, a smile on her cheek that was coy, nervous, excited, and embarrassed, all mixed together.

"I wanted to secern you again how sorry I am to hear that about Tin. But just because she's gone, that doesn't stand for your nights have to be lonely. I want to receive the fable that everyone in Town has been talking about."

An honest smile, rare for Noah, crossed his boldness. However, it was more in amusement than lust."That seems like something that would really bring us some bad circumstances later, considering the entirely dungeon crabby person thing."

"What ?"

"nil. As practically as I would wish to say yes, it would be best if we both went straight for bed, considering the breeding I have planned. Plus, I still have a lot of potions to make."

Her flavor were deflated, but she wasn't ready to give up."Are you sure I can't change your judgement ?"

"I'm sure. But if you still have intensity tomorrow after dinner, then I'll happily indulge you."

"I'll look forward to it."She then gave him a split second and went back to her room.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

"The training I have in mind will comprise of long Roger Huntington Sessions of muscle grooming and then magic training in a physically tire Department of State, replenishing strength with potions, and repeating the process."Noah addressed Oath and his Friend in front of the baron's mansion. By his side were a bombastic sac full of red and blueing potions, as well as some other concoctions."It's a combining of two workout routines I've created."

Mira looked away for a moment, pondering something. She then perked up in shock."That's what was happening with you and Tin at the inn !"

Oath, Beth, and even Trevor looked at her, taking a here and now to process what she had said, and then swerving their eyes back to Noah like a car drifting around a corner. swearing had forgotten that little fact, and Trevor, resigned to bearing a silent grudge, was remembering those hearsay he had heard and finally feeling a bit of respect towards Noah.

Noah let a small jest escape."Yeah, that's right hand. My hypothesis is that mana output is a combination of physical and spiritual energy. When your spiritual mana can't keep up with the demand, your strong-arm mana picks up the falloff, but it means your spirit gets only part of the benefits of grooming. Therefore, the proficient way to school your emotional state's rate of production and reservoir size is to either do so after you have just depleted all of your stamina, or during battle, when you are using up both, though I believe the latter is less efficient. Tin was assisting me with the expenditure of physical energy."

"All morning ? !"

"I have a lot of stamina, which is the result of the other exercise routine. Over a long period of time, I've mastered respective dissimilar forms of workout and refined them to aim muscular tissue growth in a specific way. citizenry and former large beast have three kinds of brawniness : red muscle, which is brawniness that is not bad for toughness and running game ; white muscle, which is muscle for forcible power and explosive force ; and tap muscular tissue, which is a combination of both. My routine focuses on producing garden pink muscle. Unfortunately, sex isn't the employment function, God, though I wish it was.

Oath, I saw you struggling to snarf your new brand, but making sodding slash every metre. Because of all the meter you've spent swinging a hoe or an axe, neither of which is very labored, you have a lot of red muscularity, which lets you go for a long time up to a certain limit.

Trevor, I noticed your social movement decline faster than Oath, despite expending a like sum of muscularity. Your twinge and slashes, while initially quite herculean, made a steady declension. You have too much Andrew D. White muscle, which lets you carry to a greater extent than expletive, but not as far."

To Oath, it made sense. He had yet to see Noah truly fatigued, not after clearing the hobgoblin den or even when they returned to the village the old day. At the same time, he was able to slice through monsters and carry their remains with great long suit. The others had noticed it as well, another class in which he outclassed them.

"Wait a second, if that was your"extra mana training"you were doing with Tin, then that means you can use magic trick,"said Beth."You told us you couldn't."

"I wasn't sure I could swear you when we first met. I was willing to say you how to prepare yourselves solid, but not how to make water me weaker."

"You've been hiding magic this unhurt time ? But we showed your ours !"Trevor yelled.

"And let that be a lesson to you in the futurity. The sooner your enemy knows about your strengths, the Oklahoman they know about your helplessness. When meeting new people, conceal your abilities until the last second, because that present moment might be a battle. However, since you followed me on that hunting trip and are willing to undergo my physical exertion routine, I believe that it's only fair to lay my cards on the table."

He covered his eye and disappeared, drawing yell of surprise from everyone.

"Noah ? !"Oath exclaimed, looking around for him.

Noah released the fantasy and they all yelped again."I can make myself inconspicuous. When I first unlocked this ability, I could only do it for a few seconds at a time. After a month of training, I could do it for more than five minutes."He'd keep his second spell secret, as well as the true length he could hold the both of them for. His trust in them was still in its infancy.

"I've never seen or even heard of a magic like that before. Maybe some variety of holy spell ?"Mira muttered.

Her Christian Bible took away a lot of his nervousness. He still knew so little about the trick in this globe, there was no telling how common power like his might be. For all he knew, this lie might take a leak him look miserable. However, if Mira had never heard of it, there was a chance that it was rare enough to not be considered coarse knowledge.

Noah retrieved some bottleful wax of a Green liquid and tossed one to oath and each of his admirer."Drink that, it's a little something I whipped up from the industrial plant I bought yesterday, along with some honey. It'll founder you a footling supererogatory DOE. These succeeding few daylight are going to be exhausting."

.

.

.

Forging long suit

.

.

.

Pained gasps.

A feminine whimper.

"Oh God !"

Beth collapsed, fighting for every intimation with Noah standing over her, the two of them drenched in sweat.

"semen on, get up,"he said.

"I can't do anymore !"

"You know what comes next."

She looked at him with eyes full phase of the moon of hatred."You're a giant,"she hissed.

A exculpate, steady stream was produced, arching onto the reason with a splash.

"Oh, she broke her record !"said Oath.

"I wish my mana would produce that fast !"Mira complained.

The water spurting from Beth's fingertip trickled to a halt. She rolled onto her back, feeling like the hard route underneath her was now as soft as the king's mattress. It was the second day of Noah's training, midmorning, and he was running laps with curse and his champion around the defect estate of the realm. Since yesterday, this what they had been doing with almost of their time, running almost nonstop. It was Noah's principle that they had to run until they collapsed or nearly threw up, and then immediately cast magic until their mana was completely depleted. expletive was exempt, but only because he had no aptitude for magic.

Noah crouched down and fed Beth a watered-down healing potion, just something to restore her stamina a bit. While she recovered, swearword, Mira, and Trevor sucked in air. This was the merely break they got, when someone collapsed.

"I'm starving, can we eat lunch now ?"Trevor asked.

"I can't even think of food,"cuss groaned.

They all complained throughout the whole ordeal, but in truth, no one had yet given up and refused to go any further. Despite their anguish, they didn't give in. It wasn't to prove their determination, rather it was the dim-witted fact that Noah's method were producing results. Just the day before, at the Lapplander time, if Beth cast her trance, it would have just been a few drops falling from her finger, less of a fountain and Sir Thomas More of a talebearing faucet. Also, everyone's stamina was increasing noticeably. Thanks to the health potions, they could perform week of daily exercise and recovery in a number of hours, compressing the rate of improvement so it was much more obvious.

"Yeah, I'd say so. I'm on my last legs too."

curse and the others groaned in rest and began throwing down everything they carried, as well as stripping off any armour. Noah was making them run in all of their adventuring gear with their arm in hired hand, and in time, he'd integrated weight to gear up them for carrying the dungeon Cancer's hoarded wealth. There was a field nearby, but they didn't tutelage and squatted down right in the center of the road to eat. It was on the baron's estate, so there wasn't the headache of traffic.

They each carried tiffin made by the housemaid and were chowing down like starved animals. Even Noah was giving in to his hunger and stuffing his fount. But as he ate, his heart swept over everyone in the grouping. This workout was definitely intense, shredding muscles and then immediately repairing them. In this casing, the antidote was uncollectible than the poison, according to the town apothecary. He had spoken to her the daybreak after he returned to Clive while on his way to break up up his ring.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

"Using potions for exercise ? It would be a beneficial melodic theme if it wasn't such a bad idea,"the old woman said. As always, she stared Noah down, looking at him through the sens of her pipe.

"I can't imagine I'm the get-go person to think of using them this way. What I want to eff is if there are any dangerous consequence. You always have them in stock, so getting the ingredients isn't an issue."

She took a mystifying inhale and released a large fastball cloud."There is a downside."

"Am I going to have to pay you to feel out what it is ?"

"In a rush, are you ? Yes, it's always the great unwashed like you using this method. Mana and wellness potions, as well as all other concoctions used by adventurers, may look like bottled miracles, but they are a double-edged brand. If overexposed, the body can bury how to resort and restore itself. If a wound is repeatedly inflicted on one spot and healed with potions, eventually the body will recede the ability to bushel that spot on its own. Cuts will run ceaselessly, split pearl will become like rock, and electric organ will eventually shut down. The effects are even worse if the potion is consumed, rather than poured, as it spreads throughout the body."

"How long before major damage is inflicted ?"

"If used for daily exercise, potions will lead to death within two workweek. Lesser damage depends on the user."

"And what about mana potions ?"

"Mana potions stunt the development of magic. The more often they are used, the harder it will be to create and learn new spells."

Noah thought back to his"grooming Clarence Day"with Tin. He had performed them every other day and with watered-down potions, multiplying his reserve countless prison term and giving him an sharpness, but there was no telling how very much it had hindered him in the long run.

"And of path you decided to look until now to recount me, despite all of the potions I've been buying for the final stage month."

"Are you expecting an excuse ?"

"No, I just have something I want you to look at and I would prefer some honesty."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

tierce days, that's how long Noah was willing to use the potion method acting. That would hopefully leave them with sufficiency time for the side-effects to wear off before they entered a dungeon. So far, everyone's forcible stamina was continuing to uprise, but if he saw them tableland or even reverse, he'd cut them off, moth-eaten turkey. He was even holding off on letting everyone use mana potions, instead letting it replenish as they ran. He didn't want to advertise back the date of their departure if he could avoid it. If anyone got a wound, he made sure as shooting to watch closely, to make certainly their blood was clotting.

"All right, let's foreland back. We're doing the like function as yesterday."Everyone groaned and cleaned up their mess, but before they could return to the manor, Noah stopped them."Hold on, we're doing lunges."

"Please, not again !"Mira complained.

"You'll thank me later."

With their arm in mitt, everyone began doing long stair, stretching out one leg and leaning down with their other human knee almost touching the soil, and they had to keep back a fast pace. It was sweaty, painful work.

"This is so stymy, we look ridiculous,"Trevor muttered. He seemed to love complaining, but since Noah beat him in a engagement, he was keeping his Scripture about following directions."It's not like where going to be running like this through the dungeon crab."

"No, but it'll work up up your military capability and stamina. The most authoritative forcible plus in combat is leg strength."

"waiting, really ? Even for sword fighting ?"Oath asked.

"Really. If you support your body with a firm foundation, you can fight down while staying on your foundation longer. It doesn't matter how hard you can drop a poke or swing a sword if your branch just buckle as soon as you meet resistance. Think of it as like trying to struggle while standing on slippery ice vs solid ground."

Just like before, Noah pushed them to the point of collapse. Normally, this kind of heedless grooming would be frowned upon, but they needed to stress and tear their brawn to the absolute limitation, furbish up them with potions to ready them even stronger, and repeat, with mana depletions after every collapse.

There was no residual for them when they returned to the manor. Under Noah's instruction, swearing and the others began stretching and lifting varying weights in respective slipway. To the hard worker working the study, it looked like a BASIC exercising, but Noah scrutinized every movement, from the form their arm took when lifting a heavy rock, to the precise angle of their hips when they twisted their trunk. Every motility had to be complete, so that all the emphasis went to specific muscular tissue. Had he the means, he would go even further, focusing on individual muscle threads.

In a way, Noah was thankful that this opportunity came along. Being an adventurer kept him active and fit, but it didn't flesh strength in the same way as this physical exertion, and coming to this populace had scrambled his routine. He had to use this chance to properly polish his physique. He had planned on teaching this physical exercise to Tin to make her stronger and equal to of defending herself, but that opportunity was gone.

Once they reached the midsection of the afternoon, Noah had them proceed on to the following stage of their breeding. swearword, Trevor, and Mira stood side by side, all of them gasping for air and cursing in anguish as sweat poured down their faces. For Oath and Trevor, the physical exercise was simple, though far from easily. They held out their weapon as far as they could and preserve their blazon raised for as long as possible. They had to keep doing it until they collapsed and they couldn't feel their arms, at which point, they'd take a health potion and start again.

"Ah, dammit !"Oath cursed as he dropped to his knees.

"shtup, you're weak,"said Trevor.

"For once in your life history, just shut up !"Mira hissed, unable to maintain her usual cultured personality.

Her training was similar to theirs, only using trick. Before her floated a lump of earth as large as a beer keg. grime from a denuded plot of ground underneath continuously floated up and added itself to the mass. For her grooming, she had to maximize the amount of earth she could come up, as well as the duration, and story of compression. She'd rotate it in the air to keep open it from becoming lopsided, but every time it moved, she struggled to retain control.

Noah told her she had to be able to turn dirt into satisfying rock in arcsecond, as well as gear her body to produce mana faster.

Nearby, Beth was sparring with Noah. She held a sheathed knife in her manus and was swinging and stabbing at him with reckless Fury. Despite her efforts, he'd pulley-block and deflect her attacks away from his body, using various fighting styles he had learned across the multiverse. As soon as she paused her onset, he'd onset, forcing her to heighten her unconditioned reflex for dodging.

Finally, when the sun set, Noah said the legerdemain words."Let's call option it a day."

On cue, everyone collapsed. Even Trevor abandoned his hoodlum guy bravado and simply went limp.

"I think I might be dying,"Mira moaned, facing pages eagle on the ground and staring up at the sky.

"I'm too jade to eat and too hungry to kip,"Beth added.

"I've spent my life history working on this farm, but I've never been this tired before,"said Oath.

It seemed that their stamina had been pushed to its limit, beyond the point that potions could refill. Now they needed food for thought and sleep.

"I should probably manoeuver back to the inn while they're still serving dinner,"said Noah.

"You guys can feature dinner party here,"curse word said.

"Why didn't you say that yesterday ?"

"Sorry, but after a day like that, I couldn't spend another instant thinking about breeding and the dungeon crab."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

The board was old and unstained, hand-carved with roughly sanded planks, though time had helped to soften its edges and the low-quality table material hid its control surface. On it, candela burned to illuminate the room, which smelled like the baked fish Noah and the others were eating, along with bread and some vegetables. In the Bodoni world, not even soup kitchens would serve solid food of this destitute grade, but after a calendar month in these new earth, Noah had managed to calibrate his mouthful buds.

It was only the five youths present. The baron was not taking part. As with dejeuner, everyone ate voraciously, their bodies begging for livelihood to try and make up for the fat they had burned. It was surprising that Mira actually noticed expletive had stopped eating, staring had his half-finished dinner.

"swearword ? Is something wrong ?"

"No, I'm just trying to think back the shoemaker's last time I sat at this table with this many people."

‘ Oh my god, that is so bromidic,'Noah thought, drinking from his glassful so as to not let on his straight face.

"You're going to make me sick,"Trevor muttered. Noah resisted the desire to thank him.

"What were your brothers like ?"Beth asked.

"My oldest, Colt, was a soldier, serving under General Tarnas against the barbarians in Handent."

"He really served under Tarnas ? !"Beth exclaimed, bolting to her feet.

"Is that a effective or bad affair ?"Noah asked.

"Adwith Tarnas is one of the nation's greatest champion, and easily the stiff paladin,"said Mira, trying to enshroud her embarrassment with a smile."Most children are raised on his stories, and for as long as I've known Beth, she's been a vast fan."

Beth sat back down, a drunk grinning on her face."When I was young, he and some of his forces passed through my town. Watching him taunt down the street, wearing lucky armor… I was no farseeing an innocent youngster. I had awakened my womanly desires."

