After Simon got Dredge’s attention with an arrow, he proceeded to run away from Salem.

‘Why did Salem have to come here? Anywhere else would have been fine but that annoying crab just has to be so protective of her son. At least the contract is almost over so we can get rid of this monster.’ Simon thought as he ran away towards a forest, luring Dredge away as well.

He ran until he reached a grass plain in the middle of the forest. There were craters all around this grassland as if a large battle had been fought here.

“Alright buddy, we’re here once more. According to the contract we signed with your mother we aren’t allowed to kill you as there’s a chance of you gaining sentience. This contract does not however, state we aren’t allowed to injure you. So let’s have a nice relaxing fight, I’ve been having enough issues due to Salem.” Simon said with a grin.

*****

While Simon had been luring Dredge away, the crabs surrounding Salem had been terrified and didn’t even try to follow after Simon. Salem took this chance to escape after reading through the information [Reality Sight] had brought them.

*****

In the grassland where Simon and Dredge were, there were constant sounds of explosions, crashes, and metal scraping against chitin.

As expected, Simon and Dredge were fighting. Dredge could move surprisingly fast for a massive crab but Simon was still faster.

Very few arrows were as effective as the first due to Dredge’s attempts at dodging and his generally tough shell.

‘I really do hate monsters like this, can their defense not be so strong? Although, some of them would probably be extinct without their defense… oh well, they should be extinct then.’ Simon thought as he danced around Dredge and shot his arrows absentmindedly.

‘How long exactly until the contract ends? Three months? That doesn’t seem ri- What?!’ Just as Simon was thinking, Dredge abruptly sped up and rushed directly towards Simon who was dodging sideways.

Dredge easily caught up and brought down his massive claw to smash Simon into a paste.

Simon’s expression became grim as he immediately activated a skill.

“[Shadow Roll] you better save me.” He called out to no one.

Simon became a shadow and rolled out of the way of Dredge’s attack.

CRASH!

The claw came down and barely hit the shadows that were Simon. He looked at his Profile to see just how much damage he took.

Health: 857/4780

‘A slight graze to me while I was in shadow form did over three fourths of my health? If he touches me at all while I’m not in shadow form will definitely kill me!’ Simon thought as he focused more on the fight.

“So, you got a bit stronger huh? Well, that’s nice and all but you did try to eat my companion. I can’t just let you go for that, so come on, let’s finish this sooner rather than later!” Simon taunted the massive crab.

It is unknown if the crab actually understood what was said but it readied to attack again anyways.

However, something unexpected occurred when Simon reached for another arrow. There weren’t any arrows left in his quiver. He had used them all during the endurance battle he and Dredge had been having earlier.

‘Did he attack at that moment because he knew I ran out of arrows? Is he actually close to gaining sentience? That’s not good at all, if he becomes sentient then his mother will appear and since he’s close he will be much trickier to deal with.’ Simon thought grimly.

‘It seems I need to use a different tactic. [Mana Creation] can make up for my lack of arrows but it won’t be enough, [Focus Fire] and [Precision Shot] should be able to break through his defense.’ Simon made a plan and immediately acted with it. He used [Mana Creation] to form arrows made out of elemental mana and then used [Focus Fire] and [Precision Shot] at once.

[Focus Fire] increased accuracy and caused damage to increase if the same spot was hit multiple times. [Precision Shot] also increased accuracy but instead of scaling damage upwards, it empowered a singular attack.

With both of these effects active, Simon’s arrow was extremely accurate; he aimed for the joint between the left crab claw and the arm. The arrow hit and left a noticeable dent on the shell.

Simon would have preferred for the arrow to have hit the gap in the shell that allowed for movement but even with extremely increased accuracy that was almost impossible.

If Simon had been blessed by enough gods then maybe however, he wasn’t.

After getting hit with the arrow, Dredge was angered. While he didn’t shriek in pain like the first arrow, he still felt the arrow and how much of an injury it caused.

He once again charged towards Simon with his increased speed.

Simon was prepared this time and leapt out of the way much sooner causing Dredge to stop charging.

This dance continued until Dredge’s left claw was severed from his arm by Simon.

They stood still for a short moment, each staring at the other. After this moment passed, they each started gathering mana for their own use.

Dredge finished gathering first meaning his attack was special and needed little mana or it wasn’t as powerful as Simon’s.

Dredge summoned a wall of boulders that soon flew towards Simon and rained down upon him.

Simon however, didn’t stop gathering mana. Even when the boulders were about to hit him he continued gathering mana. It was only at the last moment before the boulders hit him that anything changed.

It started with the sound of thunder. Then the boulders stopped moving forward and instead stayed in place. Simon merely walked towards Dredge and out of the way of the boulders.

“I rarely ever use this skill, it causes quite a lot of destruction to anything nearby you see. I think I’ve used it four times before now? Enjoy the fact that you were the fifth person I used [Spatial Shatter] on.” Simon told Dredge as he walked closer and closer. One could easily see that he was much frailer and weaker than when the battle started.

