Hey guys thanks for reading. Those of you who have asked several questions about how did Hiro get to this new world, get ready this is the chapter for you. Enjoy!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 22

“What’s going on? What am I seeing?” Hiro was shocked as he was looking at himself playing on his computer the day before he came to this world.

“Why am I seeing this? Am I dreaming? I remember this I was playing games and then… Yes there it is the mysterious e-mail that told me to sign up for a new MMORP. Then as I remember played a little longer and then went to sleep.”

“What is this? I don’t remember this part.” Hiro saw himself falling out of bed bleeding from his mouth and struggling to breathe. His father burst in the room.

“Call the paramedics! Something is wrong with Hiro!” Hiro’s father yelled to his mother. She quickly ran to the phone and called for emergency assistance. Hiro saw himself continue to struggle to breathe. As he looked closer his head was grotesquely swollen. His eyes were almost completely shut.

“Was the beating I took from Chu really this bad?

Hiro began choking on his own blood.

“Hold on son. Help is on the way.” Hiro’s father said with tears in his eyes.

"What is going on? Why don’t I remember this?” The scene continued to play out. Paramedics rushed into the room and put Hiro on a stretcher.

“His pulse is weak and his airway is almost completely closed up. We need to intubate him to get him air” said one paramedic to the other. One of the paramedics slipped a long tube down Hiro’s throat and then attached a small round bag to it. He then began to squeeze the bag in order to push fresh oxygen into Hiro’s body.

“Am I dying?”

“Of course you are” said a strange voice.

“What?!! Who is that?”

“I am who I am Hiro” said the strange voice. “I saw your plight in the world you lived in. You are true hero at heart but you were cursed with a body that could not live up to your will.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you died. “

“I died?”

“Yes. You died. Just as you thought. It was a result of the beating you received from Chu. He broke several of your ribs and you bled internally. The ribs punctured some of your organs. In addition the times you hit the ground with your head caused bleeding in the back of your brain. If you had gone to the hospital immediately after the beating you would have survived but when the symptoms manifested it was too late. The doctors could not save you.”

"That can't be true! No.... It can't be true!" screamed Hiro as his eyes welled up with tears.

"I'm sorry my boy. It is true."

“Why are you showing me this? It can’t be true!” Hiro said with tears in his eyes.

“I am showing you this because I want you to remember the pain and the hurt those with power put upon those without. I want you to see the pain on your family members’ faces as you died for no reason. See their pain!

Hiro fell to his knees and sobbed as he saw himself pass out in the ambulance.

"He's coding! He doesn't have a pulse!Charge the paddles!" said the female paramedic. The male paramedic got out the small defibrillator and they attached the electrodes to Hiro's bare chest.

"No! This can't be!" screamed Hiro.

"Give him the adrenaline!" the male paramedic said to the female. As the machine began to make beeping sounds it readied itself. While they waited for the charge the female paramedic stuck Hiro's chest with a needle filled with epinephrine to help restart his heart.

"Hands off I'm gonna shock him!" the two paramedics allowed the machine to shock Hiro. The muscles in his body contracted as the electricity coursed through his body.

"Nothing! Shock him again." said the female

"Still nothing. Shock him again" said the female.

Just then they arrived at the hospital. Doctors rushed onto the scene and pulled the gurney that Hiro was on out of the ambulance and into an operating room. The doctors worked on Hiro for 10 minutes trying to revive him but they made no progress. Finally, the head doctor called it. "Time of death at 2:35A.M."

Then Hiro saw the doctor go out and tell his family the news of his death. Hiro saw his mother collapse in his father's arms. His little sister screamed and wailed at the loss of her brother.

"Make it stop! Make it stop! No... NO...... NOOOOOOO!"

Just then everything went white. Hiro looked up as he heard footsteps in the white room. Ahead of him he saw the figure of an old man appear in front of him. The old man was dressed in an all white suit trimmed with golden stitching. His face was pale white and his hair was pure silver. He had a set of the bluest eyes Hiro had ever seen.

Suddenly the old man spoke.“Hiro, see there loss and grow strong! Grow strong enough to protect all of those in the world in which I have placed you.”

"You placed me in this world? What do you mean you placed me? I thought I died."

“You did die. I gave you this life to save the people of this world. The people here are good and wholesome but evil is around every corner. I want you to grow strong and strike fear in the hearts of the evil ones in order to protect the innocent. Will you do it Hiro?

“You gave me another chance at life? Why me? I couldn't even protect myself. You saw what Chu did to me”Hiro said as he slowly stood up onto his feet.