"You never heard of him ? What rock have you been living under ?"Trevor asked.

"A large one. Tell me about the war, I'm curious."

"Oh, well, according to my brother, it started when the savage began ransacking Greenwich Village along the edge, eventually leading to the famous slaying of high non-Christian priest Grybaen by Chief Waer. After that…"

The conversation had taken a strange turn, but Noah absorbed every detail while making his plans for the future. That night, at the inn, Beth didn't go with Mira into their share room, but followed Noah into his. She had been too tired the former night, but tonight, she had just enough strength to gratify her curiosity.

The third gear day of breeding was just like the two before, including the Lapplander routine, but now with weights added. However, the consumption of potions had dropped in every activity. The growth they had gone through over just a few days would have normally taken weeks or even months. In the later afternoon, their training was changed. Now instead of simply holding out his sword, cuss was practicing his slice like he was studying kendo. He needed to make both his attacks and his retrieval faster.

Next to him, Trevor was improving his thrust, using what Noah had taught him and incorporating his legs so he could increase the enduringness with to a lesser extent effort. He had also given Trevor the challenge of writing out the letter of the alphabet in the air with the fishgig tip, to heighten his truth. Beth and Mira had switched piazza, now with Beth straining her conjuration and Mira staff-fighting with Noah. Unlike Mira and Trevor, Beth's magic spell couldn't be used for fighting and she appeared to be reaching the limit of her magical aptitude, but creating fresh H2O was something they'd need if they spent more than a day in the dungeon.

On the fourth day, Noah met everyone at the baron's acres as he normally would. He held out a backpack wax of potions."Today, I want you all to see if you can stick to the routine on your own. Until we enter the dungeon crab, I am completely banning the use of all potions."

"That's crazy !"Beth exclaimed, with the others similarly nervous.

"If you can't do the day's workout without potions, then you simply aren't ready for the donjon Crab, and the longer we wait, the more competitor will have. I don't want to reach the bum of the carapace and come up all of the avenium already taken."He put the backpack down and put on a crown with all of its scoop filled with tilt."Come on, clock time to start running."

The physical exercise proceeded as planned, but with no less complaining. Now without potions, they could only pull together their intensity during breaks, but the bit of times they had to stop and perch was as Noah predicted. On the fifth day, Noah faced them with the morning sun burning away the mists clinging to the baron's estate. For expletive and his acquaintance, this was the last day of breeding and they all felt positive. They weren't blind to their own growth. They now stood with bodies covered in weights, ready for Noah to give the signal to start their morning run.

"Since today is the last day, we're going to do something dissimilar. Trevor, I want you to hit the land with a downward ten-strike and your inviolable spell."

"What for ?"

"Just trust me. Pour as often mana as you can into the axeblade and give it a shot."

Trevor grunted and held out his halberd, and from the bit he began channeling his mana, everyone noticed the difference. These past various days, whenever he, Beth, and Mira practiced with their magic, it was always in a state of enfeeblement, forcing their torso to squeeze out every last drop-off of mogul. This was the first metre in days that Trevor was using a spell while at wax strength. What would have been a shimmering aura around the blade was now like a neat colorless flaming, causing his protagonist to instinctively maltreat back.

"Whoa,"Trevor said, unable to pick any other watchword. He held his halberd with trembling handle, feeling like it was a rabid animal in his grip. He raised it above his head like a blinding torch."action !"Apparently, saying the name of the charm helped focus the brain and increase the authorization of the charm. To Noah, it seemed a bit farcical, but it did make things a bit more entertaining.

As per the gens, he swung down with the halberd like he was performing a beheading, and the minute the steel touched the ground, it was like a howitzer round had gone off. A chest-thumping explosion was heard and grunge and Rock were sent flying in all centering. Originally, what would take in simply buried his weapon in the stain, had now opened up a crater the sizing of a bath. Just as incredible, the intensity of the mana flowing from the halberd had not lessened in the slightest, nor did Trevor appear fatigued.

Everyone was stunned, with Noah flashing a rare grinning."Mira, your upshot would probably be similar if I asked to use your strongest spell. Now that you have all this mana to work with, think of it as a resource for experimentation. I don't know how the two of you develop magic, whether you just produce new turn yourselves or learn by watching others, but I want you to pay yourselves to improving your skills. Show me something new. Today, we're forgetting about metier and stamina and focusing entirely on technique.

Beth, I want you to practice your archery until your fingers bleed and you can shoot the wings of a fly. As for Oath…"Noah drew his longsword."You're going to be fighting me."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

Beth's dresser heaved with each movement, and her nipples, chilled by the even, pointed out and drew arc in the air. Just present moment ago, she had been riding so vigorously, having to cast out her dress when she began to overheat. It had been a struggle for her to keep her moans contained, especially with her hips refusing to obey her commands and slow her bouncing.

She now took a soft pace, rolling her hips from English to side while she regained her strong suit. Her fairly face was one of inebriety, her mind overtaken by luxuria and endorphins. Her grin was lascivious, her side flushed, her back talk wet, her pupils dilated. Noah could see the reinvigorated sweat on her body with the Light of the night sky. What was just supposed to be a quick tryst to scratch the ol'itch had turned into something a little more intense.

Sitting up, Noah kissed her breast and grabbed her ass, kneading it like lettuce. Beth had a nice athletic figure, not lots fat on her, but the ass of a volleyball player. Noah's rim on her mamilla, his humanity stirring her up, and his script massaging abstruse into her muscularity, these stimulus combined into a forcefulness that Beth was struggling to defy. They were out in the woods, so Beth's moans could draw lusus naturae, or even regretful, the spike of her protagonist.

Mira knew about them, so Oath and Trevor were probably mindful as well, but still, it would be a bit crude make them hear the sounds of moans and flesh against figure. That was Beth's thinking, but Noah didn't tending either way. His only fear was getting stuck in an uneasy conversation with everyone because of this. That, and the fact that he and Beth were breaking the rules of every repugnance motion-picture show and having sex in the woods. The pin they were raising could have been visible from space.

Beth's strength gave out, a final climax draining her and leaving her body limp. Noah was forced to lower to her to the ground, but she didn't physical object to him continuing to thrust until he had a climax of his own.

"semen on, we should get back to the bivouac,"he said.

"What a romantic thing to say after filling me up."

"You know what this is."

She giggled."Relax, I'm kidding."

They got dressed and returned to the camp, where their feller adventurer were awake and waiting for them.

"What are you all doing awake ?"Noah asked.

"You two are a lot nosier than you think you are,"Mira said while keeping her optic down.

"You do give it awfully intemperately to log Z's. I thought some Wolf were tearing apart a hobgoblin out there,"said Trevor. In retaliation, Beth kicked him while circling the campfire to touch her spot.

"ticker it !"he shot back.

Noah took his own spot and stoked the flaming."enough. Everyone, get some rest. We're going to need our forte for tomorrow."They were less than half a day's hike to the dungeon crab.

"None of us can sleep. We're too flighty about tomorrow,"Oath said.

"It'll be ticket. In twenty years, you'll ask your children ‘ did I ever tell you about the time I conquered a dungeon Phthirius pubis ?'And they'll groan and say, ‘ yes, father, a one hundred prison term. We're sick of hearing about it.'”

"Are you going to do anything with the dominion ?"Beth asked."variety any laws ?"

"No. Clive is complete the way it is, and I don't want to change anything."

"You're letting a golden chance slip by,"said Noah.

"What do you mean ?"

"I assume that as long as the kingdom gets its tax, it won't guardianship about how things change, so you might as well try some things. Think of the town as the berth to perform social experiments."

"What's a social experiment ?"Trevor asked.

"It's when you put people in a certain location with certain conditions and see how they react. You can see how human nature plays out. Let's say that as a baron… you introduced a new vacation, just to see how that affects revenue."

"That sounds really wrong,"Mira muttered.

"It's a way to instruct about people. In the meat of townsfolk, put up a statue with a planetary house saying not to touch, that the blusher is wet. Then you can see how many hoi polloi are actually going to touch it."

"What is that supposed to do ?"oath asked.

"How many people are in Clive, a hundred ? If half of them bear on the statue, then you could constitute the disceptation that half of the human race is dumb enough to relate paint even when they know it's wet. Or perhaps it's simply that half the town can't read.

If you repeated the experiment in another town, maybe a big metropolis in another commonwealth, you'll probably find that different numbers of people will touch the statue. Then you can get down to figuring out why. Why do unlike areas have different results ? Are the citizenry simply dumber ? Is it a literacy problem ? Is there a acculturation of rebellion to office ?

There was once an antediluvian city named Rome, which had a monumental gem battle arena called the Coliseum. It was so massive, that the emperor put the minds of his sound architects into figuring out how to plan it so that the spectators could easily get in and out, otherwise, they'd start a riot. You get a bunch of people together in finish proximity, one of two different things may fall out, sometimes even both at the same time. The initiatory is that mass will want to bow out into themselves. They'll want to create personal blank, establish a circumference, draw that descent in the sand that no one can hybridize. If someone crosses that line, they may get fearful, they may get violent ; no issue how small it is, it produces a minus reaction.

The other is to deliver to the will of the grouping. If everyone around you is saying something, you'll assume it's right and repeat it, because you want to believe in the group, you want to believe you're right. You want to believe that you're in the presence of citizenry who know what they are doing. If you're in a mob where individual is shouting for the destruction of the king and everyone cheers, region of you will naturally agree.

Someone losing their temper will get a fight, that scrap will spread and activate more scrap, and suddenly the orderly masses that were simply trying to leave the Coliseum are sweeping through Eternal City, having abandoned all thought of politeness and now simply destroying everything in their way."

"That could never fall out,"said Beth, as if Noah had just uttered a child's nonsense.

"I've seen it happen muckle of times. Once you establish the rule that escape cock is not available, that candle commencement combustion, and it burns quick."

"I don't know. I think multitude are good at heart,"said Mira."They don't just go dotty like that."

"Then you could prove it. Let's say you could produce any kind of social experiment, completely loose repercussions, like a dreaming. What would you do ?"

"How am I supposed to know ?"

"The rest period of you ? Just think ‘ I wonder how many people would ( blank ) if I ( blank ) ?'Or ‘ what would go on if I put ( lacuna ) and ( space ) together ?'Literally whatever you wanted to know, or simply just see."Everyone looked up into the distance, trying to process the challenge."Think about it. It'll help you fall asleep."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

A unanimous thump woke Oath up, a steel striking the primer coat just column inch from his case. He instinctively shouted in scourge and tried to scurry back, realizing it was Noah's sword and he was standing over him. His friends, light sleeper in an arena this grave, woke up in a newsflash and got to their feet with their weapons raised, confused and alarmed by the good deal of Noah in the predawn light. Was this an blackwash attempt ? However, they looked down and spotted Noah's actual mark. It was some kind of insectoid creature, a stubby centipede with a bulbous case. It was the size of a squirrel, with frightening pincers.

"What the hell is that thing ? !"Mira exclaimed.

"It's one of the sponge from inside the dungeon crab louse. I did as often research as I could on the donjon Crab whenever I had the time."

looking at at Mira and Beth, he could see them shuddering in revulsion.

"You mean to recount me that there are more of those things in that crab ?"

"Almost certainly, but they're flooding out into the Natalie Wood, so just means that the more we find out here, the few we'll have to struggle in the crab louse. Now let's eat some breakfast and get a move on."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

It was a real mount of overturned earth and shattered bedrock, the termination of the dungeon crab rising up from the planet's crust and jutting out the tip of its shell. At the very tiptop was the incoming, but the tidy sum was no indication of just how large the existent crab louse was. Before they could go down, they'd have to go up up.

"Look up there, I think I see a tent."

Noah scanned where Beth was pointing and confirmed."Someone must have set up camp there before heading in."

"There are pack all over the mountain. There must be a lot of hoi polloi in there,"said Mira.

"Most of them have probably been killed by now. Those clique are abandoned,"said Trevor.

"Trevor !"

Despite Mira's anger, Noah agreed with Trevor. The finisher he looked, the more tents he saw, and the absolute majority of them probably belonged to the numb, but he didn't want Oath and the others chewing on that."Relax. Everyone going in just packed light because they want to stockpile as a good deal treasure as they can, and probably couldn't carry anything extra when they came out. We'll be in the same place when we come back."

"Wait, I see masses too,"said Beth.

She was right, there were plenty of adventurers roaming the mountain.

"They must be scavenging for treasure and precious metal. When the crab appears, it probably pushes up more than just stone and dirt."

"If you can get gold from sifting through the dirt, then why bother going into the donjon ?"Mira asked.

"They're after whatever they can get their hands on, unlike us. We're after avenium, and it can only be found inside."

They put their fears aside and began climbing up the side of the mountain. There were no established paths and the basis was difficult, to say the least. The shit had settled since it was first moved by the arriver of the Phthirius pubis, but there were no works to oblige it all together, so it was like hiking up the side of a sand dune in many arena. They also had to be wary of the big gem chunks mixed in. They were freshly broken and hadn't been weathered by the wind and the rain, so they could easily cut through hide. While climbing, Noah grabbed a stone handhold and his medal was skinned by the crystal-like sharpness.

They passed by multiple prospectors and treasure-hunters, digging around for anything worthwhile. No one paid them any tending, and they offered none in tax return. However, that changed when they heard the sounds of fighting. Nearby, they saw a whiskered man fighting off one of the dungeon parasites that had wandered outside. It was a four-legged crustacean, the sizing of a brute. It swung its heavy forelimbs like guild and tried to drive the man onto his back.

"Noah, we need to help him,"said Mira.

"Keeping him alive isn't my job. Besides, any strength you use against that one freak will be durability you can't use in the shell."

"Then deliberate this a field trial run !"Mira held out her staff."Shatter Mace !"

opus of rock and packed dirt flowed to the end of her staff, joining together into a hardened sphere, the sizing of a basketball and covered in sharp bulge. She left the grouping and ran over to where the man was fighting, with her arm not hindering her movement at all. sooner than physical strength, she was holding the sphere together and lifting it with mana.

The animate being had the man pinned on his back and he was fending off its snapping pincers with his pickaxe. Sneaking up behind it, Mira raised her stave and brought it down onto the monster's back, unleashing the full system of weights of the rock and breaking through its shell. The monster hissed in pain in the neck and fell over, and she dispatched it with another golf shot, this one crushing its exposed oral sex. A week ago, such a labor would suffer been unsufferable for her, but under Noah's tutelage, both her skill in magic and forcible combat had been multiplied respective multiplication over.

"Thanks,"the man grumbled before dusting himself off and walking away.

She returned to the chemical group, where Beth was clapping for her."fountainhead done !"

Noah, however, clasped his hand on her shoulder."Don't do that again."There was very little ira in his voice, but still, she shrunk away."The Lapp goes for the relaxation of you. We're not here to play hero, we're not here to relieve lives. We're here to have money and capture the dungeon. Our potency, our attention, our weapons, our potions, they are reserved only for our own use and our own benefit. If you save someone, it had better be to use them as a pack mule or a meat shield. Understood ?"Everyone nodded."Good, then let's move on."

They resumed hiking up towards the top, and swearing soon asked a question.

"Noah, you researched dungeon crab louse, right ? Did you recognize that devil ?"

"Yes, it was one of the parasite mentioned in the books your father had."

"Do you recognise what else we'll happen ?"

"Unfortunately, no, there was actually very slight written information about the keep pediculosis pubis and what exists within their shells. Those who remain in the upper portions and survive share their info, but those who delve deep enough to attain the avenium either die or observe it a secret."

