I could safely say that I needed to get on the road to my parents house, among the other things that I needed to do, but I was highly waylaid from M’thr’ln’s lair to my parents house. I mean, really, I needed to avoid traps that were left for me to wander into… and that wasn’t an easy thing to deal with. I had spent a lot of time trying to avoid the different traps… well, enough about that, everyone. I still have a story to tell you.

~Gato, telling his descendants what happened to him

#

“Hey, big brother,” Tsu said as he walked on his way to Alfheimwood through the forest around him. “What’s the best way that we can infiltrate the tournament that our target is going to participate in?”

“Well, I was thinking that we would have to do something that’s normally out of our capabilities,” Wan said, walking alongside his baby brother. “It’s just going to take a while to pull this off, I can say that safely.”

“What do you mean?” Tsu asked. “It can’t be as bad as the noodle inci—”

“I thought we agreed to never talk about that!” Wan yelled at his little brother.

“Oops… sorry about that,” Tsu murmured, a hand scratching the back of his neck.

Wan sighed, before he paused in midstep. “Baby brother, we’re being watched.”

And isn’t that an understatement? He sighed with irritation in his tone. How did we get watched when we’re in the middle of the woods?

“Big brother?” Tsu asked, stopping and turning to face his brother. “What are you talking about?”

“Open your mind’s eye, Tsu,” Wan said. “Find the obvious clues that say that this is a trap in the making.”

“Or you two idiots could just come out of the woods and walk on the road that’s out here for a reason.”

Oh, crap…

Turning in the direction of the voice, they saw that there was a man on horseback that had the bearing of a nobleman, one who wore a lot of plate armor for a reason. The man’s face was covered in a visored helmet, and he had a lance in one hand, pointed in their direction.

“Thank you for the advice, good sir,” Tsu said, inclining his hat with one hand. “However, if I am permitted to ask a question—”

“Ask it out here, not where you are right now,” the armored horseman demanded. “Do you want to be considered food for the wild animals that live in the woods?”

Okay, that explains why he doesn’t want us to stay in the woods, Wan thought. But why does he care?

“Thanks for the warning,” he said. “We’ll step right out of here to talk with you.”

As the two of them walked out of the woods, however, they heard a loud growl from behind and the whinny of the horse in front of them. Turning to face the woods behind them, the brothers saw a giant wild cat running around the trees that separated it from the two of them. In fact…

“Big brother, let’s take out the monster,” Tsu said, his tone as calm as could be.

“Agreed,” Wan nodded.

“What are you two idiots thinking of?!” the armored horseman demanded. “You’re supposed to leave this to the professional in the area, namely me!” He then spurred his horse to charge at the wild cat, performing a joust at the feline.

The cat, however, was not as simple-minded as the horseman was inclined to believe.

Instead of lunging at the armored horseman, and thus becoming wild cat shish kebab, the feline turned into a vapor-like substance and and ran through the horse, killing the beast of burden and making it a skeleton. Then again, the horseman was unaffected by the feline, other than losing his mount and falling to the ground from a few feet into the air. In fact, the horseman had no choice but to collapse into the bones of his mount, just barely dodging another attack by the cat.

Ugh… we’d better take care of this now, Wan thought, looking at Tsu for a clue what they were supposed to do now. As soon as he saw his little brother’s expression, which was a cruel smirk, his face mirrored that look. Well, this means we need to prove our superiority to the armored man here, in such a way that he can’t question it at all. We’d better do the job right, and in such a way that it’ll humiliate he and his whole household.

Wan looked at the feline, before pulling out a talisman like the one he used earlier on the bandits. “Talisman of Light and Darkness, come to my aid!” he cried out, before chanting in his native tongue a few phrases that essentially translated to, “The mind has become a prison for the body, trapping the soul within its grasp and orchestrating the downfall of the spirit. Shadows are to become as one part of the prison that has to be instilled upon the body, making it impossible for the whole of a being to leave this material realm.” He then threw the talisman at the cat and yelled out in his native tongue, not the tongue that the natives would understand, “Yin-Yang Release! Shadow Trap!”

The talisman hit the cat square in the forehead, causing the feline to stop dead in its tracks and materialize in a physical sense, unlike how it could phase through the horse that was charging at it earlier. What’s more, the cat was now vulnerable to being hit by weapons of all sorts.

The armored horseman, upon getting up from the ground where his horse was nothing more than a pile of bones, turned to see the cat and swung his lance at the cat, only for the lance to be intercepted by one of Tsu’s curved swords. “What’s the big idea?!” the horseman demanded of Tsu.

“You have no right to kill the beast. Let us, the strong ones, handle this threat,” he said, smirking with the words that he said.

“Why, you…” the horseman snarled, before he dropped his lance and reached for a sword that was attached to his belt. “You’re going to regret that!” he yelled, before he saw that Tsu was focused on the cat. “Huh?!”