The old man laughed and replied, "Yes you could not protect yourself but that was before you had the body I gave you it is special. I saw how hard you worked but your old body would not do what your mind wanted. It was weak. This body is strong. With it you will be able to increase your power by working hard, practicing, and honing your skills."

"Yes. I did notice that I am better able to do a lot of things now. What else can my new body do?"

"It will do whatever you train it to do. The harder you train, the more it will respond. Your work ethic was only part of the reason I chose you Hiro."

"Why else?"

"I saw your heart."

"What do you mean my heart?"

"You have the heart of a true hero."

"What does that mean?"

"All of your instincts scream for you to protect the innocent. You rescued the girl, her brother, and the warrior. You saved her town. You have put your life on the line several times for people you barely even know. Hiro will you protect the innocent people of this world from the evil that is awaiting?"

He raised his head and wiped the tears from his eyes. He clenched his fists and said, “I swear upon the new life that I have been given. I will protect the people of this world. I will be the light in the darkness, I will answer the call of all those who cry out from oppression”

Hiro paused from speaking. The old man watched as Hiro’s ki began to shroud his body. His body began shaking from the rage that was boiling within his body.

“Good! Your power has grown”, said the old man as Hiro’s power was on full display.

“I will be an ALLY TO GOOD AND A NIGHTMARE TO EVIL!!!”

“I will leave you with these words…. The evil one’s minions are stirring trying to revive him. You must grow strong enough to face him before he regains his strength.”

“The evil one? Who is that? How will I know I am strong enough?” Hiro’s words echoed into the white space but the man had disappeared. Hiro calmed down and his ki shroud dissipated. He looked around and there was nothing there. The old man was nowhere to be found. A sense of unease began to fall on Hiro as he began to think.

“I died. I will never see my family again. Mom…. Dad…. My little sister…. Never again. I hate Chu for what he did to me!”

Suddenly Hiro heard a voice. “Hiro! Hiro! Wake up!”

It was Leo. Hiro tried to talk back, “I’m here! I’m here!”

“Hiro wake up!”

Suddenly Hiro sat up breathing heavily and said “I’m awake my friend and I’m ok.”

“What was going on? You energy went crazy and you wouldn’t answer me.”

“Couldn’t you hear my thoughts?”

“No for some reason that was just noise. I couldn’t hear anything.”

“I don’t know if I am completely sure about what happened. I’m sorry I can’t exactly explain what happened I will prepare myself for what could be my purpose for being here.”

“Purpose? What do you mean your purpose for being here?”

“I must become a protector of all those around me from a great evil that will soon be upon them. I must stand up for those who walk in the like and keep them from harm.”

“Then I will become a protector of the light as well.”

“Thank you my friend I will need your help on this journey.”

Hiro got up as the sun had crept over the horizon. Hiro asked Leo to stand guard at the front of the mine in case any kobolds returned.Then Hiro walked into the mine and took out his pickaxe. He found his first mineral deposit on the wall of the mine about 50 meters inside the cave entrance. His eyes could not see anything particularly different but his ability to sense mineral deposits was telling him it that there was something right there in the wall. He grabbed his pickaxe with both hands and swung with all his might. Immediately, a piece of the wall broke off.

“Was that the ore?” No he sensed it was still in the wall. He swung his pickaxe several more times and finally several orangey almost gold colored rocks fell. He inspected them

Raw Copper ore

Can be smelted and purified into pure copper ore which can be used to create weapons and armor or sold to a blacksmith.

You gained 3 pieces of iron ore.

Hiro continued onto the next ore mineral deposit. There he gained 2 more copper ores. The next 5 mining spots were copper where he gained 13 more pieces of raw copper ore. The next deposit several pieces of a silvery metal fell out. He inspected it.

Raw tin ore

This can be smelted and purified into pure tin ore. Tin is too weak to make weapons and armor.

You gained 3 pieces of tin ore.

He continued and found 3 more copper deposits and 5 tin deposits where he collected a total of 8 coppers and 12 tin ores. Then he came upon the last mineral deposit that he located with his ability. He began swinging his pick axe. The rocks began to break and a golden looking metal began to reveal itself but it was not falling out like all of the others. He continued hitting the areas around where he saw the metal but it only revealed more of the metal. He hit it again and again and more and more of the metal revealed. Finally, he hit the wall with his pickaxe and the large ball of the metal fell out. It was 10 times bigger than any other piece of metal he found previously. He inspected it

Large Raw iron ore

This can be smelted and purified into pure iron ore. Iron is too weak to make weapons and armor.

You gained 1 large piece of raw iron ore. This could be smelted into at least 10 to 15 pieces of pure iron ore.

Hiro became excited as his gathering skill was already paying dividends.

