Chapter 6: Misfortune leads to fortune

“You look like you are distressed, young lad.” Brianne walks over and sits beside me. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Yes. I need some help. In a novel I read at one point, there was this man that had offered his mind and body to a goddess. The goddess had no ill will, but it still bothered the man. The man was also living with a girl that liked him, but he had no intention of crossing that line with the female.”

“Were the man and the girl similar ages, even the same race?” Brianne sits down across from me at a table within the library.

“Yes, the man has known the female for many years. However, the man knew the female liked him, but he would do nothing about it. He let the girl move in with him when she seemed down on her luck, but he later found out that she was never down on her luck, but lied to be able to live with the man.”

“Why don’t you just finish reading the book? Why are you asking me about it?”

“I’m asking you because the book was unfinished. The goddess made the man ask the female questions, and in the end the man ran away to escape it all. The book ended there and there was nothing else. It feels as if the book just was unfinished.”

“Is it unfinished? Or did you run away before it was over?” Brianne asks with a smile.

“Geh.” I lower my head.

“I won’t say it is you that is experiencing this because half of it is absolutely absurd. Something you may want to do is choose a side. If you choose the goddess, you may see the need to remove the female from your residence and if you choose the female you will have to find a way to get the goddess to not get revenge on you for wasting her time.”

“So either way, one of them will get hurt?”

“No. Did I say those were your only choices? However, you may need some more time to think about these things. My advice for you if you truly don’t want to be with either of them, is to tell them straight up that you just want to be friends.”

“I have.” I sigh as I hang my head.

“So it is you. Anyways, just give it some time. Everything will make more sense as you get more time to think about it. Also, weren’t you preparing to go on a journey to another area?”

“Yeah, I was.”

“Then focus on that. The world out there is very dangerous and if you are even slightly distracted, you will die a horrible death.”

“You’re right. I’m probably just overthinking things anyways.” I take a deep breath and raise my head. “I have a few things I need to prepare before I go off in to the wild. Do you know of a good weapons shop?”

“What kind of weapons are you looking for?” Brianne stands up and tucks in her chair. I do the same.

“I’m actually looking for a longbow and a cheap blade. Funds are low.” I follow Brianne to the front of the library and hand her the book I was reading, ‘A brief compendium of monsters’.

“Do you know how to use either of those?” Brianne sighs as she takes the book and places it on the pile.

“Nope. I will have to figure out as I go. I’m not worried though. I have a slight advantage.” I hit my chest proudly.

“Yes, you do have a slight advantage.” She closes her eyes and sighs. “Turn left when you leave the library and then take the first right. On the left side of the road will be a store that has what you need. I know you don’t belong to this world, but good luck, young lad. I pray you do well in your future endeavors.”

“Thank you.” I bow my head and leave. Crazy, considerate, helpful old lady.

---Outskirts of Ravenwood---

I think I have everything I need. I have my assistant. I have food for five days, and water filtration system. I have a hammock for sleeping high in the trees. I have fire starters. I have my bow, twenty iron tipped arrows. I was also taught a good way to make my own when I was in a pinch. But I had to collect them when I fired them, they weren’t cheap.

I also have a short dagger that the weapon shop owner gave me for free. His reasoning was, ‘You just bought an expensive bow and a lot of arrows, plus you were recommended by Brianne. How can I not let you have a cheap dagger like this for free?’

I checked my Assistant and start to walk out of the gate. I checked the map and confirmed the direction I was going, as well as my status:

Name: Phillip Tethers

Age: 20

Race: Human

Height: 6 feet (183 cm)

Current Occupation: Traveler

Level: 3

Guild level: 1

Money: 225 Silvers

I noticed that it displayed my money under my status once I had accumulated more than one hundred Silvers. I am grateful that it kept track for me, there is no way I would be able to keep track of my money in the future.

I carefully navigate my way in to the tree line along the side of the path. It was odd, but the books I read said that bandits sat on the paths and if you weren’t killed and looted, you would be nearly killed, looted, and then sold as a slave. Alternatively, if you went in to the forest too far, you would be mauled by monsters far stronger than any bandit you could ever come across.

So, the best route is on the edge, where you can move to the path if there are monsters, and you can move to the forest slightly if there are bandits.

