Chapter 1: I Have a Name, You Know...

Sunlight spread out in all directions and covered the entirety of an ancient, abandoned townscape. The leaves of overgrown trees and shrubbery swayed gently in accordance to the wind’s blowing. The buildings of this town had long since collapsed with the passage of time and were covered with clumps of moss. With the way this area is usually described, one would expect a silence and peace. This illusion is destroyed as soon as one enters the surrounding area as the sounds of battle and the noise of metal against metal is close to omnipresent.

It is a well-known fact that this abandoned townscape is home to a massive collection of goblins and other creatures that pose a threat to common people. Goblins are known to abduct women and reproduce at a terrifying rate while the existence of giant boas and wild dogs are an ever present threat to livestock and townsmen. Although tusk boars are usually docile, some will display violent behavior upon its territory being intruded on.

The situation is quite bad but humanity has always found a way to make the best of a bad situation and decided to take advantage of these monster populations by creating the town of Aharne nearby. This town houses an Adventurer’s Guild and is the reason for the sounds of battle that occur on a daily basis.

*CLANG!*

Within a clearing located in the outskirts of the forest near the abandoned townscape, three figures are locked in a heated battle.

*CLANG! CLANG!*

A figure wearing what looked like beginner equipment was now facing off against two goblins. His strikes were still clumsy, but signs of practice were shown on his stance and footwork. His black hair glistened within the sunlight and the simple cloth shirt and leather armor he wore showed numerous cuts and had dirt all over. His breathing was ragged and if his appearance could be described in one word, it’d be pitiful.

The black-haired young man stepped back to avoid a swipe from a goblin’s dagger and barely blocked an attack from the other green-skinned menace. Using the force of the strike, the young man propelled himself backwards, retreating from the duo.

‘Seriously… How did this happen…’ The young man who looked even more rugged than before thought this and looked towards the two dagger-wielding goblins, letting loose a deep breath. Looking towards the bright afternoon sun, he straightened his stance and engaged in battle once more.

-\o/-

A few hours ago…

Dust’s POV:

“Hey, kid… Are you seriously ordering me around?” Hank gives me an annoyed glare and begins walking towards me after standing up from his seat. I scratch my head, giving him a troubled look and sighing mentally.

“Look… the innkeeper asked me to look over the inn since he’ll be gone for a while and he strictly said that fighting is forbidden within his place…” By now, he was already standing in front of me. He laughs condescendingly and I can see the disdain in the lips of his friends behind him.

The innkeeper was a good friend of my father and had asked me to look after his inn while he took care of some business. Hank and his two friends usually went around harassing women and those of a lower position even though they were grown men. With an adventurer ranking of E though, no one in the town could stand against them. Even if an individual stronger than the three appeared, people like these rarely interfere in the business of others.

“What? Just because you finally gained your adventurer’s license you think you can stand up to me now? You’re still rank H, the bottom of the barrel. You better apologize or else…”

Hank continued to prattle on while I looked towards the person he started a fight with. This person wore a cloak with her hood down, looking at her even from a distance, I could already tell that she was unbelievably beautiful. Midnight black hair with a brilliant luster cascaded down her back like a waterfall while her creamy white skin gave off an indescribable radiance. Her deep blue eyes gave off a cold feeling… A cold feeling that was directed towards me.

Hey, what’d I do? I just helped you, you know.

“Kid! You listening? Don’t get any ideas, the girl’s mine!”

The beautiful girl’s stare which was already cold before, became even colder and now had both me and Hank enveloped in an intimidating atmosphere. Seriously!? What did I do to earn that look from you!?

I gave her a troubled look and turned my attention towards Hank. “You’re making too much of a commotion, the other patrons are becoming uncomfortable.”

“DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A DAMN!?” Hank shouts loudly and puts his hand on the hilt of his sword.

I felt cold sweat on my back but my expression remained impassive, “I’m going to have to ask you to leave….” I start but Hank interrupts, “Shut up! Listen here kid, I’ll give you two choices. You can either get down on the floor right now and beg for mercy or participate in a bet with me!” I give a mental sigh of relief at the sword he chose to keep sheathed.

“Is there really no other way for you to let this go?” Hank snorts at my question and points towards my face, “No other way! Beg or make a bet with me!”

I sigh and give him a look, “Fine, what is the bet about, and what are the stakes?”

