Seemingly not giving a damn about the noise, Sky stepped forwards and knocked on the door, it was opened shortly afterwards by a kid that seemed a tad scared.

“Y-you two are here to deal with the thing?” The bow asked with a hopeful look on his face.

“Worry not, for we are here. We came to deal with the monster.”

The boy gave an audible sigh of relief, then stepped backwards. Sky and Alex stepped inside, Alex looking around the house as he did so. Just like the outside, the place felt old, the furniture was not in the best of shape, and it had the old feel of a grandfather’s house.

“Do you know what it is to begin with?” Sky asked.

“Not really, I think gramps saw it, but, well…he didn’t tell me.”

Sky nodded. “I will check it out, will you show us the way, then?”

The kid eagerly nodded. The two of them followed him through the house, hearing an occasional bang from above; soon, they reached a staircase, which seemed to lead to the attic.

“There. Good luck, just…be careful. Please.”

Sky knelt and smiled at the kid. “Worry not; whatever is up there, I have faced much, much worse. It won’t be a issue.”

After Sky said that, they stood and, then, light covered their bodies for a second, then, they were covered from the head to toe in full plate armor, with a shining sword in their hands. The boy and I gave a startled cry.

“You can just…equip your armor?” Alex asked.

“Something like that.”

Without further ado, Sky started went up the stairs, a loud creak being heard every step. Alex could not help but feel like they were going to break any second, but contrary to expectations, Sky managed to reach the top. The saint opened the door, then immediately snorted.

Sky immediately closed the door and then went to Alex’s side.

“You can handle that, Alex.” Sky said, amusement clear in their voice.

Alex nodded, gulping audibly and then going up the stairs, the constant creak worsening his nerves, soon, he was staring at the door.

“Nervous?”

“Yeah, it’s…the first time I’m going to kill something.”

“It’s a monster. Give it time and it will start hunting humans.” Sky said, plainly. “You really shouldn’t feel guilty about this kind of thing.”

Alex made a mental note to ask Alice the specifics on monsters. Still, he felt like Sky wasn’t wrong, his actions were helping people. Probably. Slowly, he took a deep breath, calming himself, then, just to check things, he thought about his stats.

Name: Alex Watson.

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Class: Defiant.

Title: None

Path: (Generating)

Affinities: Advanced Dimension, fire, ice.

XP:35%

Level:2(20) (current daily increase:2)

Health: 100%

Stamina: 100%

Mana: 100%

Attributes:

Strength: 108(9)

Dexterity: 118(9)

Agility: 108(9)

Constitution: 108(9)

Logic: 138(9)

Semi-flexible attributes(current max increase: 2):

Insight: 12

Willpower: 10

Free Points: 200(Currently usable:20, current standard daily use increase: 10)

Alex looked startled at the bigger numbers, then remembered that he dismissed a screen when he woke up earlier and hadn’t remembered to see thanks to Sky.

Level has increased by 2. Current growth rate: 2 levels per day.

Perk: Elemental resistance has leveled up.

Perk: Human translator has leveled up.

Alex slowly nodded, then looked at Sky. “I just noticed that I leveled. I currently have a few free points, so…where should I use them?”

“Your call. All of them are important in a fight. Think about what your priorities lie.”

Alex sighed. He was a tad annoyed that he didn’t receive a straightforward answer. He understood the reason why, but he really wanted some direct instructions for once.

He thought about the subject for a bit, then put 10 points into agility then 10 into strength. His first instinct was to hoard the points until he had a better idea of what the hell to do with his stats, but he figured that the long terms problems of using 1/10 of his free points was…probably minimal.

“Don’t worry; I will step up if it looks like you are in true danger.” Sky said. “Plus, it’s something that I am sure you can handle on your own.”

Alex slowly nodded.

“Now, stop stalling.”

“Just a bit more” He grumbled.

Slowly, he opened the door pointing his spear forward as he did so, then slowly edged forwards, searching for the monster. The place was a mess, full of barrels, haphazardly thrown through the room; wine coated the floor and the floor had a bunch of small holes in it. It wasn’t difficult to find the monster due to the fact that it was in front of the door.

The monster…looked weird. It was roughly half of Alex’s size, an seemed like a mix of a chicken and a penguin, part of its body was feathered, mostly the wings, but the rest of it was slick. Its beak was inside an barrel, and it seemed to be…drinking wine.

Alex stood still in disbelief.

“Is this Penguin drinking wine?”

“That’s called a poger.” Sky said from behind the door. Alex wasn’t sure when Sky went upstairs, especially considering that he hadn’t heard the floor creak. “It’s mostly a pest which break into food stores with its beak.”

The poger stood up, looked at Alex, squeaked something, then went back to drinking wine.

Honestly, Alex could not help but feel like the thing was wise. Still, he came here for a reason, and he intended to fulfill it. He pointed his spear forwards, and then took a step towards it, the poger seemed to notice it, because it reluctantly stepped backwards. Then drunkly stumbled to the side.

