That night, no one came to my room--but Tirihi came in the afternoon, so I wasn’t bothered.

It was a mediaeval world, and there may not have been contraceptives, I worried that there was a chance she could have gotten pregnant. It was only now, at night, that I worried about this.

When I looked through my Character Screen, there was a note: ‘Infertile--skill required: Crossbreed, 500BP’; it appeared just as I considered it…maybe there was something or someone watching me.

I felt scared when I thought about that--they would have seen me murder Thieves, they would have seen what I did in this same room earlier today, and what I very-much planned on doing again.

But I also felt relieved--it meant that I wasn’t as alone as I worried; panic and relief warred in me, feeling like my mind was being torn apart.

There was a deep buzzing noise…and I felt tired--my…eyes…clo--

***

My eyes shot open and I sat up, I was gasping.

It took me a few minutes to figure out, to remember, where I was.

In the Village Chief’s house, in a village…in another world; I think I was dreaming about something, but I can’t remember what--other than deep violet eyes, staring at me.

My back hurt, from laying on a straw mattress that was lumpy. But, I was in a new world--a little pain is worth the opportunity.

I found myself sighing as I looked up and saw a barely lit sky--the deepest blue, almost black…the colour right before dawn.

“Mmm.” I stretch my arms, yawning and massaging the crick out of my neck.

“Excuse me.” I heard the Village Chief’s voice outside the door.

“Village chief?” I quickly hop to my feet and open the door.

“Ahh, you’re already up? It’s just about time to depart.” His wrinkled face was outlined by the light from the candle he held, outlined in the now open door.

The light made my eyes ache for a few seconds, but I soon woke up and my eyes adjusted, “Okay.”

I left the room with my luggage.

Well, I call it luggage, but it’s really only an iron sword, and a drawstring bag--inside which I have 20 copper, everything else is stored in the ring on my right index finger.

“Good morning.” I responded with another yawn--I hadn’t been awake this early in the day…for a long time.”

“Yes, good morning--here are your clothes from yesterday.” He gave me the folded bundle of clothing.

I quickly push the clothing into the bag, and thank him.

It’s still dark at the entrance, not even the first light of dawn appearing yet. I’m still wearing the clothing I got yesterday.

“Your clothes are made from some very unusual cloth, they must be quite valuable.” The Village Chief looked at me.

“Nah, not really.” I grinned back at him.

“You can use this bag if you want.” The Village Chief offers me a large bag with a shoulder string--it looks like a rucksack.

I accept it from him with a nod and thanks.

“I’ve put some breakfast in it, it’s only rabbit meat jerky. Please eat it in the wagon.”

“I’ll do that.”

I quickly put the draw-string bag into the rucksack, inside I can feel a cloth-wrapped bundle, which must be the breakfast.

“Oh, yeah--a reward for saving the village.” He reaches into a pouch on his waist and counts out 10 coins, giving them to me.

They’re silver coins, 10 silver coins. I wonder if it’s a lot of money, but either way doesn’t matter, since I didn’t do it for the money.

“Thank you.” I pretend to put them into the rucksack, storing them in my ring.

“Sorry it’s not that much--but we are a poor village.”

“It’s okay, I’m grateful for this.”

I put the rucksack over my shoulder and leave the house, the Village Chief following after me. We head towards the edge of the village and find the Merchant there, preparing the wagon.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

I exchange greetings with the merchant.

“I’ll leave as soon as it gets light, could you sit next to the coachman’s seat?”

“Sure.”

I got into the wagon, which shakes a bit. The merchant wanders off to talk to the Village Chief, and no one was looking this way.

“Hey, uhh, I came to say ‘goodbye’.” A quiet voice speaks to me, I see Tirihi creep over -- she was acting like she didn’t want anyone to see.

“Goodbye.”

She smiles as she hears my word, stroking my thigh once, “I will probably never see you again, but I wanted to thank you for saving me and the village--I…wish you could have saved him, though.” She whispered the last of her words.

