The sun had just passed over its highest point as sir Deltris, the third knight of the royal guard, rode on the back of Palmlack, the kingdom’s finest horse.

The white war stallion’s graceful movements made the long ride to Fernsdale all the more bearable. Unlike the common horses of the kingdom, on which his fellow subordinates were currently mounted, his stallion was seconded only by the king’s. No horse could run farther. None could ride faster. And none carried as much as Palmlack.

Currently he wore his mail coat underneath a dyed linen garb bearing the kingdom’s crest. On top of the mail he wore his pauldrons covering his shoulders, vambraces and gauntlets on his arms, and some simple iron greaves over his shins and calves. Leather straps went over everything to keep it all in place and allowed for the attachment of the rest of his armor should he need it. Right now, it supported a circular wood and iron shield on his back. At his side was a thin bladed rapier with an ornate handle. And currently Palmlack supported everything with ease.

His squire, Ferny, currently shepherded his breastplate, poleyns, and the rest of his metal armor in several packs on another horse while he walked beside it. The poor beast with less size than Palmlack and was struggling without the weight of a rider. That just went to show how much better Palmlack was than the other horses. For that, Sir Deltris was truly grateful.

Just to make sure, he glanced back at the rest of his convoy.

Three wagons and one carriage tumbled slowly down the dirt path. Four brown horses, better than the average horse but not quite as good as Palmlack, pulled the carriage. The wagons were each driven by a pair of oxen. And around the convoy, sixteen soldiers dressed identically were patrolling. Everything seemed well and they were making good time.

The reason for all this security was the special cargo they were escorting. And they needed to keep it safe. As the lead of the convoy, Deltris returned his attention to the front, scouting the path ahead with a demeanor fit for a prideful knight such as himself.

After hours of walking and traversing the land, he noticed his young apprentice fiddling with a curious contraption. He just had to ask.

“Ferny, do tell. What strange new toy have you procured this time?”

Ferny smiled with delight. This wasn’t the first time he had bought a new object on his travels. Most of the time they were harmless, but sometimes the young squire had a dangerous eye for weapons. Sir Deltris had to make sure.

“The merchant at the port called it a flintlock, I believe.” Ferney scratched the back of his head like he knew he was going to get in trouble. Deltris glared at him knowingly which caused Ferney to immediately apologize. “I apologize sir, it’s a weapon.”

Deltris sighed. “Ferney, what have I told you about buying weapons without my expressed permission.”

“Pardon me, sir.”

“So long as it’s not one of those ‘black-power’ weapons, I will not let it disturb my countenance. You know what happened the last time you fiddled with black-power. I implore you to never use that which is dangerous.”

Ferny was about to say something else, but wisely thought better of it and hid the flintlock in his personal carry bag.

Deltris decided to calculate the traveling the rest of them would have to do for the day. Measuring the distance of the sun, they had about five hours left of sunlight, and the town of Fernsdale was only three or so hours away. They had plenty of time. Unfortunately, that was when an unexpected figure wandered out into the middle of the road some distance away.

He frowned and called his apprentice. “Ferney, get back. We might have trouble.”

He signalled to the rest of his convoy to stop, then quickly dismounted his own steed.

He started to walk out toward the figure to greet him, when he noticed something and drew his rapier.

“Woah there!” He pointed his sword at the boy and immediately stopped his approach.

At this distance he could make out the boy's features clearly. He had short, well trimmed blond hair, bright blue eyes. His skin was pale, like that of nobility. But what stood out to Deltris most was the blood. What remained of his clothing was stained with it. Except for his shoes. Those seemed to be brand new and lacked even a smudge of dirt.

“Hello...” The boy said awkwardly. “My name’s Zach. Nice to meet yah.”

[Several Hours Earlier]

Zach stumbled out of the dungeon, backing a good distance away and watching for any monsters that decided to escape as it collapsed.

The fissure in reality was still suspended and emitting its extremely annoyingly delicious scent. It made him long for a full course meal just so he could have the deserts at the end.

He readied his dagger and prepared another stone when he saw a Zerean wolf appear. Zach waited until it completely stepped out into the sunlight, into this world, for when he released a stone.

It dropped immediately in a cloud of dust.

