Volume 3

Chapter 2

It was in the middle of my night training. Me and sister are almost at the doorsteps of Dorank now, so things have been prorcssing smoothly and more people have been around during the day and also the night.

That’s why I have taken on an orc’s face and body to make my night time training.

I just transformed and keep in that form while re-learning all of the martial moves grandma taught me.

I have been getting pretty good at it.

With the new senses, and also without being able to rely on more than a single sense or two.

From moving with two sensory-input threads which wriggle around or with all but one of my senses sealed.

I’m almost mastering that and also everything in between.

So, that’s why I didn’t noticed when she got closer.

Not until I had already finished doing a massive amount of martial arts training forms.

Her name is Ranna.

And I think I love her.

***

It was weird how it all started.

I had all of my senses sealed.

[Aura Sensing], [Soul Sensing], [Mind Reading], all down.

Hearing sealed with the creation of small bubbles of the [Cotton Step] spell, right at the outside of my ears.

Vision sealed with [Shadow] outside of my eyes.

Taste and Smell sealed by numbing my tongue and nose with [Numbing] from the [Flesh] spells series.

I only had my sense of tact, and was going against a couple of Mad Hounds by feeling the changes in the air flow when they were almost touching my skin, after attacking me.

That was the training I was doing and, right after finishing it, it was also what had Ranna looking at me with such utter respect.

Now, I was confused after looking at her. I also immediately reactivated my other senses and had Alma explaining me things while looking at her.

I’m sure she must have thought I was evaluating her at that moment, but I was just asking Alma…

[All] - Alma!

[Alma] - Sorry, I thought you wouldn’t want for me to hurt her.

Of course, I wouldn’t. She didn’t have any [rape], [murder] and other such feelings on her soul.

All I could see there was a huge amount of [Surprise], [Admiration] and even [Love].

[All] - Why didn’t you just misled her?

[Alma] - Well….

Alma may be able to hide her soul’s feelings with [Soul Hidding], but fidgeting with your fingers in front of yourself isn’t a good way to pretend not to have committed a blunder.

So, I looked around and saw the cause.

There was a portal close by. To our emotional tree house.

Seriously?

I ask you to guard my training spot, and you do that ?!

Alma…

Still… why am I not angry with her ?

Why can’t I come with words to reprehend her?

Ah!

The woman, she is right next to me now.

She’s a well-defined lady with dark-yellow hair and eyes which seem to be looking at something I cannot understand what is.

I know her name is Ranna, because she has been thinking like that for a while now.

She stopped at a few feet from me, kinda nervous.

And then…

She extended her hand.

[Ranna] - Uuuhn… hi! Nice to meet you! I’m…

[All] - Ranna.

[Ranna] - Ah, yeah !... Wait…

She’s making a dubious face.

[Ranna] - How do you know that?

My chest is exploding in love.

My mind is silent, allowing for something to flow by it.

I see it now.

This is coming from above, isn’t it?

I love her because not of a collection of feelings, but because of my spirit.

[All] - Because I can read your mind. Nice to meet you. I’m..

Should I give her my real name?

…

No.

Not now.

[All] - I’m Alduin.

I touched her hand, and soon my other hand was touching the side of her head.

[All] - And I think I love you.

Oh, she’s surprised.

But she’s accepting my hand on her face without doubting for a single moment that she wants it there.

Yes.

I love her.

Welcome to my life… Ranna.

***

Okay.

Shit is getting serious now.

Because I just told all of my life story to this girl.

All of it. Even that I’m reincarnated and many of the things grandma told me.

Of course, I omitted some things like my real name, some of my powers and also other things she wouldn’t understand.

But Ranna knows I’m a reincarnated person from another world. She knows I’m an Abnormal. She knows I’m powerful beyond measure for regular humans.

She even knows I have a dungeon core with me, here and now, and that I’m able to control it without needing to fuse with it.

I wouldn’t get surprised if she started worshipping me.

But, instead, she’s hugging me.

She has hugged me once I told some of the sadness in my heart.

And then we laid in the grass and stood like that, looking at each other’s eyes.

…

Here it comes.

A small kiss.

Just the touching of the lips.

Ah, but now she’s infatuated.

[All] - What happened?

[Ranna] - I don’t know what to do.

[All] - What do you mean?

She’s caressing my arm.

[Ranna] - I love you… but I’m married already.

Oh.

Of course she is.

That or she has a man she had been having sex with.

The proof is in her aura.

Well, no matter.

I’m not here to take this woman for me. I’m here to enjoy this feeling.

Yes.

I may be drifting in a sea of love, but it’s still just a sea of emotion.

I can destroy it if I want to. I can even force my mind to stop it.

But I won’t.

Because it’s coming from a much higher source. From my spirit.

This love is beyond the flesh. And I fuck my sister and my brother. Why should I care?

Worst case scenario, I will have to fuck this guy as well.

[All] - So what?

She’s casting her eyes downwards. My hands gently touch her chin.

[All] - Hey. What’s the matter?

She speaks with a pouting mouth.

[Ranna] - Is it possible to love two people at once?

I can see it, Ranna.

I can see the love.

[All] - Of course it is. Because I love you. I know you love me. And I know you love him.

Isn’t it too fast ?

