3. Odd Friendship
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When Isaac awoke, it was already night. The two moons now watched over him like two giant eyes.

"Ack…" he felt stabbing pain all over his body, "Oh yeah, I was injured. Good thing they were but scratches." Or so he claims about his flesh being torn out of his body.

Taking off the now destroyed leather armor, his wounds showed signs of turning to scabs while the chunk of missing flesh had already recovered.

  [Passive Skills:

Advance-Regeneration (Active): a massive increase in regeneration capability

Gift of the Great Ancient Elf (Active): Your regeneration increases while inside a region filled with trees.]

[Title:

Calamity Survivor (Active): Your vitality increases slightly while asleep.]

[Trait:

Try Hard (Active)]

'I owe Lilia for this.' he said, seeing the [Gift of the Great Ancient Elf] helped him so much.

Isaac knew he wouldn't die from the encounter, but he was also surprised he recovered quickly.

'So, my regenerative capabilities had already come to be this strong. I didn't even notice.' He as if he had just discovered something truly bizarre. But that was normal because he gained most of these skills after reaching the peak.

Though the Advance-Regeneration stemmed from his past, where his body was still incapable of running.

Isaac sat down and went over his stuff in his Armory. He found what he was looking for and applied the salve he got from the Elves on his wounds.

He pulled out some bandages on his and patched himself up. Moving was painful, but who cares? Groaning and bitching would do nothing too good.

"I need to find a Town so that I can rest and ask someone to heal my wounds properly. Even if I return to the Tower, Galio City is a long way."

"If you head over East, there's a town there."

Someone spokes from behind. Quickly, Isaac turned around to find out who it was. It was Tari.

Isaac saw his bright smile and just said, "Thanks?"

"No problem, but you should be careful; this World is really dangerous. Even a [Normal Rank — Goblin] can kill you if you're not careful."

"Excuse me? Normal Rank? You lost me just now." Another new concept was suddenly thrown to his face.

Tari gave him a consoling smile at the sight of his confusion, "Oh, you must be confused. Normal Rank means it's around level 80 to 150? If I remember correctly. The Giant Rats around here average at 97. This is like the starting domain of this World, a warm welcome. By the way, the Normal Rank is the weakest… I don't know anymore. When I got here, I fought some because I thought they were weak and almost died. Hahhahahah! That was a wake-up call, I'm telling you."

With an "Oh," Isaac finally understood what Tari was saying, "So long story short, we don't have the level advantage; instead, we're the ones under-leveled Sir Kartari."

"Just Tari is enough, brother."

"Want me to untie you from there?"

Tari shook his head, "It's fine. I decided to accept this fate as punishment for something I had done."

"Did you commit a crime or something?" Isaac asked while finishing up the bandages.

"Yes, and as punishment, the people tied me to this place, I need to spend two months here before I can be untied. I have another month to burn."

"You said you just came here a month ago."

"Yes…"

"And you're already here, tied up, because of committing a crime?"

"HAHAHA, it was quite the ride, I tell you."

Isaac didn't know Tari well, but he knew that this happy-go-lucky demon was a genuine troublemaker. It would be best to steer clear away from him.

Though he's still thankful for giving him so much valuable information.

"Well, I'll be checking out the Town you speak of now. It was nice meeting you."

"Good luck with the Giant Rats, brother!"

Isaac responded by waving his hand.

When Isaac walked away, Tari was still smiling to himself, "Haaaaa, it was nice seeing someone else after all this time. I also like his attitude. He's nice."

Tari had already deemed Isaac to be his friend. He didn't care about Isaac's opinion on the matter.

Tari stayed there whistling away his boredom, yawning when he felt like it.

Boom!

An explosion came from afar. Tari raised his brows and simply smiled, "Oh, he's fighting them now. Is he a Cryomancer? I can feel the chilling wind up to here."

Tari's thoughts wandered, and then, Isaac returned, with blood on his clothes and face, and two dead Giant Rats.

"Brother, you're back! I knew you'll return, hahahaha!"

"I thought they would have left by now. You knew that would happen, didn't you?"

"Yep — AHAHAHAHAHA — sorry." Tari felt guilty.

When Isaac left this place, he found an absurd number of Giant Rats hiding. He tried sneaking out but got ambushed by more than two dozen of them.

He fought back but was overwhelmed; Isaac sighed, "Why didn't you warn me about it then?"