[Defeated: Zerean Wolf (level 4)]

Good. Now, when the dungeon closes, he could still get the teeth. He might even have time to skin it for its fur hide. He needed something new to wear. He started to congratulate himself when he briefly realized his own thinking had done a complete 180 since he went into the dungeon.

Skin. The. Wolf.

Only several hours ago, he had trouble butchering a duck to eat. Now, he was greedily awaiting a ferocious beast to extract its teeth and harvest its fur. The whole work was bound to be gory. So why were his hands so steady?

It had to be the level up rewards. Every time he did, his body was covered in light and everything was replenished. Even his racing heart was calmed, each and every time. Perhaps it was doing something else to him as well.

Or it was probably because he couldn’t feel pain and so he had no negative stimulus to avoid. He didn’t feel any pain from his injuries or soreness from all the acrobatics he had just performed.

He checked the timer again. About an hour and a half was left.

He could have looked around for treasures and rewards, but it was much safer to face enemies coming from a predictable narrow opening like the dungeon entrance.

[Level up: full body recovery, +1 to all stats]

After an hour and a half had elapsed, Zach earned only one level from his camping strategy. Compared to the fourteen Zerean Wolves he had to kill in order to reach this, he was mildly disappointed. The myriad of wounds over his body were healed, at the very least.

Either the experience curve was getting steeper with his level, or there was an experience bonus inside the dungeon. Or maybe it was because he had adopted the camping strategy in the first place. He had to admit, he wasn't learning much about fighting when all it took was a single use of [Stones Throw] to end a fight.

The number of wolves coming out of the dungeon also puzzled him. They came out in steady waves of one or two. In order to keep the bodies from piling up and blocking the exit, Zach had to move them off to the side in between encounters.

Moving the large beasts would have been a chore as well, but they were surprisingly easy to lift. He assumed that was because of his stat gains from leveling up. A pile of wolf carcasses steadily grew in height.

Another disappointing discovery he had made was that he couldn't just put the entire wolf carcasses into his inventory. That would have made everything so much easier.

With the dungeon closing soon, he decided to run a quick experiment. Bracing himself, he cut off pieces of a wolf carcass and put them in his inventory. He cut off paws, fangs, ears, and the tail and successfully transferred them to his inventory. But the rest of the wolf still didn't register with the system. Finally, when he cut off the head and the legs did it finally allow him to transfer all the wolf pieces to his inventory.

He expected himself to feel sick after the morbid task, but all he felt was… hungry? Thinking about roasting all that wolf meat over a fire and eating it was more appetizing than eating a Picante Fruit. Maybe if he had enough time, he could try some…

Yet another wolf stepped through the dungeon entrance. He killed it easily with a single rock and added its body to the pile. Including the one in his inventory, he had killed fifteen now.

The approach of another beast snapped him back to attention. He readied another rock and checked the timer once again.

[00:10:41]

[00:10:40]

[00:10:39]

The snout of an enormous beast poked through the fissure. He unleashed a powerful [Stones Throw] and the fissure erupted in a cloud of dust.

But the wolf continued through, seemingly without injury!

Only now did he realize the height difference of this beast compared to the previous wolves. The unmistakable black fur and the soft orange glow surrounding its fangs was that of the werewolf.

‘Oh. Damn.’

He knew he should have finished off that werewolf guy when he had found him unconscious. What was his name… Elmar- something.

But that didn’t matter now. He couldn’t even defeat the werewolf when he had the advantage of a stone obelisk as cover. Even though he had leveled up, he doubted that would make much of a difference.

Right on cue, the werewolf shot him a predatory glare. Though there had been intelligence when he first met… Elmarud, that was his name, his mind had been overtaken by the beast he had become.

The werewolf walked through the fissure on all fours since, if he stood up, he wouldn’t fit. Then he sunk his claws into the grass of the clearing.

Zach noticed a subtle shift in the werewolf’s posture and a subtle orange glow encased its body. It was the tell tale sign of a monster preparing an attack. The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up and he followed his body’s instincts to dodge right.

The werewolf charged him at an unbelievable speed, huge orange claws tearing through the grass and into the soil where he had been standing. The werewolf charged past Zach, out of reach of his flint dagger.

A second sooner, and that pitiful crater could have been him. He would have to rethink his strategy. Obviously, he would have low odds defeating the werewolf out in the open like this. Even in the dungeon, when he was using the obelisk as cover, all he could do was dodge.