Ain’t I saying something I can’t understand myself?

I mean, a brief image of her fucking the guy just appeared on my mind and now I want to kill him.

But this is stupid.

This love is spiritual. There is no reason for me to be so possessive about matter.

I mean, if I destroyed her body, gave her a new one and grounded her soul there, I would still keep loving her.

If someone cut off her head, I could just regenerate that.

Hell, I may even be able to regenerate her virginity.

So why am I feeling jealous now?

Why am I feeling like that is unforgivable?

Enough.

Enough of this feeling.

I can see it. I can squish it.

There.

Destroyed on my soul.

…

And here it comes back again.

Nice.

It’s on my mind, the source of this Jealousy.

If it isn’t on my spirt.

Fucking shit.

Fuck this.

[Ranna] - That’s… but then…what can I do?

…

No.

Don’t fuck this.

Don’t fuck up with this girl I love.

There must be another way.

[All] - I don’t know. Maybe he would accept it? If I become his friend, he would accept that we love each other and let it be? Maybe he would live with us?

Live?!

Wait, what the fuck am I promising here?!

I can’t live with this woman!

And why am I considering living with her AND ANOTHER MOTHERFUCKER?!

What’s just fucking happening here?!

[Ranna] - Haha. Live in your dungeon? The three of us?

Wai..

No… I…

…

There’s…

I don’t like this.

I need to reformulate my plans if it’s for me to include them.

I…

Why was I building a dungeon again?

It’s my playtime.

It’s not work.

It’s not to share with others. It isn’t my fucking house. It’s my slaughter house.

The place I will make to be badass!

…

[All] - Who knows. Would you like to?

…

…

I give up.

Damn Alvin, what the fuck is happening to you ?

I mean, I should be that guy who goes around giving the middle finger to everyone and then destroying them and stepping above them just so they can feel me there…

Why the hell am I…

What is this feeling doing to me?

This love thing?

And… is it really the feeling?

I mean, it’s coming from above. And I have squashed it a number of times already.

Yeah.

And I…

I mean, I’m not being manipulated, right?

All I AM comes from above.

I can create souls and minds if I want to.

Artificial souls and minds.

But what I can’t create are spirits. So, that’s what I should be.

Or should I think of myself as everything I am, the spirit being just a piece of it ?...

…

Useless.

All of that is useless, isn’t it?

Ah, Ranna…

What am I to do with you babe ?

You won’t be on the path of my destiny.

I need to find immortality for grandpa and father.

And I need to build my stuff. Keep growing. Become higher and more powerful even than those things I have been told by grandma are freaking unfathomable.

I mean, I don’t, but I do…

Because the goddess said all I needed to do was to exist on this world. And everything else would be a present for me.

But, still, I like these plans.

I like thinking on myself doing these kind of stuff. I want to do it.

So…

Can I…

Can I include you on this?

[Ranna] - Maybe I would.

So, you would even live in my dungeon with me…. You can adapt your plans as well. Kiss me.

A small kiss.

It grows.

A kiss of love.

But there is sadness.

[All] - I feel like you’re sad…

Her eyes are weathering out.

[Ranna] - I don’t know… I don’t know what I should do.

None of us do, do we?

[All] - Do about what?

[Ranna] - About everything…

Well, that’s not very useful, is it?

[All] - Like?

The husband guy?

Meh. That’s easy to solve.

Worst case scenario I just need to rewrite his mind and make him accept it.

I… I just don’t know if she would approve of it.

Ranna I mean.

She likes him after all… and if I mess up with him, he may become someone totally different.

Oh.

She’s making a resolute face while holding her arms against her chest, almost like an ancient pharaoh.

Still, my arms are around her, the same way as before.

She’s bracing herself for something. Maybe to tell me something.

[Ranna] - I can’t live in your Dungeon if it’s to stay away from the world forever.

[All] - Why is that ?

Woah!

Shit, did I just said something without thinking about it first?

[Ranna] - Because I have a dream as well.

Have I said to her that the dungeon was my dream?

…I might have.

It is a dream of sorts in the end, after all. Something I want to build. Maybe not something I actually dream with, but…

I have done quite an amount of work to keep it nice.

The plan, I mean.

The plan of building a dungeon… finding immortality and everything else.

Still, what would be Ranna’s dream… and why would she be able to live in my dungeon, but not live there excluded from the world?

[All] - And what would that be?

[Ranna] - I want to have a dojo. To teach kids.

…

A dojo which teaches kids? Like a school?

What the hell?

I mean….

Why would you even have something like that…

It’s… unexpected.

[All] - That’s…. weird. I mean, nice and all, but… weird.

[Ranna] - Weird why?

[All] - It’s… I don’t know, I mean… a dojo to teach kids? You want to have a kids dojo? That’s so…. I mean, I guess it’s because I don’t like kids that much.

I’m one of them though.

But only in time of life.

[Ranna] - Hahaha. I like kids. They are wonderful.

[All] - Wonderful? They are little pests! Always running and letting snot everywhere and dirty!

[Ranna] - Hahah. I like how they have a shine in their eyes, you know?

She looked a little sad.

[Ranna] - They haven’t forgotten how wonderful the world can be… like so many people have.

