Who I assumed to be the strongest woman around for miles - who also happened to be my mother - slowly approached us, her gait steady and silent. She didn't even have footsteps, like a prowling cat.

She had a form-fitting black bodysuit that you wouldn't expect a knight to wear, but it had a mysterious look to it. The texture obviously wasn't just regular cloth. Around her neck was a long silver necklace, with a deep blue pearl that seemed to reflect the moonlight off of it. The sheath of the sword at her side glowed mysteriously, with weird writing that looked like runes all over the pure steel surface.

I noted these three items were probably her Treasures. It was a habit of mine, considering that knowing people's Treasures was the equivalent of knowing their trump cards.

But I was in no presence of mind to theorize on what these Treasures did. Far past my awe of seeing her easily massacre legions of Imps alone, I felt something else. Something deeper inside of me. Emotions welling up that weren't mine, attempting to bubble to the surface.

At my side, Aurum was still quiet. Despite seeming familiar with Aria to some degree, and seeming happy enough to share her fan-facts earlier, she was so tense that she was almost trembling. The atmosphere was suddenly stifling; extremely uncomfortable, like all the air around us was being pressurized.

Then she stopped in front of us. Even with her slow gait, with the way her pressure pushed down on the two of us, it was like she had just appeared there.

"Thomas. So, you're alive."

She looked down at me, her cold blue eyes boring into my soul. Her words came out apathetic and emotionless, like a machine. There was no trace of concern, or motherly love within them.

"Aurum, you did your job well. I can see that you've grown another level. See me after this situation has been sorted out. We'll add a new level to your training." 

Her eyes glanced over to Aurum, who merely squeaked in acknowledgement, her usual boisterous demeanor totally gone.

"Y-yes ma'am!" 

Aurum replied politely, with an eager nod. Even caught in this tense atmosphere, she couldn't hide her excitement at more training with her idol-mentor. Aria's gaze shifted back to me, her eyes refusing to meet mine...then she walked past me without yet another word. 

By the time I glanced back to look for her, Arianwen was gone.

"Haaa..." Aurum exhaled, letting out a huge breath she had obviously been holding in. "...Come on Tommy, let's get going. The old lady said to take you to the rest of those guys who ran away once she saw you." 

I just agreed. That 'meeting' just now had given me a lot to think about...and as if to distract myself, my mind had already moved to something else.

'Once we get out of the village, that should definitely count for Quest Complete, right?'

Aurum helped me to get to some part of town that had been sectioned off, protected by a select few elite members of the village guards. I noted that, unlike Arianwen, none of them had Treasures. But they likely had Skills or Traits, and combined with their harsh training, that probably made them more than sufficient.

Although they might as well have been gods compared to me, who doesn't even have the potential to interact with Treasures, earn Skills, or get Traits...whew.

I really needed that quest reward. Once I had my own [System], I could somehow manage. Probably.

"Sorry Tommy, but I gotta split with you here, for now." Aurum said, while she helped me to sit down against the front of some building. "As much as I hate dealing with these other guys...I heard that the old lady is looking for some people to help out with relief and rescue." She turned away from me, and then paused...before suddenly turning around.

"And, um...just so y'know, I'm not doing it for them, I'm doing it to help out my teacher! Don't get it mixed up, okay?"

She clarified strongly, her golden eyes narrowing in indignation. I just chuckled. It was cute how she felt the need to justify herself in front of me, almost like she was reassuring me about her friendship.

"Don't worry Aur, I can handle myself. Go ahead."

To be honest, I wasn't that eager to just let her go. I was in this new world, alone, and Aurum was the only reassuring presence. The only person with whom I could share some semblance of trust. Even my own mother seemed even colder than the villagers who didn't bother thanking me for saving their lives.

"If you say so...I'll be back as quick as I can, 'kay?"

She seemed uncertain about leaving me, but I waved her off. She huffed through her nostrils, clearly unpleased at the dismissive gesture.

Aurum really was loyal to Thomas. For a person with the blood of a dragon flowing within them to care that much, their bond must have been even deeper than I imagined.

Like she could read my thoughts, she gave me one last boyish smile, and crouched down, her golden wings materializing behind her, before she disappeared off of the ground with a large burst of air. I watched her fly off in a burst of golden light which soon disappeared, before reappearing again, as she continued utilizing the new momentary activation tactic I had taught her.

Now that she was gone...

"Quest status."

With those two words, the puzzling status window appeared in front of me, for the second time since I had landed in this world.

The quest was still 'incomplete'? It made no sense, honestly. All the imps had been killed, the village was damaged but not destroyed, and what citizens could be saved had been helped by either Aurum and I, or they were currently being helped by Arianwen and her crew.

Was it because Arianwen was still in the process of search and rescue? 

Maybe I needed to wait until everything had totally settled and repairs were done?

Were some imps still hiding around?

No matter how I thought about it, a conclusive answer just didn't arrive on why the quest didn't finish the moment Aurum put me down here. The quest just wanted me to 'Survive' the sneak attack by the Imps. If so...wasn't it done already?