“Now, to end you before harvesting you,” Tsu said as he swung his sword at the cat, cutting into it deep enough to flood out the blood from the feline. “Now, that’s more like it.” He then began to lick the blood off of his sword, before a faint aura appeared all around him. “Perfect.”

“Perfect?! What’s perfect?!” the horseman demanded of Tsu.

“'The blood is perfect for my use of cultivation,” Tsu said, before he picked up the lance the horseman dropped earlier. “Okay, time to pierce this feline to death.”

“Give me back my spear, you nimrod!” the horseman without a horse roared at Tsu, before punching him on the chin with an armored fist… only for nothing to happen. “What the—”

“You lose,” Tsu said, before lopping the horseman’s head off his neck and shoulders with his curved sword. With a casual thrust of the lance, the feline fell to the ground, brain matter spewing out of the skull. “Well, that man was an idiot,” he said.

“You said it, baby brother,” Wan said, chuckling. “Of course, we need to find a way around this mess, all while finding out how to kill our target.”

“That’s for sure,” Tsu nodded in agreement. “Now, where is the tournament we’re trying to infiltrate, and how do we manage to pull off the infiltration?”

“I’m thinking on that front,” Wan said, putting his left hand to his chin.

After all, we need to find someone we can suitably control for the infiltration, though how we need to control the person is up for debate, as it stands. I mean, how are we supposed to hid our own involvement all the way through without losing track of the target we need to hunt? It just doesn’t make sense… unless… no, that idea won’t work, not at all. What are we supposed to do about this? Find the list of people involved in the tournament and possess one of them? Hey… wait a second!

“Big brother, you’re smiling in that creepy way again,” Tsu said, shivering as he did so. “Did you come up with an idea for what we should do about the target?”

“Oops…” Wan facepalmed. “My mistake. I need to quit acting like I’m some sorta loon.” Removing the palm from his face, he continued, “As for coming up with ideas… I have come up with one, though we’ll need to decide how to approach this method.”

Tsu stopped shivering at that moment, putting a hand to his chin as well. “Well, I wish to find out what your idea is, big brother,” he said, before finishing licking the feline’s blood off his sword.

“To put it plainly, we need to find the list of contestants and possess one of them,” Wan said, holding up one of his talismans. “We’re going to need more than what we have in terms of combat capability, true, so that’s why we need to do this.”

“Big brother?” Tsu asked.

“Yes, baby brother?”

“Sign me up for this idea!”

“After we get all the parts harvested from this here demon beast,” Wan said, gesturing to the remains of the wild cat. “We’re not letting the natives get it into their heads that they can dispose of the goods before they’re used, you know?”

Tsu nodded. “You got a point, big brother,” he said, grabbing some supplies for this job from within his shirt. “We need to do more with these parts for our Cultivation purposes, at the very least.”

“True enough,” Wan said, before pulling out a scalpel and some latex gloves that you’d find in an advanced hospital far away from there. “Shall we begin extracting the materials from this demon beast?”

Tsu put his hand back on his chin for a few seconds. “Sure,” he said, “sounds like fun.”

#

Man, this bites, Gato thought as he walked over to his parents house from M’thr’ln’s cave, bag of dragon scales over his shoulder. I mean, I get that this is supposed to happen, me carrying the bag over my shoulder, but why am I still struggling to walk with this weight on my shoulders?

[Oops… sorry, forgot to tell you what you’re doing wrong.]

Gato stopped in mid-motion when he read that. Please tell me you’re joking… he thought in annoyance.

[Nope, not one bit, Gato.]

Just my luck… he thought in further annoyance. How am I supposed to handle carrying the bag without actually holding onto it?

[Don’t you have an Inventory Menu that you can put the bag into?]

Wait… Gato’s left eye twitched explosively. You mean to tell me that I should have put the bag in my Inventory?!

[Yes… fortunately, you’ll get something good for doing that now.]

Gato sighed in irritation. Okay, on it, he thought.

Letting go of the rim of the bag, he walked around to the other side of the bag, before he said, “Inventory.” Immediately, he saw that there was an available spot to put the bag full of M’thr’ln’s scales, which, oddly enough, was pretty much all of the Inventory as a whole.

Gato, Son of Alexander’s Inventory Screen

Head: N/A

Neck: Black and Blue Plaid Tartan

Right Shoulder: N/A | Torso: Rainbow Plaid Tunic | Left Shoulder: N/A

Right Arm: N/A | Left Arm: N/A

Right Hand: Steel Longsword | Left Hand: N/A

Leggings: Rainbow Plaid Pants

Footwear: Peasant Shoes

Letter From Duke Antonio Elric

<

Page 1

>

Okay, time to put this into perspective, he thought. How am I supposed to put the bag into the inventory right now? I mean… of course, I had to put the stuff I found at the Bandit Camp into my Inventory beforehand, so it’s not so much a stretch to say that I can put the bag of scales in here as well. Now, how am I supposed to put the bag in when it’s so heavy?!