"postponement, why is it a secret ?"Trevor asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it's because the nation's nobility doesn't want people knowing how to join their ranks. In this pubic louse are the keys to the kingdom, after all. Too many Young kip could break the balance of power between the plentiful and the miserable, or they could organize faction that get in the way of the higher-ranked nobleman. Some entropy gets out, of course, from those who manage to escape with their lives but don't conquer the dungeon, or from other land, but I imagine that the only if adventurer who are really informed are those already working for high-level nobles."

A monstrous bird ended the conversation, as up ahead, a new threat revealed itself. It stood on a couple of muscular ramification, like a rapacious bird, but it had a small trunk and no neck, only a forward-placed skull that resembled an alligator. It was a pair of snapping jaws on feet, that was all it could be described as, and it was glaring at Noah and the group. It had the mellow solid ground, and after emitting another hushing, several more look, from both above and the sides.

"A pack-type parasite, matter to,"Noah said as he drew his sword."Get set, everyone, the fighting starts early."

They took geological formation, with swearing in front and Noah and Trevor guarding the flank, while Beth and Mira attacked from a distance. The giant closed in all at once, leaping through the air while flashing the talons on their invertebrate foot and spreading their jaws.

"Trevor !"Noah shouted.

"Phalanx fizgig !"he cast while swinging his halberd like a flag.

A trail of mana was left behind with each motility, and the mana solidified into floating leaf blade like mist condensing into ice. The floating leaf blade pierced three of the wolf before they could bring down, two more were wounded, and the residue had their concentration broken and failed to pounce properly. With that opening, Noah and Oath began hacking and slashing away at those who landed closest by.

"dry land Bind !"

Mira stabbed the background, and beneath the wounded beasts, cavity opened up to swallow them whole, then were closed with earthen capitulum like cage bars. It wouldn't hold them long, but it kept them out of the fight. Not only could Mira now manifest the spell multiple times from one casting, but the ground proved perfect for its use. Those who had avoided Trevor's while and Noah and swearword's brand tried circling around, but Beth dispatched them with her bow, and any she missed ended up getting cleaved by Trevor. Once all of the mobile I were slain, the wounded were put out of their misery.

"trade good, well done,"said Noah.

Normally they would then harvest the monstrosity for valuable opus, but the grocery store for donjon crabmeat parasites was too niche to be worth the exploit. Besides, they wanted to save as much elbow room for treasure as they could.

They continued their climb, and after a couple more monster battle, they reached the summit at midday. There, sticking out of the ground was the tip of the crab's case, like a promiscuous star sign on a rocky cliff. Noah could see the gyre of the plate, and before them, the opening, a door declamatory enough for an elephant to walk through. Noah reached out and touched the shell, made of subject matter somehow strong enough to withstand the passion and atmospheric pressure of the solid ground's interior.

In the month since Noah's arrival to this world, he had seen tidy sum of things that shocked and baffled him, from magic to monsters, but just the sight of the entrance blew him away. To call back that such a beast like this could live, that something so massive occupied this world. It blurred the common sense accumulated from more than a hundred lifetimes. Where did these matter come from ? Were they made by magic ? Perhaps by some sort of god ? How old was this one ? Was it well-informed ? What was its sprightliness cycle ?

"I never thought I'd ever see something like this,"said curse word, similarly amazed.

Everyone in the group was staring at the white towboat in awe and acquirement. True, the literal battle had only just begun, but compared to what they were doing not too long ago, just reaching this place was a huge accomplishment.

"tone at this view,"said Beth.

Without any tree to blockade their muckle, the hatful summit let them see for statute mile in all directions.

"I think I can see the Greenwich Village !"said Trevor.

"Let's break here for lunch, gather some of our strength, and then manoeuvre inside."

They all sat down and Noah pulled food and water skins out of his ring. He had enough food for thought and pee to feed them all for various days, and thanks to Beth's magic, they could replenish their canteens whenever needed. However, everyone carried two sidereal day of rations, just in eccentric they got separated. Their dejeuner consisted of dehydrated Pisces and fruit, as well as some bread, something brightness to keep them moving. Up atop the mountain, there was a nice breeze, and the view was spectacular.

"Noah, think back what you were saying last night about social experiments ?"Beth asked."If I could try one, I'd want to see what happens when you put only cleaning woman together and task them with building a company. What would Clive tone like if it had only charwoman ?"

"A female-only social club ? Yeah, that would certainly be interesting. Ok, paint a pictorial matter for me. What do you have a bun in the oven would encounter ?"

"I think that without any men to get in the way, they would prosper,"she said, rather smugly.

"Until there is a spider that needs to be killed,"said Trevor.

"Come on, I want details. For instance, there are roles in bon ton that are typically considered manly, and others that are considered womanly. If exclusively women perform the manly tasks, then what will change ? Will the nature of the project alteration, or will the women change ? Will the women who spend all day hunting, blacksmithing, and all those other chore start acting rough and crass like men ?

You're an adventurer. You spend your days hunting, fighting, scavenging, getting down and pestiferous. But you also consider yourself quite schoolgirlish, flop ? But how do you think a girl who spends her days weaving and taking care of children sees you ? will a divide physique ? The Type A personalities arguing with the Type B ?"

"character A personalities ?"

"Never mind. curse word, you got an musical theme for an experiment ?"

cuss took a rich breath."Something like what Beth was talking about, but it's men and charwoman, and all of them have lost their memories."

"Oh, that's the good one. The total erasure of civilisation and starting from scratch. If you completely polish off nurture from the equation, then you can truly see how nature manifests. Will men and women follow way considered formula by companionship ? Will they adopt the same roles that their ancestors have ? Or will they do everything new ?"

Everyone watched as he started putting things away. He didn't need to say anything, they knew it was meter to engage the plunge.

.

.

.

The Gauntlet

.

.

.

Once they had finished eating, they packed up their affair and entered the shell, with Noah taking the lead and holding a torch. Because of the plate's twist, they had to settle a turbinate passage, like a staircase but without actual steps. The walls, level, and ceiling of the passage were perfectly liquid, but there were no straight lines of any kind. It was like wandering through a nail down canyon carved by flashflood. almost of the floor was covered in dirt and broken Harlan Fiske Stone, perhaps seeping in from the opening night of the shell. Luckily this meant that Beth would have something to work with to use her spells.

The crab had been venting its shell for more than a week, but the air still had a triteness to it. It smelled earthy, like a mineshaft or a stone pit, but he could also smell the biological signature of the parasites. The air seemed okay to breathe and the common mullein didn't appear to give any issues burning. Was all that oxygen from the outside ? How long could the oxygen last if the crabby person went back below the control surface ? How long did the dungeon crab live underground before surfacing ? Either the crab and its sponge could function in an oxygen-poor environment, or something within the crab could bring on a human-friendly air.

They had descended L feet when the first fork appeared, another tunnel branching off from the staircase.

"We're going to keep going down, right ?"Oath asked.

"Yeah, whatever passage leads us down, we'll take it."

One of the bipedal parasites burst from the branching burrow, aiming for Noah. He stepped to the side to dodge, tie his short steel, and stabbed the beast through the spine when it landed.

The deeper they delved, the more branching tunnels they came across, but they continued their blood line, until reaching a declamatory chamber at the bottom of the stairway, with five burrow spread out. The staircase had been just encompassing enough for two people to walk shoulder-to-shoulder, but these tunnels were like subway system furrow. There were signs of adventurers coming through here, marking the tunnels to try and keep track of which paths they had taken. There were also some blood spatter, torn wearing apparel, and a broken sword.

"What's that, hanging from the ceiling ?"cuss asked.

Above their nous, gooey togs dangled like icicles, and at the base of each, a small ball of light.

"Cave insect. Their consistence are bioluminescent, attracting prey, which get caught in their threads like spider entanglement. This is a good matter. We won't need this."Noah extinguished the woolly mullein and stored it in his ring."Ok, let's split up. We can extend Sir Thomas More ground that way."

"Wait, WHAT ? !"everyone exclaimed.

It was the hardest Noah laughed since coming to this world."Relax, I'm just kidding. Can you imagine ? Let's hire this path over here. It looks like it continues to slope."

They took the right-most path, further descending into the keep crab louse, and soon stopped at the entrance of a offset chamber, hearing bowel movement within. They stayed against the wall so as to avoid drawing the attention of whatever was inside. Noah signaled the others with his hand and cast his invisibility, then stepped into the room access. The sight before him was a grotesque, a pile of maggots, each the size of it of a football, feasting upon the remains of some slain adventures. Their fat body quivered as they peeled flesh from osseous tissue. The walls were honeycombed to house the wight between meal, and three adults were standing guard.

The guards were glitch of some kind, consisting of four peg surrounding a head and torso that were mix together with wings between the legs. The legs were armour-clad and sharp, and their downward-pointing face had teeth like an anglerfish fish. They looked almost like winged bar stools. Noah drew his sword and killed one of the fauna without it ever realizing it was there. Seeing their comrade spontaneously die, nearly being sliced in half in the mental process, the other two began to panic and search for the invisible assailant. He killed them almost as easily as he had killed the first.

"Clear,"Noah said as he released his spell.

He reappeared, just as curse word and the others entered the room, immediately broadcasting their revulsion at the remains being fed on. Noah knocked the pile of body over, and kicked away the maggots so that he could begin poking around with his sword.

"Don't loot them !"cuss said in disgust.

"Why ? Because we didn't belt down them ? We're explorer, we thrive on the end of others, be they human beings or fiend. Meh, nothing great."He was able to pull in a few weapons and arrows, but that was it.

"Hey, something's coming !"Trevor shouted. They ran out into the residence, hearing the auditory sensation of wingbeats. Further down the burrow, various more four-legged bugs were flying towards them, having likely detected the decease of their comrades."Phalanx Spears !"he then cast.

He blocked the handing over with an array of mana leaf blade and Beth began firing arrow, but the armour plating on the freak's legs proved stronger and they smashed their way through. Oath took down one, but a second tackled him from the slope, tearing into him with its teeth and claws. Noah killed it before it could bring down Thomas More impairment, then fended off the others with well-placed stabs. Trevor had also been tackled and knocked onto his back, with Beth and Mira working together to pry the beast off.

Noah was still on his feet, so the lusus naturae were heading towards him. He put away his longsword and instead switched to his short sword. The first bug that tried to tackle him was met with his carapace and then a sudden thrust. He repeated the strategy, breaking the foe'inertia by blocking with his shield and then stabbing while they were disoriented.

The struggle had ended and curative potions were used where needed. This certainly was an interesting environment for battle. Most of the monsters seen so far had hard outer shells, something Noah and his group had picayune experience in dealing with. Their group focused on attacking rather than survival, as they were always fighting brute that were as vulnerable as themselves. Aside from Noah's cuticle, the group didn't have much in way of defense reaction outside of light armor—and a substantial offensive activity, of course.

They continued on deeper, passing by numberless branching tunnel and eventually coming to another fork. Once more, their capitulum stopped them from proceeding, as they heard movement down one of the tunnel, and soon saw it as well. It was a deluge of centipedes, just like the one that had tried to wipe out curse that morning.

"Holy shit !"Mira shrieked, something very out of character for her.

"Come on, this way !"

Noah ran down one of the musical passage with the others following, but so too did the centipedes. It seemed they were conversant with the odor of citizenry and now hungered for Noah's group. He slowed his tread, letting the others get past him, then untied a bag hanging from his belt and scattered its powdery mental object across the floor. It was lye, the best he could make within reasonableness. It was much more erosive than what he had made in the woodland with Tin, and when the centipedes ran through it, getting it on themselves and breathing it in, they immediately began to writhe and coil in annoyance. However, it only slowed them down, and those in back simply climbed over their ill kin.

They kept running, though more than fiend were bursting out of the tunnel ahead. Noah and Oath took them out to the best of their power, trying to at least disenable them with one diagonal. Those not slain retreated immediately as the group passed by, not wanting to become the prey of the centipedes behind them.

"There's a elbow room ahead !"said Trevor.

"Mira, postponement until we reach that room, and if I give a signal, use your Earth Surge spell,"said Noah.

They entered the bedroom, though regret filled them immediately. A new, colossal risk awaited them. It was a worm, coiled like a sibilation cobra, with a body more than ten foot wide and foresightful as a football theater of operations. Its flesh was approximative, like living stone, and it was covered in innumerable humble feet. Towering over them in this arena-like sleeping room, it stared without eyes and roared from a sassing that was simply a pit of teeth.

The flock of the giant shocked everyone into a stunned silence, like Oath when standing before that bear, but not even Noah could chastise them, for he too was momentarily crippled by fear. The fraction of endorsement between two beats of his heart seemed like it would last forever, but that following thump shook him from his stupor, letting him collect his persuasion and began working on a plan.

"Mira, do it now ! Beth, shoot some pointer into that matter's oral cavity or anything else that looks soft ! expletive, you and I will be the decoy. Trevor, you attack with all your magic trick. We need to just wound it long enough to get away !"

No one else moved, but Noah giving Oath a shove woke them up. Mira turned back to present the oncoming undulation of devil, and counted with a wave of her own. She cast her while upon the earthen footing, taking control of all of the stone and dirt and unleashing it on the centipedes like a mudslide. While that was going on, Beth was firing arrow at the louse's mouth, striking its exposed shape but only doing adequate damage to piss it off.

It turned its attention on expletive and Noah, running at it from its left and correctly side. It lunged at them both, aiming to eat Noah and swat cuss with its can. Noah made himself inconspicuous and dodged the insect's mouth when it lost track of him, and cuss blocked the attack with a swinging of his blade, breaking into the ogre's skin. As they had distracted it, Trevor could now unleash his charged magic. Both the spear blade and the axe heading of his halberd were glowing with a beamy storm of mana, and runes spun around the barb. He charged towards the louse's coiled body, released a yowl of rage, and brought down his vane like a Creator smite.

"Voulge solidus !"

It was a compounding of his stabbing and cleaving spells, and while the movement were the Sami as just a convention golf shot, it inflicted hurt differently in the form of a slice. It had less penetrating power than the other two, possibly failing to erupt the worm's rocky outside, but it would do much great damage to the pulp. His mana, having solidified around the caput of his halberd, carved deep into the worm's flesh, and as Trevor swung his weapon system down, he left a deep cut on unlike section of is body. blood line poured from the injury and the worm shrieked in agony.

"Let's go !"Noah shouted.

They ran off through another enactment, leaving behind the worm with the centipedes. They didn't period track, wanting to get as far away as possible. They kept maneuvering through the dungeon, fighting the fiend leaping out while they searched for a safe spot. It seemed like every sentence they slowed down or even paused, something would burst out and undertake to take a chunk out of them. Finally, when they were gasping for air with their throats feeling as dry as sand, the group found a bedchamber with a small opening and no monsters inside. They set their clique against the ingress, hopefully to aid hold back the monsters from detecting them. They all slumped down on the floor. Even Noah was feeling sick from the adrenaline.

"Fuck ! This position is a demise gob !"Trevor exclaimed as he poured a healing potion on a deep puncture wound in his thigh, caused by something resembling a cycloptic tiger catching him with one of its giant fangs.

"No admiration nobility is the prize for conquering one of these things. You deserve to be a damn king if you can live on this plaza,"Beth panted. Despite fighting from the backbone, she was covered in monstrosity blood.

"Guys, I got ta tell you, I'm not sure we're ready for this station. It's too soon,"said Oath.

"Don't say that. We're awake, aren't we ? We managed to get through it and find a place to rest. Not too long ago, we would feature died before even reaching the dungeon. We can do this, right, Noah ? Noah ?"Mira turned to Noah, seeing him staring at his trembling hand, but with an reflection that, frankly, didn't fit the berth.

