Ah! A good night's sleep! Nothing makes the day feel better than finally sleeping on a bed for the first time in two weeks! Well, I guess that I need to get to work again. 

After I'm at the Adventurers Guild, I see some annoying green cat looking at the quests. Well, whatever. I finally find a quest I wanna take and reach to grab it when another hand comes and grabs it at the same time.

""Not you again,"" We both say almost synchronized.

Great, of course, it's him. Well, whatever let's just let him have this ques-

Oh, so his name is Leo, I didn't get that before... Wait, party members!?! Why did the system read me as a part of this jerk's party, and what rank is he anyway!?!

Well, we can't disband the party until the end of the quest, and there is a fee if we quit after we've already started... whatever.

"Look, I don't know how we ended up in a party, but we have to get this quest done together now. If we quit now I... I mean we will have to lose money on this stupid incident."
"Why don't we just split up and do half of it ourselves."

I don't know why, but his remark makes me annoyed...

"Because it will be easier together and we can disband this stupid party quicker."

"Whatever, you'll just throw me off if you are there."

"Did you even consider the fact that I might be helpful? You know what, whatever."

---

So, we ended up working together anyway. Not much of a choice though. From what I've seen so far, he has a lot of talent with the sword. Sure his actual skill is rudimentary, but he obviously just started learning. In this world, if you are talented in a weapon, you can gain Aura. 

Aura is used to coat the weapon and increase its effectiveness. If it is a weapon that cuts or stabs, the sharpness will increase, if the weapon is blunt, the amount of force executed across its surface area will increase. 

Don't ask me how the game determined which Aura each player got, but it was essential if you wanted to become a high-level player. Apparently, A person's Aura is not random, there is a reason each person's Aura is chosen, but no one except the developers knows how the choice was made.

Well, I never found my Aura, and trust me I tried. When I started playing the game, I tried out every weapon, sword, staff, bow, musket, etc. Never found the weapon that I could get Aura from. I managed to become higher level through my friends' help, but that took a while. 

I always just thought the system hated me. It kinda sucks that it seems the same in this world too. I have never found what I have Aura for. Also doesn't help that it seems that the people of this world normally don't find their Aura. Only around 15% of people inhabiting this world can use their Aura

That really makes you see how buffed the players were compared to the people that inhabit the world the game takes place in. Players are apparently superhuman. No wonder the NPCs relied on them for everything with all their quests.

Well, back to Leo, his talent in controlling Aura is really good, if someone taught him how to wield the sword, he'd be a swordsman to be reckoned with.

"AHH!"

Huh? 

"What happened!" I took my eyes off of him for a second! What happened?
"A-A-A bug!"

... Seriously...

Is this stupid cat being serious? I throw a knife at the bug and hit it right in the head. Thank you [Throwing Knife] skill! I just thought of this, but why do I have a skill for throwing knives but not one for using a regular knife, I know I use a normal knife more than I use throwing ones... well whatever.

"Are you seriously scared of bugs, you stupid cat? Are you scared of cucumbers like the cats I've seen on the internet too?"

"Bugs are scary! All their eyes, it's like they stare into your soul! Also, what's the internet? Did you hit your head?"

"You really are a weirdo."

I guess he's not gonna comment on the cucumber thing.

"No, the Internet is just some book I once read, don't think about it. Anyway, we only need to kill a couple more horned wolves, so lets get a move on, okay?"

"You can read, I thought you were some poor nobody?"

Oh yeah, I forgot that this world is literally living in the past. Books are pretty expensive and literacy rates among commoners are moderately low. Someone like me who (supposedly) doesn't come from an at least upper-middle-class family shouldn't know how to read. 

"You don't need to look down on everyone you know? I have a pretty good education for your knowledge! I was in school until recently!"

"Really... what happened then?" he oh so doubtingly remarks.

"Let's just say I had some "relocating issues"."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing you would understand."

Yeah, I doubt he would buy that I got isekai'ed from another world as my alt account in a video game that almost exactly matches his world in every way. I doubt any sane person would buy that.

"Look let's just get our quest done, okay?"

I spend a good time looking for the wolves when something rather interesting pops up on my screen.

That skill seems useful, let's see what it does. As soon as I activate the skill, footprints, clawmarks, etc. start glowing in my vision. I see so it is a skill that aids in finding hints towards what you are looking for. That's really helpful.

Well, I'm gonna obviously use it for finding these stupid wolves. I'll kill them before that stupid cat can find any!

These footsteps seem really fresh, so I'll follow them first. 

Eventually, I find a pack of four wolves. A little more than I needed but this will work. I climb up into a tree and pick off three wolves using the [Throwing Knife] skill. 

The final wolf I take out with [Backstab]. It died before it saw what was coming.

I believe that the horns on these wolves are valuable, or at least that is what Leo told me, so I cut out the horns and leave. Apparently, the innards of these wolves aren't helpful, however the wolves can overhunt native species so they must be hunted every once and a while to keep balance in the forest.

I never knew even fantasy worlds had to deal with problems such as invasive species, don't know why that never occurred to me.