“It’s drunk.” Alex said in disbelief, then looked back, staring Sky, whom seemed to be trying really hard to not laugh.

Alex wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or thankful of the monster’s current state. Ultimately, he shrugged. At least it wouldn’t be that hard.

He slowly walked towards it, the thing constantly stumbling from one side to the other as he did so; Alex tensed up and readied himself.

Alex thrust forwards with his spear, but the Poger’s drunk state resulted in it stumbling to the sides, his thrust merely piercing the air, then, squeaking a drunk war cry, it jumped forwards, tackling him to the ground.

The thing was only half his size, but its speed Alex’s surprise and the floor being slippery resulted in the tackle being far more effective than it had any right to. As Alex fell, he kept hold of his weapon for dear life. As soon as Alex’s back hit the ground, he felt something hitting his chest, raising his head, Alex saw the poger trying to pierce him with his beak, his armor thankfully stopping him from getting skewered. Unfortunately for Alex, the Poger also seemed to notice this, because he stared Alex right in the eye.

“Fuck no!” Alex shouted, quickly slapping the thing off with all of his strength, thankfully it was as light as it seemed and it flew away with his blow. Acting quickly, he used the opportunity to get up, and once again pointed the spear towards it.

Both of them stared at the other with murder in their eyes, Alex took a step back, almost tripping in a nearby barrel. Not helped by the slippery floor.

Impatiently, the poger rushed forwards, with a beat of its wings, it flew forwards drunkly…to Alex’s side, completely missing him.

Alex turned quickly, even as the thing did its best to stand up, he once again thrust forwards, this time, the poger wasn’t so lucky, the spear piercing its side, blood flowing from the wound. However, the thing seemed to enter a berserker rage that Alex felt was fueled by the alcohol, it flew forwards towards Alex squeaking in rage and impaling itself even further in the spear in a bid to reach his head. Fortunately, the side wings of the boar spear did its job, stopping the poger from going much further. At this point, all Alex did was wait for the thing to bleed out as it

As it died, Alex stared at the things eye, disgust swelling in his stomach. It was a monster, yes, but it was the first time he had killed something, still, logically, he knew that it was probably justified, he had no doubt that it would have killed him given the chance.

Slowly, he did the grim job of removing the spear, putting the poger on the floor, keeping him in place with his feet, then slowly withdrew his spear, it finally leaving completely with a disgusting pop. Not being able to take it anymore, he turned to the side and threw up.

It took him a few minutes to get a hold of himself, but eventually, he took a step forwards, and went to the door, doing his best to ignore the dead monster.

He stopped at the door, Sky blocking the entrance and looking at him with a blank face. “Do you think you can handle the lifestyle?

Alex stared at his bloody spear, and then thought about the dead poger. “I’m…not sure, to be honest.” Could he get used to killing things?

“I think you can. From my experience, there are three situations that an adventurer must get through before they truly can dedicate themselves to the lifestyle.” Sky said. “First one is facing a monster; second one is facing a dungeon, and the third one is the one that makes the most people give up.” Sky said, a grim look on their face as the saint stared straight into Alex’s eyes. “Facing death. Doesn’t matter how good are, or how many allies you have at your side, one day, it will happen.”

Alex froze for a second; there was something in Sky’s voice that made him pause, he felt a lump in his throat and felt like he couldn’t say anything.

“I guess we will know eventually.” Alex eventually said. There was some finality in Sky’s tone which relieved him, finally feeling like he was in control of his mouth again.

“Now, congratulations on killing a drunk poger.” Sky said, a smile appearing In their faces, completely at odds with their previous tone. “I didn’t even know that monsters could get drunk, to be honest..”

“Yeah, it was…very weird.” Alex slowly said.

“Tell me about it, but you get used to it in this lifestyle, now, let’s get your reward.”

Soon afterwards, both of them were out of the house, Alex having gained a shining silver coin for his efforts, given to him by the kid. Soon, both of them were silently walking trough the streets again.

“What was that?” Alex asked, slowly.

“It was a monster, obviously.” Sky said.

“Not that, just…you. When you were talking to me about death, you…did something to me.”

Alex wasn’t exactly comfortable in receiving mental whammies from people, even…no, especially from someone whom seemed as trustworthy as Sky.

“Gravitas. It’s…a metaphysical weight that I can put into things, it’s something that you gain in high level.” Sky said. “If you wish, I can demonstrate a bit.”

Alex briefly wondered why the translation chose that word, but decided to focus on the important matter. “Does…that affect my mind?”

“It does not change your thoughts or anything of the sort, i…can’t really explain properly, to be honest, but it’s harmless, I can guarantee you that.”

“Honestly, if you could influence my mind, I probably wouldn’t be able to resist at this point either way.” He had a perk to help with that, but he felt like the difference in power was too great anyway. “So…do it. I’m kind of curious.”