Simon walked closer and closer until he was at Dredge’s legs. He walked around Dredge and lightly tapped each leg. When he returned to his original position, a miraculous thing occurred. In the order that they had been tapped, the legs shattered like glass and fell to the ground creating ten piles of crab meat, blood, and shell.

Somehow Dredge didn’t fall down with the legs missing. He just floated above the piles.

Simon didn’t seem surprised and jumped up to the right claw.

“This is the only skill I could use that wouldn’t kill you instantly but would cripple you. I’ll leave you alive for Salem later on. Now then, I’ll have to go. You see, I’m kind of scared of what would happen if I left Salem alone.” Simon told Dredge before jumping down to the ground and walking in the direction of where Salem had been.

As he walked away, Dredge’s right claw shattered like the legs and he finally fell to the ground.

*****

This place kind of reminds me of Crow’s Forest but everything seems worse. Every single plant is common and even the ones that look uncommon are common. The mana is less abundant and there are so few animals.

I wonder what the place with the most knowledge is? It could be the Godly Realm but there are a lot of things here too.

Hm, Simon should be stronger than that crab because the description of Simon said he was one of the strongest and the crab’s didn’t have anything too special but what makes [Reality Sight] say one is stronger?

Very strange but where is Simon now? There was a lot of noise coming from the west but it stopped…

Oh? What’s that? It looks like Simon but it’s quite blurry. It seems to be coming closer. Do I go closer to see what it is or do I stay here and hide?

I’ll stay here, it will reach here eventually.

*****

It’s almost here, come on, walk faster.

And it’s here… oh, it’s just Simon but he seems a bit different. Much thinner than before.

“Come on Salem, I need to get back to Pyrp. Your punishment can be waived because of your contributions but you still need to be there.” Simon used [Telepathy] to say as he came closer.

I merely watched him as he came closer to my hiding spot. He saw me and merely stuck out his hand and beckoned me towards him.

I walked towards him and he retracted his hand before turning around and walking in a certain direction.

I decided to follow him.

*****

It turned out he was walking in the direction of the city.

The guards opened the barrier to let him in when they saw him even if they were quite wary for some reason. Simon had made some noises and they were slightly less wary but I still didn’t appreciate how they stared at me. However, they weren’t staring like the spider or Dredge had so I decided to leave them alone.

When we were in the city I followed Simon as he went to a very large building. It wasn’t tall but it was very wide and long.

Inside the building there weren’t many people but all of them looked similar to the soldiers I had seen. The majority were wearing the more decorated clothes but there were some wearing the regular soldier’s clothing.

Simon went to a counter that had some people that weren’t in any form of soldier’s clothing behind it.

“I need some mana potions and I would like to exchange my companion’s contribution points for something as well.” Simon made some noises and the person behind the counter responded.

“Alright I will need your name, your companion’s name, and what you are exchanging for.”

“My name is Simon Krol, my companion’s name is Salem, and I would like to get a pardon for my companion’s crimes.” The person behind the desk started writing down the information before pausing and looking up.

His face was a mix of fear, respect, and shock.

“That- that will be 2000 contribution points sir. Your companion currently has 3600.” The man replied with only a slight stutter.

“Alright, now may I have my potions?” Simon asked.

“Right away.” The man ran off to a door and went through.

I wandered away from Simon as he waited for the man to return.

I walked over to a small group of people standing in front of a wall. I walked closer and the people opened a path for me.

Once I was in front of the wall I saw that there were a lot of marks on it. I had no clue what the marks were called but I did have a natural feeling of what they represented.

Near the top of the list I saw my name. Next to it was 1,600 contribution points.

Simon wasn’t on the part of the list I could see and Simon was walking towards me so I Ieft the wall.

“Alright, now that you’re free we can do some things we should have done earlier. First of all you need to learn about some social standards. Killing people isn’t allowed unless they attempt to harm you or your allies first. There are some exceptions but that can be dealt with later.” Simon explained some things with [Telepathy] as we walked down the streets.

The knowledge from Reality Seeker was very useful but it still couldn’t explain some things which Simon helped with.

Eventually we reached another building. This one was large like the other one but instead of being long and wide, this one was taller and partially circular.

“This is the arena. This is the only place you can legally fight in the city. We’re here because I need to see if you’re actually capable of fighting at all and what you would be best at.” Simon explained.

I wasn’t paying too much attention to him as I was looking around the place. Simon had said that randomly using [Identify] on people wasn’t very friendly so I refrained from using it.

The arena was a mostly open space with different spaces marked off by the magical barriers. Some of the marked off spaces had people fighting in them while other people watched.

Simon led me to another counter where he communicated with the person there.

“I need a private room.” Simon said.

“For how long and how large of a room?” The person asked.

“Around a day and a large room should be good.”

“Alright, will you pay in contribution points or coins?”

“Coins.”

“Alright, that will be 80 silver coins.”

Simon handed the money over and continued walking onward.

I continued to follow him.

We arrived at a fairly large space that was surrounded by an opaque barrier rather than a transparent one.

“Wait here.” Simon said to me and I waited as he walked to the opposite end of the space.

“Now then, show me if you’re any good.” Simon said as he readied himself to attack.

Well, I think I’m supposed to attack him. Alright then, let’s see how this goes.