The forest was a beautiful mix of vibrant greens and amazingly colorful flowers. The path itself was a cobble path that carts would have a lot of trouble moving on. The grass was growing between the stones, almost making the path look hundreds of years old.

The sky was a pleasant blue color with a few white and fluffy clouds floating through without a care in the world for what goes on beneath them. I hear birds chirping and some weird cries of unknown animals. The sun had recently risen and even with a few mishaps, I should make it to the next town by midday.

After travelling for a couple hours, I suddenly stop while I was moving along the edge of the forest and look up at the sky. I enjoy the view of the sky through the forest. It wasn’t a dense forest, but trees were all the way around, it was quite easy to lose yourself if you weren’t following a path.

I hear a sound come from the path and I look at it.

“Hey dude, you think we’ll see any bandits on this path? I know we got a task to exterminate them around here somewhere, but I have no idea where.” His voice carried unnaturally. It looked like he had no cares in the world.

It was a group of five people wandering towards the town I had just left from not too long ago. I should keep hidden though, they might be trying to lure people out.

“You’ve repeated that a few times since we left the camp. No one is going to come out of the forest willingly.” One of the men sighs. “There’s probably not even anyone here. We are fairly close to the town, we may as well just hide outside the town and catch any people who come out off guard. Ravenwood barely has any capable guards, even if we get in a fight, we could take ‘em.”

I was right!? More reason to stay hidden. I keep my head down as I advance in the opposite direction of them, as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long.

“Roooaaar!” I hear a beast on my right roar mightily. I immediately book it to the road, not caring if a bandit saw me.

“There was someone!” One of the men starts to chase after me but immediately stops. Chasing me out of the forest was a monster I wish I hadn’t turned around to see.

It looked like a black bear, but it was three times the size and had red stripes horizontally along its back. It was called a Devil Bear. The recommended level to fight one was about level fifty. I was level three. I’m not a hero, so my only chance is to run.

I run with my head up to look where I could go. I ran as fast as I could for as long as I possibly could.

My head not keeping track of anything but running forwards, I see that far ahead was the next town from Ravenwood to the coastline. Innisgrale. At the gate was a large amount of guards forming. I hope they don’t kill me as I run up to them.

I run for what seems like ages and the Devil Bear is only getting closer. It seems to have ignored the bandits completely. Just great, I think I can make it to the line of guards though.

“I have my Assistant! I can explain later! Please help!” I raise my wrist showing them I had proof of Identity.

One of the larger guards standing in the line runs up to me at a speed I can barely perceive and picks me up under his arm and quickly brings me inside the gates. He tosses me on the ground and I stand up dusting myself off.

“I’m sorry you had to do that for me sir. I probably look like a mess.” I say as my breathing barely keeps up with my talking. The large guard looks back to the line of guards.

“Those guys should be able to handle a Devil Bear. Go on, let me see your Assistant.” He looks towards my wrist and I gladly orient the screen so he can see it. “All good. Now then, we were going to let a bandit troupe lure out that Devil Bear, but you seem to have brought it right to us. We could hear its roar all the way from here.” The man whistles, “It was quite the distance you must have run.”

“I saw the bandit troupe. They had just wandered past me and I was slightly in the tree line avoiding them, it’s unfortunate that I was also found by the Devil Bear that might have been following them. The bear was going to move them away from the city and not closer, but I had a good enough position to meet it and run to the city with nothing held back. Hello, my name is Phillip, I am a traveler and it is my first time in this city.”

“Nice to meet you Phillip. My name is Arthur. I belong to the royal guard for this area. My job is to subjugate monsters exactly like the Devil Bear and train up new recruits.” He says in a monotone voice.

“Forgive me for being rude, but you don’t sound too enthusiastic.” I carefully back away as I say this, just in case he does get mad.

“You’re right I don’t sound enthusiastic. Why else do you think a member of the royal guard would train new recruits other than for punishment?” Arthur sighs as he looks at the sky. “I was punished because I said a couple wrong words to one of the princes. However, the land here is referred to as a continent, but it is more closely related to that of a kingdom.”

“I see.” I nod my head, and look over at the line of guards that was to stop the Devil Bear. Without so much as another roar, the thing was dead on the ground. Not a single guard was injured.

