After eating lunch which is prepared by Kaezar and Jeziel, we prepared to depart. Although I said prepared, we only picked some medicine in Fernando’s house and stuff it at our bags. I was shocked since Kaezar is oddly familiar with the house and when I asked her about it, she said that she often see this house as a hallucination, she even see us sometimes.

“Is everyone ready?”

Said by the girl with a shoulder length black hair, she looks like Skyla but she’s taller and bigger on the right places. She is Skyla’s older sister and also my little sister too. Her name is Lily. She’s older than Skyla and her age is 18 years old meaning, my Dad married their mother after three years of he found himself in this world. Dad introduced us to his party when everyone wakes up. Dad’s party composition is well balanced. They have a warrior (melee fighter), priest (support), magician (nuker) and assassin (scout). He said that there still 2 members waiting at the capital. The warrior is my dad, the magician is Lily my other little sister, the priest is a man named Alexander Anderson and he is a noble. He’s 35 years old now and dad said that he inherited the title of Baron from his father. Before he is an adventurer and one of the original members of the ‘Odyssey’, the group name of my father and also one of the two adamantite adventurers. He’s 6ft tall, his hair is also color black and neatly combed back. He also have a well-kept beard and wears a round glasses. When Gino saw him he whispered to me that he looks like a character from the anime Hellsing. The scout is surprisingly my grandfather, Jose. He’s also one of the original members of this party and even though he’s already 74 years old, he is still an active adventurer. Grandfather is just as tall as me and he’s already bald. He has a mustache that is already color white due to his age. The reason why dad quickly knew about this incident is all thanks to grandfather. He’s watching Skyla from the shadows since he is worried about her.

“We’re good to go.”

I said as I carry my bag that is full of medicine. Kaezar changed her clothes and she’s now wearing a white one piece dress that she found at Kaezar’s (the previous one) wardrobe. Since they have the same sizes, it fits her perfectly. Jeziel also changed to one of Kaezar’s clothing. She’s wearing a white top and a knee length skirt. It’s baggy since she’s slimmer than Kaezar. Skyla wears the same robe when I first saw her and Gino carried the armor of Jeziel.

“Seeing someone wearing armor while wearing a modern bag looks weird.”

Kaezar said while looking at Gino and me.

“Just think of this as a cosplay and it won’t be as weird as you think.”

I said while scratching the back of my head. Certainly, If you see someone wearing this armor while having a bag on their back will really be weird but if you think that it is a form of cosplay then… nope, it’s still weird.

While we are going outside, I noticed that Gino’s coin pouch that is dangling on his waist seems bigger than before. I don’t remember doing something that will make it like that.

Gino noticed that I am staring at it and said.

“What? I took the money inside this house since the dead doesn’t need it.”

This guy…

He took the money of Fernando. Even though he’s already dead isn’t too rude to take it.

“Do you know that it is wrong to take someone else’s money?” (Jasper)

“Yes. I know.”

Gino said with a face that says “isn’t that obvious?”

“Then why did you take it?” (Jasper)

“Because he’s already dead and doesn’t need money on the afterlife.” (Gino)

“Even if that is the case, it does not mean that you can take it. Except if you are his relative.” (Jasper)

“You know, the knight dispatched from the kingdom might take it and use it to their leisure so I took the liberty of taking it. And Kaezar is his daughter right? I think that Fernando’s soul would like it if Kaezar took it.” (Gino)

“I am not his daughter and I never know who is this Fernando.”

Kaezar raises her objection to Gino’s remark. It is as she says, Fernando’s daughter is already dead.

“But in this world, you are his daughter.”

Gino said then continued to walk outside.

Maybe he’s right…

If we leave it here and the knight found it they might really use it for their own leisure. In this whole village, only we survived the attack so what would happen to the possession of the dead people? Let’s say that they will take it back to the capital and add it to the national budget, the officials will not notice that they take some of it since they’re too many of them. But I still think that it is rude however there are no reactions to others especially from my two little sisters so I decided not to think about it too deeply.

When we arrived outside, I saw the corpses of the villagers are being carried by the knights via wagon. The knights are wearing armors made from iron and on their waist hang their sword. There are also some knights that have a quiver on their waist aside from the swords and holding a bow on their hand while looking around the area.

“Hey, how many of them died?”

Kaezar asked while she holds my arm.

“I don’t know the exact number but their maybe a hundred or more of them.”

Even though Pinar village is a frontier village, many there’s many people living here. Well, the land is rich and there’s a forest nearby. There’s also a river so water isn’t a problem. There’s a mountain at the south where you can mine iron and gold. That might be the reason why there are many people living here.

“Still, there are too many corpses here.”

As we walk around, we saw a big hole where they dump the invaders remains. They did this not to respect the dead but to prevent the monsters to come. Some orcs lost a part of their body while the others didn’t have a head. The knights also throw some sack in the hole. I wanted to ask what it is but I saw blood drips down from it. It might be a crushed orc but, who did this? Is there someone strong enough in this village to do this?

- - -

We arrived at the carriage and now we are free from the gruesome scene in the village. All of us (the survivors) were pale but there is a particular human who smiles widely. Even though he also saw that scene, he smiled as if he saw something good… and that man is Gino. This man likes gore and violence but I never expect him to smile at that scene. Normally, you’ll feel bad if you saw that scene but he’s the opposite. Is he really a human? He might be a devil in the human skin.

When we arrived, dad saw us while smiling wryly.

“Well, it’s your first time that you saw that scene so it can’t be help that you’re like that. But I never expect someone who can smile like that even seeing that scene.”