He thought about it for a little while, before he noticed that the sun in the sky was going down to the western horizon. “Oh, crud…” he said. “I have to lift this bag up now!” He then crouched down to lift the bag, holding it in the palms of his hands, before he put the bag into the top-most Inventory box that he could put it in.

Gato, Son of Alexander’s Inventory Screen

Head: N/A

Neck: Black and Blue Plaid Tartan

Right Shoulder: N/A | Torso: Rainbow Plaid Tunic | Left Shoulder: N/A

Right Arm: N/A | Left Arm: N/A

Right Hand: Steel Longsword | Left Hand: N/A

Leggings: Rainbow Plaid Pants

Footwear: Peasant Shoes

Letter From Duke Antonio Elric

Bag of M’thr’ln’s Dragon Scales

<

Page 1

>

With a sigh of relief, Gato closed the Inventory menu to allow for him to walk on his way back to his parents’ house —

[For taking proper care of your body like that, your Constitution score has gone up by 2.]

—what?

What do you mean, “for taking proper care of your body like that?!” I hope this is a case of you being ridiculous!

[You’d think that, but there are a lot of medical problems that can come when you bend your back to pick something up, at least compared to your knees. There’s a good reason for all this, I can assure you.]

I hope so, Gato thought, before shaking his head. It doesn’t matter, does it? I mean, I doubt you’d need to explain anything about this to anyone without an education, let alone me, right?

[You’re selling yourself short, Gato, I hope you realize that.]

Gato shrugged, before he closed the boxes in his field of vision. “I better head on home to my parents house for now, then,” he said out loud. “I wonder what mom’s making for dinner tonight?”

As he walked over to his parents house, he realized that he was nearly on his way to the bandit camp that he had fought Caules at. I don’t want to find myself fighting another demon, he thought, especially not so close after fighting the first one… I need to make a slight detour.

As he took a left away from the bandit camp, he walked on his way, before he found a new notification in his field of vision. Oh, fer —

[As you are over a mile away from your party member, do you wish to disband the party you are currently in?

Y/N]

Gato raised his left eyebrow at the box. “Will M’thr’ln remember anything about this party?”

[Anything and everything.]

“Okay, that works for me,” he said, pressing the “Yes” button. “Now, let’s see how I can get out of this forest and go home immediately.” As he closed the boxes, however, he heard the rustling of the thicket nearby. “Who’s there?!” he demanded, pulling out the steel longsword from the scabbard. “Show yourself!”

A low howl in the nearby vicinity nearly made him wet his pants in fear —

[Player’s Soul Activated.]

—until that happened.

I’m gonna die, aren’t I? I think those are Dire Wolves! What am I supposed to do against those monsters of the woods?!

[I said, Player’s Soul Activated, Gato…]

Oh, right, I’m not gonna die that easily… he thought, his mind clearing up from fear. However, I need to find out… how many Dire Wolves are out there right this second?

The rustling from the thicket continued, allowing for the incoming enemies to become known to him. As he thought, they were Dire Wolves that were nearby. He looked around himself, seeing that the Dire Wolves were all around him, which allowed him to see if there were any weaknesses he could exploit on them.

Okay, there seems to be about fifteen Dire Wolves surrounding me, he thought. Now I need to figure out their overall weaknesses compared to my abilities… this is gonna suck.

With that, he looked at the Dire Wolf directly in front of him, before he said, “Analyze.”

Dire Wolf

Level:

7

HP:

2,450/2,450

MP:

560/560

A regular dire wolf that just so happens to have the hungry status debuff. A dire wolf can understand human tongue, can understand how to use magical power, and is able to do amazing things with its limited amount of magical power… but this means nothing if it’s too hungry to use its greater intelligence at all.

Well… talk about a bummer, System Administration.

[Don’t you have something to find out about the leader of this pack of Dire Wolves?]

Gato facepalmed when he read that. Thanks a lot…

Removing his palm from his face, he looked around for the leader of the Dire Wolves, before he picked one at random. “Analyze.”

Dire Wolf Alpha

Level:

12

HP:

6,000/6,000

MP:

1,440/1,440

The leader of the Dire Wolf pack that you’re facing off against, this Dire Wolf Alpha is considerably stronger than his peers, in that he has more nutrients in his system than his fellows. His ability to grow is dependent on his pack eating their fair share of food that they hunt… and it seems like you’re their next meal.

What…?

[Prepare for combat!]

How am I supposed to prepare for combat at this rate?! I mean, I’m surrounded on all sides by these Dire Wolves, and —

[Do you want to be Dire Wolf chow at this rate?]

—uh, no, I don’t.

[Then you’ll want to go fight these Dire Wolves before they eat you. Don’t want you to be eaten by these pests…]

…point made. I’ll fight these blasted Dire Wolves.