She’s looking at me.

Maybe she’s talking about me?

…

Well, all I know is that I want this girl for me.

My arm presses against her back, and we kiss again.

Should we go forward?

…

No.

I feel like even kissing is already a big step for her.

Maybe because she’s married or something.

Yeah.

Definitely.

[All] - Then… how about if I make my dungeon public?

Ranna is opening her eyes wide.

[Ranna] - Isn’t it dangerous? You said your grandmother said for you not to reveal yourself….

Yeah.

She did.

And I’m not doing it.

It’s not the time yet.

Not the time yet for me to be with you as I am.

Now…. now I need to be with you as an Orc.

A big, green, bulky, hairy guy with an attitude.

That’s how I will be able to live with you and still do the things I want to do.

Then, someday…

Someday, maybe, when all of that becomes unnecessary, because people will be different about me… about what I am… about me being an abnormal… then maybe I can live with you as I am…

[All] - It’s fine. Actually…. I lied to you… sorry…

[Ranna] - You did?

[All] - Yeah. I have another name. And I have a place of birth…. And another body as well. I’m a metamorph. I can change my body at will.

She’s not saying anything.

Is that bad?

….

[All] - Sorry.

[Ranna] - It’s fine. It’s best like this.

[All] - Really?

She’s closing her eyes on my chest. She sighed.

[Ranna] - Yeah. Because you told me. And I can live with that.

Yeah.

[Ranna] - Besides.

She’s looking me in the eye.

[Ranna] - That means we can live together, right?

Yeah.

Yeah it does.

[All] - I guess so.

[Ranna] - Then, won’t it be bad for you? Can you live with someone like me? Or is it…. Is it impossible?

…

It isn’t.

It just isn’t.

[All] - I guess I would even rather have you with me than not have you with me. Living with you…. I can be Alduin, the OrcDungeon Master…. And you can be my wife, Ranna, the Dojo Master.

…

[All] - If you want, of course.

[Ranna] - I do.

…

I wish I could just soak in this feeling.

But I can’t.

Because I can see the cloud in her soul.

I can see something she’s keeping away from her soul’s core… yeah… this love she has for this man… her husband…

It’s a very beautiful love… but full of awful feelings around of it.

Confusion. Humiliation. Martyrdom. Sadness. Guilt.

There’s so many bad feelings…. She wants to keep the love…. But she’s almost giving it over forever…. Just not to feel those bad things.

Such…

Such a bad omen.

That this love as well, is being kept by a superior force, beyond her mind.

I sigh.

There’s only one thing I can say.

[All] - And if you want to bring this man as well… I can learn to live with him as well.

Ah.

Damn emotions.

Jealousy, humiliation, that “sense of not being a man”… crush those shit stuff.

There.

Crushed.

He.

Those don’t have any spiritual backing, do they?

Yeah….

Now she’s sleeping on my chest.

[Ranna] - Thank you…

[All] - You’re welcome.

What a wonderful night this has been.

***

The fuck just happened to me ?!

…

I mean, I know what happened.

Love happened.

It’s still in my soul somewhere.

I can see it boiling my usual emotions and fighting to keep to exist.

But I can also see weird stuff being born from it.

It’s like… I mean, I know it.

It’s a lot of feelings like hatred and possessivity…. And the most interesting thing is, they aren’t born directly from the love thing, but rather from… the boiling stuff from my soul ?

I mean, I never took too much time to look at this. This stuff in my soul.

It doesn’t mind, right? Even if it’s a bunch of negative feelings, they are naturally born from my depression, so why should I care about them ?

…except….this love thing is making them boil and swirl all around me.

And then they start forming new feelings like this anger for her.

I’m angry at her because I love her. Because she makes me become different from what I usually am.

Still, I shouldn’t be.

Because she’s making me good.

….the fuck is happening.

Is she really making me good ?!

…

Yeah, she is.

She is making me so good I just finished my training. It took me only fifteen minutes once my depression gave way for me to learn it intuitively and wholeheartedly, instead of learning with while my head was full of thoughts and stuff.

I’ve been surely learning things a lot slower than I could learn…. Because of this depression.

Yeah.

It makes sense.

My mind is always growing, not having a limit to it’s growth.

Then why hasn’t my learning speed increased all this time ?

Shouldn’t I have a huge learning speed by now?

…because I have been delayed by this hidden cloud of depression which my mind core is always spreading around.

I think.

I mean, I have definitely gotten smarter somehow.

The one thing I wasn’t able to do so far, she gave me.

And, still…

I’m angered at her for giving me this.

… hell is this man….

***

Yesterday’s night was a confusing night.

But today I will see her again.

Ranna, I mean.

I miss her. I miss her a lot.

I just want to see her. A lot as well.

Now, I’m not sure if I SHOULD go to see her.

How am I to deal with my feelings for sister?

We have been fuckbudies for a long time now.

Besides, Ranna is married and so on.

Not to mention we are now literally at the doorsteps of Dorank.

We got to the city’s gates half an hour ago and the guards are currently checking sister’s Letter of Introduction - the one she got from her Master at the dojo.

Which is a good thing, since it’s nightfall already and those without special permits wouldn’t be allowed inside of the gates.

There are even a few dozen people setting up camp here already.