You mining skill has increased to intermediate level 3.

He rested for a little while and then placed all of his minerals into his magic bag. Next, Hiro went to the front of the cave to meet up with Leo. He patted him on the head.

“Thanks for watching over the people here.”

“No problem. There wasn’t much for me to do. No enemies came up so all I did was lay here and wait for you.”

“How is the mining camp coming along” Hiro asked the villagers.

“It is now ready. The forge is operational and we just completed the first mining cart.”

“That’s fantastic! How long until you can begin to ship materials to the town. It will take us a few days because we will have to build a cart to bring it back to the town and find enough materials to fill up the cart.”

“Sounds good. Would it be helpful if we could bring back a plains cow that could pull the cart for you?”

“That would be great” the villagers said

“At full speed we could probably get to the town in a little over 2 hours but I am scared to leave them witht the threat of those adult rhinoboars still looming overhead” Hiro said to Leo telepathically.

“Why don’t we just track them down and kill them. I have been sitting here for most of the day. I’m ready for some action.”

“Not a bad idea. Let’s go back to the area where we found the babies” said Hiro. Hiro climbed on Leo’s back as they raced to the spot where they found the babies. When they arrived Hiro saw fresh tracks on the ground. He could see that the adults were much larger than the babies. Based on the size of the footprints the adults were Leo’s size and very heavy. Hiro activated his tracking ability and noticed that the trail the adults left went further to the south.

Hiro and Leo followed the tracks for about 30 minutes and then Hiro felt the presence of 2 large powers. They were much more powerful than anything he had seen up until this point. “This must be them.”

“Yes. I smell the scent of rhinoboar very strongly in that direction as well. Let’s approach them quietly so that we can use stealth rather than brawn.”

“Good plan.”

The two of them approached very quietly through the trees and found two rhinoboars rubbing themselves against the nearby trees. They were huge. The stood at least 175 cm tall and probably weighed well over a ton each. They also had a long horn protruding from their foreheads but unlike the babies their legs were thick and muscular. The hair on their bodies also looked thicker and it was a grey color rather than the black color of the babies. Hiro used his inspect ability.

RhinoboarHp:2,500/2,5000A large aggressive beast that is very protective of its young. They are very dimwitted and will charge at anything that comes within their territory. Their hide is very thick and sturdy and their horn is hard as a rock.

Hiro and Leo’s presence all but disappeared due to Hiro’s hide skill. “When we get close enough I want you to use your poison ability and I will summon my clone to help cast magic on them.”

“Agreed.”

The two of them moved closer and closer to the 2 beasts. When they were in striking range, Hiro summoned his shadow clone then he pulled out the falcon swords he had in his bag.

“I am going to wield both swords. You back us up with magic” said Hiro to the clone. The clone nodded in agreement.

“On my mark we are going to attack. Ready?”

“Ready”, the clone and Leo replied.

“3……2……1…..GO.”

In a flash clone cast his bind spell on both of the rhinoboars. It was ineffective. It did not restrict their movements at all.

“Since that didn’t work I guess I’ll just have to fry you up. He created a fireball in each hand and threw them at the rhinoboars. The fireballs hit their mark and the beasts were ignited into flames. They squealed in pain as the flames engulfed them. As Hiro and Leo slowly closed in the beasts began to charge at the clone.

While hidden the rhinoboars didn’t notice Hiro and Leo until it was too late. Just as they ran passed Hiro and Leo, the pair sprang out and attacked. Hiro jumped onto the back of one of the rhinoboars and tried to drive his bladed down into the beast’s neck.

“It won’t go through!” said Hiro. “The hide on the top is too thick.”

Leo on the other hand had great success. With his powerful jaws he was able to puncture the hide of the rhinoboar and inject poison into it. With his powerful jaws tearing a chunk out of its neck the beast screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Blood began to pour out from the wound but the damage had been done. The largest amount of poison Leo could deliver would be injected through his fangs and the rhinoboar had received it all.

“It is a matter of time before it dies. How are you doing over there Hiro?”

“My blade is not working. So I’m going to do this the old fashion way.”

“You want my help?”

“No I’ve got a plan. Just finish off the other one.” Hiro jumped off of the rhinoboar and put his ki into his legs to increase his speed. Then he put ki into both of his hand and ran straight for his enemy. The rhinoboar lowered its head so that it could gore Hiro with its horn. This attack was too easy to predict so Hiro simply dodged to his right and landed a punch to the side of the beast’s head. The blow caused a shockwave in the beast brain causing it to become dazed. While the beast was dazed from the blow Hiro’s clone launched several fireballs lowering the beast’s health by almost half.