With that, Gato drew his longsword and charged at the Alpha Wolf.

#

“Let’s see,” Abby said as she began putting the rest of the hay where it belonged in the barn. “I get that the farm needs all the help it can get, and I’m glad I can pull off working as a regular person, but why does nobody around here remember who I am? I mean, sure, I’d rather not be recognized this early in my trip, but this is beyond the pale regarding the news.”

Especially since I’m sure that this farmstead should remember me from my youth… she thought, moving over to get a bucket of slop for the pigs. What is it with this particular farmstead and their inability to remember things the right way? I mean, do they really not remember me at all?

With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed the bucket of pig slop and walked over to give it to the pigs. “I guess my disguise worked a little too well…”

“Disguise?” a young woman’s voice asked from behind her.

“Eek!!” Abby jumped what could easily be five feet into the air, dropping the slop bucket to the ground and a bit onto her clothes. Turning to face the one who spooked her, she saw… nobody? “That’s rather odd… I could’ve sworn that I heard someone say something.”

“You did, actually,” the same voice said to her, still in the direction she was facing. “I’m just confused as to what you’re talking about, really.”

Abby immediately reached for her belt, before she began patting herself down for what she was looking for. What the… where’d it go?!

“Looking for something?” the voice asked, before a teenage girl appeared out of thin air and walked over to the outer edge of the pig pen. Her clothing was made of more refined fabric than Abby had ever seen, and yet, strangely, they looked worn out, as if the material was completely commonplace where she had initially come from. Her face looked as if she was thirteen, and thus was more like a child, but her figure suggested that she was closer to seventeen. Her skin color was like olive oil, and her hair and eyes were the color of the earth around them. “Relax, I’m not here to fight you.”

“That sounds awfully suspicious, all things considered,” Abby countered. “Who are you? How did you get here all of a sudden? And why—”

The girl raised her right hand. “I’ll get to your questions as soon as I can, senpai,” she said. “For now, though, I need you to listen to me. There’s trouble brewing in the world right now, and it’s about to head this way, chasing after your beloved. In point of fact, the first wave of trouble comes from a realm that you wouldn’t have heard of, but it’s very real.” She then lowered her right hand. “Of course, to answer your first two questions, I should introduce myself. My name is Akamatsu Sh—oops, my mistake. I forgot that naming conventions around here aren’t like back home.”

Is this girl for real? Abby thought, an impossibly large bead of sweat flowing down the back of her head.

“Okay, for real this time, then,” the girl said, before raising her right hand and posturing it like some form of hand crossbow in front of Abby. “My name is Shiori Akamatsu, and I am what is called a Planar Pathfinder. Yoroshiku ne.”

“Er…” Abby drawled out. “What do ‘senpai’ and ‘yoroshiku ne’ mean?”

Shiori placed her right hand around her chin, before answering, “Senpai, typically speaking, has the meaning of upperclassman when used in school settings. Yoroshiku ne, however, means ‘pleased to meet you’. However,” she removed her hand from her chin. “I think you might be forgetting an important question.”

“What are you—?” Abby began, before she realized something. “What’s a Planar Pathfinder, anyway?”

“A Planar Pathfinder is someone who traverses the different Planes of Existence, senpai,” Shiori explained. “For instance, this whole world is a Plane of Existence. I don’t know all the specifics of my abilities, though, other than the fact that this particular Plane is called a Prime Material Plane. Seriously, I have no idea what else to say about this situation.”

Abby nodded, a look of understanding hitting her eyes. “Okay, that makes sense,” she said. “Of course…” Then it hit her. “You didn’t quite answer my second question, Miss Akamatsu. How did you get here all of a sudden?”

Shiori placed a palm on her face at that moment. “Of course,” she muttered, before removing her palm. “Okay, let me explain this properly, then. As a Planar Pathfinder, I’m able to visualize a destination and head there as if I was walking from my home to somewhere like my school, which is a common thing for people of my age where I’m from.”

“Wait, you mean that there are more Planar Pathfinders in your home Prime Material Plane than just you?” Abby asked.

“Not what I was talking about,” Shiori answered, shaking her head. “I meant that school is a common experience for children everywhere in my home.”

Eh? What’s she talking about? Abby thought.

“What sort of royal decree was put in place to give all children access to school?” Abby asked.

“Er… not quite a royal decree,” Shiori answered, “but it’s also not something that just popped up out of nowhere. I mean, really, that would be an impossible situation to deal with.”

“You’re confusing me, Miss Akamatsu,” Abby said, before she shook her head. “In any case, it matters not. I still have that third question I need to ask of you right now. Why did you appear in front of me like this?”

Shiori put her hand to her chin again, this time for fifteen seconds, before she snapped her fingers. “It’s because you’re the one to be the primary source for your beloved’s information about the threats headed his way,” she said at last.