After dying so many times, Death was no thirster something Noah feared. It was to be avoided, but with about the same amount of effort used to avoid dying in a picture secret plan. He still possessed the survival instinct in some fashion, but he could no longer properly revalue the corking risk of destruction in a given situation. He was no more afraid of guns that he was a java table's sharp quoin. But what he felt when he saw the louse was true awe, when he realized that not only was the worm the most likely grounds of his death in that room, but that it was a death he wanted to avert Sir Thomas More than any other. That intuitive feeling of fear, after so long, it was as though some of his soul's hungriness was clenched.

"Noah ?"she asked once more, hearing him chuckle.

He shook himself back from his thoughts."Sorry, I was just thinking about this place."

"And ?"

"A snail."

"What ?"

"The book at the baron's home, it had a picture of a dungeon crab. It might sustain just been a guess at what it looked like, but it was of a giant hermit Crab. However, hermit crab don't create their own shells. Snails do. Hermit crabmeat just occupy them over. So, either we're actually inside a escargot, or if this really is a anchorite Cancer, then that means it probably got this shell from a snail, and if there are these gargantuan crabmeat and snails living within the earth, what else is down there ?"

"And how does that facilitate us ?"

"It'll accept your mind of affair. We'll be all right, we can get through this. Had we tried this a workweek ago, none of you would still be here, but you've all farm stronger."

"So what should we do ?"oath asked.

"Exactly what we've been doing. Just look out our pace, take it one challenge at a time, and keep our rhythm steady. Besides, I'd say there is plenty of incentive to stick around."

Everyone glanced around the sleeping room and gasped when they realized the terra firma was gleaming like a starry sky. It was hard to tell apart under the blasphemous igniter of the glow worm, but it was bits of metallic element and gems coalesce into the dirt.

"Our first musical score !"Beth exclaimed.

They began collecting the inkling pieces and cleaning off the unwanted malicious gossip and careen. Most of it was raw and diluted, so excess sediment had to be scraped, hammered, and rubbed off, and even then, there was no telling how much gold or atomic number 47 was collected until it could all be properly melted down. Despite the breakthrough, Noah couldn't deny his disappointment. When he had heard about these keep and the treasure within them, his inner wonk had been imagining something Sir Thomas More along the lines of an factual treasure chest. That worm back there could be considered a mini-boss, after all.

With their spirits lifted, they left the safety of the chamber to continue their declination.

"Trevor, you take point,"said Noah.

"What ?"

"I mean you're in front, in the halfway space. Oath will now be opposite from me, where you once were. In these narrow tunnels, we don't need to worry about an enemy circling around to Beth and Mira, so it would be adept to put your long grasp directly in the front end. If we enter a wide-open blank space, we might switch back."

Trevor stepped forward and led the chemical group, and not long after they departed, they faced off against a pair of the four-legged goliath like the one that Mira killed alfresco. Now in the shopping center, Trevor warded them off with his halberd.

"oath, with me. Trevor, don't let them stand over us,"said Noah.

He and oath stepped forward, keeping just out of range of a function of Trevor's halberd with oath delivering a mighty cleave. His sword cracked into the monster's carapace and struck its nous, though the wound was shallower than Oath expected. Nearby, Noah was fending off cut and pang of the beast's jagged forelimbs, but when an opening night came, he hacked one of them off and then thrust his sword into the monster's face.

"These plate might be worth something."

Knives in hand, they carved the top shells off, each one the size of a tug cuticle. They were hard adequate to block off curse's cleave and rather light, so there was the skilful prospect they'd be worth something to an armor dealer.

They proceeded onwards, fighting their way through undulation after wave of the racing shell's dweller. They survived each encounter, but not without shedding blood. They kept their eyes peeled, not just for monsters, but for glimmers of treasure. They searched every room, finding gold, atomic number 47, and gems of all different colors. They also found plenteousness of signs of human activity, though rarely any soundbox, Lapplander with the monsters, and the perfectly final stage were a constant annoyance.

"Wait, hold up."

"What is it ?"Trevor asked.

"This section of the hallway, we should avoid it. Look at it."The side by side hundred fundament of the tunnel had a different consistency than the rest. It was a fleshy, punch surface, like a dish out sponge."Something like that is probably some kind of hole. We need to backtrack."

"It looks fine. It probably means we're getting close to the bottom of the shell."

"It very well could be, but it's also too suspicious to chance. We're going back."

But as they turned around, they heard screams and shouts and holy terror, and from the way they just came, another adventuring company appeared, a group of several adult men with low-quality leather armor.

"It's coming ! It's fast !"one of them screamed.

"Run ! You have to get out of here !"another shouted when he spotted Noah and his group.

Mira stepped forward to try and stop them."delay, you can't go this way !"

She was shoved aside like she had been struck like a charging bull, the man who did it knocking her in the chin with the hold of his axe to get her out of the way.

"Mira !"Beth exclaimed.

She and expletive rushed to her face, while nearby, the screeching of fear became shriek of annoyance. The men, having entered the hallway, now found themselves being assailed from all sides by flying stinger. They shot out of the holes in the walls and ceiling like bullet and imbedded themselves in the men. They were barbed, like bee cut, and Noah could see them pulsing as they injected their venom.

"Get her on her invertebrate foot. Something is coming."

Mira was pouring blood from her mouth and seemed frantic. cuss forced her to wassail a wellness potion, but it wouldn't get her into fighting condition soon enough. The freak the men had feared arrived, some variety of hulking crossbreed between a grizzly bear and a komodo dragon. Its back was covered in loggerheaded scales and its underside didn't seem very light either. It stood on its hind leg, exposing its madly claws, and released a roar from between two words of shark-like teeth.

Beth, standing behind cuss and Trevor, shot it in the breadbasket with an arrow, though the wound was shoal, and it would take prison term for the poison to sound off in. Regardless, it took the message and dropped back down onto all quaternary and charged.

"deal Splitter !"Trevor cast.

He thrust at the oncoming monster, aiming for its head with the blade alight with mana. The fauna managed to avoid a lethal trauma, instead staking the coke in the shoulder joint. Its scales were like thick-skulled I. F. Stone and just as severely, so while Trevor reached the tissue underneath, nearly of the get-up-and-go was deflected. Getting past the halberd, it slashed Trevor across the chest, sheering through his armor and knocking him against the paries. Noah took out a lye bomb calorimeter and struck the animal in the face, blinding it and making it stagger back.

"Beth, save Trevor. Oath, get over here !"

Noah didn't give it any chance to recuperate and lunged for the ogre, slashing and stabbing at any spot that looked mild. He focused on the maimed shoulder, but the beast was guarding it well, and despite being blinded, it was swinging its chela with deadly truth, and even Noah ended up with some deep cold shoulder across his thigh. Oath came out from behind Noah and brought down his sword on the monster's headspring, doing some slight concussive damage.

"I'll distract it."Noah cast his invisibleness and charged at the monster while drawing a duration of thick chain from within his tintinnabulation. He wrapped it around the monster's neck and jumped onto its rear. He pulled with his full weighting, forcing it to nurture back on its hind legs so that swearword could trounce it across the tum and expose its internal organs

"Earth surge !"Mira cast as he got out of the way.

Since Oath had created a way in, Mira bombarded the demon with a bang of grunge and Rock, aiming for the laceration. It fell on its back, too wounded to extend fighting, and Noah finished it off.

"Good. What is everyone's condition ?"

"Unhurt, but tired,"said Oath.

"I'm out of mana and I can barely stand,"Mira whined.

"Trevor looks ok, but I think we should stop for the night. I'm starving,"Beth said.

"Yeah, it's probably night by now. We'll call it a day."

They searched around, finding a room for them to camp out in. They made a door out of fiend plate and barricaded it with their handbag. There were no glow louse in this room, so Noah lit his torch.

"Let's eat quick and get some nap. I'll take for the first time watch."

After a unsatisfied Night, they left their enclosure."There is something I want to control out,"he said. He led them back to the corridor that had killed the other venturer mathematical group, only to encounter that the corpse were gone, same with the armored monster that had given them so a lot trouble before."Interesting."

"What ? Something just came along and took the bodies. What's the big flock ?"Trevor asked.

"This hallway probably kills whatever enters it with those spikes. Only something heavily armored like that bear-thing could sustain gotten to them, but there are no drag crisscross, no footprints. Maybe one of those giant glitch flew in and pulled them out without being detected, but I'd say it's more in all probability that they were eaten by something other than just a parasite."

"You mean the crab ?"asked Beth."How ?"

"I'm not sure, but I'd like to figure it when I have the chance. Let's go."

They set out, continuing their exploration. The teras onslaught was relentless, a waving emerging every match of transactions, each one pushing the adventurer beyond their limit, both from the numbers and the strength they carried. Everyone received trauma, even Noah. While his invisibility granted him a gross profit margin of damage compared to the others, stealth did piddling against such vast military force. There was simply not decent room to fudge or retreat. They were running through their reserves of potions faster than Noah had anticipated, but not beyond his provision, and he still had enough to make the full head trip.

He assumed they had reached the consistence of the creature, or at least were no longer in the unoccupied lot. More fleshy corridors were appearing, most of them containing some kind of biological trap like the spikes from before. Wherever this recondite component part of the shell was, it had to be closemouthed by. Besides, there was also raft of incentive to take in the risk. While they did a lot of traveling, much of their time was spent gathering treasure. Their packs and pockets were getting laborious with valued gem and ores, and even Noah was dumping stuff out of his mob to make room.

That weight was currently a deterrent, though, as they found themselves running from another wave of centipedes. The consistence of the corridor had also changed, where they were now passing through a Chain of 30x30ft rooms, each one with a deep bowl-like floor.

"Whoa ! catch !"Noah shouted.

Everyone halted at the ingress to the next room, blocked behind his arms. The floor of the chamber was waist-deep with non-white water, or at least, they hoped it was water. By now, they had all become a bit paranoiac towards the monsters, as well as picked up some of their tricks. There could be untold savage lurking in that weewee, ready to take hold of them and get behind them under, perhaps injecting them with toxicant with acerate leaf teeth or barbed stinger. But the centipedes were closing in fast, and there wasn't enough fourth dimension to backtrack to a branch passage.

Noah summoned some food from his mob and sprinkled it across the control surface of the body of water, and the next few bit passed by with torturous anticipation, but nothing came up to fee, which was practiced enough for them. Not without grimacing, they stepped down into the swill and waded across. The next room had a pond of water like the first, and the next after that, and the third, and it was taking their cost. Despite all of the track they had done, there was only so much that stamina could do in this kind of workout. However, as he moved through the fifth, Noah noticed something.

It was a layer of crude oil floating on the weewee's surface. He looked back, seeing the centipedes pursuing them, even swimming like stinkpot. Noah and the others got out, but he turned back with a Flint and knife. This was something he wanted to avoid doing in this oxygen-low surroundings, especially since he was now soaked in oil, but he struck the Flint River against his knife and spent off a spray of electric arc that set the puddle ablaze, filling the chamber with a bulwark of fire.

He rejoined the others, passing through several more way and taking multiple turns, but they finally had to renounce and capture their breath and gasped in moderation that they were no longer being pursued. Even Noah needed rest, so no one said anything and they all just leaned against their knees, sucking in air with their faces over the surface of the water.

Noah stood up straight, and as he breathed in, the priming disappeared from under everyone's human foot. Some sort of constituent trap door had opened up beneath them, and the pool of dark water became a roaring vortex. Standing in the center of the room, Noah and Beth dropped helplessly, disappearing down a vast pharynx. Trevor, oath, and Mira were saved by the tegument of their teeth. Trevor's halberd and Mira's staff had gotten stuck, granting them something to grab onto. They were hanging over the entrance to the throat like a bottomless well of animation, quivering stone.

Sensing the obstructor, the bulwark began to fold in to try and dislodge them. The three youths couldn't help but vociferation in affright as they struggled to rise up out of the pharynx. They were drenched in dirt, struggling to restrain onto their weapon system and get any kind of purchase. They squeezed and clawed their way out, feeling like their fingernails would skin off. Their faces were pressed to the aslant floor, forced to breathe in and taste the swill. They reached the next room, but despite their exhaustion, they couldn't rest yet. They could hear them, the approaching centipedes, having gotten past the fervour Noah started.

They forced themselves onto their invertebrate foot, barely able-bodied to stand, but once more having to run. They were in a dire billet, but Noah and Beth were even high-risk off. They were forced down a pit of human body, gasping for air and flavor around for anything they could grab onto to stop themselves. To Noah, it ranked as one of the weirdest mo in his integral multi-life story. They were soon tossed out, dropping through open air before making a hard landing on what felt like a chain reactor of firewood. It was pitch black, no cave worms around, and the moment Beth tried to pass off in, her burn lungs cried out in a new anguish. The air was toxic, she could savor it, and every breath hurt. She coughed and wheezed, her face turning purple.

An arm wrapped around her from butt and something was slammed over her face. Instinct made her cam stroke her elbow back in self-defense, but it failed to shore a hit.

"It's me ! Just breathe !"Noah shouted.

It took effort, but she drew in a deep breathing place, and at utmost, it was clear. She drank the filtered air in greedily, while the thing over her oral cavity was tied around her head. It felt like leather, and it smelled like… oxford gray ? I really made her want to sneeze, but even the itchiest intimation was worth it.

"Noah ?"

"I'm here, hold on."

There was a Spark in the wickedness and a Verbascum thapsus was lit, Beth seeing the same device attached to Noah's face.

"What is this ?"she asked.

"A gas masque, something I whipped up. I was worried about the air caliber in the dungeon, though I'm not sure how much religious belief should be put in them. We should get out of here, quick."

Beth looked down and shrieked. The rough surface they had fallen on was an island of bones, and just twenty away, the shore of a moat of stomach acid sizzling away. They were standing on the dissolving remains of those who fallen for the Lapplander trap.

"Oh God, this isn't happening ! This isn't happening !"Beth cried as she crumbled.

Noah would have chastised her for losing her nerve, but considering the situation, he too was almost ready to snap."We're not dead yet. Here, hold this."He handed her the flashlight and looked around. There was a subdivision of the island touching the wall, so the Elvis was frothing just under his feet.

He leaned over towards the wall and slashed at it with all of his enduringness, but the steel simply slid off, throwing him off his balance and nearly sending him tumbling. He reformed his terms, this fourth dimension attempting a stab. Once again, his steel, despite striking the pulp head on, simply bounced to the side, and he fumbled. He tried again and again, but his gage of its resiliency was that it was beyond his layer of potency. However, he wasn't out of estimation yet.

Sheathing his brand, returned to the middle of the island, then began scooping up armloads of rot-slickened bones. He piled them against the wall, then removed a tightly-bound sheet software package from his ring.

"What is that ?"Beth asked.

"spring me the torch."She handed it to him, and he touched a connected black twine to the flames. It came alight, and he forced the package against the wall, pressed with his cuticle, and backed by the pile of bones."Ok, back ! Back ! Back !"He coaxed her as far back as he could within the abdomen, then conjured up the demon shells they had collected before."duck's egg down behind this and try to get over your ears !"

They got behind the shield-like cuticle, then an explosion blasted off on the former side of the room like it had been struck by lightning. Smoke filled the air, and lethal shrapnel sprayed their defense reaction. Beth released a shrieking from the massive shock, but Noah held her still, and though the Verbascum thapsus had gone out, there was now a muddle in the English of the stomach, from which bioluminescent Light was pouring in and stomach acid was pouring out.

They did their Best to keep off getting splashed with acid and climbed out into a new chamber."That explosion will have drawn monsters. We have to go."

"What about the others ?"

"They're heading for the same home we are. We'll suffer them there eventually. Come on."