One can see it’s regular practice because of the smell.

I mean, there’s a huge hole which was dug on the ground only a few dozen meters from the walls and the merchants and peasants who are to stay put for the night go there to relieve some stress.

Why would people rather go poop into a hole in the woods than in the river?

Well, that’s just how it is.

I’m already done trying to understand some stuff from this world.

I mean, one may find it bad that people crap in the woods, but it’s only worse that the majority of them don’t even take straw with them.

They go stinking, they come back stinking.

At least wash it on the river, goddamn…

Could it be that they are afraid of getting wet?

It would be bad to get a cold, but isn’t it worse to sleep with a lot of feces on your ass?!

…poop world, I hate you.

Regardless.

The walls here are definitely smaller than I thought they would be. They seem to be made entirely of stone, but tower only three meters high with a rampart on top, where a couple guards watch every ten or twenty meters.

On the other hand, the gate seems sturdy.

It’s made of over one-meter-thick wood, and it was iron hinges so thick one would think they are meant to hold a giant, but, still, it’s just wood.

If I didn’t knew any better I would think these walls are meant to keep farmers away, and not monsters.

They can’t be here just because of that, right?

Anyhow.

The city’s entrance is actually very simple.

There are two small rooms made of wood on both sides of the gate’s entrance, and the guards stay cozy there with their fire and protected from the elements.

They also seem to have a ladder which allows them to get to the top of the rampart.

So, that’s how they pass messages from the guards guarding the outside of the gate to those guarding the inside.

I don’t need to say, none of them is looking very affectionate of me or sister right now.

Maybe being a Superior Being isn’t such a big deal for them?

I mean, none of them is one.

They have around half of the Aggregate Aura Amount needed to become one, but no more than that.

Grumpy idiots.

At least I have the pleasure of seeing them getting out of their asses because sister can beat their faces with one hand tied on her back.

-“Here”.

The guy just shoved sister’s letter back on her hand.

Tsc.

-“Come over here. We will let you in.”

The guard signaled to us, and we got closer to the gates. Enough to hear it creaking a bit as someone tried to open it.

I guess it isn’t exactly a light gate.

Then, a huge *THUD* sound and the gate started to open.

Oh, someone’s getting closer… HEY, WHATHEFUCK DUDE ?

GET OFF!

I just punched someone in the nuts.

The skinny guy is rolling on the ground and the guards are laughing.

Hell was that man…. Hell was that…

Was him trying to enter with us? As if he was my older brother or something ?!

Fuck you dude!

Fuck your ass!

I mean, he did try to poke the back of my neck with that shiv in his hand.

That’s why I went hadcore full throttle punch on his balls.

Not full throttle, I mean, but hard enough to feel them getting smashed against his pelvis and making a testicle smoothie.

Someone ain’t going to be using his dick again so soon.

I mean, there isn’t that “I want to rape” feeling on his soul, or even that “I’ve raped someone” feeling, but this kind of guy probably isn’t far from it.

After all, he just threatened a kid with a knife…

Well, no more balls for you, mr.Skinny.

And no more balls means no more testosterone. Which means you won’t be sticking that filthy cock on anyone so soon.

Now let’s enter the city at once.

***

[Ann ] - All.

We just entered the city and walked a couple dozen meters before sister touched my shoulders and directed me to an alley between two houses.

She doesn’t want to do it right here, does she?!

I mean, it’s sis but… I just… you know, Ranna and stuff…

[All] - What ?

[Ann] - Can you use the [Smoke] and [Cotton Step] spells to hide us ?

Oh, so that’s what she wanted.

I can do that much, but..

[All] - Why ?

[Ann] - You haven’t been to a city like this before. Things here are dangerous. No one should be at the streets at this hour.

Dangerous?

Sister knows a little bit about my power, and she herself is a Superior Being… what is she scared of ?

[All] - Dangerous ?

[Ann] - Not like you think. I will explain later.

[All] - Okay.

There we go.

Done.

Now, let’s move around until we find an Inn or something.

***

In the end we found an abandoned house in a corner of some damp street.

What about Dorank?

Well…

It’s filthy. It’s awful. And it’s maybe one of the worst places I have ever had the displeasure of knowing.

I’m not even mad anymore.

I mean, somewhere between the starving prostitutes servicing drunkards, the multitude of people with the [raped] and [rape] emotions imprinted on their souls and the sea of children sleeping together on the street, only so they don’t freeze to death, I just lost it.

That without even starting on what kind of soul places are linked to this city. The emotional and mental landscapes around are… awful.

I guess I’m just sad now.

I know, I know, it’s a cruel world out there.

But, still…

I can read it. Their memories and shit. See the emotions on their souls.

There’s this one girl.

She was a carpenter’s daughter. Then her father was killed in a tavern fight, and people came to extort the money he owned the innkeeper…

She got raped several times… and then… her mother told her to “get some money”, no matter how.

It seems her mother worked at home, I don’t know. I didn’t look too deep.

But that was what she was doing.

Prostituting to bring money home because her stupid father had died in a bar fight.

I mean, there isn’t all of that guilt from having sex and prostituting herself one could expect her to feel.

But it hurt on her.

She would remember the day her father died everytime she did it with someone. She would remember everything that happened to her.