“Did you just make that one up on the spot?” Abby asked.

“No, but it did take me a while to remember the plan for everyone’s safety,” Shiori answered. “Now, how about you come over here so I can tell you what it is that you need to know immediately?”

Abby took a moment to look around for anyone else. It seemed that she was all alone here… for now. “Very well,” she said, walking over to the gate leading out of the pig pen, opening it, and then walking right out, making sure to close it right behind her. “Now, what is it you need to tell me, Miss Akamatsu?”

Shiori opened her mouth to speak, but then the thundering of a horse at full gallop was heard headed their way. “I think we need to put this conversation on hold for now,” she said, turning to face the approaching horse and rider. “The approaching person would not like to see me here, especially not dressed as I am.”

Wait, is she going to vanish on me or something? Just when I feel that I’m getting the answers that I need, too… Abby thought. She then shook her head. No need to worry. I have an idea about how to handle this mess.

“Miss Akamatsu,” Abby said, getting the younger girl’s attention. “It might be prudent to talk about this in the silo for now. Are you willing to?”

Shiori blinked a few times, before she nodded. “Lead on,” she said.

Abby nodded, before the two of them headed over to the silo, making sure to avoid the rider that was headed their way. On their way to the silo, however, she couldn’t help but wonder something. How am I going to explain this to Gato and his family? I have no clue.

Finally, the two of them made it to the silo in question. When they saw that the door was barred shut, they looked at each other for a brief second and nodded, before walking to the sides of the door and removing the plank of wood used to bar the doorway.

“That takes care of that,” Shiori said, opening the doorway to the silo and walking inside. “C’mon, we need to talk right away, don’t we?”

Abby nodded, before she walked on in, dragging the plank of wood with her. When she got inside the center of the silo, she placed the plank of wood down, before turning to face Shiori one more time. “Okay, what are you going to tell me, Miss Akamatsu?”

“Right, the thing I need to tell you about,” Shiori said, nodding. “Okay, listen up, senpai. What I’m about to tell you is rather important on all scales.” She then walked over to Abby, getting within her personal space. “I’ll need to whisper it directly into your ear for this to work.”

“Er…” Abby let out, before she sighed. “Okay, very well,” she said. “Make sure that this doesn’t become awkward for anyone who might end up watching this happen, please.” She then turned her head to let Shiori speak to her directly into her left ear.

“Thank you,” Shiori said. With that, she leaned into Abby’s ear, brushed the hair out of the way, and began whispering into it. “You see, your beloved will have to deal with thieves who want to steal his body parts for purposes that don’t work in regards to him, on top of a group of idiots who want to throw the whole world into chaos. Following that, your beloved will need to traverse the Planes as well, heading to a different Prime Material Plane for the purposes of fixing damage that was dealt to the land and its afterlives.”

Abby gasped. “You mean—?”

“Yep,” Shiori said into Abby’s ear. Lowering her tone to that of a whisper, she continued, “Plus, that’s not the only Prime Material Plane that will require such fixing of damage. There are more to work on as soon as can be. Are you ready to hear the rest of it?”

Abby nodded. How bad can it be?

If only she knew.

#

“Mom, Dad, everyone,” Delaz began to say, left eye twitching in the process.

“Yes, Delaz?” the rest of the family asked as one.

“Why is it that you’re all running around like headless chickens?!” he yelled. “Gato said he’d return, did he not?”

“That’s right, he did,” Count Conrad said, interrupting the planned outrage from everyone else in the house. “Could someone please explain why Gato’s that important for the farm’s wellbeing?”

Yeah, that’s something I don’t think anyone knows about, at least among the siblings… Delaz thought, shaking his head. I think only our parents have a clearer understanding of the truth of the matter.

Alexander cleared his throat into his right fist. “It has to do with the fa—”

“No, the family tradition has nothing to do with it,” Count Conrad interrupted. “I told you already, you needed to make it clear to everyone what the truth of that arrangement was before you implemented those ideas you had. This especially includes Gato.”

“But it does have everything to do with the family tradition!” Diana exclaimed, putting herself between Alexander and Count Conrad. “If Gato were born a girl, then Delaz would have been the one to inherit the farm!”

Delaz blinked rapidly for a second. Back up… what was that?! I would have inherited the farm if Gato were a girl instead?!

“Mom, just because you think Gato needs to inherit the farm does not mean that he wants to inherit the farm,” Delaz said out loud. “What sort of person would have the farm inherited if they can’t read or write to save their lives?”

Diana turned to look at Delaz briefly, before she seemed to do the math of it in her head. “I didn’t think that one through, it seems,” she said at long last.

Count Conrad nodded, before he turned his attention to the front door. “I think that there’s someone at the door,” he said.

“I’ll get it,” Delaz offered, walking over to the door.

“No, let the man of the house get it,” Count Conrad said. “In this case, your father should get the door.”