“There’ll be a goblin hunt in a few hours hosted by the Adventure’s Guild and whoever kills the most goblins with goblin ears as proof will receive a generous sum of money. They said the event would last for a day and that the ears must be turned in by the afternoon tomorrow! Now, if I win, you’ll be serving as my assistant and meat-shield in the next dungeon run my team and I will enter.”

‘This is bad… I can see where this is going already…’ I frowned at his stakes and asked,

“What do I get if I win?” Hank smirks and the overwhelming amount of confidence he had wasn’t concealed a single bit. “You’ll get all my magical items, my enchanted sword, and my magic-resistant coat, simple as that. You up for it kid!?” He smiles wider and spreads his arms outward in an arrogant manner.

I start walking out, intending to leave the inn, “I have a name, you know.” I look back at his smug face and give him a blank stare.

“Oh? I’ve honestly forgotten at this point. Come on, tell me then!” His grin grew wider. At this moment, even the beautiful girl behind him showed some curiosity.

“My name’s Dust!” I say this as I begin walking once again and head for the abandoned township, mentally sighing at how tiring this day suddenly became.

-\o/-

The present…

‘Seriously… How did this happen…’ Dust straightened his stance and lunged towards the thinner— weaker looking goblin and stabbed towards its abdomen. The goblin was caught off guard but was still able to sidestep, getting away with only a not too deep wound on its side. The other goblin at the side however, did not simply idle by and was already mid sprint, aiming it’s dagger at Dust’s back.

If this attack was done at the beginning of the day, when Dust had no experience fighting against two enemies at the same time, perhaps the fatal attack would have succeeded and claimed his life.

But now… A kick was headed towards the sprinting goblin’s face! This was not Dust’s first battle against goblins today as evident by his ruined equipment… He had fought two battles against goblins before this and had already somewhat grown used to their crude attacks and simplistic tactics!

The kick connected with the goblin’s face and sent it tumbling backwards while Dust… lost his balance, ‘Shit! I’m still not experienced enough in fighting to stay upright after landing a kick like that!’ He fell and quickly scrambled back up, wildly swinging his sword at the first goblin he slashed at moments ago. Luckily, a hit landed on the goblin’s arm and leg, making it screech in pain and fall on its behind. It fell down, dazed and Dust punched it right in the face.

The punch easily sent the goblin with the physique of a child tumbling away for two meters, it finished rolling and didn’t get back up. Dust tore his eyes away from the collapsed goblin and looked back just in time to deflect a strike from the other goblin’s dagger, the force of the strike from that goblin’s jumping attack made Dust retreat back two steps.

Looking at this tired goblin, Dust smiled widely and ran forward, accelerating like a bullet towards the goblin that did the same. Suddenly, Dust stopped in his tracks and jumped backwards! The goblin was surprised and the slight stall in its movements within that short moment gave enough time for Dust to pick up some dirt and hurl it towards the green-skin’s face! The goblin was blinded and madly rubbed it’s eyes, Dust took this moment to run forward and used his momentum to slice at the goblin’s neck, beheading the foe that caused him no shortage of difficulty.

Dust raised his arms up and gave a triumphant cry, he drank water from his small container and proceeded to finish off the goblin he knocked out with a punch with a clean slice to the neck. He collected two of the ears from each goblin and put them in his pouch, the ears he had now numbering ten.

Feeling content, Dust sat down with a small puff and started cleaning the darker-than-normal blood off his sword. He sat there, pondering about his next move, not too optimistic about his current pace. His mood that proceeded to get darker and darker was interrupted by a loud crash.

A tree at the edge of the clearing collapsed and out came a gigantic tusk boar with a height of two meters and a length of five. This boar was followed by…

…A stunningly beautiful black-haired girl. The cloak she wore danced around her figure, occasionally revealing some glances at her exquisite body that was wearing what looked like expensive leather armor with beautiful designs engraved on its surface. The sword she used had numerous runes in the middle that glowed a dull blue.

Dust looked at her and he instantly recognized her stunning figure, ‘It’s her!’ He thought to himself in pleasant surprise. He didn’t have enough time to think anymore though, the girl evaded the boar’s charge with movements that flowed like water and the boar… It was headed straight at Dust!

To be continued…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author’s Note:

Alright! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter because I worked pretty hard on it. This is the first story I’ve written and decided to take seriously and I hope for some good constructive criticism from you all. I’ll try to post one chapter a day and try to keep the grammar and quality consistent throughout the story. Again, please review and let me know your thoughts!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------