I walked a different path from before, this one was made from earth and the sound of the wind rustling through the grass could be heard, the birds chirping, as well as the animals in the forests nearby.

It’s been one hour since I left the Spirit Forest, I’ve been feeling sluggish for hours now, but I had no time to stand still and rest until, I at the very least arrived at a town.

‘How long will it take to arrive there? This road is starting to make my feet hurt!’, I complained as I continued despite the small pinch on my feet. From where I am you could see a vast plain all around you, if you looked back you could have seen the immense fog, but now it was nothing but mist slowly fading away.

I continued on forward, I passed by some different roads, but I continued on forward. I didn’t find any adventurers in this road, maybe I went the opposite way they went?

 

<< You have acquired the Skill ‘Fatigue Resistance’ >>

 

‘Now I’m not sure whether gaining this skill was a good thing or not.’, I thought as the game like status plate slowly disappeared.

I suddenly heard the sound of a horse behind me, I looked behind me and then saw a carriage in the distance, it could be a merchant or maybe a transport carriage. I would never find out unless I went over there

The carriage was made out of wood, it was simply made anyone could own it. There was only one horse, that means it was a one person only carriage.

As I looked at the carriage slowly arriving, the driver looked at me and said.

“Are you lost, young boy?”, the driver asked. The driver looked like an old man, he was a human. The old man didn’t seem to have any suspicion towards me. “Now that you talk about, I think I am. Do you know the way to the closest town?”, I asked.

“Hmm... If you continue on this road you’ll eventually arrive at the town of ‘Blue Tear’. Would you like me to bring you over there?”, the old man asked. “Why would you help me sir.”, I asked politely.

“Why you ask? Why not? Since I’m going over there I might as well as bring company.”, the old man said as he invited me to his carriage. “Alright, thank you. I’ll pay you once I can.”, I said slowly entering the carriage.

 

<< You have acquired the Skill ‘Etiquette’ >>

 

“Fine for me. Hop on aboard.” The old man said with a smile plastered on his face.

 

 

 

The road to ‘Blue Tear’ takes about three days in a carriage and about a week at foot. I sat in the back of the carriage and looked to the outside of the carriage, the vast green plains are completely different from the completely gray forest.

We have spent about eight hours on the carriage, the old man decided to take a break and let the horse rest. We were kind of camping right now.

“So, what’s your business in ‘Blue Tear’?”, I asked without a single sound of emotion in my question. “I’m a farmer, so I’m going to Bluetear to sell goods. Like crops, fruits and vegetables as well.”

That explained why there were many boxes in the back of the carriage. “How can that horse bring all of that?”, I asked. Any normal horse probably wouldn’t be able to bring multiple boxes of like fifteen kilogram each. “Hmm, I guess you’ve noticed. This horse, I won him in a poll, apparently this horse has the Skill ‘Enhanced Muscle Strength’. It allows him to be stronger than the average horse.”

‘That explains it’, I thought as I looked at the night sky. The moon was transcending, it was glowing stronger than the one of earth.

Every living being with a soul has skills, that implies to animals as well. Trees and plants also have a status.

The old man went to the carriage and brought out some bread, it looked hard almost like a rock. “Are you really going to eat that?”, I asked. “I know it doesn’t look tasty, but I have to spare money so that I can pay my dept. That’s why I’m eating this instead of my other food.”

“Why are you in debt? If you don’t mind me asking.”, I asked cautiously. The old man shook his head and said. “I don’t mind. I bought a territory, so that I could become a farmer together with my wife and kids. However, the territory was under a dukes name so I needed to buy it off him. I made a proposal that I would invest eighty percent of my earnings for the territory. That’s why I’m trying to spare as much money as I can.”

“You have a wife and kids?”, I asked, bored out of my mind trying to start a conversation.

“Yeah, my wife helps me with the farm, while my son goes on adventures.”, the old man said. “Aren’t you worried about him?”, I asked. “Of course, I am, I haven’t seen him in months.”

When children become fifteen years old, they can become adventurers and do quests at the guild. Being an adventurer means putting your life in line, some people become adventurers to become famous and some do to help their parents.

“Sometimes, I wonder whether I’ll see him again.”, the old man said as he looked at the sky, as if searching for an answer.

“I hope you’ll see him one day.”, I said. I truly did hope that he would see him one day, as well that we never cross paths again.

 

 

 

You could say we were lucky to arrive at the town of ‘Blue Tear’, without a scratch. Monsters would sometimes attack carriages and wagons to take the resources and eat the passengers.

As we arrived safe and sound at the gates to Blue tear, the old man stood up from the driver’s seat and went to one of the guards at the entrance.

