“W-what do y-you mean? I'm Aren!”

Aren can’t get himself out of this one, even if he tried his best. He can’t believe he fell for such a cheap trick.

“Lying won't help you. I may be old, but these eyes have never degraded.”

Stan says, pointing at his eyes. He stared at Aren intently, purposely making him unnerved in order for him to fail at keeping himself together, and thus making it easier to get answers from him. Judging from his quivering lips, it’s thoroughly working on him.

Stan didn’t initiate this situation without some proof of his assumptions. He has a skill that could see the true reality of the world, called “Absolute Vision”. Aside from keeping his eyesight perfectly sharp, this also allows him to see the world in a perspective most could normally not see, where he could see through visual lies or normally hidden things in plain sight. Illusions, camouflages, invisibility, and any other vision-altering effects are useless against him, while he can also perfectly see mana flow, ghosts, and other phenomena unless blocked by physical opaque objects. Of course, this would also mean he could see Aren’s status screen and everything in it.

What he saw in the kid yesterday wasn’t there when he last checked Aren. The two bonus stats is what caught his interest most, with them having the prerequisite of meeting the legendary god of creation, which is a feat only a number countable by hand have. The circumstances to meet the god isn’t clear since all of the people that have met him so far didn’t have any patterns, like they were just random chances. However, if there was one thing common in them, it would be that all of them weren’t the same person as before. It is thus why it isn’t surprising that the Aren he is talking to now could’ve possibly changed and turned into another person after meeting the god of creation.

This situation certainly proved his assumptions, as Aren of before would never even be afraid of anyone, even him. Much like his father.

“I am going to ask again, young one. Who are you?”

Aren was running out of options. The game has already ended when he answered that question, and he sees no way of continuing it. Defeated and stressed out, he knelt down to the floor. There’s no way out. No matter how much he thinks, it would only lead to disaster if he tries to steer the topic and try to escape. There is only one option he could do.

“I… I'm John. Aren's dead, and I took his place.”

The beating of his heart went faster and faster as he spills out the truth in front of Stan. His mind is already reflexively trying its best to keep himself from fully saying it all, but the dread and fear he’s feeling is already consuming him from the inside.

“I don't know why I’m in this body, or do I know how to get him back.”

He lowered his head to the ground in an apologetic manner, clearly afraid.

“So please! Let me live!”

He begged to Stan, who looked at him all the same. Aren has never been this afraid in his entire life. He was giving his secret he thought he’ll take with him to his grave, but he was wrong to think that there won’t be a time where everything will be revealed. Pathetic, that everything he had envisioned would end this early in his new life.

“Ohoho! I only asked who you are, young boy! I didn’t say that your life would depend on it.”

“Eh?”

Aren looked up at the now standing Stan, smugly mocking him with his grin. Not only did that grin remove his fear, but it also planted with him anger and embarrassment from being played by this “twig”, as Aren would call him. The aura of dread was not there anymore, and so he was freely allowed to pent up anger.

“Now, now. Don’t look at me like that.”

Aren was currently glaring daggers it him with Stan shrugging it off with chuckles. He vowed to get revenge one day on this cunning old man, even if it’s the last thing he’ll do. Stan stroked his beard even more, smiling on this little achievement he has gained over this naive boy. Although it seems like he only did it to tease Aren, there were some other more serious motives as well, such as confirming if whether he’s actually Aren or not. The fact that he’s dead is a sad news indeed, but he didn’t have any meaningful relationship with him at all. The reason being Norman always trying to keep his son away from him. Stan can’t blame him if he’s wary of him because after all, he has been the source of some painful experiences and memories of the past. But he could’ve at least let him introduce Aren to him once, but the only chance he got to see him was only one time. That’s when he saw his stats.

“Do not worry about your secret. It will be kept between us, I swear on my withered old bones.”

“Don't worry?!”

Aren shot up in anger, forgetting the fact that he earlier just did a kneel ‘n bow before Stan.

“I said my secret right outside my house! I’m sure Norman and Martha heard that!”

“I told you to not worry, young boy. I assure you, no one heard us.”

Aren blinked.

“What?”

Stan raised his hand, and knocked behind him. The air responded by simultaneously echoing the knocking sound back. Aren stood there, dumbfounded. He’s not sure if the air knocked back, or it’s just the sound of Stan’s knuckles cracking. Without thinking, Aren did the same and knocked behind him. The air felt solid and responded obediently with a knock of its own at the same time.

“Holy Shit!”

He was taken aback by the revelation of the fact that the air around him is alive. No, rather than that, the space around them is enclosed with an invisible wall of air. Aren looks around, but everything looked the same. There were no distortions or any signs that they are inside an enclosed space, nor were there any feedback or echoes when they talked just earlier that would imply they are inside an invisible room. This is definitely some sort of magic.

“Silent Keep.”

“What?”

He asked dumbly.