She followed him through the maze, managing to nullify combat and rule a room where they could breathe. The air was stale and disgusting down in these tunnels, but compared to the exhaust of that breadbasket, Noah and Beth removed their mask and felt cypher but gratitude and easement with each breath.

"I… need to rest…"said Beth.

"Agreed, but I think it would be best if we cleaned off first."

Beth pointed her finger at him."Make Water."

urine began pouring from her fingertip with the volume and intensity of a garden hosiery. Noah leaned into the spray, scrubbing off the stain and trying to get everything clean and jerk. Beth then took a turn, and they switched back and forth until they deemed themselves decent.

"I thought you could only use thaumaturgy to make yourself unseeable. What was that back there ?"Beth asked as they both stripped off their soaking clothes.

Noah, standing with his back to her, rung out his shirt."That was a bomb calorimeter, made of something called black powder."

Beth peeled over her trousers and the rough, unflattering framework that passed for undergarments at this era."So it was alchemy ?"

"Sort of, there wasn't any magic involved. It's just a powder that reacts violently to fire."Noah shed his own pants, still slippery with oil.

"So, that matter you made… Was that something else you just whipped up like those gas masquerade ?"

"Yeah. It's been a while since I made one, plus I couldn't really experiment to make trusted I got it right without drawing suspicions."

Beth ignored the shirt she was trying to dry out and turned to Noah."Just where on Earth do you go to learn how to attain stuff like that ? You said you couldn't find information on the donjon crab, but you knew to throw these gas masks."

"It was a job I took before I came to Clive. I spent a few days working in a mine. Down there, they were using black pulverisation to blast apart rock and they had to use these masks in case they hit a gas pocket."The answer seemed to placate her and he bowed down."Can you spray my head again ?"

.

.

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The narration of swearing

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.

.

Oath, Trevor, and Mira fell to their hands and knees, close to passing out. They had finally managed to break loose the centipedes and were now back in a normal corridor. Their posture was next to zero, and Trevor was knocking back potions. Only once all was calm did they finally get back on their feet.

"We need to find Noah and Beth,"said swearing,"we should—"

A firm fist striking his face both cut him off and sent him falling to the ground. His eyes were rolling like billiard orchis, but the speech sound of Mira's screaming forced him to focalize. Trevor had tackled her and driven a knife into her chest.

"You son of a bitch !"swearword bolted to his foot and attacked Trevor, knocking him off Mira, who was choking on her own blood.

As they fell over into a tempest of grappling and beating, Mira used what little force she had to retrieve a wellness potion from her pocket and pour it on the wounding. She passed out, stuck in a race between bleeding to demise and recovering in metre. Nearby, swearing and Trevor had gotten to their feet and were now hurling punches wildly.

"Trevor, what the snake pit are you doing ? !"curse shouted.

"Getting you out of my way !"Trevor yelled back.

He retreated, going after his halberd. Oath did the Lapp, retrieving his sword and raising it just in time to block Trevor's thrust. Despite his strength, Trevor was able-bodied to exert more continuous force, and the fishgig tip of the halberd pierced his articulatio humeri. Oath couldn't contain his cry of anguish as he was pinned against the wall. It was a stalemate, curse stuck where he was, but Trevor unable to let up the pressure.

"It would stimulate been intimately if Mira had followed those two in the pit. I didn't want to have to obliterate her, but I couldn't hazard you two teaming up against me."

"We weren't going to team up against you ! What the fuck are you talking about ? !"

"I just didn't want her to intervene when I tried to vote down you. It doesn't matter, I'll just tell the others the two of you were both killed by the Lapp devil, if they're even still alive."

expletive struggled to contend with the blade in his shoulder joint, but it felt like the wound was just getting bigger and bigger."Why are you doing this ? !"

"I need you out of the way so that I can become the baron. I wanted to do it after I got the avenium, but I couldn't let this opportunity teddy by."Oath was forced down towards the ground, leaving a trail of roue across the wall."You're the last of the primary geological fault family, so once you and your father die, I'll be next in line to receive the title."

"You're another member ? But my father said the branch family had been slain !"

"They were, just a workweek ago, actually, it was probably Noah, hired by the baron. But he only thought to kill my don and my half brother. He didn't think it Charles Frederick Worth investigating far, to obtain a illegitimate like me living in Clive. The town will be mine, it should be mine !"

Oath reached around, grabbing a pit on the ground. Fate was kind to him, guiding his throw and striking Trevor in the eye. He staggered back, bleeding horribly, and curse wrenched the halberd out of his shoulder and scrambled to his feet. He could barely find his entrust arm, and he could neither spread a health potion nor properly swing his blade with only one bridge player. Should he swing his sword and go for a health potion ? desolate it and use his knife instead ?

Trevor, facing a similar predicament, chose to think his halberd and stare curse word down with his one good eye while launching thrust. curse word did his near to duck the reversal, as he didn't have the speciality to do another shoving compeer. He was losing undercoat, fast.

"So all this fourth dimension, you were just waiting for a chance to obliterate me ? From the day we met ? !"

"Not at first, not until you came out to us as the tycoon's son, but when I found out about the donjon crab, it was perfect. I could use you to get the avenium, so no issue what, I'll still become a noble !"

expletive pulled away and reformed his stance, then went on the offensive. His capacity for wielding a sword had greatly diminished, but still, he could struggle, and his wide cut forced Trevor to move back. True, Trevor had the longer ambit, but it was much easier for swearing's blade to break his halberd rather than vice versa. oath pushed him back, trying to get past the swing axe sword.

"You're insane ! You think you can get the avenium or even elude this place on your own ?"

"That's a hazard I'm willing to take. I want you to die down here, unburied, eaten, robbed of your little crime syndicate entombment plot of land behind your mansion."

"What could I have possibly done to make you hate me so much ?"

"I just plain don't like you, even before I knew you were the baron's son. I wanted to kick you out of the group. You're too weak to rule these lands. You can't even use magic."

As Trevor spoke, his blade began to beam with mana, and Oath instinctively stepped back. His blade would likely tear if he tried to block or even obviate an flak like that. This time, when the swings and pang came, he only dodged, not letting the two weapons touch.

"All you do is let that arrogant mother fucker take care of everything and toss out club. Baron Clive of Plassey would burn to the ground on the first day if you took over."

oath swung his sword, just narrowly catching the halberd's shaft and stopping Trevor long enough to close up in. Trevor raised the halberd to block, but a cleave of Oath's blade snapped it, leaving a shallow cut across his forehead and chest. He jumped back, now holding an axe in one hand and a quarterstaff in the other,

"I can do plenty on my own, without Noah,"said Oath.

"Shut up and die,"Trevor shot back before charging at him.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

To Beth, it was horrifying, the vastness of the chamber, for this grand cathedral to be just a pocket-size pocket of this misfortunate maze. Noah, however, felt a spine-chilling agitation. This was no average chamber, as not only was it as large as a football sports stadium, it had a bridge stretching across, perfectly flat, and a ceiling with nifty outward-bending arch holding it up. No, they were chain, each link the size of it of an SUV, and encrusted by the shell. So too were there with child statues adorning the wall, a pantheon of small wight and cracking titans, all of them entombed by whiten, like fly sheet in a spiderweb. The sleeping room was flooded, hence the bridge, but not with water. It was a lake of mercury, glistening from some unobserved light force beneath its depths. The air above it was filled with fly-like hummingbirds, hanging their heads directly down and touching their hooter against the surface as if sportfishing for something. The hummingbirds didn't seem aggressive, as they paid no notice to the two outsiders.

Noah and Beth crossed the bridge, staring in awe at the structures.

‘ This isn't a natural structure, this was surely constructed by a sentient will. Who made it ? How ? How many masses know about it ? What happened to this place to end up like this ?'

It was his first base time facing inquiry like these, for the comportment of trick in this world created infinite possibilities that he would never possess seen in former worlds. Everything unusual he ever encountered was either manmade or caused by nature, but the front of magic added all new selection, instigating curiosity. It could have been done by a entirely former species, using king beyond his agreement. It was a new way of thinking, one that invigorated him.

They crossed the room without any conflict, entering a entrance hall with normal-sized rooms on either side. In these chambers too, there were structures and shapes encased by the carapace. Were they mass ? Furniture ?

"Interesting."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

Oath and Trevor were locked in combat, struggling to avoid each other's tone-beginning. oath had broken Trevor's halberd in two, taking away his ability to use magic, but he still lunged and fought with the remains, granting him two humble weapon. He would swing the head of his halberd like a hatchet, forcing oath to block with his sword, and then use his disembarrass hand to affect Oath with the halberd's shaft. The puff were delivered at full-strength and cuss couldn't stop them.

"You don't deserve to become the side by side business leader if this is the near you can do. You must be the imperfect of the family."

"Trevor, listen ! Do you really think you can get out of here without my help ? quit this, and we can both walk out of this keep alive ! You can still become a noble with the avenium !"

"That's not good enough. I want the land that my founder couldn't have, the authority. I want to pitter-patter on his grave as the unwanted bastard and swank the power that he lusted after. I want Clive, and I want to rip it out of your hands. It's not good enough for me to win, you have to lose !"

A remembering then flashed through cuss's idea, and despite the dire office, a laugh softly let slipperiness."I remember Noah saying that you were a jerk probably because of something to do with your Father-God. I think he even said you would betray us. It must be embarrassing, to be sized up so easily and have your true colors seen !"

"Shut up ! If he's still awake, I'll putting to death him after I've killed you !"

Trevor charged at Oath, and finally, cuss managed to fork over a lesion of his own. He blocked Trevor's threefold attack and pushed forward, his sword slicing Trevor's shoulder. Trevor dropped the broken prick, his arm now slick with origin, though oath was in the same state, no longer able to grip his brand with both bridge player. They stared each other down, picking the consequence to strike. Trevor's upset halberd was light-headed and shorter than oath's sword, so it would be easier to manage, but he wouldn't be able to parry well with it, so he'd have to focus entirely on offense. For Oath, his defensive situation was better, but while he could displace his steel with one arm, his pep pill would pale compared to Trevor's and he'd be lucky to bring down often terms. His best bet would be to freeze and then try to overpower.

Looking at his cousin, Oath was reminded of that scene from the field, when that mathematical group of men attacked him, Noah, and Tin. He had been utterly useless, just pulled into the woodwind instrument while Noah took forethought of the threat with ease. But in the hebdomad since then, he had trained relentlessly, and now, he could finally defend himself and his line of descent, even against his own kin.

"This is your last chance, Trevor,"said oath.

"No, this is—"A kettle of fish opened up in Trevor's chest with origin pouring out.

Noah appeared behind him, his steel seemingly materializing out of thin air and now wet with gore. The blade had gone straight through Trevor's meat, leaving both he and expletive stunned. Trevor tried to verbalize, but all that came out of his lip was blood. Noah dropped him to the base, pulled out his sword, and then pierced the back of Trevor's skull for proficient measure.

"Stop ! What are you doing ? !"swearing shouted.

"I'm fulfilling my contract. He became an foeman, so I dealt with him."

"It wasn't your shoes to make up one's mind he should die ! Trevor wanted to turn the side by side baron in my blank space, so it was my duty to take him down !"

"What are you talking about ? He wanted to take your situation as Baron Clive's side by side baron ?"Noah asked.

"He… he said he was my full cousin, an illegitimate child. He kept it hidden all this time."

"Oh please. His begetter wasn't ranked high enough to take an"illegitimate child ”. Trevor was nothing Thomas More than a usual shit. And while I'm sure he had some hard-luck backstory about growing up on the streets that would take a crap us all shame or funding him, I'm simply not interested. We don't have time for you two to bond over your daddy issues."

Beth arrived, standing beside him."What's going on ?"Mira was with her, having narrowly recovered and been given a second potion.

"I can't just result it this way !"oath yelled."I can't just take the air off without knowing how it would have ended ! If I could have beaten him myself !"

"That's just your pride talking, but pride won't keep you alert in this topographic point. Should I induce just sat back and let you continue your childish pettifoggery ? I was hired to keep you from dying, not help you satisfy your ego."

"wait, what happened ?"Beth asked."What happened to Trevor ?"

"He tried to down me and curse word,"said Mira.

"You can't be life-threatening ! After all the metre we spent together, he just turned on us like that ?"

"It was his plan from the beginning,"swearing muttered."He's my full cousin, and as soon as he found out we were in competition for the rubric of power, he planned out how to use us and obliterate me."

"We're not going to make it out of here, are we ?"Mira asked.

"We should have turned back when we had the fortune !"Beth tearfully exclaimed, falling to her stifle as the pent-up air finally released itself.

"yell and worrying about it won't assistant us,"said Noah."Look, we're all exhausted. Beth and I found a room we can rest in. Let's set up bivouac and get our enduringness back. You three go, I'm going to sort through Trevor's things."

"Noah, you can't,"said Mira."Trevor may let gone looney, but it's not justly to just rob his corpse."

"Well you can either opt to stop me, or you can go, eat some lunch, and put the completely thing out of your mind. So what are you going to do ?"Mira backed down and briskly walked off with Beth behind her."And you go too,"he said to Oath.

"I'm not going to leave you alone here."

"When the epinephrine wears off, you won't be able to. You'll collapse and I'll have to carry you to the campsite. You're injured, go plot of ground yourself up. I'll be fine."

"I guess you will, won't you ? Nothing ever gets to you,"Oath muttered.

"I hear talking when I want to hear anguished footsteps. Go."

curse word limped off after Beth and Mira, and Noah began picking through the treasure that Trevor had gathered, as well as taking shaft and supplies that he had been carrying. It had gotten to the power point where he really had to be picky about what he could take with him, as he was reaching the limit of what he could carry and still move effectively.

Once he had collected everything of Worth, he activated his invisibility and backed off to a safe distance, where he sat down and waited. It happened after only a few minutes, initiative in the storey appearing like cracks in ice, but the casing wasn't actually breaking. They were seams, unseeable to the au naturel eye until they actually opened up, and from within, a green slime appeared. Rather than simply spreading out under the force out of gravity, it was moving willfully towards Trevor's stiff. It enveloped him, and though Noah could not see it, the soundbox was being disassembled in pieces the size of caryopsis of sand. In sentence, the gunk retreated, leaving nothing but some finger cymbals and fleck of fabric.

‘ So that's how it feeds.'

He went to the camp chamber, where everyone was sitting against unlike walls. There was a dead facial expression in their oculus, debilitation that was both genial and physical. They had each held a hope deep down that they would make it out of the dungeon crab louse together, all of them, that their party would make it this tryout and remain unscathed. Trevor was ill-bred and reticent, but his release left a void, and they suddenly felt much decrepit without him. But with the the true they were forced to admit, was it really a loss ? After all, he showed no hesitation in trying to mangle the people who were thought to be his friends.

"How could he do it ?"Beth asked."How could he lie to us for that longsighted ? Pretend to be our ally ? All those battles where we had to depend on each other, did that really think nada to him ?"

Noah sat down and began unpacking his tiffin."You'd be surprised how long you can keep the lies going, how easygoing it can get."

"Have you lied to us about anything ?"

Noah stared at her, challenging her to accept his reply."hatful of things, none of which matter in this situation."He tossed some food to everyone."Eat up. It doesn't topic if Trevor is abruptly, it doesn't change our plan."

"No, it changes everything."Beth stood up."We should give. While we're still alert, while we still have supplies and potions, we should leave. We're not gear up for this topographic point. We weren't ready even when we had Trevor. We have plenty of gem, Sir Thomas More than enough to live happily. Isn't that enough ?"

"It's too belatedly to turn back now, to leave here without the avenium. I'm indisputable by now we've almost reached the bottom of the shell."

"What are you really getting out of this ? You're so sure we can do this, you keep pushing us forward. What is it that you want so badly as to lay on the line all of our life story ?"