“Oh, so you’re still alive old man.”, one of the guards said as if they already knew each other. “Hmph, you know this old man won’t die so soon.”

“Ha! You are right about that one. So, are you here to sell your stuff again and who’s that, uh… boy over there?”, the guard asked while trying to look at me tucking away in the carriage. “He’s a young boy I found during the way, I decided on bringing him here with me.”

‘If the guard tries something… I’ll have to act.’, I thought as I grew suspicious of the guard.

“Is that so. It’s fine, but be careful on your way back, there’s been a rumor about a monster that appeared in the Spirit Forest.”, the guard warned the old man.

They were probably talking about me since I left the forest.

“Yeah, I’ll be careful. Now have a nice day.”, The old man said whipping his horse to continue. “Yeah, have a nice day too, old man.”

The guards opened the gates and we entered the city, it was busy, full of people. There were many buildings in this town, it was as if you were in New York, but the technology is none.

“This place is really big.”, I muttered in amazement, even though my voice still sounded emotionless. “Well, yes of course, it is it’s one of the biggest cities in Dawnwell, it’s the third biggest city.

The kingdom of Dawnwell has seven major cities, the town of Bluetear is the third biggest in size. The Spirit Forest was also in the map but never actually used up until now.

“Alright, I’m going to let you off once I’ve sold my stuff. Is that okay?”, The old man asked. I could have left long ago, but I decided to tag along with him. “Yeah that’s alright.”

The old man went to the guild to sell his wares, he made a deal with the guild so that every single month he would sell them to the guild.

After he sold them, he went back to the carriage, I stood up and went over to him. “Thank you for giving me a ride to over here. I’m very grateful.”, I said descending from the carriage. “No problem, oh there’s something I’ve been meaning to give you.”

The old man took out a pouch, with every movement the pouch made the sound of medal clinking against each other.

“Take this, as a goodbye gift.”, the old man said with a smile. “Y-you’re giving me money. Why?”, I asked confused as to what the reason could possibly be. “It’s not as if you have any, do you?”, the old man said.

The old man might look weak, but he had a keen eye. I stayed silent, as if that meant that I was not denying his statement. The old man grabbed my hands and forcibly put the pouch of money in my hands.

“Just take them.”, the old man said with no intent of keeping them. “Fine, I’ll take’ em, but I’ll pay you back.”, I said. You think I could just leave with some money from an old man without paying back. Then, I would really be a monster.

I left and did not look back, I investigated the bag of money, it was mostly just bronze and silver coins, I didn’t know what worth they were. But I’ll put them to good use.

I needed to find information about the Spirit Forest and the attack on the village. The elves wouldn’t have died just because they chose to stay in the village, I’m pretty sure they would’ve tried to run away.

But first… I want to eat something, even though I don’t need to eat because I don’t have a stomach. I just love to eat.

I asked one of the spirits nearby if they knew a bar or at the very least a good place to eat. They told me that there’s a bar in a back alley that servers a really good meal. There is also a tavern known as the ‘Fairies Kiss’, over there you can get good ale and a dinner for cheap.

Thus, I chose to go to ‘Fairies Kiss’, the people in town didn’t notice that I was a ghost, since I have the materialization skill and spirit form I look like an half-elf at most.

I arrived at the tavern. When I entered it everything was bustling with liveliness. Adventurers were telling tales, customers were eating and chatting with each other and there were some who were alone, but they were having fun as well.

“Welcome, good sir. Would you like a table and how many people are coming?”, A waitress suddenly appeared full of vigor and asked me.

“Yeah, table for one person please.”, I asked. “Alright sir, I’ll lead you to your table.”, the waitress said as she led me to my table. The table I was going to did not have many people surrounding it like any other ones.

I sat down on the chair at my table. “What would you like to order?”, the waitress asked with a business-like smile. “What do you have?”, I asked in return.

I haven’t been to this place yet, so how could I have known what they had? “We have grilled pork chops, smoked stake, spaghetti—.” The waitress wanted to continue, but I jumped in and said. “Spaghetti. I would like spaghetti!”

“A-alright, sir and what would you like to drink?” She asked as she regained her composure by my sudden shout. “Water please.”, I said.

The waitress went to the kitchen and asked for the cooks to make my order as I waited.

The tavern was filled with voices of multiple people, but one of them caught my attention.

‘T-this voice…!’, I recognized this voice inside the tavern full of people bustling, his voice made itself loud and clear to me.

I looked around to find the source of this voice and there I found him. Ralph, the elf hunting team leader, one of the last people I have seen before the village burned down.