He grimly set his jaw and looked back over his spoils. The fifteen wolf carcasses lay in a great heap, still with fangs of unknown value in them. He would have to leave them behind.

The werewolf turned to face him, but he was already making a dash toward the opposite treeline.

Just as he neared a large tree with white bark, the skin on the back of his neck prickled again. He kicked off the tree in a new direction perpendicular to his original trajectory. There was an explosion and the sound of wood splitting as the werewolf bulldozed through the tree.

Zach chanced a look backward and noted happily that the werewolf was temporarily dazed and had wood chips in its teeth. The tree was also falling into the clearing on a splintered trunk.

Without breaking stride, Zach headed toward an even larger tree, hoping to lead the werewolf into another one. After all, he had played chase around the tower without changing tactics. This time, he would use {Input fire} on his dagger to damage a leg. Then he would use that time to get away.

He briefly recalled that his mana had nearly completely recovered in the last two hours since he exited the dungeon. So he would be good on the mana front for a while yet. He would also have to watch his stamina, though it recovered quicker than his mana.

Right on time, the werewolf charged at him when he neared the largest and thickest tree in the area. He kicked off its trunk, dodging a furious werewolf as it slammed into the tree.

Boom!

Splinters and dust shot everywhere and nearly got in his eyes as he spun around and ran toward a dazed wolf. It was even more disoriented this time since the tree was so thick.

With four quick but powerful motions, Zach swung a fire infused dagger into each of the werewolf’s massive limbs at points that would be needed for running and chasing.

The werewolf roared and tried to swipe at him, but Zach was already gone, sprinting as fast as he could downwind as possible.

After about thirty minutes of running, changing directions and running again, Zach finally stopped to catch his breath.

“Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!” he cursed.

He had spent hours dealing with that dungeon. And all of it had been wasted right at the end. Just because he couldn’t kill the stupid boss monster, the werewolf Elmarud. How much had he lost.

He gripped his stomach as it growled. Then he gritted his teeth, pushing himself to continue walking even though he hadn’t caught his breath.

Even though he didn’t feel physical pain, apparently he could feel exhaustion, hunger, and disappointment. Yes. That’s what it is. Disappointment. He had lost nearly everything.

How much were those wolf bodies worth. He had left fourteen of them behind not even bothering to extract the most valuable parts. All he had to do was cut the head off of each in order to collect the entire body. The system had even given him infinite, weightless storage space for the endeavor.

He was a total loser making noob mistakes. Damn it!

He slammed a fist into a nearby tree, leaving a sizable depression. No pain.

He couldn’t believe himself. Even if he couldn’t defeat the beast in a fight, he definitely had his chance to finish it off when it collapsed back in the dungeon. But for some reason, he couldn’t. And now he would pay for his mistake with the loss of a sizable, although still unknown, fortune.

He continued a brisk pace through the forest until he came across a river.

Well there was no helping it. He couldn’t defeat the werewolf in a one-on-one fight, especially out in the open. Escaping was his only chance. He cupped his hands and drank water from the river.

The water seemed to sharpen his senses. He could hear the rustle of leaves and grasses, the gurgle of water, and the song of a finch. He could see the blue of the sky, the first rays of afternoon sunlight, and the slopes of the forest floor. He could feel the brush of the wind and the savagery of his growing hunger ever clearer.

This is no time to eat. He needed to think.

What did he earn from the dungeon? He cursed himself for forgetting the dungeon rewards. He pulled up his window, scanning through his stats, his stamina was slowly recovering, and then flipped to the quests page.

[Quests:]

[Daily Quests:]

- {Running For Fun: Completed}

- {Duck Hunting: Completed}

[Main Quests:]

- {Defender (1): Completed. Collect rewards}

- {Defender (2): …...}

Well it looks like he completed the [Running for Fun] quest when he had cowardly fled from the werewolf Elmarud. Gritting his teeth and ignoring the thoughts of frustration, he quickly confirmed that he had gained two points in [Litheness] as a reward.

Well that was good.

Then he moved on to his main quest, [Defender]. He opened the prompt and clicked yes to collect his boots. When they didn’t immediately appear in the air, he went to his inventory. There they were, [Hero’s Boots], sitting in a slot farther down. His inventory was getting kind of messy. There were tree branches, rocks of differing sizes, and the wolf remains he had previously acquired, and all of needed to be organized. He imagined bitterly all the other slots he could have filled with the other fourteen werewolf corpses.

