It’s night at this time and honestly it’s a bit hard to notice when you have night vision. I mean it’s not like the place doesn’t look somewhat dark but it’s a bit surreal to see the environment around you with barely any issue. I mean I know that the outside at night isn’t complete darkness but it certainly shouldn’t be clear at all where everything is. Anyway none of that is really important at the moment, I should continue with adventuring and such, I mean it’s nighttime at the moment so not like anything interesting is going to happen, and I might as well rest for the time being, not that a vampire really need to sleep, or maybe it’s a Demon Lord’s thing I’m not really sure, could be both for all I know, but that’s not important, what is important is what the hell am I supposed to do at this point and time, I really don’t want to sleep on the ground or something like that, maybe I could go look for a human settlement and sleep there, somewhere with an inn, that sounds about right. I think Kaa-san mapped every human settlement that exist, including the one I just destroyed… still surreal I just did that, am I really not the villain here? Well I could think over that later after I actually find somewhere to rest.

*Flap* *Fly*

I’m going to fly during this time as I doubt anyone can spotted me in the darkness, and it’s faster this way, also need to pull this map up so I know where I’m going. This map is very convenient, it shows every settlement or important places in this country or continent or whatever we’re on… now that I think about it didn’t I see this kind of shape on the map before? Maybe I was just imagining things but maybe not? I mean if it reminds me of another world memory I don’t think it’s something that I should worry about, anyway there’s a town near this forest and I think of going there, so let’s go.

 

#####

 

*Land*

Still shaken a little when landing to be honest even if I am durable enough to survive any mishap. Having a town right next to what is considered sacred and mysterious forest that is insanely massive, what were these people thinking settling here? Not that it’s something I have to know but still somewhat curious, people fear the unknown after all, I doubt they’ll live next to it without reason, there are entrances to the town and each spot are well lit with torches, some people stationed nearby, must be the guards. 

Kaa-san teaches me how to read and write in languages people here used but I’m honestly still nervous, I mean I haven’t exactly have contact with any humans yet, I mean I have but all I have really done is killing them, that doesn’t really count. 

I walked toward one of this entrance gate thing and alert the two guards standing at that entrance.

“Halt! Identify yourself!” One man in a rather cheap armor with a spear in his hand said to me, I stop and look at him.

“I’m an adventurer who just came out of the Mystinical Forest just a while ago, I got lost in there for a long time, that’s why I’m here at night” I’m not really sure if that was a convincing enough story, I basically just improvised that line just now.

“That’s an unlikely story, would’ve spotted you sometime earlier today but that isn’t the case is it?” He replied, seems like that doesn’t really convince him.

“I think you’re overthinking it, I doubt she’ll do anything bad, I mean she isn’t even armed for crying out loud, just let her through” His buddy who have the same kind of armor and weapon said, of course I wouldn’t have any on me, all of them are stored in the [Item Box] so I don’t have to carry it around. The cautious man said looking back and forth toward him and I…

After a short and awkward movement of silence he sighed.

“Okay fine, you can go through, guarding at this hour might be getting to me” He said while stepping aside.

“He’s a bit tense I would say, probably too stressed out, anyway have fun in the town” His partner said while also walking away. Honestly that was way shorter than I thought, then again guarding at this hour probably does get to them, well I won’t complain, I’ll just go in now.

 

#####

 

This is a town alright, I would say the architecture is like… those fantasy European setting? Pretty much the standard of this kind of story. Now that I think about it I have no idea where each facility is… where’s the guild? Where’s the shop? Especially where’s the inn… it’s night at this moment and I didn’t see anyone around, must be in their home for obvious reason. Maybe there’s a sign in front of the building? I mean it would be convenient if they put it on their buildings… would you look at that, there’s a sign and name on that building telling that it’s an inn, and the inside is lit as well, wonder if it’s fire or magic tool, I doubt it’s the former since magic is a thing and fire is going to spread everywhere, seems like buildings in this time period still use lots of woods so I doubt fire is actually used. At least that’s my thought process on this rather pointless topic.

*Open*

“Excuse me” I said opening the door to see a rather empty lobby with the receptionist looking rather sleepy at this point, speaking of which which hour is this? Is this midnight? Whatever is the case the receptionist isn’t replying, must’ve actually sleep on the job, like while standing. I walk to her and see if there’s any response… there isn’t. Also magic lamp is in fact used.

“Excuse me!” I said one more time louder than the last.

“Wha!?” The girl jumped and take awhile to compose herself, she looks rather normal I would say, brown hair in a ponytail and green eyes, slim and short, at least compared to me who is way too tall for a human woman anyway. Probably around 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) shorter than me.

“Sorry for intruding but is there any spare room left? Got lost on the way here so I arrived at this hour” I said to her hoping that’ll clear things up before she start assuming something stupid.

“R-Room? Well we do have some left and I can give you the key” She replied.