Dad is amazed at Gino’s constitution. I know I am repeating myself here but he smiles as if something good happened to him. The girls are pale and Skyla is trembling. This might result to a trauma.

“Now now, get inside the carriage so we can go.”

Dad said as he helped us ride the carriage. This will not be the first time that I will be riding a carriage. Back in the previous world, I rode one when I am a little at a city. Even though there are cars, there are some carriages in there but their route was limited from a certain mall to the market and vice versa. I am the last to get in and when I get in, the carriage shakes a little as if it has a suspension installed on it.

“Well, this carriage has a suspension to lessen the vibration and it is as good as a jeepney.” (Percival)

“Uhmm… Dad, what is a jeepney?” (Skyla)

Skyla asked Dad since she naturally doesn’t know what jeepneys are. Well, everyone inside the carriage is a Filipino so we naturally know what jeepney is.

“It is one of the main means of transportation in our country. It is a car but they can only be seen in a particular country in my world. It also became a trademark of our nationality.”

Dad said to Skyla.

[Note: for more information about jeepney https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeepney ]

By the way, the one who get inside the carriage are Kaezar, Gino, Skyla, Jeziel and me. When I asked why, dad said because we don’t have a contracted beast or a mount.

According to dad, contracted beasts are originally monsters or animals that exist in this world. They become one when a tamer successfully tamed them and when tamed, their body disappeared and you will acquire a new spell with the name of the beast and when you use it, the beast will appear. It can be use a mount or pet or companion and you can tame as how many as you want but dad said that taming is really difficult.

“So it’s like W*W huh…”

Gino muttered himself and then he shows a small smile on his face. This guy must be planning to tame all the monsters he can but he will probably only use the first tamed monster he gets until the reaches the level gap…

Thinking about level gap, isn’t it unreasonable? I mean, my level is only 2% of the level cap which is 1000.

I wonder if I can reach the level cap…

I sighed as I think about it when I noticed that all of the people nearby are looking at me. Kaezar seems to be conflicted about something, Jeziel have some question mark above her head, Skyla is looking at me with glittering eyes, Gino looking at me while being amazed with something while Dad looks at me while grinning as if he’s saying “As expected of my son!”.

“W-what?”

I asked since I don’t know why they are looking at me like that. Is there something in my face?

“Well, you see… I know that reaching that will really make you strong but…” (Kaezar)

“???” (Jeziel)

“As expected of Kuya Jasper!!” (Skyla)

“We can reach that but it will take time!” (Gino)

“So you are going to follow my footsteps huh?” (Dad)

Kaezar said something while hesitating about something and Jeziel has this question mark just like before. Skyla, I don’t know what you are talking about and Gino, I think it’s normal to a trip to take some time, lastly Dad what are you saying about me following your footsteps.

I look at them looking confused by their remarks and Gino who seems to noticed my confused state said something absurd…

“You see, you said that you are wondering if you can reach the level cap. But where not that far now you know… It will take some time but we will definitely reach it.”

Apparently, I said that aloud and Gino! Do you realize that we are only on 2% of the max level cap!! It’s impossible to be a level 1000 in just one life!!

“You know tha—“ (Jasper)

“Okay! When we got home, I’ll teach you the best hunting places suitable for leveling to the level cap of 99!!” (Dad)

I got interrupted when I tried to deny what Gino is saying but what really shocked me is what dad said.. It’s not about the hunting places or whatnot but the level cap… He said that it’s level 99…

My mouth hangs open due to it and started to wonder if I read it wrong before…

“Don’t worry! It’s proven and tested! I, myself, experienced it since I am one of the people who reached the level cap!!”

Apparently, Dad is level 99 himself and said that those spots are proven and tested by himself but far from being amazed at my dad’s level, I am more shocked because I misread the level cap in the tutorial which is really rare for me to happen. I mean, I am the type of gamer who seriously read the tutorial of a game.

Feeling shocked, I tried to remember what is the keyword for tutorial. Is it ‘Tutorial’? ‘FAQ’? or maybe ‘Help’?

As I think of the possible keywords for opening the tutorial window again, a dialog box appeared in front of me.

[How can I help you?]

I don’t know what is the keyword is but I said my question in my head.

‘What is the level cap of humans?’

And the dialog box updated its text.

[Human’s level cap is 99 but there are some that can reach higher than the cap.]

So it really is level 99 but the last part bothers me. There are some that can reach higher than the level cap? Are they really a human?

The dialog box updated once again.

[In history of this world, there are humans who managed to break the level cap. They are either the hero or the demon lord who both can reach up to level 250]

So hero and demon lords can reach up to level 250 huh… But wait! Isn’t this dialog box is a cheat! I can easily know something if I asked it.

[I am created to assist the transported people but I won’t answer the question which will directly benefit the user]

The dialog box clarified my misunderstanding about it. Oh right! Is the level cap in my tutorial really level 1000?

I asked it before I forgot.

[The real level cap of this world is level 1000 but it is only available to some beings]

Ehhh… So you’re saying that I, a human, can only reach level 99 huh…

[I won’t tell you that but breaking the level cap or staying in the level cap is up to you.]

So basically, you’re saying that it is not impossible to break the max level of human even though your race is human.

[Yes]

I wanted to asked more but Gino called me. I turned my face to face him but the dialog box disappeared. I tried to call it again but it doesn’t respond. Maybe there’s a cool down or something when using that.

“Hey! Jasper! Don’t worry about it too much, we can surely hit the level cap and become strong just like your father.”

Gino seems to be consoling me but I think he misunderstand something. It’s not that I am worrying about my dad’s level but I am checking if I read the tutorial correctly or not and apparently, I read it right.