He summoned the boots in front of him and dismissed the inventory window with a wave. The boots appeared in a shimmer of blue light suspended at chest level. He grabbed them out of the air and examined them.

They were hiking boots. They were of modern design, and chocolate brown. They were exactly like what you could find in a sporting goods store. In fact, he was sure the head football coach usually wore them. Curious, he looked at the tongue and immediately found a tag denoting his exact shoe size.

He scratched his head in utter confusion. ‘What the heck kind of game is this?! Is it a game at all?! If it is, it’s one of the crappiest ever designed. The player wakes up in the middle of nowhere, has to run around making their own tools and weapons and having to fight an impossible fight right off the bat. What the hell! At least provide an instruction manual like DnD.’

He looked down at his mud and blood stained feet and the useless, paper-thin leaf sandals he wore. Tch. He reached down and tore the leaves right off his feet. He didn’t even know how they had managed to stay on this entire time. Anyway, it was in the trash can with them.

He threw the sandals at a nearby bush then looked back down at his still dirty feet. Gotta do something about this. He was already dirty enough. He replaced the [Hero’s Boots], more like just hiking boots, in his inventory, then waded into the river.

It was cold, but not freezing cold. It still didn’t help Zach to calm down his mood. He washed as much grime off his body and his clothes as he could, taking extra time to clean his feet, then crossed to the other side of the river.

He let his feet air dry, then resummoned and slipped into the boots. They were the kind of boots you could fasten all the way up and around your ankle with the long laces. After doing so, he started walking again. With the werewolf in his tale, he didn’t have time to stop for very long, he decided. No eating until he found a village or something.

Fortunately for him, he came across a wide path of dirt and trampled brush. It was far too wide and too level to be natural.

“Now which way?”, he growled to himself.

He pondered for a little while, then decided, fifty-fifty, lets go right.

Zach had been walking and running for half an hour, testing the limits of his stamina stat. As far as he could tell, he wasn’t gaining any new points in the stat. This meant that he could only raise it by leveling up, not by depleting it or using it.

Crappy game, if he could call it that. It didn’t even reward him for traveling. For the hundredth time that day, and it was only a little past noon, he wished he had killed the werewolf when he had the chance. He could just imagine all the experience that it would have dropped. Not to mention all the wolf fangs.

After a while he stopped running altogether. The hunger was getting to him.

Thankfully, his raging thoughts were broken by the sound of hooves on dirt and cobblestone. It was such a stark difference from the sounds of the forest, the joy he felt almost brought him out of his stupor.

Knights?

They all seemed to be lightly armored, carrying spears and sheathed swords, and walking alongside horses, except for one riding a huge, brilliant white horse. That one was probably the head knight. The knights surrounded three wagons and a carriage, probably protecting it from monsters or something.

Zach was still in a foul mood, but he waved to the convoy all the same. Hopefully they could answer some questions for him and point him in the direction of the nearest town. Maybe they even had food.

The head knight dismounted from the white horse. He looked him over as Zach approached with his hand still waving in the air.

He didn’t know what kind of reaction he expected from the knight. Perhaps a ‘can I help you’ would have sufficed. Instead the knight drew his sword on Zach.

“Woah there!” He pointed a well made rapier at him.

For some reason, Zach didn’t immediately see the sword as a danger. A pleasant aroma, like that of a blueberry muffin, now wafted from the company. His stomach growled. His fist clenched and he prepared to fight, but he caught himself.

Maybe it was his culture. Being raised in the twentieth century had desensitised him to weapons other than guns and knives. No, he was most likely just hungry and tired. Although, the second was harder to tell because he couldn’t feel pain or discomfort.

The knight stopped approaching him. Zach kept walking, however, and tried to project friendly vibes. Why was the knight acting so hostile anyway?

“Hello...” He said awkwardly. “My name’s Zach. Nice to meet yah.”

“Stop right there I said!” The head knight roared. His rapier blade caught the light.

Zach stopped his approach. If he had a smile on his face before, it dropped easily. It had been a long day for him, but he wouldn’t let his anger run rampant. Not yet at least.