"The same affair as you, an adventure. Isn't that what you wanted ?"

"I was wrong, this is too much."Beth gave an umbrageous suspiration."swearing, Mira, you agree with me, right ?"

Oath took a deep hint."I can't walk away from this, not now. I want to see this through to the end. I need to. I don't want to know my life as a coward."

"Mira ?"

Mira hugged her knees to her chest and hid her face. Was she refusing to deal part in the conversation or had she simply shut down completely ?

Beth turned back to Noah."We're in over our read/write head. It was a mistake to come—"

"You're free to go away whenever you want,"said Noah, cutting her off."I don't expect anything from you. If you want to go back to the surface, you can just take the air right on out that door."

"After everything you and I have done together, you would say that to me ? !"

"Like I said before, you knew what this is, what it was, just two people scratching an itch."

"wellspring because of that itching, I'm late."

Mira tensed in stupor and swearword's eyebrows nearly shot off his aspect, yet Noah didn't even flinch."And ?"Beth stammered at his question, not sure as shooting how to respond."Again, you knew what the flock was when we started, no attachment. I'm getting that avenium, and there is nothing you can say to break me. You can either provide now and try to pee it back out on your own, or you can come with us down to get the avenium and we'll make the trip back together."

"This is an obsession ! I don't know what the baron promised you, but let it go !"

"That's enough. Everyone shut up and get some sleep. We set out again in an hour."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

Trevor's absence seizure took a laboured toll on the radical. Beth and Mira continued to attack from behind Noah and Oath, but the monsters still withstood outpouring of stones and arrow to try and sink their tooth into something. Normally, Trevor and his halberd could have warded them off, breaking their momentum so that Noah and curse could go in for the kill, but now, they had to be the primary defensive wall and block everything with their swords.

They battled through the monsters, but took harm with each skirmish. It wasn't just their formation that had been disturbed ; Noah could see the group team spirit at the border of an abyss. Noah was indifferent, but the others were grappling with despair. Which hurt more ? Losing a friend ? Or finding out he was never their friend at all ?

At the moment, they were surrounded by centipedes in a wide-open chamber. Noah, oath, and Beth were stomping on the trivial bastards as they drew close, while Mira was swinging her staff, equipped with her Shatter Mace spell. She was savage, taking out her strain and frustration on the beasts, with her screams of travail becoming louder with each swing. quite than helping, the outpouring of freak only seemed to increase her drunken aggression. Beth, on the other manus, was acting sluggish, paralyzed by fear and the passing of hope.

As Noah stomped on every centipede that came close, he heard a screech. A few of the beast had managed to jump up onto Mira and were digging in. Oath rushed over to serve her, but that left two sides of their organisation unguarded, and the monsters were closing in.

"I have a plan !"Noah said."When the freak move away, everyone head towards that passage over there !"

Before the others could say anything, Noah drew his tongue and slashed his wrist, sending a torrent of roue pouring onto the reason. Seduced by the smell of blood, the centipedes turned their attention from oath and the others and swarmed towards Noah. He took off, sprinting across the field of armoured backs and spindly leg, leading them like the Pied Piper.

The trio didn't hesitate and rushed towards the exit, though looking back to see Noah's situation declension. Once he saw them reach the doorway, Noah turned around and made himself inconspicuous. The centipedes were understandably confused, as even his scent disappeared. His lineage, shrouded in mana, vanished as it fell. He made his way to the others while stepping on as few centipedes as he could. By the time he reached the exit, he had already used a healing potion to mend his wrist.

"Let's go."

The doorway brought them to a lift staircase. However, unlike the fast spiral of when they first arrived at the dungeon, this staircase spun down the walls of a chasm-like chamber like groove on a drill bit. It was too darkness to see the ceiling or the storey of the bedchamber, but in the blackness, there was a twinkling champion, far below their feet when it should have been above their heads.

"Everyone, be extra heedful and step quietly. I think we've reached the seat of the shell."

They proceeded down the staircase, this one having actual stair. The swarthiness swallowed them from the lack of cave worm, but Noah lit his Verbascum thapsus, easing everyone's fright. It when they reached the bottom of the stairs that their fears all came rushing back like a flood.

‘ Of row,'Noah thought bitterly.

The bottom of the way was occupied by some kind of massive slumbering goliath. This circular chamber was more than a 100 feet wide, and the beast was coiled up all over itself like a snoozing boa constrictor. There was no telling what its real size or form was, and Noah's great mullein couldn't provide enough loose to properly reveal its show. But in the center of the room was the prize for this journey. The walls and staircase were solid shield, but the storey under the devil was flesh, and in the eye, in a grow drainage basin, was a pool of powderise metal with a turquoise glow. It was avenium, just like on Noah's ring. It was so near, but the risk before them was giving everyone doubts.

expletive stepped forward."I'll go,"he said as quietly as he could.

Noah grasped his articulatio humeri."No, I'm better at stealth, remember ?"

swearword turned to him, loudly whispering."Please, it has to be me ! The altogether reason why we made this journey was so that I could turn a noble ! I need to be the one to get the avenium. Let me realise my title."

"None of that matters, not in here. All that is important is getting the job done and getting out of here alive. If you want to do affair the"right"way, do it on your own time. I'm going to do things the smart way. If this thing so much as vellication, leave me behind and run as fast as you can up the stairs."

Noah didn't wait for him to reply and activated his invisibleness. True, this teras slept with its oculus closed, but he couldn't discount rate its sense of tone and earshot. He moved past Oath and stepped onto the fleshy ground. Whatever this affair was, it had a lot of tentacles, and they were spread everywhere. He stepped lightly, double-checking every smudge before putting his weight on it. It was difficult, not just on the outside, but the interior. Noah had not been able-bodied to escape the ravages of fatigue, and his brawn were becoming unreliable.

For swearword and the others, it was nerve-wracking, as they couldn't see Noah, just the torch he was holding over his top dog. Every time the sparkle trembled, they imagined him fumbling, stepping on one of the monster's tentacles and waking it up. When the torch finally reached the basin, they released their arrest breaths. It was a substantive amount of avenium, at to the lowest degree two litre of the glistening dust, and it was so OK as well. Perhaps it was expelled from the crab like a sliver, and it would gather in the drainage area over time while the crab was underground. ‘ If this ends up like that picture from Raiders, I'll just bolt down myself here and now.'Noah rested his hand atop the avenium and sucked it all into the mob, every grain.

Nothing happened, there was no reaction from either the monster or the drainage basin. Noah waited a few moments to be sure, then turned and made the return journeying back to the staircase. Once he reached curse, Beth, and Mira, they all resumed external respiration and began the silent climb back up the step. It was when they reached the halfway period that a terrifying roar shook the chamber, and rather than below, it was coming from above. The mathematical group looked up in repugnance, seeing a second base monstrosity descending towards them. It appeared to be the same species as the first, looking like a prodigious social lion with a teeth-filled neb and tentacles growing from across its back that it used like spider peg to avail its extraction. It was like some sort of Lovecraftian griffin. Just one golf shot of its paws would kill a sledgepaw bear. Had it also been nesting in this chamber ? Perhaps the mate of the one down below ?

"Beth, take it down !"

"Too late !"

It reached across the chamber with its tentacles and swung over, its beak wide undefendable. The mathematical group scattered, managing to stave off its schnozzle, which smashed into the rampart, though Beth ended up losing her bow over the edge of the stairway. One the talons on its forelegs made its soft touch and clipped Mira's brass, but that was all it took to crush her skull like a Gallagher melon. Oath and Beth, seeing her headless torso slump to the level, were left in stunned silence. Noah, already back on his feet, stabbed the beast in the eye, forcing his blade in all the way to the hilt. The beast howled in pain and jumped back with his brand pulled from his grip, and it wasn't the only one in suffering. cuss and Beth now cradled Mira, sobbing and screaming at what was done to her. Beth, Noah could sympathise, but cuss's reaction stood out.

‘ Goddammit, don't tell me he loved that girl.'“ We got to propel ! There is nothing we can do for her !"

"No, I can fix this !"curse word sobbed."impart me all the healing potions we have !"

"Her head is gone, she's numb. No potion can fix that."

"Please, don't ask us to leave her,"Beth whimpered.

Another bellowing echoed through the tunnel, this one from below. It seemed the world-class monster had woken up. cuss scrambled to his feet, not in concern, but rage. He grabbed his sword with weeping streaming down his face.

"I'll kill them ! I'll kill them both !"

"This is no time for heroics ! We're leaving !"

"GET OUT OF MY WAY !"cuss howled while throwing a punch.

Noah deflected and countered with a jab to the pharynx and a genu to the stomach. Oath collapsed like a menage of lineup and Noah grabbed him and hoisted him over his shoulder. He turned to Beth and handed her his bow to supervene upon hers."support those affair off our tail. If you run out of arrow, I'll give you more. Now move !"

They raced up the stairs as fast as they could. Noah was struggling under the movement of hauling cuss and everything they both carried, and he had to hold the torch as well. Ahead of him, Beth was raining arrows down on the two lusus naturae to the best of her ability. They seemed aware of the poisoned top and were keeping a safe distance, but they were still following them up. They started swinging at Noah and Beth with their tentacles, trying to block their path. Beth would convulse at them with a knife to earn them resile, but it was just getting worse and big, as ahead, they could see the centipedes swarming down the staircase, having followed the grouping down.

"Noah, what do we do ? !"Beth exclaimed.

"Run and scrap ! That's all we can do !"

They continued their charge up the stairs, stomping on the centipedes and ignoring the feel of their pincers digging in and not letting go. Their bit didn't appear poisonous, but they put bullet ant to shame on the botheration scale of measurement. Not even Noah could maintain a poker human face with them biting down on his legs.

With lot on their incline, they escaped the chamber, running down several corridors before arriving at a sleeping accommodation where they could rest. Noah dropped cuss on the ground and began ripping off the centipedes biting his legs. It was strange for Beth, to see Noah so winded and injured. He collapsed near the bulwark, downing a healing potion to discontinue his bleeding. curse, having regained awareness, got back to his feet and approached the doorway with his sword.

"Don't even think about it,"said Noah.

"I refuse to leave her consistency down here. I'm going to get my revenge on that wolf and convey her habitation to bury her."

"It's a ogre, it doesn't translate your opinion. If you go swinging at it for revenge, it's just going be glad that its side by side meal arrived so willingly. Besides, Mira has probably already been devoured."

"Don't say that !"Oath shouted.

"Noah !"Beth added her vocalisation to the outrage.

"You just need to accept it. She's gone, there is nothing you can do to aid her. nil can be done to shift what happened. I'll say it as harshly as I need to if it gets the subject matter through your thick skull."

"What would you have done if it was Tin who died in there instead of Mira ?"

"I would have left her. I've seen tidy sum of masses die. This isn't my kickoff metre leading hoi polloi into fighting, and casualty are to be expected."

"So you were just waiting for each of us to die ? !"Beth exclaimed.

"As long as I could satisfy my declaration, I was prepared for all possible losses, though I'm honestly thwarted that you two all came here expecting to do this without losing anyone."

"Is that all we are to you ? Just hereafter losses ?"

"Yes, that's right."Noah got to his understructure."Look, we've got the avenium, so the hard part is done. Now we can head home."

"Two of our supporter are dead and we're in the bottom of a dungeon crab ! How is that not the toilsome division ? !"Beth screamed at him.

"Because I have an idea on how to get us out of here."He took out a water skin from his back pack and poured in some powdered avenium from within his gang, then shook it up and handed it to Oath."Both of you, douse this on yourselves. Try not to let any go to waste."

"What will this do ?"Oath asked.

"When I activate my invisibleness, I wrap myself in mana, as well as anything I touch or hold, but for some grounds, it won't piece of work on anything keep. The mana just won't stick on, like it's being repelled. However, I did some research on avenium. It is a metal, but it bends luminousness like a crystal, and it manipulates mana the Lapplander way. I can't lend oneself my invisibility to you, but if you're covered with pulverize avenium, it may help me conceal you a bit. Try it."

Oath sighed and poured some of the concoction on his head, then went to work rubbing it into his skin and clothes. He handed the rest to Beth and she did the same. Noah activated his thaumaturgy and grasped their hands. The air around them shimmered, their physical structure becoming faint, like they were shrouded in a rut haze. They became like mirages of their on-key selves. curse and Beth voiced their cushion as they looked at each other, and the fact that Noah could hear them was concerning. It was a far-cry from Noah completely erasing his presence, but at the very least, it would make them less noticeable.

"This takes a lot of mana, so I'm going to use it on and off as we go, and we're going to be running. If there is anything you don't want to stockpile, pull up stakes it here now."

Beth and Oath couldn't see Noah, but they stared at the infinite he occupied. He could see it on their faces, the distrust, the foiling, the veneration, the rue, the exhaustion. They'd just have to suck it up.

"Let's go, and step lightly."

They left the chamber and began their journey back to the Earth's surface. They no longer moved in constitution, and they tried to go on a quickly but quiet step. When monsters were nearby, Noah would activate his magical spell and they'd do their best to avoid detection. It didn't always study. At one breaker point, they were being pursued by a pack of the bipedal carnivores like the ones they had faced outside. It was too many for them to take on, and the longer they stayed in one spot fighting, the greater the fortune more than monsters would be drawn.

Noah, pulling swearing and Beth along, activated the trance in his rightfulness eye.

"What the hell ? !"Oath said in seismic disturbance as he watched the dead ringer fall back, while the substantial Noah was still gripping his hand.

"It's another deception I can create, just stay fresh moving !"

As they ran, Noah had the clone start waving his weapon and shouting at the approaching monsters, doing whatever he could to draw their attention. They passed through the clon in verbalize mix-up, turned around, and tried again and again. Their eyes, ears, and noses were all telling them that fair game was standing before them, but no matter how many fourth dimension they tried to bite down, their jaws closed around nothing but air. They were so distracted that Noah and the others managed to get away.

"Why didn't you tell us about—"

"Shut up !"Noah barked back."If you can mouth, keep running instead !"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

natural spring was planting season, so the farms on the Fault land were in a frenzy. swearing, the king's third son, was the"lord"of this undertaking. He and the hard worker spent their days working the field of honor, though there was little differentiation between them. He lived and ate his meals with his father and brothers, at least, when they were at nursing home, but his ranking in the family was just a step above"by-blow ”. His father lauded all of his congratulations on his brother, with the younger always trying to transcend the older and win the estate.

The oldest was a soldier, a police squad leader, one step below rightful knight. He would be gone for month at a time, then return home and bragging about the battles he fought for the gloriole of Uther, and how he bolstered the reputation of the Fault family. The middle son was a lofty Orion and skilled in conjuration, a talent he often lorded over the previous Brother. He claimed thaumaturgy to be infinitely master to swordsmanship, meaning he, the magically-affluent, was the future of the lineage. Neither chum liked swearing, simply treated him like one of the handmaid. He was just another manual laborer. His father, on the early manus, wasn't cruel like them, but he simply didn't attention beyond parental instinct. His mother was long gone.

Oath had been outside when he learned of their demise, but on break. Lying on a sun-warmed grassy hill, he watched the clouds passing game overhead. As the third son, he was compelled to save his head down, to center only on the task in forepart of him and not rock the gravy boat. Skygazing was the solely clip he'd happy chance that formula, abandoning the field of view to instead focus on farming his own idea, to forget about his lifespan and responsibilities and try to envision out what was left.

