7 days had passed.

During this time, I had continued practicing the control of [Materialisation], multitasking with [Ruler's Hand], as well as doing basic training with my knife. I didn't have much time to observe my body back then, but now that I took a real good look, I had quite defined abs and muscles. I also had some scars that weren't there before in my memories. 

(Must've been because of Cero. Thanks man.)

During that time, I passed by some monsters, if not the same type of monsters. Slimes, goblins, and wolves. They all ranged around [Normal E rank] and [Great D Rank]. They weren't that difficult to kill- Their moves were very slow compared to the Major Bloody Orc that I had killed before, and much, much slower than Cero's kicks and punches. 

(...Again, I guess I really have to thank Cero for this.)

I usually used my knife, since I didn't really want to waste my bullets. I also wanted to practice my skill with the knife. However, I did test fire the gun, and the bullets whizzed past through their heads with ease. If anything, it was probably overkill. After all, they were E ranked monsters. Compared to how useless it had been against a B ranked monster, I could only laugh in contempt.

My [Materialisation] had improved considerably. I could now somewhat control the speed and power on the wind magic that I applied to my feet. My overall power with the knife however left something to be desired. Sure, I could coat it with fire just like I did before, but the MP usage was just too great, and left me a risk of going negative. I was only lucky last time due to the LVL-UP system immediately recovering any negative status that I had. 

Food wasn't a problem, I had gotten more than enough from the family of fishes around the rivers. I offered a prayer as I bit into the salted cooked salmon. I still haven't seen any signs of human life, just myself and the nature around me. In a sense, it was relaxing, but at the same time, kind of lonely. 

Gathering my supplies, I stood up once again and made my way along the paved road. As I was about to leave, I suddenly heard a girl screaming.

I immediately dashed towards the scream, my heart pumping in anticipation. After all, it was the first sign of human life. 

As I hid behind some trees, I spotted a young woman, with 5 Great Hobgoblins surrounding her, as they cackled and gave a disturbing grin. I knew I couldn't just leave a person to die, so without hesitation, I swooped in, coated with [Materialisation], while I immediately latched onto one of the hobgoblins and jammed my knife into its throat. Blood erupted out, as I turned to the next hobgoblin. I kicked off the dying hobgoblin and twisted my body as I thrusted the knife into the other goblins throat. 

The other three hobgoblins tilted their heads in confusion, as they soon realised that they were in danger. I snapped onto their faces, as I poured killing intent into my gaze. Their legs started to shake as they started mumbling in fear.

"Kraugh...? KRAUGH!!!"

They soon tried to run, but I just poured power into [Materialisation] as I lunged at their backs with insane speed, slamming one of their heads into the ground, as I hurled my knife and accelerated it with [Materialisation], as it hammered into one of their heads. 

One more to go.

Using [Ruler's Hand], I clutched the last hobgoblins throat and slung him towards me through the air like a ball, as I propelled my fist right into its face, as its head crushed and its blood spluttered everywhere, including my black coat.

(Still gross.)

I gazed back to the young woman. She looked around her 20s, and she had blonde wavy lush hair. Her heavenly shimmering golden-like eyes stared back at me. She still looked somewhat shock, as her eyebrows pointed upwards, and her tiny mouth was gaping wide open. 

"...Well first, are you okay now?"

She blinked a few times before realising that I had spoken to her.

"...Yes, I'm fine now. Thank you for saving me! My name is Adria Arthur, how about you?"

"It's Shiro Shiratori. Nice to meet your acquaintance."

I gave a wry smile as I scratched my cheek.

"Do you know where the closest town is from here?"

I averted my eyes. Her clothes were tattered, and I knew it was rude to stare. 

"Yes I do! Follow me!"

"Wait."

"Huh?"

As she turned back to me, I covered her body with a large black jacket that I made behind my back. I couldn't really show her [Materialisation] after all.

"Uh... Your clothes were a bit..."

She looked down, as her face immediately flushed with a bright crimson red, as she turned away from me.

"...Did you see?"

"...No, not really. I immediately averted my eyes when I caught a glimpse."

"So YOU did see."

"Uhhhhhhhhhh..."

"...It's fine, it isn't your fault."

"...Thank you for sparing me."

(Thank god she isn't like those unreasonable people that you see in manga.)

With a flushed face, she prompted me to follow her.

While walking beside her, I asked her about why she was all the way out here in the forest.

"...I was trying to collect some herbs for a quest in the Adventurer's Guild."

"Adventurer's Guild?"

"Do you not know what it is?"

"...No, I've come from a very far country."

"No wonder you have such a weird name. Are you from the Akashi Region? You have similar characteristics as the people living there."

"Uh yeah, hahaha..."

I looked away. 

She gazed at me suspiciously before looking back forwards.

"By the way, where are we right now?"

"...We're in the Great Devil Forest, filled with D ranked monsters. And the town that we're going to right now is called Siegsdorf."

"I see."

After 10 minutes, a town came into view. A wide gate covered the wooden high walls, with a moat in between, presumably to keep monsters out. Knights stood in front of the gate.

"ID?"

"...I don't have one."

The knights immediately scrunched their face, before Adria stood in front of me, as she told the guards that I was not a bad person.

"...Well, its fine, as long as you register at the Adventurer's Guild. Before that though, can you please put your hand on this magic crystal? It shows if you have a criminal record."

(They have such a thing? That's hella convenient.)

"Sure."

It glowed a bright clear blue, before turning colourless once again.

"You're free to go through."

""Thank you!""