“So that’s how it is. Now then, if you are this close to the center of the continent, how are you so weak? Are you perhaps living under the misfortune of being abandoned by your parents since young and just recently got to a guild and finally managed to rise up against the misfortune?”

“I wish I had a cool backstory like that. I was transported from another world.”

“I see. No one else like that has appeared normally, even though they said I would have seen one by now… anyways, congratulations on making it this far!” Arthur congratulates me. “I guess I should give you a reward considering how you helped us lure the Devil Bear right in to a trap.”

“Thank you very much sir.” I bow my head to the man standing in full plate armor except for his head. His armor had red accents along the black color of the metal and a large amount of tassels along his shoulders.

“I will offer you the same training the guards went though. However, without the obligation of becoming a guard. It will be tough. Your meals are planned for you and you are forced to sleep when you are told to sleep. I was also told that people like you have another world to live in, and that is fine. Just be here as often as you can, due to the fact that the more accurate the training, the stronger you can become.”

Should I accept this? It seems like I should obviously accept the training… I mean, being able to defeat a bear like that. I also have to learn magic though… I though the trip to the next town was going to take longer… but I sprinted for half of it…

[Take the training Phillip. You may think it will slow you down, but this is an opportunity even I didn’t see coming. A member of the royal guard teaching you from the ground up. This will not only allow your physical ability to rise, but your magical capability. Strong magic requires a strong body to be used to support it.]

“I will gladly accept your training. I am very grateful that someone as esteemed as yourself would take me in for training.” I smile happily as I bow my head.

“Remember boy, flattery will get you everywhere in this place.” Arthur smiles. “You are a bit behind the other recruits, but someone with your talent should rise up and equal them in no time at all. Maybe even surpass them.”

“Thank you for your praise.” I follow Arthur as he gestures forwards and in to the building.

“We are going to head straight to the training ground so I can assess your actual strength. If you don’t mind, could you please tell me the level your Assistant says you are?”

“It says I am level three.” I look at my Assistant to confirm. “I apologize, it seems running for my life made me go up to level four.”

“That’s great. Before we can even start training, I’ll need to get you to level five.” Arthur nods his head, “Oh, and don’t worry. Actually gaining levels is easy, it isn’t the end all be all of the world. What matters is how you actually apply the skills that you learn. However, a level five will never defeat a level fifty, the difference is too great for any amount of skill to surpass. Unless it is greatly weakened and caught in a trap, that is.” Arthur leads me through a small amount of doors and shows me a large courtyard with many men and women dressed in training clothes swinging swords and spears at sacks of hay.

“So, defeating that Devil Bear was impossible, and I made the correct choice to run for my life?”

“Exactly the point I was trying to make. You are smart as well. That will make this training easy.” Arthur smiles slightly. “Now, remove that dainty bow and the quiver on your back, come at me with your dagger.”

I look at Arthur as I want to cry. Was he going to beat me in to a level up? I drop the bow and my quiver full of arrows on to the ground. If I was thinking, I would have dropped them when the Devil Bear was chasing me to get some more speed… I guess I got lucky, now I get to keep them.

I take out my dagger and I remove my outer layer along with the sheath that went around my hip.

“Oh? Why are you removing more than I said to?” Arthur asks with an evil smile.

“I apologize if I wasn’t supposed to, but I want all of the excess weight I can get, off of me. I’m going to go at you with a blade, but you are still bare handed, not to mention you were moving quietly while you walked with your plate armor. If I was fighting you in any other circumstance I would be utterly screwed.”

“It’s good that you realize the obvious then. I won’t being using a weapon, more so for your safety rather than any other reason. I’m glad you aren’t like some knuckleheads,” Arthur looks over to some of the recruits. “Anyways, let’s start this. Come at me with all you’ve got!” Arthur lowers his massive body slightly.

“Yes sir!” I lunge with all my might towards Arthur…

And get immediately smacked down to the ground, my vision immediately going black. I was knocked unconscious with a single blow…

[You are being forcefully removed from the game due to pain reaching over the threshold capable of a normal mind. Please come back as soon as you have recovered.]

Aaaand I was kicked from the game. Just wonderful. Now I have to face my problems in reality. I hope that I am able to solve the tension between me and Cecilia.

[I think I may have a solution to that issue.]

Ireina? You can solve the issue? Good luck then!