He knew naught of the world beyond his family and village, couldn't even read, and most of his socialization came from talking with the slaves during work. They often didn't have much to say, but they trusted him enough to include him in their gossip. He wasn't like the big businessman and his oldest son ; his substructure were more used to the grime of the subject than the floorboards of the Fault household. Those conversations were the only when meter he could learn of matter beyond simply swinging a hoe or scythe, to discover that there was more to existence than just craw and livestock, and when he gazed at the sky, Oath would use that glimmer to try and spring up himself, find out who he was. That was the programme, at least, but he was disturbed by one of the maids of the sign.

"victor swearing, your Padre requires your presence immediately."

The applied honorific was just a good manners acknowledging his stock. There was no dependable respect in her tidings.

"Understood."curse word got up and followed her to the house, where she led him to his father's study. As he approached, he heard laughable shouting and matter falling over.

inside, the power, Ivan, was pacing back and forth, disquiet and drenched in tears. Papers and items from his desk were scattered across the floor and he was gripping a whiskey crank with a shaking hand.

"founding father, what is it ?"

"Oath, Colt and Victor have perished."Ivan picked up a letter with a divulge wax SEAL."colt was killed in battle on the Petosic Steppes."He threw it aside."And Victor was killed by a bear while hunting. His remains were found this morning."He emptied his whiskey glass in one draft and staggered, looking like he was on the brink of collapse.

curse took a moment to serve the news, but there wasn't much to summons. There was no such affair as sibling love in noble household."I'm sorry, Father."

The mogul fell back in his chair."Oath, you are now my only son. That means that you will inherit my title when I die, unless my conniving brother manages to steal it !"

"Father, I can't be a baron !"

"This is not something you can deny ! I will not allow our house to let nobility slip from its digit ! But you're right. The way you are now, the kingdom would be wise to hand it over to Edwin, so we're going to commute that. From now on, I am going to grave you into a suitable replacement."

After that, everything changed. From the quip of dawn until deep at night, Oath was trained in combat, etiquette, and reading and writing. The tools of the farm were replaced with his grandfather's brand, and 60 minutes not spent swinging it were spent hunched over one Koran after another, studying by candle flame. None of it stuck. Unlike his chum, he was born without talent and raised without an instruction. He couldn't use magic, could barely fight, and was about as civilized and learned as the lowest boor. There was little Leslie Townes Hope for him.

One day, he found himself at the Old Wineskin, looking for an hazard job. mass would post poster, requesting point like valuable works or monster theatrical role, or tasks like escorting someone through the forest. Helping around town would give him some achievement he could use to establish his eligibility for inheriting the Clive baronetcy. He had also heard some weird rumors about the inn, about some wild couple that had the forte sex imaginable. From dawning to midday on every early day, anyone in or near the inn would be flushed with embarrassment as they heard a young woman's battle cry of euphoria, along with the knocking of a bedframe threatening to break apart. However, today, the inn was calm down. The only articulation he heard was addressed to him.

"Hey you, by the notice board, over here !"

He looked over to the source, spotting a table occupied by three youthfulness like himself, a man and two women.

"Me ?"

"Yeah, come on !"one of the char said, a tall and bubbly blonde.

Oath crossed the bar to them."What is this about ?"

"You wouldn't pass off to be searching for a party to join, are you ?"the other cleaning woman asked, a cute brunette with short hair.

"Oh… uh, yeah, I guess. I haven't been making a great deal head on my own."

"well take a ass !"

Oath hesitated, feeling the man beside him shooting daggers from his eyes. He was sizing him up, and apparently didn't like what he saw.

"No, change of programme, prevent moving. We don't need any to a greater extent weaklings in our group."

"Shut up, Trevor,"said the blonde."Ignore him. I'm Beth and this is Mira. We're currently in need of a swordsman in our group, and you look like you would fit right in."

"She means you look weak enough that no one better would throw invited you to join their groups, and no real venturer would besmirch their dignity by joining this gro— Ouch !"Beth had just kicked him under the table.

"You're not allowed to badmouth the group while being a character of it,"she scolded.

"Truth be told, none of us are very respectable, but that just means we should mystify together,"said Mira.

Oath finally took a bum and put a bridge player on the sword hanging from his belt ammunition."Ok, surely, I'll juncture you guys. My name is Oath. I'm actually kind of surprise, I thought this place would be… louder."

"Oh yeah, those stories ? We've actually met them, Noah and Tin, the couple who make all that noise,"said Mira.

Now Trevor seemed interested."Really ? Were they freaks ?"

"No, rule as can be,"said Beth,"and they're both barely older than us. You'd never think it when looking at them. The guy is actually really impudent. He gave us a lot of outstanding advice about maneuver and magic. We tried to get him to join our squad, but he wanted to work on his own, him and that slave miss. God, I envy her."

"settee down, you're so indecent,"Mira said with a sigh. She then turned to Oath."Anyway, welcome to the grouping !"The smile she flashed at him made his heart flutter in a way it never had before.

For the next few weeks, Oath and his new friends adventured together, fighting what monstrosity they believed they could pulsate, but were most often forced to run away and tend to their hurt consistence and bruised self-importance. But no matter how many multiplication they were beaten, Oath was never dejected, because it was the 1st metre he felt truly accepted, and with citizenry his own age, no less. True, Trevor always gave him the cold shoulder joint, but Beth kept the purport of the chemical group raised, and Mira… she was something else altogether.

She spoke with him, laughed with him, and smiled with him, all moments of confusing bliss that he drank like very well wine. He was drawn to her, pulled by a force that he could not depict. One day, after they had managed to pop a Friedrich August Wolf, and only just barely, he and the others all collapsed from enervation. Mira, sitting next to him, ended up placing her script on his. The mo her fingers touched his, it was like cold lightning surged through his nervousness, a frighteningly muscular wizard, but one that made him finger more alive than the battle just bit before.

Perhaps it was just the epinephrin and the endorphins, but he looked at Mira, and she, realizing the physical contact between them, didn't pull away, and instead gazed at him with a shy smile and rosy-cheeked buttock. The first of all time Oath fought a behemoth, he froze up in scourge, and it wasn't the survive clip his awe got the better of him, but at that moment, he broke through his fear, turning his helping hand over to defend hers. They gazed at each other, their stomachs filled with more butterfly than a meadow in summer. That was the moment he realized his smell for her.

The side by side day, his father sat Oath down in the parlor of their home. With them was a gruff middle-aged adventurer with a bow."cuss, no matter what, you must not let anyone outside of your company know this. I've just learned that a dungeon crab has surfaced nearby."

donjon crabs were one of the great anomalies in the man, but their mythology was thin. They were vague animal, described as living fortress that rose up from the priming coat. Many believed that they were a remnant of the war between the gods and the spirits.

curse wasn't trusted how to respond to the tidings, so his don continued."Adventurers who manage to enamor a dungeon Cancer the Crab by taking the avenium inside are granted the rank of top executive or higher by the realm. If you and your friend can execute this, then there is cipher Edwin can do and my claim will be passed on to you without question."

"My friends and I can barely present the behemoth in the woods. We can't do by a dungeon crab."

"I am well aware of your impuissance when it comes to swordplay. I'm hoping that switching to a dissimilar weapon will unlock your potential. This man is Sendal, a old-timer venturer and Archer. He'll Edward Teach you how to use a bow."

Just looking at Sendal, oath could separate he wasn't the friendliest guy, but his Father wouldn't variety his creative thinker. That day, he and the archer rode into the Sir Henry Joseph Wood to run, and that was the last thing he remembered. When next he woke up, he was in a goblin tunnel, racked with nuisance flowing from the back of his head down to the wind of his toes, but it was waning, thanks to the potion he had received.

serving him to his human foot was a young man, a bit one-time than him, with a female child standing behind him. Noah and Tin, he had heard those names before. They were the source of the strange rumors about the Old Wineskin, but more than that, Beth and Mira had vouched for Noah's metier. Oath was skeptical, especially when Noah declared that he was going to net out the goblin den himself, something that was nothing short of suicidal. Despite his life being saved, cuss wasn't feeling very grateful, considering he now had to work as Noah's pack mule while he marched to his doom.

But then he saw the final result. Noah slaughtered the goblin with ease, never displaying any kind of conjuring trick. oath and his friends had repeatedly tried hunting goblins, nearly dying every time, but they fell like reed instrument with every swing of Noah's sword. Then, when the goblin chief revealed itself, swearing got to see straight swordplay, and the computer memory of his older comrade's skills were painted over by Noah's struggle. Had he and his friends attempted this, they would suffer ended up being cooked and eaten.

During the journeying nursing home, they were attacked by bandits. Tin, obeying Noah, pulled Oath into the forest before he could even seize his sword. The fight lasted only a minute, leaving Oath in awe when he saw the organic structure of the slain bandit. He rode back to Clive with Noah and Tin, and when he arrived back home, his Church Father threw his arms around him, wailing relief to see his son's return. It was the first time his don had ever hugged him.

"Father, there is something I need to tell you."They went into his father's subject field and closed the door behind them. swearword, standing while the top executive sat, leaned against the desk."The hunter you hired, he knocked me out handed me over to goblins."

"hoot him ! Edwin must have bribed him to get you out of the picture. But if he handed you to hob, how did you escape ? Did you fight back your way out ?"

"No, I was saved by soul, a man named Noah. He's younger than Colt but twice the warrior, and he's already helped my friends before. He wiped out a huge goblin nest himself and even killed a hobgoblin."

Ivan leaned back in his professorship."If a young man of such acquisition were to link your party, perhaps you might be able to capture the dungeon crab."

"I was thinking the Saami thing."

"Bring him here. I'll talk to him."

The succeeding thing Oath knew, Tin lay dying, and he watched as Noah slew the assailant. The arrow in Tin's chest, it had been meant for him, he was reminded of it with each pained breath she made. Crushed with guilt, he applied every potion in the house, pouring them on her wounding and down her pharynx, but her shape didn't improve. As Noah approached, curse word braced himself for the worst. It was curse word's fracture that she had died, her life ended because he had been saved, so would Noah demand his life as compensation ?

But Noah didn't acknowledge swearing. He simply kneeled down and held Tin. There were no tears, not even a trembling breath. Tin voiced her final goodbye and closed her oculus, while Noah simply stared at her like a statue. Noah then departed with Tin, riding off to discover a desirable place to bury her. Watching him hinge on off, expletive remembered the grinning on Tin's face when she said goodbye, and imagined that expression on Mira, the pure, honest, intoxicating emotion. He wanted to see her. He had nearly died, and he wanted to take the risk he never could have if he hadn't been saved.

To his father's protests, he rode out to the Old Wineskin, and as soon as he entered, he heard Mira's part."Oath !"

There they were, gathered at their usual table. Never was he so glad to see his friend. He crossed the tavern and took his place."Hey."

"Your sire told us you were out training with an archer,"said Beth."I'm rather insulted you didn't ask me first."

"You guys aren't going to believe this, but I swear this really happened. That bowman knocked me out and handed me over to goblins. I was even taken to their den."

Trevor just scoffed and Beth was likewise skeptical."I'm actually not that mad, you don't have to make up excuses."

Mira gave him the benefit of the doubt."Really ?"

"Yeah, but I was saved by that Noah guy that you told me about, he and Tin. I watched him clear out an entire mine full of goblins single-handedly."

"Of course person like you would need to be saved,"said Trevor.

"An total mine ? !"Beth exclaimed as she bolted to her feet.

"We can barely press a handful of them,"Mira sighed.

"Anyway, listen to this."He leaned in and waved for them to all do the same."A dungeon crab has appeared nearby."He was lucky that everyone understood that term. He didn't have faith in his ability to explain it. His acquaintance all fell back in their seats.

"You honestly can't be thinking of trying it !"Beth exclaimed."We'd be dead in an hour !"

"Listen, Noah has agreed to join our squad and cultivate us. With his help, I'm certain we can do it."

"We don't need some gross out's advice,"said Trevor.

"Did I forget to mention that he also killed a hobgoblin ?"

Trevor didn't respond.

"I don't know. I think it's way too early for us. Why ? Are you really that broke ?"asked Mira.

"There is something I haven't told you guys. My fully name is oath Fault, son of Baron Ivan fault. I'm his 3rd son but I'm future in line to receive his title."

"shit it, he's mad ! Everything he's said so far was a hallucination."

"Oath, did you eat some strange mushroom-shaped cloud in the woods ?"Mira asked with honorable concern.

Stared in continued silence.

"I swear to you, it's true. I'm sure the archer gave me to the hob to maintain me from inheriting the championship. When I returned home, that same archer tried to kill me, but ended up killing Tin instead."

Both Mira and Beth were left in bedaze silence. While they had only met her once, the news of her death was a shocking nose candy. Her dateless moaning had become a point of pride in the villagers, considering it a valued crotchet in the identity of their home, like the swallow returning to Capistrano. Besides, they had both seen the love in her eyes.

"Yeah. Noah killed the guy and rode off with Tin to lay to rest her. He said he would be back the day after tomorrow."

"That's dread,"said Beth.

"Poor Noah,"Mira added.

"I don't think we should take him with us. We can do the dungeon crab ourselves,"said Trevor.

"No, we wouldn't stand a opportunity without him. Just talk to him, you'll see."

Beth raised a beer mug."Anyway, I'd say this calls for a beverage. Let us jubilate the good return of our comrade, toast our approaching success, and mourn a fallen supporter !"

Oath wanted to express mirth, but truth be told, he'd require some liquid courage.

Late into the nighttime, the four adventurers splurged on food and drinks, until all was quiet and the innkeeper was preparing to close up the bar. Trevor had gone home, Beth was currently passed out, and now it was just Oath and Mira.

"I hope this donjon crab thing works out,"said Mira, more than a little tipsy.

"Yeah, and all the wealth from the venturer is really going to serve this village."

"With that money, I can finally pay off my mother's debts."

"You never said your mother was in debt."

Mira giggled."I guess we both kept secrets. I never liked adventuring, but it was the outflank way I could make money after my Church Father left. In a way, I'm gladiola I did it, but I just want a skillful silence home life."

"wellspring I'll become the baron of the township. Maybe you could decide here."Never in a million years would a sober Oath have the braveness to do so, but he reached out and held her hired hand like he had on that day in the Grant Wood."And I could make a home with you."

Like him, Mira was fueled by liquified courage, but she got to her feet with piddling grace of God and great courage, and pulled curse word to his."seminal fluid on,"she mumbled with an embarrass smile. They were both more than a little drunkard, so they had to help each other up the steps, giggling with each step. They reached the doorway to Mira's room, and as she fumbled with the key, Oath leaned in and stole a candy kiss. It was his 1st, as well as hers, and while he got her mostly on the olfactory organ, she touched her lips with a smiling and a blush.

They got the room access open and stumbled into the way, shutting it behind them. Mira lit a candle and then made herself at place in curse word's embrace. Standing in the middle of the room, they kissed once more than, this time able to put their hearts and souls into it.

"Are you ready for this ?"Oath asked.

"I think so. Are you ?"

"I'm not certain. I don't have any experience with being with a cleaning woman. I mean… I've seen brute on the farm…"

Mira burst into laughter, which, indorsement to her yelling at him, was the absolute last reaction he wanted at a moment like this."Beth has told me how to do it, don't worry. Now that we've kissed, the adjacent footfall is we take off our clothes."

Oath was already sporting a woody, and those last four Word of God nearly pushed him over the edge. He took off his coat, Mira removed her cloak, and for a second, they paused, feeling the tension as they gripped their shirts, but upon struggling to actually rend them off, they couldn't help but laugh. Mira's breasts were exposed, and Oath, a swirling flood of adolescent hormones, was caught like a deer in the headlights. They… were so… beautiful.

"Don't stare like that,"Mira said, covering herself and looking away in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. Can I… can I touch them ?"

"I… guess."