Lowering his voice a little, Zach spoke to the head kight, “Sorry, I mean you no harm. I’m just new to this world and I am looking for the nearest town. Actually, I was looking for anyone for that matter.”

“Did I ask for an explanation?!” The knight shouted at him causing Zach to frown. His Rapier flashed dangerously in the sun. “But since you generously told me anyway, I’ll let you know the nearest town is in that direction.”

Zach groaned and mumbled to himself, “Great, so it was left. Not right.”

“Do not talk over me, boy. That is the direction we are going. Since we are escorting this cargo, we cannot let anyone travel after us. You will have to spend the night here or travel to Kosk sixty miles that direction. We cannot have you following after us.” Zach’s expression crumpled more and more at the tone of the head knight. “But first, what is it you actually want.”

Zach glared at the knight but obliged. Meanwhile, the smell of a delicious muffin wore his patience. “I told you. I am just looking for the nearest town or for someone to answer my questions. You are the first person I’ve seen here.”

The knight returned Zach’s glare after sizing him up. “Nonsense. You are probably a thief, looking for an easy traveler to ambush and rob.” Zach rolled his eyes. “If not that, then a beggar. You have clearly modified your appearance to look more pitiful.”

Modified my appearance?

Finally he just couldn’t take it. “Now listen here you stupid medieval knight! I have been lost in the wilderness for two days already! I am hungry, tired, probably wounded, it’s hard to tell sometimes. Oh yeah! And I’m being chased by a bloodthirsty werewolf for breaking his stone pillar! My appearance is because of the rest of the monsters I ran into in the dungeon, and stupid me, didn’t kill all of them. Now that abomination is running around, dungeons are opening, and you want to accuse me of being a beggar?!” The knight’s eyes widened and he took a step back. He continued. “So here’s what is going to happen. I’m going to walk behind you,” that same delicious smell of a blueberry muffin filled Zach’s nostrils, “and I want some food or something! Like I said, I am starving.”

The knight must have realised he was gawking at Zach because he quickly rearranged his face into an acceptable frown, though, not nearly as cross of a frown as Zach’s. With one more flash, the rapier disappeared back into its sheath.

“Stay here while I consult with my subordinates.”

Ah, so he was the head of this operation. The cocky knight shuffled back to the rest of the knights who had also drawn weapons. The seething Zack took this time to calm down and look at the rest of the convoy. There were more knights, wearing similar, but not as fancy, light armor and red capes. They each had a horse with bags of supplies. Right now, they stood between Zack and a lime-green carriage.

Seriously. Zach crossed his arms and waited. Thankfully, a boy about his age who introduced himself as Ferney, came out from the wall of metal with some strips of jerky. He seemed to be the only one who wasn’t a knight.

Yes! Food!

He would have to apologize to them later. He wasn't usually this way. But his ravenous hunger and the smell of the muffin definitely lowered his inhibitions. Actually, where did that smell come from? It was gone now, but he was sure he had smelled something.

Great. Now he was going insane.

Thankfully the taste of Ferney’s salted jerky took the edge off his hunger... and his mood.

Out of respect for their privacy, he stood a fair distance away from the convoy, letting them come over to him while he sat on a fallen tree. Huh. Why were some of the guards looking at him strangely? Even Ferney seemed a little bit nervous around him.

“Hey, Ferney.” Zach said in between bites.

“Eek! Y-yes, mister?”

“Dude. What’s the deal with you?”

“N-nothing! We are just worried about attackers, you see. W-we are protecting these wagons on our way back from the capital.”

“Ah, I see. Well I am no attacker.”

Ferney gulped and looked back at Zach. Sure his eyes were kind and truthful, but his appearance was… uncanny. Zach clothing was in shreds around him. Most of his tunic was stained with what was probably, no, definitely blood. There were some splinters in his messy hair, and his knuckles were bruised for some reason. Had he just not realized this yet?

“Hey. Are you listening?” Zach asked the dazed apprentice.

“Eek! Sorry! Yes!”

“Then what did I just say?”

“Um…”

Sir Deltris, the Third Knight of the Royal Guard of the Pluria Province, walked away from the strange boy with a baffled expression which he readily showed his subordinates. The other knights’ faces hardened.

“Don’t let the boy near, but don’t attack him. I must discuss something with the handmaiden.”