With another smile, she ran off; just in time, as the merchant comes back.

“Well, it’s become light enough--so let’s be off.” The merchant climbs up and sits beside me, he flicks the reins and the horse starts moving.

The sun isn’t up yet, but the light is enough that we can see the road ahead.

“Thanks for the ride to Vale.”

The merchant grins at my words, “No, thank you for saving the village.”

We both say our farewells to the village chief.

The wagon is now leaving the village; I may never return here, but this will be my first village--and the village where I lost my virginity. As she said, it is unlikely I will even meet her again, and I can’t expect her to stay with me or me with her--since it was only once, and she was recently widowed.

I take a look backwards, one last look to etch it into my memory, and behind the chief, I see Tihiri wave once before entering her house. I may never see her again, but I won’t forget her.

“Is the journey safe?” I ask the merchant as I turn back to the front, looking at the surroundings.

“The road to Vale has regular Demon Subjugation Quests issued, to maintain it--meaning that there’s no real danger.”

It’s starting to get lighter, and the merchant raises the wagon’s speed, it begins to shake with a rattling sound. I don’t know if it’s a problem with the wagon or the road--probably both if I am to be honest.

There a forest on either side of the road, the trees are tall and straight, with broad leaves. The bark is a whitish colour, not the normal brown of trees from Earth.

However, it doesn’t seem to be a very deep forest.

The dirt road ahead of us, the sun rising over the mountains; a forest on either side, the sights are unlike where I used to live--since I was born and raised in the city. The scenery takes my mind off my feelings, which are in turmoil--both from killing humans, though they are thieves who would have killed me; and for leaving.

No, I must toughen up; I am in a new world, I will be a new person--not the anti-social pussy I was before.

Shaking my head clear and looking around, I munch on the jerky that was packed for breakfast. There isn’t really anything else to do, other than stare forwards--the merchant seems to be thinking the same, he is sitting in silence.

Well, it’s not bad to have free time--but I have to shift position occasionally, or my butt gets very painful.

I see a shadow out front, it seems that not all Demons are subjugated.

Horned Rabbit - Lv1

“There’s a Horned Rabbit ahead.”

“You’ve seen them before?”

“I hunted quite a few yesterday.”

“I see, it isn’t very dangerous, but I’ll slow down a bit.”

The wagon approaches the Horned Rabbit, and then passes by its side. I want to attack it, but it’s better to arrive at Vale sooner rather than later.

“We’ve passed it.”

As we move on, I see something else in the distance.

Gumi Slime - Lv1

Are there normally this many Demons?

“There’s a Gumi Slime ahead.” I warn the merchant.

The merchant slows the wagon at my words.

“What’s wrong?”

“Gumi Slimes attack when they see people, and because of their soft bodies, they are difficult to damage.” He has a slight frown.

“Well, it should be no problem.”

I should be able to kill it, I will try with my iron sword first; but if I have to--I will use Excalibur.

“It is the most formidable Demon around here--it can melt your body with its acidic slime. Villagers, Farmers, even most Merchants need to run when they see it.”

Is it that dangerous?

It shouldn’t be too bad, since it’s level 1.

Well, I’ll probably have to fight one sooner or later anyway, so I tell the merchant not to worry and to keep going--but I choose not to play with my iron sword and go straight for Excalibur.

This should be a good chance to test the Skill: Overwhelming. I’m not sure what the effect is, and when I consider it--an incantation appears in my head.

“What should I do?” The merchant asks.

“It’s fine, just keep going forwards.”

He does as I said, but I can see that he’s scared.

I take off the rucksack, putting it and and my iron sword on the ground, taking the Excalibur out of my ring--doing it in such a way that it’s not obvious to the merchant.

As the wagon approaches, the Gumi Slime notices us, moving towards us in return,

“Okay, stop.” I hold up my hand.