Alexander looked to Count Conrad for a bit, opening his mouth to object, when there was a knock at the door. “I’m coming!” he declared, walking over to the door.

Well, this is odd, Delaz thought as he walked back to be with the rest of the family. What could this be about?

“Hello?” Alexander asked loudly, which Delaz was thankful for. “How can I help you?”

“Good evening, Alexander, son of Perseus,” the person at the door said just as loudly. “Do you have a son named Gato?”

“Yes, I do,” Alexander said. “Why? Is he in trouble?”

“No, not at all,” the person at the door answered. “If he were, then he’d be barred from the tournament in the next thirteen days.”

Wait… did he just say “tournament”? Delaz thought. What sort of tournament?

“What do you mean by that?” Alexander asked. “Gato can’t legally enter a tournament without someone helping him sign up to take part.”

“Someone did help him,” the person at the door replied. “Would you please allow me to enter your house to explain this?”

“Sure, come inside,” Alexander said, before walking back to his family. “This gentleman wishes to explain something to us.”

“We know, honey,” Diana said in as flat a tone as possible. “You were speaking too loud to keep it hidden.”

Yep, you were, Dad, Delaz thought. Honestly, do you not know the meaning of subtlety?

“Oh, right,” Alexander said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Okay, let’s get this over with, shall we?”

Delaz then took a look at the person who entered the house. “Dad, that’s the Alfheimwood Treasurer,” he said. “What’s he doing here?”

The Alfheimwood Treasurer was a man in his mid-thirties, with dark brown hair in a bowl cut, emerald-color eyes, and a goatee for facial hair. He wore a plain red shirt, plain red pants, and leather boots for riding on horseback.

“I’m here as part of my duty to the crown,” the Alfheimwood Treasurer answered. “You see, it has come to the attention of the royal family that the army is in such poor shape, as in more enlisted men than officers able to handle the enlisted men, and they thought to do something about this. Are you following me so far?”

Everyone in the house nodded.

“Good, good,” the Alfheimwood Treasurer said. “Now, this is where things get tricky. Everyone in the country over the age of thirteen has the option to join the tournament to be part of the officer’s corps of the army. As it seems that Gato has the desire to join the army as part of the tournament, the crown is giving him until the deadline to take care of gathering the resources needed for entering the combat tournament.”

Hey, wait a second… Delaz thought. Just how come Gato’s going to be part of the tournament when he hasn’t had any experience with any sort of combat? That makes no sense to me whatsoever…

“Please tell us that you’re joking, good sir,” Diana said, holding her hands together in a pleading fashion. “He’s never been involved in combat to save his life!”

“Wait, hold up,” Alexander said, raising his right hand. “He has been involved in combat, and that was to save the farm from being robbed. Don’t you remember?”

Well… that’s a good point, Delaz thought, nodding at that. Just what’s going to happen next? We all seem to have forgotten the truth of that…

“Dad! Don’t tell us that Gato’s actually qualified for this tournament when he clearly isn’t!” the rest of the children yelled at their father.

“Why would I lie about this?” Alexander asked as he lowered his right hand. “It’s not like he can’t be a soldier at all, right?”

The Alfheimwood Treasurer cleared his throat at that moment. “In any event, for Gato to be eligible to enter the tournament, he’ll need to have some of the qualifying items to allow him to fight properly. He’ll need armor that is fitted to him, as well as a horse to allow him to joust when the time comes. Of course, he will be trained in that method of combat,” he said. “The final thing to keep in mind is he’ll need a weapon for each of the phases of the tournament. For most of the weapons, we’ll be sure to provide temporary ones for him, but he’ll definitely need to pay for a sword and a spear.”

“What about the horse and the armor?” Delaz asked. “How will he get his hands on those for the tournament?”

Everyone else looked at him as if he had grown a second head or something.

Delaz turned to look at the people who were giving him weird looks. “What? Did I say something strange?”

“Well, you seem to have two well-off horses in the stable,” the Alfheimwood Treasurer said. “I’m sure you can get the armor for him from the money in your coffers.”

Count Conrad chose that moment to interject. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” he said. “There’s only one horse on the property, and it’s not theirs.”

“Besides which,” Delaz added, “the family coffers are so low right now. Care to look to see how poor we actually are?”

The Alfheimwood Treasurer looked at Count Conrad first, then at Delaz, before he sighed. “Very well, I’ll take a look at the coffers,” he said. “Although, I do have to ask which horse is not the family horse, in this case.”

Alexander cleared his throat. “About that…” he said. “We don’t own horses in our stable. We own donkeys and cattle instead.”

“Then whose horses are in the stable right now?” the Alfheimwood Treasurer asked. “There are two of them right now.”

“One horse is mine,” Count Conrad said, raising his hand. “I’m Count Conrad Engleson of Lavendash. Pleased to meet you.”