One of the older knights stepped closer to Deltris. “Sir, did you not use the Rapier of Intimidation?”

“I did. It made him angrier, not compliant.”

There were some gasps and some murmuring among his knights. In order to assuage their fear, Deltris continued. “Everyone, remain calm. Our journey was foreseen by the Arch-Wizard himself. No danger will come to us. This boy, though strange, is no threat.” There were some unsatisfied looks from his men, but he dispatched them anyway, telling them to secure the area and rest for a moment.

With that, Sir Deltris walked up to the carriage door and knocked. A moment later and an elegant hand swung the green carriage door open.

“Milady.”

“Sir Diltris. Please enter.”

Deltris awkwardly got into the tiny space with the two other women. One was wearing an elegant dress of white lace and gold embellishment. The other wore a simple frock with strips of dark green and neat stitchwork. He regarded the woman in the white dress first.

“Princess, have you gotten any sleep this journey.”

She was the princess of Pluria, daughter to his majesty, king Frederick Tulipalo. She was the special cargo they were transporting following the political negotiations with the Emperor. The princess sat in the corner of the carriage, her blonde hair braided neatly over her left shoulder. It was no wonder she was considered the most beautiful in the whole of the Province of Pluria. If it weren’t for the dark circles under her eyes, she would be absolutely flawless.

“You know how the knightmares are Deltris.” The princess’ sweet voice said softly. “As soon as I fall asleep they come. Without the Arch-wizards potions, I simply cannot muster the courage to face my demons.”

Sir Deltris nodded respectfully. It was the curse of the Tulipalo family to suffer from nightmares. He had served the king personally, after all. “Of course, I only hoped that you might have rested. Seeing my princess like this fills me with worry.”

“You are too kind. Now, why has the carriage stopped? Do you have need of Bella?”

“Y-yes your highness. We might have come across some trouble. I need your handmaiden to use her magic on the boy outside.”

The handmaiden in green spoke up. “What is the situation? Is it so dire that you would not trust the word of the Arch-wizard himself?”

Sir Deltris shot a glance at the lowly servant. “With all do respect your majesty. Your handmaiden has talked out of turn.”

“I’ll allow it. Please Sir Deltris, continue.”

“As you wish. As you might know, we are riding through the densest region of uninhabited forest on our way to Fernsdale. We are about three hours away, but still. In all my years of traveling this route, very few ever use it, and none travel alone. What was more was the boy’s appearance. His clothes… They are torn and covered with blood, as if he just fled a battlefield. That was what prompted me to draw my sword and attempt to ward him off without causing an incident.”

“Attempted?”

“Yes, the boy is still here, even though I held the Rapier of Intimidation. Please, your highness. Have your handmaiden read his intentions.”

The princess nodded and turned to the other woman. “If you may, Bella.”

The handmaiden nodded, then exited the carriage, taking her time not to step on the hem of her dress. A moment later and she stepped back in, a calm expression resting on her face. “Milady, I detect no hostile intentions toward us. He seemed entirely focused on the meat strips and his conversation with Sir Deltris’ apprentice.”

The princess tapped her cheek thoughtfully. “Can we trust him?”

Sir Deltris seemed taken aback. “Milady! Can we trust him? He is a stranger to us and can resist the Rapier of Intimidation. At the very least he can take on three men equally.”

“True enough Sir Deltris,” the princess smiled and folded her hands, placing them on her white, frilly dress, “but what if we have stumbled upon a true treasure? He can resist the Rapier of Intimidation. I’ve only ever heard of mother bears, whose cubs you have come between, and resolved men on the battlefield capable of such a feat. If he is neither of those, then what is he? Perhaps he is an asset. Shouldn’t we make him part of Pluria?”

“B-but your highness.” The knight mumbled weakly. “We know not where his loyalties lay.”

The princess sighed, and Deltris felt even worse for making her more exhausted. “Sir Deltris. I order you to assign four men to him, to guard him and ourselves. Provide him with meat strips until we arrive at Fernsdale then take him to the local mage hall. Refrain from using force unless absolutely necessary.”

Sir Deltris humbled himself. The berserker of a boy would get protection from his guards and food. He was not looking forward to the next three hours.

“Also,” the princess added, “I would like to know more about him as well. Please find out for me.”

[End Chapter 7]