As the speed of the wagon decreases, I jump down from my seat; running past the stopped horse and towards the Gumi Slime. When I near the Slime, I jump--swing Excalibur down and to the left, tearing right through the Slime.

However, this doesn’t kill the Slime.

If it is like the Slimes in fantasy book, I will need to destroy the Core--and when I slashed through the Gumi Slime’s jelly-like body, I saw a small section that was a slightly deeper colour and thicker consistency.

“By the deliverance of ei…urgh--”

I tried to recite the incantation, but the Gumi Slime jumped at me.

With a ‘Thump’ the Slime smacked into me; I barely managed to raise an arm in defence. I was knocked back a step, a minor pain shooting through my skin--it felt like I was hit with a paintball from close range…I would definitely have a bruise.

I realize that it will be impossible to recite the incantation while standing still--so, for now…I can’t use it in combat, I need a lot more practice; though it is understandable, I won’t be an expert at real combat just because I practiced using Youtube videos.

So, I watch the Slime closely, and when it jumps again, I step back. When it lands, I swing Excalibur at it, this time aiming for the irregularity…the Core, if you will.

I felt the slightest resistance, indicating that I hit something with higher consistency, and the Slime slops to the ground--it quickly starts pouring out green smoke, before disappearing.

When the green smoke clears, there is something white on the ground.

Slime Starch

I am not sure what it is, but I pick it up anyway.

So, it seems that to defeat Gumi Slime, the barely visible Core has to be slashed--it’s also possible that extra damage is required, but the important thing is the Core.

I definitely need to practice with chanting incantations under my breath, until they become almost second nature, I need do be able to select one--and chant it--in the middle of combat.

Just as I am considering my options and training, the merchant brings the wagon up.

“You defeated it.” He sounded both shocked, and pleased.

“Yeah.” I sat down next to him, and leaned back against the bench.

“In such a short time…amazing.”

“I guess.”

I still didn’t know how much more difficult it would be using normal weapons--I went all out from the beginning, so it may change.

“Alex, are you a Wizard?” He asked.

“No, I just used my sword, I just aimed for the Gumi Slime’s weak point.”

“What’s the weak point?” The merchant looked shocked.

“The Core, inside the Slime is a more solid section, which when cut--seems to kill the Gumi Slime.”

“Oh? I never knew that…I wonder what that information would be worth.” The merchant seemed intrigued.

Then he saw the white stuff I was holding in my free hand, “Is that Slime Starch?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want it? I could buy it from you, as a reward for defending the wagon.”

I hid Excalibur, making it look like I placed it into the rucksack, and stored it in my ring.

“Sure, how much?”

“Well, Slime Starch can become alcohol. It ferments when you dissolve it in water--it’s called Slime Liquor, and there are many people who like it. The normal price is 80 copper, but I’ll increase it tenfold since you defended the wagon, so I’ll give you 880 Copper for it.”

“Thank you very much, I’ll accept it.”

The merchant gives me 8 silver coins and 80 copper coins.

I put the copper coins into the drawstring bag in the rucksack and store the 8 silver coins in my ring, bringing the total stored to 20 silver coins.

“Are there Wizards around here?” I was curious, since I always did like Magic in stories.

“I don’t know. To become a Wizard, you have to have the talent, or drink a Mana-Unlocking Potion, which is very expensive--usually only the children of nobles or rich families can become Wizards.”

“I see.”

So, there is that kind of restriction on becoming a Wizard--it would be very difficult for me to become one.

When I pull back my sleeve and look at where the Gumi Slime hit me, I see dark blue bruise, from half-way up my forearm to just under my elbow--somewhere around 10 - 15 cm long; there doesn’t seem to be any permanent damage, or damage to the muscle and bone…just a bruise.

I stop talking and sit back on the seat, watching the surroundings and practicing chanting the incantation--purely practicing, and not actually intending to cast it.

In this way, time passed.