“Er… pleased to meet you, too,” the Alfheimwood Treasurer replied. “After I look at the coffers, I’ll have to ask that you show me your horse.”

“I’ll be more than happy to do so,” Count Conrad said. “Now, with that out of the way, you have some investigating to do, don’t you?”

“Oh, right, I do,” the Alfheimwood Treasurer said, walking further into the house. “Could someone please show me the coffers on the property?”

Diana nodded, saying, “I’ll help you out, mister Treasurer.”

As the two of them walked over to the coffers, Count Conrad walked over to the doorway.

What’s he up to this time? Delaz thought.

“Count Conrad?” Alexander asked. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m going to look into whose horse is in the stable with mine,” Count Conrad answered. “There’s no way that a second horse could be here when I know for a fact that you can’t afford to have a horse.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Alexander said. “I wish we could find out who owns that second horse, if there’s really one in the stable.”

“I’ll make sure that everyone is satisfied with the answer,” Count Conrad said, before he walked over to the stable.

“Of all the possible times for Gato to be gone, though,” Delaz said a few seconds later, “it had to be now? Why couldn’t we have waited for him to hear the news before sending him out for that errand from the Count?”

“Well, it’s because we don’t have a choice,” Alexander said. “How else are we supposed to have him mature?”

Well… Delaz thought. You have a point, there.

#

Gato swung hard at the last of the Dire Wolves, taking its head off in the process. Whew… that was close! He thought, even as he noticed that the wolves evaporated in the blink of an eye. Wait, what gives?

[You have gained 10,150 XP and 100,000 Cash Points for defeating all the Dire Wolves!]

[You have Leveled Up! Your maximum Hit Points and assorted Supernatural Energies have gone up in number and recovered in full! You have gained 10 Stat Points!]

“Could you please explain the nature of why the Dire Wolves don’t have their corpses here any longer?” Gato asked out loud.

[Oh, right, forgot to tell you about that… my apologies.]

“What do you mean, you forgot to tell me about that?”

[Simply put, any time you kill a monster or a non-important person in the span of this adventure you’re on, they’ll dissolve into fresh loot.]

“Loot? What sort of loot are you even talking about?” Gato asked.

[For the sake of simplicity, the loot will be where you killed the last monster of this encounter. That is to say, it’s right in front of you.]

Gato looked at where the last of the Dire Wolves was slain before he felt his eyes widen in shock. “What the…?! What’s with all this jerky?!”

Indeed, where the last of the Dire Wolves had fallen, there was a large pile of jerky, which he didn’t know what the meat was that formed the strips.

Do I need to taste test the jerky? No, for all I know, that would be a disaster for me. I’d better analyze a strip of jerky.

He picked up a strip of jerky, before he said, “Analyze.”

[Dire Wolf Jerky (A)

About as good a quality of any sort of Jerky you can get in the marketplace, this Jerky comes from a Dire Wolf, and thus grants special bonuses based on potency.]

Gato blinked in surprise when he read that description. “What’s with the capital letter A in parentheses?” he asked.

[That’s the level of quality for consumable items. In order of greatest potency to worst potency:

SSS Level

SS Level

S Level

A Level

B Level

C Level

D Level

E Level

F Level

G Level

H Level

I Level]

Gato nodded. “Okay, I see what you mean,” he said. “So, what sort of benefits should I expect of eating Dire Wolf Jerky?”

[Well… let me be honest with you. Dire Wolf Jerky can be eaten plain, but it can also provide great boosts when you get to mix it with other things that you eat.]

“That doesn’t inspire confidence in me, I’m afraid…” Gato snarked.

[I’m trying to explain what this means in a way that you can understand… now, here’s the explanation. On its own, the benefits of Dire Wolf Jerky are minimal. Depending on the quality level, it can range anywhere from +12 stat points to be allocated to a whopping +20 stat points to be allocated, but only if you allocate them within an hour of eating any of the Jerky. However, if you cook a meal to go with the Jerky, then you can expect anywhere between two and thirteen times the amount of stat points per level of quality, and the point gain is completely permanent!]

Gato’s eyes bugged out when he read that. “Are you kidding me?!” he demanded. “That’s something I never would have thought possible until you brought it up now!”

[Please let me explain one other thing for your sake.]

“I’m listening… err, reading, that is,” Gato said.

[Dire Wolf Jerky only goes from S Level at best to D Level at worst. In fact, if you were to find other food item drops from monsters that you fight, the range will easily be different based on the monster you fight to kill. For instance, if you were to fight M’thr’ln as an enemy, then you’d be getting food based on a dragon of his caliber at a range of I Level to E Level, on top of the scales that would be less worthwhile than you’d like for this.]

Gato nodded at what he read. “Okay, that makes sense,” he said. “Let’s see what I can do with this now.” He was about to pop the Dire Wolf Jerky that was in his hand straight into his mouth and eat it, but then he realized something. “Status.”