"I forgot, but I didn't think you'd return here. I thought you'd be able to break through their ranks."

Isaac just sighed and pulled out a burning sword from his Armory to start a fire to cook the Giant Rats. He knew that escaping right now was impossible, and he could do nothing about it, so when he was fighting, he made sure to grab one or two of the Giant Rats to eat.

Tari saw this and asked him, "Can I get some of those, brother? I haven't eaten in a month."

"Yeah, sure." He said while bringing out a couple of spices he brought from his World.

Under the moonlight, Isaac was accompanied by a naked archdemon while sharing Giant Rat meat. In all his life, he didn't think this kind of thing would ever happen.

Finishing the Giant Rat Meat, Isaac stretched his body.

"Are you going at them again?"

"Hmm? No, I'm going back to my World. I need to make preparations if I want to leave this place."

"Oh, you can't do that now…"

Isaac did not hear Tari and wanted to open the door of dimensions through the system.

  [The Crying Silver Moon has not risen: 127:13:17 before the next Crying Silver Moon]

You have no Travel Stone]

'Seems like I have made an oversight.' He thought to himself while a smile blossomed on his face, "So you can't leave this place, huh. That would be too convenient, I suppose."

"Yeah, from what I heard, this place is supposed to test your mettle, and leaving the world at your convenience makes it possible to escape from every combat."

"Makes sense to me."

"So, what's your plan now? The next Crying Silver Moon is in three months, and then I don't have a travel stone with me. Breaking through the Giant Rats is going to be a challenge. What's your move, brother?"

"Yeah, though I don't plan on fighting them alone." Isaac looked at Tari with a smile,

Tari saw this and shook his head, "Brother, I like you, but I don't swing that way."

"Huh? No, that's not what I meant. You're getting out of there in a month, right?"

"Oh, so you plan on recruiting me to your Rank. Sure, why not? I have to go to town anyway."

"That settles it then."

Without Isaac even noticing it, Days passed.

He would train and then eat, and more than occasionally, he would talk with Tari about something.

The two strangers got along quite nicely – after Isaac decided to cover Tari's privates, the awkwardness disappeared.

Back in Arcadia, other than his parents and a friend, Isaac was approached with either fear or respect. But Tari, this Archdemon was different. He simply didn't care about anything.

"I got into a fight with a woman two days after coming here. I slapped her in the restaurant where I was eating. Of course, she retaliated, and I kicked her in return, but it turns out she was the daughter of the Town Lord. I fought with their whole family, hahaha."

"Seeing how you're tied up, I can deduce that you lost, but because of your laugh, I am now at a loss. So, did you win?"

"Kind of — hey, can you add more sauce this time around? I really like that red sauce you made."

Tari interrupted his story as he requested more of the rat meat. The sauce Isaac created was to die for.

Tari did not hesitate to ask for more — despite being fed through the edge of Isaac's sword. He swallowed the rat meat and savored its taste.

"This is truly delicious. It reminds me of home."

"It was taught to me by mother, maybe that's why. Mothers know how to cook good food after all."

"I agree with that, brother."

"Okay, so, you were saying?"

"Oh right, where were we again? Right, so like I was saying before I interrupted myself, I fought with the whole family and focused my assault on the enemy. I beat her, and I almost got beaten to death in return. I won and then blacked out soon after. When I woke up, I was tied here, leaving only a single assassin saying that everything would be forgotten if I survive for two months. I didn't really have any plans, and I acted rashly, so I just decided to stay here and repent. But don't get me wrong, if given another chance, I slap that woman again."

"Wait, so you weren't killed then and there? Damn, they're kindhearted."

"Yeah, I think they were trying to save their reputation. Being beaten by someone fresh out of a world is pretty humiliating after all. But, who knows, they may just be kindhearted. Though, to be fair, they did drench me in Dragon Worm blood so that the Giant Rats will find me appetizing. I think they wanted me to be devoured by the Giant Rats instead — meat please, oh, just stuff a big chunk on my mouth."

The two had grown considerably close despite being strangers not too long ago. The two of them had nothing in common other than their view of the World was a tad bit skewed.

Before the two of them could even notice it, they were already laughing at each other's stories as though they were friends who had reunited.

Before long, another week passed, and Isaac reached level 102.

Isaac had learned a lot these past two weeks, from how long a day last to how many Giants Rats surrounded them.