“Great, well I’ll stay here for… a week I would say… actually maybe one extra day for a total of eight days, how much will that cost?” I asked, maybe that’s a bit long to stuck at one place but really it’s not a big deal, I mean I don’t have any goal in particular that needed me to move place to place anyway.

“It’ll be… 3 silver coins and 3 bronze coins” She said, that’ll be around 10,920 yen I would say, quite cheap for a week and a day stay but then again the quality of an inn in this kind of setting can’t really be compared to the modern kind, well I have way too much money on hand to really worry over the value of it in yen anyway. I act like I’m reaching for my pockets and looking for money. I can easily will the 3 silver and 3 bronze without issue, with a charade done I put the money on the counter.

“Here” I replied, she seems a bit surprised.

“Ah… here’s the key” She let out a sound in surprise and quickly gather herself to get the key and put it on the counter.

“Am I to leave the night of day eight or am I allowed to stay just one more?” It’ll be kind of awkward to leave in a middle of the night.

“Well can’t exactly have someone leave in the middle of the night so just one more day is fine” She said sounding a bit tired, how long has she been waiting here exactly? Seems like a rough job, maybe some corruption will… no let’s not do that, might attract undesirable attention, and it’s not like there’s any other incentive to help her out aside from pitying her, maybe something way less drastic than that… well since this isn’t Japan maybe tipping will be fine? I’ll just get a bronze coin from the [Item Box] and put it on the counter.

“Huh?” She let out in bewilderment.

“Seems like you have a tough job, think of it as a goodwill from me” I said while taking the key to my room, quickly inspecting it there is a number for the room so that’s good.

 

#####

 

The room is rather simple, space to put any luggage, the drawer with a magic tool that illuminate light when activated on top, and your bog standard bed, compared to my room in the castle the quality is obviously night and day, of course that won’t discourage me, I mean I could’ve been sleeping on the dirt for all I know so this is fine. I’m just going to sleep now and worry about other things later.

 

#####

 

…The fiery landscape, painted red with blood. Man, woman, children, maybe screamed out in terror, many lay dead on the cold ground or burning in the eternal flames of agony, one person incite this, letting all of this suffering and pain, an action that can only be described as a work of a monster, a demon, one who cannot be considered human, one man screams in terror, the next moment is pierced by a blade and blood gushing out of his mouth, the blade twisted and carve a large hole in the man, his inner organs spilled out as he dimly looked with horror and despair, and he is no more, next a crumbled up building housed a mother and her little daughter, the demon entered the building and the woman try to shield her daughter from the murderous monster, fear for her life but determined to save her child, all she got was a cold icy blue glare and the next her body burned to ash, the child cannot processed what just happened, and the next moment she suffered the same fate as her loving mother.

A nightmarish sequence of events that one existence brought, this unstoppable force that will bring nothing but ruin, nightmare, blood, despair, suffering… it’s clear to me who that figure is… it’s me… 

…

 

#####

 

“Ugh” I let out a sound as I woke up from a scene of carnage… why did I do that? How could I let myself do that? For whatever reason I do not feel as guilty as I should be, yet it’s not like I don’t feel any… I have to get over it, who knows when such a drastic action is needed again, can’t let myself weighted down by that. What I saw wasn’t accurate… right? Maybe my memories are getting mixed up again.

It’s early in the morning, I think I should explore this town during my stay, maybe try out that guild thing. When did I take my coat off? Whatever. I’ll just put it back on and walk out.

 

#####

 

As I walked from the lobby to the outside I think I heard the receptionist trying to call out to me, must’ve been confused about the tip, not that I cared to explain.

*Open*

Out on the streets and people are definitely everywhere, complete contrast of the dead night when I arrived. There’s the guild right there on the other side of this square, I should go there and try to register.

 

#####

 

*Open*

It’s… a bit more reserved than I thought, as in not that many people, not that there’s only a few but it certainly isn’t swarmed with many armed adventurers. The receptionist is a girl with a neck-length wavy blonde hair and green eyes, I approach her and she looked somewhat surprised, why is that? In fact I think there were some people staring at me, did I looked suspicious?

“Hello there miss… are you here to make a request?” Miss… I really have to get used to being called that.

“No, I’m here to register as an adventurer” I bluntly said and she looked somewhat surprised. Again.

“Huh?” 

“Like I said I’m here to register as an adventurer” I repeated, somewhat annoyed.

“A-Ah is that so? Then please wait here so I can go get your examiner” She said as she walks away and make me wait.

I think a few adventurers are looking at me, what’s with this treatment? A tanned blonde man with a large axe then approach me. He’s about the same height as me and looked better than other men here.

“Say you are quite tall for a woman and also doesn’t look half bad, quite a rare one I must say, I’d say I wouldn’t want you to scar your face and the like. Are you sure you’re going to register?” He said.

“I’ll be fine” I replied sounding a bit irritated.