Gato, son of Alexander Level 6

Current Experience Point Total

55,000

Total Experience Points To Next Level

36,000

Current Hit Points

3,960

Maximum Hit Points

3,960

Current Magic Points

2,400

Maximum Magic Points

2,400

Strength

25

-

0

+

Dexterity

25

-

0

+

Agility

11

-

0

+

Constitution

22

-

0

+

Intelligence

20

-

0

+

Wisdom

15

-

0

+

Power

10

-

0

+

Willpower

10

-

0

+

Perception

10

-

0

+

Spirit

10

-

0

+

Charisma

10

-

0

+

Luck

22

-

0

+

Stat Points

10

Cash Points

300,000

Gato nodded to himself. “Okay, that works so far,” he said. “Now, let’s see what I can get out of these pieces of Dire Wolf Jerky…” He then popped the Jerky into his mouth and began chewing it well. Upon swallowing the Jerkey…

[You have gained 18 Stat Points!]

Gato’s mind began racing when he saw the new notification. How much Dire Wolf Jerky am I supposed to eat in the first place before I lose the Stat Points?

[Good question. There’s a stack of five strips of Jerky before you start losing the Stat Points within an hour of time. Please keep this in mind so that you don’t lose any of your gains.]

Gato nodded, before he looked at the Status Menu again.

Gato, son of Alexander Level 6

Current Experience Point Total

55,000

Total Experience Points To Next Level

36,000

Current Hit Points

3,960

Maximum Hit Points

3,960

Current Magic Points

2,400

Maximum Magic Points

2,400

Strength

25

-

0

+

Dexterity

25

-

0

+

Agility

11

-

0

+

Constitution

22

-

0

+

Intelligence

20

-

0

+

Wisdom

15

-

0

+

Power

10

-

0

+

Willpower

10

-

0

+

Perception

10

-

0

+

Spirit

10

-

0

+

Charisma

10

-

0

+

Luck

22

-

0

+

Stat Points

28

Cash Points

300,000

I’d better look into the potential stat growth for this part of my life, he thought. What happens if I put all 28 of my current Stat Points into my Luck stat?

Gato, son of Alexander Level 6

Current Experience Point Total

55,000

Total Experience Points To Next Level

36,000

Current Hit Points

3,960

Maximum Hit Points

3,960

Current Magic Points

2,400

Maximum Magic Points

2,400

Strength

25

-

0

+

Dexterity

25

-

0

+

Agility

11

-

0

+

Constitution

22

-

0

+

Intelligence

20

-

0

+

Wisdom

15

-

0

+

Power

10

-

0

+

Willpower

10

-

0

+

Perception

10

-

0

+

Spirit

10

-

0

+

Charisma

10

-

0

+

Luck

22

-

28

+

Stat Points

0

Cash Points

300,000

[Do you wish to confirm this allocation of stat points?

Y/N]

I might as well, yes, Gato thought as he pressed the Yes button.

Gato, son of Alexander Level 6

Current Experience Point Total

55,000

Total Experience Points To Next Level

36,000

Current Hit Points

3,960

Maximum Hit Points

3,960

Current Magic Points

2,400

Maximum Magic Points

2,400

Strength

25

-

0

+

Dexterity

25

-

0

+

Agility

11

-

0

+

Constitution

22

-

0

+

Intelligence

20

-

0

+

Wisdom

15

-

0

+

Power

10

-

0

+

Willpower

10

-

0

+

Perception

10

-

0

+

Spirit

10

-

0

+

Charisma

10

-

0

+

Luck

50

-

0

+

Stat Points

0

Cash Points

300,000

Gato nodded, a smirk forming on his face. Well, that’s what I call a proper bonus, he thought.

[Don’t you think you should be heading home with the loot that you acquired right now?]

Oh, SNAP!! Gato thought. Thanks for reminding me about that… I really needed it.

With that, he gathered the rest of the drops and put them in his inventory, making sure to put everything where it needed to go to.

Gato, Son of Alexander’s Inventory Screen

Head: N/A

Neck: Black and Blue Plaid Tartan

Right Shoulder: N/A | Torso: Rainbow Plaid Tunic | Left Shoulder: N/A

Right Arm: N/A | Left Arm: N/A

Right Hand: Steel Longsword | Left Hand: N/A

Leggings: Rainbow Plaid Pants

Footwear: Peasant Shoes

Letter From Duke Antonio Elric

Bag of M’thr’ln’s Dragon Scales

19 A Level Strips of Dire Wolf Jerky

20 B Level Strips of Dire Wolf Jerky

20 S Level Strips of Dire Wolf Jerky

20 C Level Strips of Dire Wolf Jerky

20 D Level Strips of Dire Wolf Jerky

<

Page 1

>

Now I have to hoof it! Gato thought, even as he closed all his menus and began the race home.

Now, then… what next on this trek to his home on Terra?