I sighed. The disappointment filling me was almost palpable.

'If it's like this, then what can I even do to get on my own two feet? Am I going to get stuck relying on Aurum and her growth for the foreseeable future?'

That thought alone filled me with an indescribable dread. I appreciated Aurum, but one thing I hated more than anything else was having to rely on others. Even entrusting myself to her to help me escape had been something I convinced myself into doing.

I needed to do this on my own. To become strong enough that I'd never need someone to help me like this again.

Staring down at my leg, which still hurt like hell, I was reminded of the true weakness I had here. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, and I no longer had to fear for my life, the pain really started to drill into my brain.

I vowed to myself to remember this pain. It sounded a little embarrassing when I thought of it that way, but...if I forgot this, then I don't think I could ever have the determination I needed to truly attempt living my second life.

Deciding to put my mind toward something else, I opened the status window for the second time since I had come to this world.

"Status."

Mostly everything was as I expected it to be. This time, I had a little more time to pick apart each aspect of the status screen. So I'd carefully...

"...what?"

My train of thought cut off, and I inadvertently ended up squinting, staring hard at my stats. Constitution and Intelligence, they...

"My stats raised on their own?!" I ended up shouting out in sheer shock, ignoring the many pointed, annoyed gazes that people sent my way. 

They may seem like small increases, but I wasn't put off by that. It was by the fact that there even was an increase in anything at all!

In Treasure Quest, there is no way to increase your stats outside of external methods. Obtaining and training with your Treasure, leveling up with the individual system everyone eventually obtained, etc. And even that wasn't much, since most people's System level-ups just gave 1 point for stat increases, two if they were lucky. There were also Titles, which could provide various stats based on personal achievements.

Naturally there were also staples like equipment, skills, traits and potions which could temporarily boost your stats. But see, the thing was...

I didn't fulfill any of those conditions. I had nothing besides my starting stats and debuffs I started with. And I certainly couldn't level up, as evidenced by the fact that I didn't even have a level on the screen, nor any EXP. I had no titles and these stat increases were permanent, considering there was nothing next to the stats to indicate a temporary increase or decrease.

I wanted to check. But no matter how I tried, I couldn't bring up any sort of Event Log. While it made sense that I wasn't allowed to do anything too game-like, it was frustrating.

How did I gain permanent stats while just struggling to survive? How could I replicate it? Until I witnessed it happening while relating it to some other event, I would never know.

"Hey." 

I was so busy with my own thoughts, I didn't even notice a voice calling out to me. 

"Hey, we're talking to you, cursed bastard."

The brashness of the voice immediately stirred me to attention. I lifted my eyes at the unfamiliar voice and saw a sight in front of me that made me sigh.

"Yeah, you. I can't believe you have the guts to be trying to ignore us, especially when the Lady isn't around to save your sorry ass."

It was a group of four kids, all of varying ages and looks. They all stared down at me with eyes filled with pure hatred. I assumed he was referring to Aurum, who had just left.

...so these guys were just waiting for Aurum to go before coming over to mess with me, huh? Pretty brave of them (not.)

"I can't believe it...you get to survive with a broken leg, while some of us had to lose way more. I...I won't even get to see my mom or dad anymore..." 

A girl spoke, her voice indicating that she was almost as hurt by the fact that I was still alive alongside losing her parents.

"Yeah, and then you have the balls to sit over here, talking to yourself like some crazy asshole...did you forget how to sit in a corner and shut up?" 

Another boy spoke from behind the leader of the pack, practically seething.

"You're lucky your leg is broken...but prepare yourself, bastard. When you heal up, we've got a lot of frustration to get out. Looks like you need to be taught another lesson about disturbing the peace."

The leader practically spat at my feet, then turned around, walking away with his pack.

"...piece of shit like you would've just made everyone happier if you died. At least we'd have something to look forward to after all this."

He muttered, pretending like it was barely said under his breath. It was obvious he was saying it just loud enough for me to hear it while he was walking away, though.

And me? Well...

I didn't really care? 

I don't know what kind of relationship these guys had with Thomas in the past, but it was obvious what their bullying was actually about. In the wake of a disaster like this, they childishly sought out something to blame. Someone to blame for their utter powerlessness and loss. With the imps dead and turned into smoke, they turned to the person who seemed to be the village pariah - me.

Even though I had survived, my quest wasn't cleared, I had random stat increases I couldn't explain, and it seemed like, for some reason, the village put me lower on the totem pole than Imps.

I sighed, noting that the throbbing pain in my leg had started up again.

"...I wonder when the healers are going to start making their rounds...?"

overclockedw

Hey guys, me, the author. I don't really like to beg, but if you enjoy the story, it'd mean a lot if you hearted any of these chapters just once. Those of you who are already reading, thanks for reading, and tune in next time (hopefully tomorrow) for another chapter! We're going to speed up our pace soon enough, so I'm sorry for those who felt a little trapped in this beginning portion!