“A spell that causes an enclosure in time and space where physical objects and sounds cannot get out of, but light can freely come and go. In short, no words escaped us when we talked.”

There was a moment of silence between the two.

“Perhaps you are still wary of me?”

“Of course I would be!” Aren retorted

Although Stan didn’t express any malicious intent in a literal or figurative sense, there is still the fact that he tricked him into spoiling the truth. Fooling someone on their first meeting isn’t exactly the best first impression one could have, but it’s very impactful nonetheless in its own way. Impactful in a sense that a person might never put trust in you ever again. Of course, Stan prepared for this since the very beginning. He knew full well that this would cause the boy to be immensely distrustful of him, but it was all for the sake of putting his thoughts into rest. Now that his happened, he essentially has full control over Aren now, who judging by his reaction earlier, would rather keep the secret for all eternity than let others know and be judged by it.

“You devious old fart! You made me spit out the secret that I guarded with my life! Now my identity is ruined, and you’ll probably use the info to blackmail me!”

“Ohoho, you are pretty sharp.” he replied with a smug grin.

“I was right!”

Aren is feeling heavily stressed from the pressure of Stan’s mocking aura. Add in Stan’s admittance of blackmail, you now have an internally screaming Aren who is groveling on the ground in utter defeat.

“So?” he said.

Stan looked at him with a confused look.

“What do you mean so?”

“So what are you going make me do?”

Aren sat down on the ground, looking at Stan with defiant eyes. Now this just got interesting for Stan. He did not expect him to yield this easily, while still rebelling even though he has no chance. This kid may have already thought up of a plan to get out from his clutch, but that would be too far fetched due to him being too weak to do anything. Maybe he’s just thinking too much of it because of a coincidence he thought would never happen to someone like Aren. Specifically, how his defiant eyes looked so much like Norman on years before.

On Aren’s side, his expression simply meant he didn’t like how he’s a puppet now. If there’s one thing he hates the most, it’s being forced into doing something unwillingly. A thing that two people have already done to him, and it looks like Stan will be the third. Despite how he acts most of the time, this is something he can’t just let go. He’s fine being beaten, he’s fine being thrown of with insults, but manipulating his freedom would be crossing the line. If Stan does what he thinks he will do, his relationship with him won’t ever anymore improve for all eternity.

“Let’s see… First and foremost, you are to be my disciple for the next few years.”

Aren blinked.

“What?”

This wasn’t what he expected. He thought it would be something entirely else like stealing an important artifact or killing a very important person, though he admits it’s going a bit too far. Anything else would have literally given him a reason for an eternal hate, but this is a command he can get by. However, there are some concerns for Aren.

“Why? If you are referring to my physical capabilities, Norman can train me. The same goes for magic with Martha around.”

“But their help does not align with what you have, do they?”

“What do you mean?”

Stan spread his left hand away from himself, as if gesturing Aren to take a look at his stats. With the confirmation of Stan’s status, Aren now officially knows that there are actually not two, but three ridiculous people in this town.

General Info Name: Stan Lohen Affiliation: None Level: ??? Age: 108 Gender: Male

Jobs Jack of All Trades Ranger Assassin Brawl Master Slayer Archmage Battlemage Bladesmaster Berserker Scribe Cook

But the surprise wasn’t just that, there was also one of Stan’s jobs. The very gift a certain god gave to him; the Jack of All Trades. The job was already a big blow to Aren’s mind, but the number of jobs this old man has just takes the icing. On top of that, there’s also his ancient age. Aren’s maybe exaggerating it a bit too much, but anyone would at least think that way if they knew he was a hundred and eight years old. With how old he is, it’s no wonder why he has a lot of jobs.

“JoAT? So you mean…”

Stan smiles.

“Yes. It is the very same job you have. Since I have it, it is only natural that I would be the most suited to train you, no?”

He has a point. Although both of his parents can train him in the two aspects, the physical and the magical, they could only train him in each separately. Norman may have the Battlemage job, but he’s pretty sure he’s only using the “Monk” part of that job to increase his own physical capability. So the problem lies with a possibility that they might train him with styles the conflicts with each other. If he trains with them, he’d have to choose whether to go full physical, full magical, or go in between and dwindle his potential. That leaves Stan, who has the Jack of All Trades and is quite old, and thus have more experience with combining the two different worlds. He is the only one that could help him reach his true potential as another holder of the job.

“What’s the catch?”

This is something Aren would consider seriously, but it still is something born from the blackmail. It is, therefore, only natural to doubt it and think that Stan has ulterior motives. He doesn't know what the catch is going to be, so he prepares for the worst.

“In return of helping you become as great as I am…” he said as Aren looks at him with loathing “...you are to do errands for me.”

Aren relaxes a bit.

“That isn’t so bad.”

Stan laughs.

“Oh, you don’t know.”

Aren raises his eyebrow in that statement. He was about to say something, but Stan raises his palm.

“Your training must unfortunately start now.”

“What? Right now?”