“Also your clothes are in quite high quality that much I can tell, you’re probably quite rich, why are you registering as an adventurer instead of twiddling your thumbs with the money you probably have?” He further said, honestly this is annoying.

“It’s boring to do something like that, I want to see action and I might as well get rewarded for it” I replied. He looked like he just witnessed something ridiculous and out of this world, is what I’m trying to do so strange?

“You’re strange” He said.

“And you’re annoying me” I replied in a monotone voice.

“Point taken, but didn’t say I didn’t warn you” He said in a somewhat carefree tone and walk away, what’s with this crook?

[Appraisal]

 

Name: Macim

Gender: Male

Age: 29

Race: Human

 

Level: 77

Class: Axe Fighter

HP: 6,749/6,749

MP: 441/441

Strength: 332

Magical Prowess: 166

Dexterity: 276

Agility: 275

Luck: 244

Vitality: 269

Magical Resistance: 191

 

Weapon Proficiency 

Axe: B

Brawl: D

 

By the standard of humans he would be pretty high up there, of course in front of me he’s basically an ant. Well that’s not important.

“Sorry for the wait, here’s your examiner” The receptionist girl said and a man wearing full plate armor and helmet that completely obscure himself appeared. With him he have a short sword and a shield, he actually reminded me of that guy who goes around killing one specific thing… what was his name again? …Oh wait he doesn’t have any. I think.

“I supposed you know the procedure?” The examiner asked.

“You mean a mock battle and then you will evaluate what rank I’ll start out as?” I answered.

“More or less, the battleground is this way” He said as he walk ahead.

“You don’t have to call it that” The receptionist commented while looking at me wishing me luck.

 

#####

 

It’s a circular area that’s about a size of a small room I would say, the testing ground, me on one side and him on another. A man who is an onlooker is also present, probably to help watch over the battle.

“Wherever is your weapon?” The examiner asked. Right. I forgot to pull the katana out, what is this guy’s stat?

[Appraisal]

 

Name: Almaw

Gender: Male

Age: 36

Race: Human

 

Level: 82

Class: Warrior

HP: 7,219/7,219

MP: 466/466

Strength: 343

Magical Prowess: 173

Dexterity: 287

Agility: 279

Luck: 198

Vitality: 387

Magical Resistance: 183

 

Weapon Proficiency

Sword: A

Polearm: B+

Axe: B+

Bow: B+

Brawl: B+

Hidden Weapon: A

Shield: A

 

He’s hella skilled, his stats isn’t anything to write home about at this level aside from that vitality and his luck is garbage for his level, not that I even really know what it does, but damn he’s skilled in almost every weapon, if I wasn’t what I am I would be extremely worried, I mean I sorta am since he might ended up pushing me and I might accidentally retaliate.

“I forget to bring it along, but I’m not reliant on it” I replied, it might sounds preposterous to them but as someone who is taught magic by a sage I think I can hold my own with just magic alone.

“What confidence. So, are you actually ready?” He asked. I mean I don’t have any weapon and I can’t use chantless magic in front of them, keeping the act up might be tough.

“Yes” I said trying to sound confident.

“I see. Began the countdown” He said to the guy.

“Roger… 3… 2… 1… Go!”

*Dash*

Immediately the examiner rush toward me.

“[Dark Shield]!” I chanted and shield of darkness appeared in front of me.

*Swing* *Block*

His blade swing is ineffective against the shield.

“So a mage” He commented before side stepping and trying to swing toward me from the side the shield isn’t covering.

*Swing* *Block*

I simply moved the shield to the side to deflect the swing again.

“[Lightning]” A spark of electricity then formed and direct toward him point blank.

*Zap*

“Geh!” The attack isn’t very strong but he’s still clearly hurt, then again it isn’t very strong from my perspective. He quickly jumped back to his original position after quickly recovering from the shock. My shield still persists. He put his guard up.

“Try attacking me some more” He said. Seems like he’s trying to see what other offensive spell I could use.

“[Ice Fall]” I said and a few ice shard formed overhead, and all of them launched toward the man. The he dodged some or the shard, guard the other with his shield, or slash it with his sword, but some he cannot defense against and got damaged as the result. He then paused.

“Strong offensive and defensive magic, in all honesty perhaps you could even defeat me if you go all out, which you clearly haven’t” He said clearing the ice shards still sticking to him. Seems like he picked up the difference in power real quick.

“Are you sure you aren’t over evaluating me?” I asked still having my guard up.

“Of course not, you can put your shield down now, the battle is over” He declared putting his sword away. I dispel my shield away.

“So what’s your actual evaluation? What’s my starting rank?” I asked.

“While I would like you to start at gold rank myself considering your performance, one cannot recommend the starting rank of the newcomers as the same or higher than the examiner, regardless I would try to ask the guildmaster and his assistant on this matter, you’ll receive your guild card in a while” He said as he walk out of the room. Guess I’ll go wait in the lobby? Seems like what I should do.