Sky nodded, this time, Alex could practically feel the weight, it was much more intense than last time, he felt like his legs were made out of lead, and that he couldn’t act beneath such power…and as soon as it happened, it was gone.

“Do keep in mind that sometimes it slips when I’m not entirely in control of my emotions or when I want to make a point.”

Alex nodded. “All right. Just…it’s really uncomfortable to be on the receiving end.”

“All right. But I did that to emphasize my point, that feeling is something you should get used to.”

“You seem keen on making me not want to be an adventurer.”

“I want you to be aware of the risks.”

“What about that clothier’s kid, then? Why didn’t you do the same thing?”

“Because he already knows. It’s quite common for adventurers to pass and even live in border towns such as this.”

Alex wanted to argue that Sky couldn’t know that for a fact, but he figured that they knew more about this world than he did.

“Since we are on the topic, what did you think about fighting your first monster?”

That made Alex pause to think. There were many things, disgust, the adrenaline of the fight, but one thought slipped through his lips.

“That felt…too easy, I think.”

“You were fighting against a low level drunk monster; it was never going to be a challenge.”

“I think the drunkenness helped it more than hindered it.”

“I don’t think Pogers are masters of drunk fighting.”

“I swear that damn thing was master of the drunk beak.”

“Out of curiosity…have you fought against someone before?”

“That was literally my first fight in my life.”

“That…explains a lot. You need a lot of work then, especially with your class.”

Alex nodded, maybe it was idiotic, but he really wanted to try to make his class work, it seemed to have a lot of potential, but realizing that potential was going to be a challenge.

“I Will. I have nothing better to do with my time anyway. Anyway, what do you think of my reward?”

“Honestly? It is overpriced. An iron coin for a Poger is a steal. That old man was probably desperate.”

Alex looked at the coin with a bit of curiosity…and a bit of disappointment. He had thought that it was made out of iron.

“I never asked about currencies.” Alex said as he stared at the coin in his hand. It was fairly plain, with what looked like a face in one side, and a straight line in the other. “Let me guess, 100 iron to 1 silver, 100 silver to a gold coin?”

“That’s…fairly accurate, actually. Weird.” Sky Said. “Only missing that 100 copper is worth an iron coin.”

That helped to explain why a gold coin was so valuable, even if his reward was worth a lot less than he expected…

“You just said 100.”

Sky gave Alex a confused stare.

“I think my perk might have changed words around.”

“That’s fairly common. It probably has leveled and adapted to your needs.”

“That’s…convenient.”

“That’s kind of the point of perks.”

“Anyway, what do we do now?”

Sky shrugged. “I didn’t have much in mind, to be honest. We could go hunting, but it is unlikely that we would find monsters suitable for you. We could search for more stuff to do or we could train.” Sky said.“Training would be particularly good for you, since it makes your effective level increase faster.”

“Effective level?”

“Once you level, it takes some time for your body and soul to adapt to the level, but If your train your body, it happens much faster.”

Alex nodded. “That sounds good, but…I kind of left my breakfast on the winery.”

Sky snorted. “Sure, we can go back for a lunch.”

As they went back to the inn, a thought appeared in Alex’s head.

“So…where are the three of you going after this?”

Sky hummed in thought for a few seconds.

“Probably make my way towards the elven kingdoms. Wind said that something seemed to be brewing up with the orcish hordes.”

“Big, green and like to pick a fight with everyone?”

“Pretty accurate. Normally, I would not tell someone of your rank to tag along, but there are quite a few low rank areas in the way.

Their conversation was interrupted by a shout.

“Sir Sky! I have urgent news!” Alex heard an voice coming from behind him. Alex and Sky both turned towards the voice, it was a man running towards them dressed in what seemed like wizard robes, albeit entirely gray ones.

Sky waited patiently, and soon the man was In front of them.

“What is it?” Sky asked.

“It’s…confidential information.” The man said slowly, looking at Alex.

“All right.” Sky said, and then turned towards Alex. “I’m…not sure what this is about, to be honest, but I will be right back.”

“It’s fine, see you in a bit?”

“It…shouldn’t take long, I guarantee.” The man said, taking a few steps back.

Alex nodded as the man and Sky went to a corner, leaving him alone to his thoughts. He wasn’t sure about how he felt. Things were wild from the moment that he arrived, but…the sheer change of pace excited him after spending so long in dull routine.

As he thought about that, he looked at his surroundings, appreciating the village’s beauty. Then, he saw something that he should not have, it was pure coincidence, really. Something that happened due to mere chance, a twist of fate. In the distance, he saw a man looking at him, a crossbow in his hands pointing towards Alex.

It took Alex a second to react, the man. Not so much.

“ What the fu-“ He couldn’t finish his sentence, because as he felt something impacting his chest, the only thing leaving his mouth was his scream of pain.