Isn’t this just cruel ?

I mean, I was ready to expect for the people in this kind of big city to be in a worse state than we were back home, but…

…

Well, I have sown some of my algorithms around.

Plenty of rapists to make feel nausea and other stuff by only thinking in rape.

I could kill them, but…

To be true, many of them didn’t deserve it.

Most people around aren’t as bad as those guys who became undead. They were conflicted, and most of them had really bad stuff on their memories.

How to put it plainly…

Most of those who had [rapist]-like feelings on their souls also had the [raped] ones.

So, I don’t think I should just go around killing them.

Things can be more complex than they seem after all.

…

Or am I just being too fearful of killing other humans?

Those undead could be considered monsters… and in terms of humans, I haven’t killed any so far.

Why am I hesitating?

…

Let’s not become a mass murderer so easily.

I mean, there must be something else to this city and to the people in it. Maybe if I give them a second chance or something…

[Ann] - That seems good enough.

Sister has just finished preparing herself for the night. That means closing the door and looking around to make sure no one can enter the house without she noticing it…

…

Not that it is an easy feat to do so.

This place is only two rooms wide. There’s the entrance room, where we are now, and the back room, which is full of mold, so we won’t go there.

It seems this place acts as a living room as much as a kitchen as well.

Maybe it is the standard on cities of this world? The other houses around us seem to follow the same pattern as well. Almost like a south american favela.

Eh. It’s life.

Uhm. Sister just seated in front of the fireplace and started lighting the fire. It’s winter still, even if we are reaching the end of it, so I can understand why.

[Ann] - Will you go out tonight?

…

Should I?

I mean, it’s riskier here.

On the path here I saw a bunch of guards patrolling the place. They aren’t much stronger than father, but still, they have a little bit of skill, so I will need to take a little more care than before.

On the other side, I do have the rest of the night to train.

But then again…

Should I talk to sister about Ranna?

…maybe not.

No.

Definitely not.

If I do then she will know I told everything to her.

Besides, sister doesn’t seem too eager to sleep with me. She must be tired still. Also, I need to make a reconnaissance trip around the place. See how the city is organized and the surroundings as well.

[All] - Yes.

[Ann] - Okay. Let me tell you some things first then.

Oh, this must be the explanation she said she would give me later.

[Ann] - Living in cities is hard. Everyone is sick in the head.

I wouldn’t say everyone, but there seems to be a lot more complexity here than in our village or in the villages on the way here…

[Ann] - If you go to a place you don’t know at night, people will fight you. And if you hit a noble, it will be bad. So don’t go out at night. There are no latrines, so if you need to go to the bathroom, you need to do it in a bucket and then give it to the dunggers to throw away. Also, there are a lot of thieves and people will try to deceive you. Also, when you take water from the river, always take it from up the river. And if you get lost, ask a woman for help. Don’t ask a man and never go into the places where there are stone houses.

Basic city living tips on one hand, weird shit on the other.

But I can guess why.

I should ask woman for help if I get lost because they are less likely to be criminals or the such, right?

After all, housewifing is still the primary occupation of woman in this world.

So most woman would be housewives, while you never know about the guys.

And the stone house stuff…

Well, stone houses must be expensive. So they must be for nobles only. A commoner getting into the noble district of the city must be problematic indeed.

So I get it.

[All] - Okay. Anything else?

Sister is making a complicated expression.

[Ann] - We should stay a bit longer this time. Winter is almost over, and I need new boots. So I will get some work. Let’s leave in three weeks.

[All] - Okay!

Three weeks eh.

Maybe I could help sister if I do something nice, but I think I want to expend this time sorting things out with Ranna.

Besides, it will be good for me to learn how to deal with places full of people. Reading all of their minds and souls is being overkill on me. It just isn’t healthy. They are too depressed!

***

Well, lesson number one…

There’s just too many fucked up people in cities.

I have decided not to pry too deeply into It, or I will end up getting imprisoned on all of the emotions, but even without taking my time to decipher every soul I can see that most people here have pretty bad emotions imprinted on them.

Shiny and sparkling emotions, or even not-ugly ones, are hard to see. Even on those who are sleeping and on the children.

I need to do something about it.

I mean, these people don’t mean anything to me, but still I feel that there’s just something too wrong in how they live.

I wonder if I should just have all of them live in my dungeon?

…

Nah.

That would be stupid.

I don’t want people complaining to me all day long.

Besides, even if they saw me as a mighty being which they served blindly, I seriously doubt they would do something good about how their souls are tainted.

Maybe I should just write and algorithm for good feelings. Have the people start amassing them on their hearts.

But then I may end up with a bunch of happy robots whose happiness is useless.

I mean, when you’re happy, you need to have some level of consciousness about it. Otherwise, it’s wasted happiness, right?

I mean, if you’re just happy all the time… then aren’t you living a false life where you don’t mix your emotions with what you’re actually living?

Almost like a disease.

Yeah.

I should avoid tampering with people’s souls at will as well.

Anyhow.

That’s lesson number one. Don’t mind people’s souls and minds too much. You don’t want to know what’s there.

Lesson number two…

FUCK THIS PLACE IS HUGE !