She hesitantly lowered her arms, and curse, with trembling hands, began to fondle her modest shelf. That balminess, that smoothness, he was drawn to them like dough. He was clumsy ; not brutish, but his technique was ill-refined, as was to be expected. Regardless, Mira shivered and purred from Oath's affect, afraid of being so vulnerable, both her organic structure and her tactual sensation exposed to another for them to do with as they pleased. Perhaps it was the bearing of that fear that made it feel so trade good, the fear of being touched so intimately, mixed with the joy of finding person whom she wished would do so.

Massaging deep into her build and relishing the way her pap felt when he toyed with them, Oath, like Mira, was overwhelmed. The chance to explore a woman's body like this, to sleep with it, intimately, it teased his about innate, instinctive curiosity. He was so excited, trembling like a leaf and intuitive feeling like he was going to jump out of his skin. It happened before he could do anything about it, he came, having already been pushed over the sharpness. Flushed with disgrace, he did his respectable to try and hide it, but to Mira, it looked like he was just getting impatient.

She lowered her mitt and pushed off her trousers. Oath didn't immediately oppose, but that was because he was trying to tuck his view and his specialty. When he realized what she had done, he didn't have time to mean, and simply dropped his own pants. This prison term, it was Mira's spell to stare, as she tried not to recall of when their group last fought goblin, most of which weren't wearing anything.

Mira climbed into bed, hiding herself under the cover."Now… you get on top of me… and I think you know where your thing goes."

Oath put out the wax light, plunging the room into amount iniquity. He meandered his way back to the bed, feeling the cover. His hands found Mira's organic structure and he felt her ado like a frightened animal. He slipped under the blanket and their raw dead body met, first in the form of an embrace, then in the form of a candy kiss, and finally…

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

Noah, Oath, and Beth sprinted up the winding staircase towards the exit of the donjon Cancer the Crab. They were covered in rip, effort, and soil, and had countless untreated accidental injury. Noah's mana was completely drained, and the three of them were running on fumes. They couldn't Tell if the monsters were still chasing them. After all this prison term, the chorus of roars repeated in the back of their minds no matter what.

Finally, when their bodies felt like they'd fall apart like sandcastles, they breathed impudent air, and felt the sun shine upon them. They burst out of the top of the Cancer's shell, collapsing near the room access. For the three of them, it was like a religious experience. Beth crumbled, tears pouring down her aspect, a mix of happiness, misery, relief, and mourning, and as the sun rose, Oath stared like his person had left his soundbox, turning him into an evacuate husk. As for Noah, he dropped the knight brand he had been using and gripped the globe with shaking hands. How long had it been ? How long had it been since he last fought that operose for his life ? How long had it been since his survival instinct pushed him that far ? No, when it was more than just his survival replete pushing him ? The fear, the adrenaline, the endorphins, the pain, they flowed through the folds of his gray thing like a rising tide across a desert.

"Get up, on your feet."

Noah looked over, seeing Oath standing with his blade pointing at him.

"What the hell do you guess you're doing ?"Noah muttered.

"You heard me, get up and face me."

"Oath, you're kidding, right ?"Beth asked.

"No. You and me, Noah, right here, right now."

"You ungrateful little brat. After all I did for you, you have the nerve to taper your sword at me ? The sword I gave you ?"

"You didn't do this for me. I was just a prop in whatever good deal you struck with my father. Now Mira is dead and I was robbed of my fortune to settle things with Trevor. We never should suffer gone in there, but you kept pushing us. We never should have let you be a part of our team."

"curse word, it's not his faulting ! You also wanted to hold open going ! Just put your steel down and we can all go home plate !"

"No ! I have to do this !"

"You're flop,"said Noah, getting to his foot,"you were just a prop, but I'm still under contract bridge and not allowed to pour down you. Once we're back and I've gotten my reward, then I'll put you down as backbreaking as you want."

"No ! I'm done listening to you ! From the moment we met, you've run my life. I was supposed to be the one to grab the avenium, to impound my own fortune, not let you study it and accept whatever garbage you toss my way ! I couldn't avenge Mira, I couldn't beat Trevor, and I couldn't even conquer the dungeon crab ! I can't go home this way ! I refuse to live like this ! But if I beat you, that'll be enough."

Noah gripped the hilt of the knight sword, and the sensation he got back was far from nonsuch. His soundbox was at its terminal point, he could barely even stand. He was out of potions, they all were, so there was no way he could quickly recoup his strength. At least Oath was in the same situation. Despite his wrath and bloodlust, he was on the verge of passing out. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was another story. If Noah fought him in this State, even the smallest wounds could prove black, then his deal with the baron would be out the window.

"I'm not going to indulge you. If you want to get yourself killed, do it after we get back. I want to exist long enough to cash in everything I've collected."

"You can't talk your way out of this !"

Oath charged with his blade raised, attempting his signature tune cleave. Noah stepped to the incline, nearly falling over as he did so. Rather than a slash, he struck curse in the stomach with the grip of his sword. curse word nearly retched, but regained his ground and punched Noah. He tried to dodge, but was still grazed and staggered back, drawing his sword completely.

"Stop this, you two don't need to agitate !"Beth pleaded.

"Tell him that !"Noah argued.

Oath unleashed a fuss of swings towards Noah, who lacked the agility to get out of the way. Instead, he had to close up and sidestep each swing. They locked blades, pushing against each other in a shoving match.

"You chose to go into the dungeon Crab,"said Noah."You chose to observe me, despite knowing how dangerous it was for Mira. You put your pride and your nobility over her. I killed Trevor because you were too weak to get it done and you would consume woken up that monster with just three steps. You don't get to blame your incompetence on me."

"You're a heartless bastard ! You couldn't even shed a split for Tin, no wonder you didn't care about us !"

"Grow up !"

Noah let go of his sword and perforate Oath, sending him staggering back. Noah touched his bridge player to his eye, casting his invisibleness. He only had decent mana to remain hidden for a few moments, so Noah tackled Oath, disarming him and knocking him to the priming coat. Three satisfying blow to the face left him unconscious.

Noah dropped to his genu, gasping for air with his patch coming undone. Hopefully, Oath would be much more sensical when he woke up. As Noah got to his foot, there was a demon's snarl, followed by Beth's scream. One of their pursuers from within the shell had arrived and was attacking Beth. It looked like some kind of cycloptic tiger with a mat of calamus across its back. Beth was pinned, her arm in its mouth with her flesh being torn and her bones breaking.

"Damn it !"Noah growled.

Beth still had his bow, so Noah pulled out his short sword and threw it, winging the beast in the shoulder. It turned to Noah and charged, and Noah, trying to spark his magic, realized he had used the last of his mana to deal with Oath. He jumped to the English to dodge the lunging tiger, but as he hit the ground, he realized he had less strength than he thought. He had planned on hitting the dry land with a curl and then jumping to his feet, but he just fell like a Tree. All he could do was roll on his backbone, and this time, when the tiger pounced, he wasn't able to dodge. It tried to pass its teeth into his neck, but he blocked its backtalk with his sword, though he could do zero about its chela, digging into his shoulders. It was pushing down on him with its full weight, and he didn't have the strength to check it back.

Noah stared into its one, fist-sized eye and watched dribble pour from its mouth, mixed with the blood from the cuts that his sword was creating. This certainly ranked among the top of his weirdest dying. Yet when his forte was about to falter, swearword attacked the Panthera tigris from behind, slicing off his point with a swing of his sword. Oath then kicked the tiger's corpse off Noah and pointed his sword at him.

"You'll never get a safe chance than this,"Noah said with a smirk.

Oath took a deep breathing spell and sheathed his sword."I suppose saving your biography is as much an attainment as ending it."He held out his hand to Noah."Let's go home."

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epilogue

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The town of Clive was bustling, filled with explorer following the news program of the donjon Cancer's outgrowth. Around one-half of them would die within its casing, but those with acquisition and luck came back to townspeople with pockets full of ores and treasure. Having returned to township just the previous night, Noah had tried listening for gossip of whether or not anyone else had managed to capture the donjon. He had taken all of the avenium he found in that room, so it's potential that was all there was in the pubic louse. Oh well, they'd just have to make do with everything else they found. The majority of the adventurers were hurt enough or perhaps not challenging enough to go very deep into the crab.

But that's not what Noah was focusing on at the here and now. He was at the inn, sitting on the bed in Beth's way and examining her arm. It had been badly mangled by that tiger and wasn't fully healed. Since they were out of potions at the prison term, Noah and Oath had to wind it and tend it as best as they could. On the way down from the dungeon's incoming, they met an adventurer and bought some healing potions off him. However, they weren't able to completely reverse the damage. The flesh on her arm looked molted, like hard stretchability marking, and the muscle underneath was out of right bod. At least the ivory had been reset properly, but the way Beth winced as she stretched it per Noah's didactics, he knew that she was lucky to still suffer it at all.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you'll be able to take in a bow or lift anything heavy anytime soon. If you find individual with healing magic, they might be able to undo the damage, but otherwise, I can't imagine your arm will ever recover its entire use or strength."

"That's fine,"she said with a monotone voice and perfectly fish eyes. She shuddered, as if shaking herself awake."No, it's not fine, it's painful. But… I don't have to vex about using a bow."

"You're quitting being an adventurer ?"

"After everything we went through in that dungeon… I don't ever want to know something like that again. I'm going to try and bump a healer to mend my arm, but after that, I'm going to do what Mira wanted and settle down and build a family."

"That's for the adept, I suppose."

"Thanks. And Noah, about what I said to you in the dungeon, about how I was…"

"You're not pregnant. Mira was."

She looked at him in shock."How'd you love ?"

"I have plenty experience with women to be intimate how to avoid getting them fraught, and I can tell when it's close to that time of the month. Mira told you she was belatedly before we entered the keep, didn't she ? You pretended it was you instead. Did you lie to try and save yourself, or her ?"

"Both, I guess. Oath didn't know, he can never know."

"I'm surprised they were capable to keep it hidden from me. They always seemed a little protective of each other, but I had no idea they were so intimate."

"She told me they were both drunk when it happened, and later told Oath that she thought it would be better if they focused on getting stronger for conquering the dungeon. After, they would have the rest of their lifespan to…"She trailed off, then looked out the windowpane and sighed."I'm going to go visit her mother and siblings, tell her what happened. They were in debt, so hopefully the treasure I've collected will help pay it off. I owe Mira that much."

"This should more than cover charge it,"said Noah, handing her a humble bottle of avenium.

"So much trouble, so many tears over this alloy junk,"she muttered, staring at the bottle.

"Take precaution of yourself,"Noah said before getting up and leaving.

He stopped by his room, getting his bag and any possessions he deemed worth carrying. He had already sold off all of his ores and gems, so he had plenty of atomic number 79 coins with him, along with various other tools and gem hidden within his mob, including a vast fortune of avenium. He put on his haversack with his blade hanging from his swath, including a new longsword, and left the room, locking it behind him. Downstairs in the tavern, he handed the landlady the key.

"Thank you for your hospitality."

"Aye, I'm a bit dingy to see you go. But before you do, you should speak with your friend. He certainly needs some help."

At the riposte, he saw oath slumped over with a half-empty mug in his hand. After returning to Clive, he had checked in with his father only briefly, then came straight to the inn and started drinking to drown his sorrows. It was a miracle the boy hadn't died from inebriant poisoning.

"Are you planning on drinking away your entire fortune ?"Noah asked.

curse word raised his head, looking at him with bloodshot eyes."Leave me alone."

Noah took the stool next to him and ordered a drink."I will, soon. For now, just humor me."

Oath sat up and wiped his face."Remember that hunting head trip the six of us took in the beginning ? When we were sitting around the fire, you told me that I had to decide my reason for living, for combat, that I had to create my own meaning. When I went into that dungeon, I thought I was doing it for my founding father, to finally win his approval. But when Mira died, I realized I had done it for her. I wanted to prove to her that I was a man, that I was just as hard as you and Trevor, and I wanted to prove it to myself. Everything I failed to do, they were the achievements of the baron that I wanted to be. I loved her, but my pride got her killed. Now… I just don't want to mean about it, any of it. I just want to bury so everything will stop hurting."

Noah, having received his drunkenness, downed it in one draught and slapped the spyglass on the board, then took a deep breath."If I were to give you one cobbler's last lesson, one stopping point piece of advice, would you contract it ?"expletive just glanced at him, neither agreeing, nor refusing."Stop drunkenness. Go home and mourn her properly."

"Why ?"

"I know it hurts, and you don't want to feel anything anymore, but when you block out all of the bad, you block out all of the good that goes with it. Cherish your flavor for Mira, your memories of her. Don't try to bury them and forget. Be grateful that it hurts. think me, there is nix more terrible than being truly numb. When you've lost all substance and sensation, you end up in a very dark place, where you'll do anything just to feel again, and you never fully come back from that."

For a moment, the words went over Oath's head, but then his centre widened as a retentivity flashed through his alcohol-soaked brain. The aspect Noah made when Tin died, that rocklike construction, it finally made sense.

"Is that what happened to you ? You lost someone ?"

"I've lost a lot of people, more than you can imagine. Losing a loved one, mourning them, it's supposed to be hard, because if it's sluttish, you forget how to do it."Noah then got up and shouldered his backpack.

"Where are you going ?"swearword asked.

"I have business sector in the capital."

"My father and I are going there in three days. You can move around with us."

"Nah, I'll chance my own way. Besides, I've already given your father enough avenium to ensure you become a stately, so there is no point in sticking around here."

"You never told us what he promised you. Why were you so obsessed with conquering the dungeon ?"

Noah thought back to the conversation he had with the baron, after Tin died.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

Noah was sitting in the baron's discipline, having just confessed to killing his brother and nephew."We didn't have the probability to spill about requital for this job, but don't worry, I'm not interested in money or demesne. There is something else I want."

"Which is ?"

"I want a letter of recommendation to the Uther knight academy. I heard they only grant entree on the good countersign of a baronial, such as yourself."

Ivan scrunched up his face and nearly spat out his beverage. To be an Utheric knight was a smashing honor and responsibility, as while they ranked below barons on the nobility scale, their achievements could give them greater authority and political influence."I have no pastime in putting my salutary name on the dividing line for a stranger. Just demand some avenium for yourself and suit a noble. You'll be even richer than a knight. Or if you want to serve your country, just unite the military."

"Any shmo with a beat can be con***********ed and turned into a soldier. I'm not after wealth, prestige, or accomplishment, and I don't fear about this country."

Noah then reached into his pocket and placed a yellow potion on the baron's desk.

"What is that ?"Ivan asked.

"I got this in that goblin den, and just this morning, I had it appraised by the apothecary. It's a upper-level counterpoison, able-bodied to heal almost any poison. I doubt even a baron like you could afford one. I had this with me when Tin was shot and didn't know it could save her sprightliness. She died because of my ignorance. I've semen to realize that despite my accomplishment and experience, I don't know nearly enough about this world. I want to change that, and to do so, I need an teaching. Spending year in an pearl pillar doesn't interest me. I want to learn how to hold out and properly fight in this domain, and the safe place to do that is the horse academy, where they supposedly train the best of the sound. That hobgoblin apparently killed a knight, but hopefully that was a fluke.

So what do you say ? Is your son's future not worth a one letter ?"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

"I suppose…"Noah said, looking back to curse,"I just wanted to finally hold back a hope, rather than making yet another lie. skillful destiny to you, Lord Fault."

Noah left the inn and walked over to the office where his horse was hitched. He rode out of Clive, and when he was finally alone, he held out his manus, and an envelope appeared on his palm from within his mob. On it was a wax seal, the defect pelage of arms. With this, his way of life was laid out before him. His following stop : the Utheric royal stag capital.

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*Roundabout plays*

To be continued…

*Roll credits*

Please gossip ! I 'm going to try to have vol 2 ready by the end of the year .