Hiro then gathered his ki into his right hand and prepared his ki strike. His clone continued to pummel the beast with fireballs keeping it engulfed in flames. Once his attack was ready Hiro jumped as high as he could and came down with a crushing blow to the rhinoboar’s head just behind the horn at the crown of its head. The impact from the blow caused its skull to crack then its head hit the ground causing a small crater to form. That blow without a doubt had killed it. Hiro released his shadow clone.

Shadow clone now at level 7.

Fireball now at novice level 1It now takes 20% mana to cast the spell and you can no create more than one fireball at a time.

Hiro looked over and saw that the other rhinoboar had died from Leo biting down on its head and crushing it.

You gained 1 weapon skill point

You gained 1 martial arts skill point

You gained a level.

Ki manipulation now at intermediate level All ki/mana based skills use 20% less ki/mana.You also gain 5 points in wisdom and 5 points to your intelligence.

Your intelligence has reached 150.

Due to your superior intellect you can now see the level and class of those around you above their heads. If you inspect them you can see some of their basic stats. As you gain more intelligence you will be able to see all of their attributes in a status screen like your own.

Hiro looked over the corpses of the rhinoboars and saw that the horns were glowing. He quickly went up and used his knife to cut the horns off and placed them in his bag. Then he went to work skinning the beasts.

Skinning level increased to intermediateDue to skinning so man animals you have gained knowledge of their anatomyYou can now see weak points on their bodies helping you land critical attacks 10% more often[/table]

You gained 4 pieces of medium hide and 12 pieces of leather.

Leo began eating one of the corpses but it was so large and meaty that he could not finish it.

“Well we didn’t learn anything from them. I guess they didn’t have any special skills. Oh well we got a level from them and some good loot that is good enough for me.” Hiro stuffed the remains of the corpses into his bag and climbed up on Leo’s back. They quickly headed back to the mining camp.

When they returned to the camp the villagers were busy working on making a cart and Hiro could see that the forge had already been ignited. The mining camp was already working.

“Well you won’t have to worry about those rhinoboars. We took care of them.”

“Seriously?!” one of the soldiers asked.

“Yes.”

“How strong is the commander?” the soldiers asked amongst themselves.

Hiro looked at each of them and he could see it over their heads there were words in blue showing their names, level, and job. This was amazing and it was all because he increased his intelligence.

“I wonder what will happen if it gets up to 300? Or will something crazy happen as my other stats reach a certain level? Oh well I guess I will just keep improving and then I will see. I can treat it like a surprise”, Hiro chuckled to himself.

Now that he knew the mining camp was relatively safe. He climbed on Leo’s back so that they could return to the town.

“Be safe guys and I will send someone back with one of our plains cows so that you can pull your cart back and forth between here and the town.”

“Thank you Hiro!” everyone said as he and Leo rode off into the distance.

A few hours later they arrived at the gate leading into the town. Upon entering the town, Hiro noticed that a new building had been built. The townspeople rushed to greet him. The new building was a house for him. He was embarrassed and very grateful to the people for doing something like this.

Someone in the crowd said, “We would not even have this town or food without your help. The house is just a small token of our gratitude.”

“Thank you all so much. I don’t know what to say.” Hiro said as his eyes welled up with tears. “No one has ever treated me with this much kindness.”

“We love you Hiro!” a voice said from in the crowd.

“And I love all of you. I will protect you all until my dying day and that is a promise!”

“HOOOOORRRRAAAAAYYYY!!” the crowd shouted.

Hiro walked to the house. It was small but very comfortable. On the first floor it had a rack for him to place his weapon and armor as well a door opening large enough for Leo to fit through.

“Leo, come in.” Hiro said. “This is our new home make yourself comfortable my friend.”

Leo rubbed his face and mane against Hiro and purred with delight. They both went in and lay down for the night. Hiro began to think of home. He missed his mom’s cooking and his sister’s nagging and annoying behavior.

“I’m sorry I can’t come back mom, dad, and little sis" he said as tears began to roll down his cheeks. "I promise I will not let what happened to me happen to the people of this world. I will stand up for all those who can't stand up on their own.”

Hiro lay his head down on the soft bed and closed his eyes.

“In the morning I will go and see Foria to let her know how much I missed her. Then maybe she will spend the night here.” Hiro thought to himself as he let out a wolf like smile showing all of his pearly white teeth. Slowly he drifted off to sleep.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading. Please rate my story and leave any comment whether you like the story or not. I will respond to any comments that are written good or bad. I love any kind of feedback that my readers give. I really want to make this story great. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting in the top 50 fan fics on the site so please review, follow and favorite my story.

Back to Main Page