Our village was only a few hundred meters wide, but this place…. Pff..

This city has at least 15.000 people living in it. Maybe even 20.000

I can’t know for sure because I can’t count the number of houses.

You see, our county’s capital had around 2000 houses, but I know about that because I counted 200 of them on around one tenth of the city.

But I can’t divide Dorank the same way.

The city itself is too irregular.

There are places where huge houses, with three stories and dozens of meters of backyard and frontyard are spread.

But there are places packed-full of little houses like the one sister is sleeping on now, and even worst places, where tenement housing happens.

Not to mention places like the prostitution zones and the three markets one can see from up above while using [Aura Hand] to raise one-self a few dozen meters above the ground level.

So I can’t know for sure.

All I know is that, this place… well, it is huge if compared to other cities and villages on this world.

I would say, at least a couple kilometers of radius.

…

Yeah.

It’s definitely small.

Smaller than most rural towns on earth.

But, still, almost ten times the size of our village, so… yey ?

I’m just a bit concerned about the fact that this whole place is packed full of houses, with at least fifty times more people than our own village, and with only ten times the size.

Isn’t this a bit weird?!

This place is packed full!

Not to mention, there isn’t a sewage system… obviously.

So the shit piles accumulate are spread around the town like a dung-beetles treasure stash.

…I hope those aren’t for agriculture.

Seriously.

Please tell me this isn’t human manure.

Please!

…

It probably is human manure.

…

*sigh*

…

I shouldn’t care so much. There are more important things to take notice of.

For instance, there are two stone-housing areas in the town.

They are around two markets, while the third is surrounded by small wooden houses.

Looking from above it is clear that those markets are on another level.

And the reason is simple.

The first market, the one with small wooden houses around it, could barely be called a market.

I can recognize the straw-on-the-floor place as a market because it’s a huge open space in the middle of the houses. Unless it is a place for punishing people or something, then it must be a market.

Now, the second one is next to an area with one-story to two-story tall stone houses, with only a couple three-story tall wooden houses mixed on it.

It clearly is a market given the fact that there are wooden stalls all over the place.

Then there is the third one.

This one maybe should be called a “shopping street” instead of a “market”, maybe ?

Anyhow, it uses as much space as the other two, but the floor is paved with small stones, there are benches and flowers in the middle of the street, and, aligned side to side, are houses with signs like “Armour Shop” and stuff like that.

So those are clearly shops for the filthy rich. Which can be understood once we see that most houses around the place are three-story stone houses. There’s even a small mansion in the middle of them, with a backyard which extents for a hundred meters until it touches the wall.

Weird.

But you know what is weirder ?

…

I don’t see any militia barracks.

There are twelve dojos. You can see they are dojos because every and each one of them has an elongated backyard with training equipment inside, like wooden dummies.

But where are the militia barracks?

I have taken my time to follow one of the guards which patrol the ramparts back home, but all I saw was him going back to one of the small wooden houses.

Very weird indeed.

Anyhow.

One can’t see much more than that by night, right?

I mean, the prostitutes on the streets are ugly, the abandoned kids sleeping on a corner next to a few taverns are a sad sight to see, and the drunkards are annoying.

Except for the fact that there are as many pleasure quarters as there are markets, all of them weirdly hidden to the right of the marketplace, there isn’t much more to say.

…

Let’s get out of this city. I have a dungeon core to finish mastering. And then, I will expend some quality time with Ranna.

***

Uhm.

Quality assessment of the woods around Dorank.

They are shit.

There’s a “hidden dojo” every kilometer or something.

And a bunch of people training as well.

Most of them even have their auras full expanded and are training [Aura Sensing].

This is dangerous, you know?!

I can hide my aura, but that means they will easily feel me if I train around here.

Let’s finish walking around and then go deeper.

***

He.

How unexpected. There seems to be mining going around this place.

I mean, there are quite a number of small water streams which join the river coming from the mountains, and there’s placer mining going on many of them.

Also, there seems to be at least three open-air mines around the place. They don’t follow the course of the river, but rather seem to gather on some of the small hills which have big rocky foundations… let’s see… one of them is a coal mine, but the other two are something else.

Maybe iron or copper, I don’t know.

I’m not a metal expert. All I know is that this stuff isn’t coal.

Also, there’re people mining here.

They don’t use torches and seem to be in high alerts.

Is this illegal mining of some sorts?

Well, they don’t need to bother too much. The guys who should be patrolling this place are probably the lazy ones at the wood shacks spread around, and they are just drinking and sleeping near the fire.

It’s winter after all. No one wants to be in the cold.

Eh.

Neither do I. Let’s find a good place to train and make some clothes for my orcself, shall we ?

***

Now, this is what I call a good place.

I had to run almost fifty kilometers inside the forest to find a place without humans in a ten-kilometer radius.

Really.

What’s up with this city and dojos?!

Anyhow.

Let’s see…

Uuhm.

Dungeon Core. Two threads mode.

Slight dizziness, but I can move fine…. And I’m 100% again.

Nice.

Now… suddenly cut both of them.

Stronger dizziness. Only five seconds of it.

But, still, it would be enough for most monsters to give me a beating.

But then again, it isn’t something which drops me to the ground. I can still fight like this.