Stan faces towards the forest in the east. The distance is only a walk of five or more minutes, and he appears to be sweeping the forest with his eyes.

“There is a package I want you to take from the forest over there.”

Stan points at the forest, to which Aren followed his look and immediately disagreed.

“What? No way! That forest might be crawling with vicious animals, creepy crawlies, and whatnot!”

Stan reaches for his pocket on his pants, searching for something. Aren could swear that he hears rustling inside it like it was some kind of a big storage full of junk.

“You like saying ‘what’ a lot, don’t you?”

Stan takes out a knife and throws it over to Aren. Aren frantically caught it and was fortunately not cut. He grumbled in frustration as he eyes the knife’s silver luster and well maintained shape. Its edge looks like it has the deadly sharpness of a blade of grass, and its handle is comfortable to the hands and allows for a good grip. Not that he’s an expert or anything, but he can say this knife is well made.

“The package is not too deep in the forest. Use this knife if you’re having trouble retrieving the package. You have about ten minutess to get to it.”

Aren looks at the knife, then back at Stan. He isn't so sure if he can do it, but he has no choice.

“So what’s the package exactly?”

“You’ll know once you get there.”

Aren wanted to have a specific answer, but he can’t exactly force him to say it when he’s the one being forced to do something. With a sigh, he sets on forth on what he needs to do. Stan dispelled Silent Keep, allowing Aren to jog towards the forest while blatantly holding the knife on his right hand.

“Well then. I better prepare.”

Stan walks off to the town center, where the Red Hook bandits are still awaiting judgement.

Aren jogs through the forest with a sour face, cutting foliage and tree barks blocking his way with the knife handed to him by the twig known as Stan. The cuts would serve his guide to the way out if he ever decides to stupidly wander deeper in the forest, which he feels like he will probably do subconsciously. However, he must keep in mind that he’s here to retrieve a “package” and it is apparently found in the shallow parts of the forest. Aren would really like to let his curiosity win over him, but the number of how many cats it has killed is keeping him from being too drawn into the things this forest has to offer.

He has only about 5 minutes left, assuming that “mins” means “minutes”, and he hasn’t found the package yet. Stan might be lying about there being a package inside the forest, but he can’t see any good reason on why would he lie. Unless if the reason was just to bully him, there was nothing to gain if he did lie. Three minutes left, or so Aren thinks. He honestly doesn’t remember how much time he has left as he spent the last two minutes carving doodles and markings on trees.

“AAAAAAAAH!”

Aren suddenly heard a shrilling scream of what sounds to be a young girl. It came from to the west from where he is, and at a near distance too. Fear slowly crawled on Aren as he tried to think of ways to go over this. It’s either flee or go and check it out. Despite Aren’s deepest desire to book it out of there, his body moved otherwise, slowly running towards the direction of the scream. He gripped the knife tightly and gritted his teeth, knowing that this stupid decision of his will surely cost him dearly.

He reaches his destination almost immediately, and sneakily hid between the bushes. The scene before him was of one where he could either ask for help, or do the helping himself. All of which could potentially lead to a certain death.

Misha was on the base of one of the trees with her back against it, staring teary eyed at the four wolves in front of her, ready to devour the poor little girl. Beside her was an upturned basket that spilled herbs of varying sizes. Aren knew he had to act immediately, or else he’ll have to carry the immense burden of guilt for all eternity. He goes through his options, desperately finding a way to get both of them out of there alive. The only thing he has with him is the knife and that stat booster from Martha, as well as a bunch of rocks lying around the ground. He knows it won’t help much, but getting the general info of the wolves will at least let him determine their overall strength.

General Info Name: Hiesen Lesser Wolf Affiliation: None Level: 5 Age: 4 Gender: Female

Jobs Lesser Wolf

Fortunately for him, the wolves are all level 5. Though despite this, he knows he can’t take all four on a head-on battle. He has only a few seconds left before the wolves decides to just pounce on Misha than to stall time by slowly walking over to her. He thought hard, and just then he remembered that jobs have exclusive skills. Jack of All Trades doesn’t have exclusive skills except for one, but his Brawler job does.

“Skills!”

General Skills Brawler Skills Persuasion Lv. 2 Jack's Eye Lv. 1 Empower Lv. 1 Sneak Lv. 1 Physical Resistance Lv. 1

He never really knew that there was a skill screen, but he thankfully got it on the first try. It was already obvious from the start that skills existed, so he gambled to see if skill screens existed. Luck served him well. Looks like the only Brawler skill he has right now is "Empower".

Empower Lv. 1

Active

Cost:

70 Mana

Cooldown:

10 sec

Description:

Never underestimate a Brawler's inner strength.

Effects:

Adds 100 STR and increases strength by 5% for the duration

Lasts 3 seconds

Each level increases strength boost by 5%, adds 100 STR, and reduces cooldown by 0.5 seconds.

Aren picked up a rock beside him, nervously grinning at the plan he just thought up.

"This will do."