'I want to know more, but my location is limited. Tari's knowledge is also limited. I need to get to a town.' Isaac thought to himself. He was curious about this World and how it operated. If people his level truly operates here, what kind of wonders does this World hold?

'From what I know, there's a hierarchy like Lords here, and if there are Lords, then there are Kings and Emperors. There are also children here, which suggests either those born here are gifted with Limit Break or are just allowed to exist because of their parents. Will they have to be sent to other worlds without Limit Break first? What about interworld travel? Can I go to different dimensions? Does this World also have 412 Days like my own? Are there Gods in this World? What kind of food do they serve?'

Isaac would form questions faster than he could get an answer. His curious mind knew no limit and the more time went on, the more his expectation grew.

Without him noticing, time went on, and soon enough, the time of Tari's decision for penance arrived.

His bulging muscles contracted and expanded as he took a deep breath. The ropes that bound him exploded, and finally, Tari the Great Archdemon was free. Cracking his sore tendons, Tari stretched his body and roared!

"FINALLY!" he announced his freedom to the World.

Isaac looked at Tari, and now that he's standing next to him, Isaac found a significant difference in their height. Tari was a towering two and a half meters man of muscles.

Isaac was no small man. He was actually nearing two meters himself; his muscles also well-defined, and he would not lose out to most warriors his age. But Tari was on a whole other level, "Didn't think you'd be this big. Having your legs folded must have made me think you were small."

"Well, I do wish for a much more compact body, but this is what I was born with, so there's nothing I can do, brother. Okay, so, do you have any plans on eradicating the Giant Rats?"

"I do, but we first need some of that Dragon Blood Worm, so I need you to act as bait and attract them to you. If you don't want to do it y—"

"All right, I'll do it; where do you want me to attract them?"

Isaac stopped his words, looked over at Tari, and asked him, "Aren't you a little accepting? Besides, do you not think I am only using you as bait for me to escape?"

"Don't worry about it, I trust you. I have my ways to know what kind of person you are."

With the time Isaac spent together with Tari, not once had he seen him not smiling. This smile radiated confidence and honesty. Isaac had seen all kinds of scum in this life, from bandits to scheming Tyrants; he had seen those with malicious intent.

'This World is filled with people whose experience in life vastly surpasses mine. Tari can be someone who can hide his interest, and I wouldn't know. All logic points me not to trust him, but I like his character, so why not?' Isaac decided to trust Tari because of frivolous reasons.

"Yeah, let's do it." Isaac said with a smile as he threw the big guy some clothes to hide his junk, "Wear that."

"Oh, this thing has some nice enchantments. It's at least Rank-8, not bad." He said as he dressed in a pair of black pants and black leather armor.

"Oh yeah, I have gauntlets and spiked knuckles here; what do you want?" Isaac asked while going through the spares he had in his Armory.

"Hmm? Why would I use those? I'm not a Close-Combat Specialist."

"You're not? Then what are you? A Berserker? A Seven Stars Cleaver?"

"What? Of course not, I'm a [Forbidden Caster (Class)] do you think a [Spirit King Eyes (Trait)] can be acquired by Martial Artists?" Tari then began flexing his muscles, "What, haven't seen a Mage with a glorious body such as this? Though I do admit I have a decent Mastery of Martial Arts, enough to gain the [Close-Combat Mage (Class)], but I'm a Caster at heart."

Isaac looked at him from head to toe and tilted his head to the right, "I'm not sure anymore, here, use this as you wish." Isaac threw Tari a pendant that amplifies Magical Spells and a pair of arm guards, "I don't have a Wizard Robe or a Tunic, is that okay?"

"This is enough, brother. Come on, let us purge them all." Tari excitedly announced.

Isaac equipped his Tundra Gauntlets, and as they were walking away, Isaac just had to ask, "Are you sure you're not a Close-Combat Specialist?"

"You don't have a lot of friends, do you, brother?" Tari responded.

Isaac responded with a question, "How did you know? Well enough of that, now I have to rearrange my plan. Hey, you said you're a Caster. Do you have something that deals devastating damage?"

"Hmmm… let me think, oh, I do have a Spell called [Oblivion Cannon]."

And just like that, the two people who would later be a part of the Chaos Generation set out to escape from the starting line.

Fun Fact #3

Somewhere in this infinite world, there is a Spell known as the Power of Friendship that grows stronger with every friend you have, meaning introverts are fucked if they wonder to such a place.

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