So, let’s keep mastering this thing.

I call it “Plugging”. The act of “plugging” yourself to the dungeon core via the threads.

If I can get used to it, then there will be no problem on plugging and unplugging myself many times during the day… or even during a fight.

Then I need to keep increasing the number of threads.

Only two is far too little to control a whole dungeon.

I would need hundreds to do it well.

But let’s go one step every time.

First, to become capable of plugging and unplugging with ease. Then a 50% increase in the number of threads, from two to three.

It’s less than the last time, which was a 100% increase.

Luckily that means it will be easier this time.

It’s easier to lose a single eye and get used to it than to lose both eyes after all.

So unplugging should be less disorientating once I get the third thread.

Let’s do it.

***

There she is.

Ranna.

It’s morning. I can see her guarding the gate.

She told me she would be there today.

I’m a bit nervous.

I just took the form I had when I first found her in the woods. The bulky orcone.

People are looking to me weirdly.

The guards seem agitated. The people in the line look the other way when I get closer.

Also, the ones at the gate seem particularly nervous. Ranna seems happy to see me, but the other five guys which just came from the small wooden house with spears in hand don’t seem so happy.

Well, no matter.

Let’s go to the end of the line and wait my turn.

There.

***

Maybe I should be worried about the people looking at me with weird eyes.

Maybe I should be worried about the farmer in front of me being so nervous he’s almost pissing himself.

Maybe I should be worried about the fancy-looking guy who intended to cut on the line, and was blocked by the guards.

They bowed deeply and pointed to me with their heads.

He.

The boy’s face turned paler than the snow around and he ran back to the woods he came from. Probably to a dojo or something.

Still, his soul uhm… it was cleaner than most of the people’s souls around. I looked a bit deeper and saw memories of living in a big stone house and acting in an overbearing tone.

He’s probably a noble.

So that’s how their souls look like.

There’s a lot of vanity and useless pride, but they have a lot less burdens on themselves than the common populace.

Or at least this young one had.

So.

Maybe I should be worried that a noble just ran back home when he saw me waiting in line.

But I am not.

Because it is my turn now.

[Guard] - Y… you… wha…what business do you… ?!

I ignored the shaking guy who came to ask me what I wanted and went straight to Ranna.

[All] - Remember me?

[Ranna] - Of course I do.

Her voice.

It makes me feel good.

[All] - I have come.

[Ranna] - Just like you said.

[All] - Like I promised.

[Ranna] - So, what now?

She seems nervous. Her breath is rough. Her beautiful chest, even covered in armor, still goes up and down from anxiety.

I want to touch her face, so I extend one of my hands… and lightly touch the side of her face.

She grabbed my hand inside of hers and rubbed the side of her head on my palm.

I can’t help but to let a smile come to my face.

[All] - Is there a law against Orcs on this town?

She keeps laying the side of her head on my hand, but this time with her eyes open.

[Ranna] - No. But you should register on the Adventurer’s Guild. This way they can’t take you out for no reason.

[All] - Okay. I will be going then.

[Ranna] - Okay.

…

I can’t bear it.

I close myself to her and lightly touch her shoulder.

She embraces me and rests her head on my chest.

I have taken my time to make a long fur skirt to hide my legs this time, instead of meeting her while wearing only a loincloth, but my chest is still bare.

So this is a nice feeling.

[All] - Until later.

[Ranna] - I will be waiting.

So we said goodbye again. Only for a short while, though.

***

Weird thing about being an orc… there’s a patrol following you around, no matter where you go.

I have been seeing them with my threads since a while ago. I obviously can’t use [Aura Sensing] inside of the town, but having eyes on my back is more than enough to notice it.

I wonder if there’s some kind of system for it?

Or are the guards following me for a while until they reach the next guard post and can give the responsibility to others just for fun?

Oh, right, the city by day.

It’s full of people. They open paths when I walk though.

Even the merchants in carriages send their carts to the side just so I can keep walking straight.

The feeling of being a walking menace. It’s nice. It gives something of an aggressive feeling inside.

Niiiiiice.

He.

Anyhow.

People’s souls keep being tainted, but they are less tainted than those who where up at night.

Now, If this was our old village, I would probably be surprised. People just stay home during winter.

But here things seem to be different. Everyone keeps doing commerce on the market, even during winter.

Or at least this is what I can deduct from seeing lots of people coming and going with stuff on their hands. They are going to the market, so… I suppose that indeed they are going there to trade.

Oh, also, there are those guys with pickaxes and mining pans. I suppose that they are going to try their luck on the mines.

We didn’t had any mine on our village, so everyone just enjoyed winter in their houses.

But people here don’t have such luxury, do they?

I hope you guys don’t freeze to death.

Or catch frostbite.

Bigfoot should be quite the sellable commodity around this parts, shouldn’t it ?

Anyhow.

Adventurer’s Guild, eh.

Registering as an Adventurer.

Then people won’t have an excuse to say I’m here just to look for fights and should be expelled from the city.

Not that they would be able to expel me, it’s just that I don’t want to bring Ranna any troubles.

So.

Where’s the adventurer’s guild again ?

…

*sigh*

Let’s ask someone.

Someone… uuuhm.