Anyway, I message Leo in the party chat or, as the people call it in this world, Link, because they have to have "exotic" words for everything in the system, and tell him that we should meet up back at the Adventurers Guild for our reward. He doesn't message back of course, so I'll just wait for him there.

He is so annoying though. He could have at least responded...

"AGH!!!" Oh great, did he run into another bug... well I guess I could go and check on him after hearing that scream.

As I'm hopping from tree to tree I get another notification about a skill, but I don't have time to look at that right now. I don't know why but I get a bad feeling from that scream.

As soon as I reach where I heard the sound from I see Leo bloodied on the ground surrounded by bandits. Are you kidding me?!? Good thing I came to check up on him!

What am I going to do? I've never attacked a person before! People are a lot different than monsters, and I was never good at PVP! I need to keep the advantage, but throwing a knife would give away my location... hmm... I got it. 

First of all, there are around six bandits. I don't know their levels, however they are probably better than mine, looking at their gear. Much better quality than mine. The only way to beat them is if I don't get hit.

Therefore, I need to use [Backstab] and [Quickstep] after my initial [Throwing Knife]. Then I just need to trust my skills in dodging as well as my stats in speed and dexterity.

Oh wait, maybe that skill I got jumping from trees will help, lets see what it was.

Of course, what was I expecting? A skill for jumping, well I guess it matches the whole bunny-folk thing, but seriously!?! Well, I guess it will help with dodging. It seems to help with the stamina it takes to jump as well as it's hight and control. Well, it's helpful enough. 

I throw a knife and luckily manage to take out one of the bandits. Immediately, I use backstab and attempt to stab the neck of the guy I teleported behind, but he blocks my hit! 

A quick jump off his back knocks him down and buys me distance. I am in a 5v1 standoff... yeah, I'm terrified. Jumping at the bandit closest to me, I shorten the distance. He tries to block me with his shield, but I use the shield to bounce off of and jump into the air. From there I throw 3 throwing knives and manage to get one of the bandits in the eye and another in the leg, both incapacitated for now.

Before I land, I use [Quickstep] to buff my speed and dodge a strike from the bandit under me by a hair. I use my speed boost to catch the bandit near me off-guard and stab him in the gut, and turn around to the remaining two bandits.

"You stupid rabbit! How dare you hurt my men!"

"I'm a bunny, not a rabbit." At least that's what the status panel says.

"Shut up! No one care what you are, as long as you end up as a meal for this forest's monsters by noon, I'm fine with whatever you call yourself, you rabbit!"

Okay, now that's just rude. Whatever. 

"[Quickstep]"

After activating [Quickstep] again, I run at the last guy before I take on the leader, but the leader intercepts me and tries to stab me in the side. I quickly try to dodge but he nips my ear.

"AGH!"

Looking at this guy again, he seems to be human. He doesn't have any animal features or pointy ears, no horns or tails. Well, according to the story of the game, the humans aren't actually the weakest. Humans have the most amount of people who specialize in healing magic.

Unlike in the real world, humans in this world are normally peaceful. It's kinda strange seeing a human the leader of bandits in this part of the continent. Maybe in a place full of more humans, but here where humans normally aren't commonly seen, and only come for jobs or missionaries, it's kinda weird.

I mean, I didn't really need to point it out before, but there aren't a lot of humans where I currently am.

Seeing that I spaced out, rookie mistake, he takes the initiative to attack me. I snap back into reality just in time to dodge, but he still cuts my side. The blade didn't reach me! Cheater! Aim-bot!

Looking back at him, oh come on! 

"You have Aura?!?"

"You just realized? I'm wondering how you took out so much of my men."

"Years of learning micro-control and not having a life outside of videogames."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, back to the fight, okay?"

I jump up and start to throw one of my throwing knives at him, but as he dodges the knife it hits the bandit behind him. Hah! Take that!

"You! I'll kill you!"

"Good luck with that~"

Suddenly he starts charging his Aura. Oh no. His next attack is going to be dangerous, he's probably charging an AOE attack so it will be harder to dodge.

As soon as he draws back his sword to attack me I get ready to defend when he's stabbed from behind.

"Nice assist you annoying cat!"

"Stop calling me that you stupid bunny."

"You really shouldn't talk like that to the one who saved you."

"I just saved you from this psychopath."

"I-I had him!"

"Sure~"

Grrr... that annoying cat! Knock that smug look off your annoyingly pessimistic face!

Okay, that description is unnecessarily brutal, but the stat boost is good. And I did not slaughter those bandits in cold blood! A couple of them are still alive! Oh never mind, they died of blood loss. I guess getting stabbed and being untreated does that to you...

I'm just sad I didn't get any exp from those bandits. I guess people don't give exp. Too bad, but what can you do. Those bandits don't deserve a shred of sympathy, just thinking about how many people they've killed makes me shudder.

"In all seriousness, are you okay Leo? You look pretty beat up."

"I'll be fine."

"I'm not so sure about that."

I walk over to him and give him a healing potion I found on the leader bandit. I lend him my shoulder and we make our slow track back to town.