Just standing in the middle of the street is enough for the guards following me to feel restless, eh.

I wonder what they would do if I was to try and talk to someone. Probably ready their spears.

Besides, people are getting away as fast as they can without running or making a scene.

So.

Let’s detour a bit from sister’s advice and ask one of the guards instead.

I spin on my calfs and walk towards the guards. Their legs are shaking.

He.

Should I make a scary face?

No, no, resist the temptation, Alvin.

You don’t want for them to run away.

I stop at a distance of two meters from them.

There’s an old lady on the window. She’s frozen in place.

[All] - Where’s the guild?

[Guards] - …

They heard me.

Probably can’t think straight.

[All] - The adventurer’s guild. Where is it?

…

These guys.

How long will they remain frozen solid?

[Woman] - Third street to the left of the market….

Oh.

The woman on the window was the one to answer me.

Nice.

I mean, she had a dream-filled voice, like one in boundless despair, but it’s no use worrying about that, right?

[All] - Thank you ma’am.

Now, turning on my calves again.

Let’s find the market.

Which one of the three?

Obviously, it must be the lower one. Since Adventurer’s are usually those poor bastards who can’t get anything in life and accept throwing their lives in front of monsters out of sheer despair.

So, It must be on the slums.

Let’s go.

***

Uhm.

Well, the market is as depressing as one would think. There are around fifty people trying to sell stuff.

Dried fruit, grain, fresh game, and also coal and iron it seems.

They just sit on the ground with their stuff in front of them, in big baskets or just laying barren on the ground.

There’re a lot of hungry children around as well.

Some of them carry knives, so they must be little thieves. But others seem to just want to beg for food.

…

Or are they just too young to steal?

…

Yeah, I can’t see a single pure soul amongst them.

I can’t see anyone who is purely evil either.

They seem to think that the right path in life is just to do as they see their “older brothers” doing.

The girls think about prostitution as well. Some of them indeed prostitute themselves already. But I guess there aren’t many who like young girls, so those have a harder time selling themselves for money.

No.

They just want to be like their…

Wait…

That guy...

They guy in this kids memories!

It’s the same guy who tried to use me to enter the city!

The one who put the shiv against my neck!

He doesn’t seem to be the greater of the “big brothers” and “big sisters” these kids have, but, still…

A professional thief, eh.

That explains why the guards did nothing when he approached me and sister, or when I crushed his nuts.

That was probably a staged act.

Could there be a criminal guild or something like that going on?

No…

Real life crime doesn’t work like this.

It’s probably a few gangs who deal with stealing, beatings and murder.

I need to be careful of that.

Anyhow, I didn’t read everyone’s minds. I cared about reading the children’s because I felt that I should look deeper in the matter, but my compassion towards them would be useless with what I just saw.

They aren’t starving to death, neither do they need someone to say “hang up in there!”.

They have each other for this. And their criminal heroes.

Yeah.

I need to make something bigger in order to reform them.

Something which will make them interested on being something else but criminals and prostitutes…

…

On the other side, why aren’t them thinking about being dunggers, miners or farmers?

Should I pry deeper on their minds?

…

Nah.

Let’s do it later.

If I stay too long watching the kids the populace is bound to think I’m thinking on eating them or something.

Let’s see…

Uhm.

Adventurer’s Guild.

It should be the third street to the left of the market.

So…

Around here somewhere?

I just went to the third street which connected to the market and turned left…. Uuuhm…

Should I ask around or..

Oh.

That’s and adventurer, right?

Dirty clothes like a beggar, limping around, looking like a half-dead person.

But equipped with a spear and a bow and carrying a bag with… wait for it, let me get one of my threads inside of it…

Yep.

Horned Rabbit’s horns.

This guy is definitely an adventurer. Probably returning to the Guild.

Let’s follow him.

***

And here I go.

I have my own adventurer license now.

How was the reception?

Haha.

Well, first, that guy wasn’t going to the guild. He was going to the market to try and sell his horned rabbit horns.

It seems the guild asks not for the horns as proof of killing a horned rabbit, but for the pelt. And then they pay you just barely bellow the market prices as the commission’s reward.

On another words, if you killed the rabbit by yourself and sold it in the market, it wouldn’t be a great loss.

But if you killed the rabbit and the pelt got lost in the process, then you wouldn’t receive your commission reward.

Besides, if you get an overly-destroyed pelt, they wouldn’t accept it either.

So, to be true, they are just buying pelts and saying those are commission rewards.

But they still buy even when no one is buying the pelts in the market, so that’s why people still sell to them and complete requests.

Tsc tsc… government offices…

Anyhow, the registration process was quite simple.

I entered the two-story wooden building, and then people just made way for me.

There were two girls and a boy working as receptionists behind the large balcony.

As I approached the closer one, the boy, the other adventurers just stood to the side and waited with their hands on their weapons.

I said something like “I want to register to become an adventurer” and then one of the girls eventually pat the boy in the back.

He said something like “yes!” and then asked my name and place of birth. I said only that my name was Alduin and he pretended not to notice it. Then he gave me a wooden plaque with my name and a number written on it.

Next I asked about commissions and he said the guild would pay for monster pelts.

And I guess that’s it.

I’m now a registered adventurer.

Let the adventure begin!