I opened my eyes groggily, waking up from what felt like a hundred-year nap. I blinked, waiting for my vision to focus and my strength to return. The soft crackle of a campfire and its radiating warmth did little to settle my nerves.

What had happened? Weren’t we fighting that elephant when… oh. On the other side of the campfire, I saw a man sitting down. He was roasting a savanna critter on a stick by holding it above the open flame, paying little attention to me, or the sleeping figure of Emeri that lay huddled up beside me. From the mana he gave off, he had comfortably stepped into tier 5, a level of strength that we couldn’t escape from, let alone defeat. As things stood, we were at his mercy.

Once he heard me stir awake, he looked at me with a pointed stare. The man’s eyes were ghastly, haunted, even, but his lips twitched upwards into an inviting smile. He had an unkempt beard and wild mane of hair, which fluttered in the savanna wind. His clothing, a long cloak that parted in the middle, was a combination of obsidian and violet, reminding me of the gravity powers the elephant had used the day before.

My apprehension must have been visible on my face, because the middle-aged man chuckled a bit.

“Is that fear I see on your face?” he drawled lazily. “Don’t worry, had I wanted you dead, you already would be.” He said seriously, not even a hint of comedy in his tone.

I nodded, but stayed silent. The man seemed unfased and continued the one-sided conversation without a care in the world.

“So what’s your name kid? Mine’s Dalius.” He said. I noticed he paid careful attention to my facial expressions while he said that, but I couldn’t figure out why…

“Haven’t heard of me, huh? Figures…”

Since I now felt safe enough to converse with this stranger that had saved our lives, I decided there was no reason to continue my silence.

“I haven’t, sorry. Should I have?”

“No. I should hope not, anyway.”

“Thanks for saving us. Can I ask what led you to attack that creature just as we did?”

“Hah! Scared I’ll steal your credit, kid? No, I just so happened to be in the country when this one started using my signature mana to show off. I couldn’t let that stand, see?”

“So you’re a gravity user.”

“I am indeed. The one and only Dalius!” he said, pointing to himself with both thumbs. “That’s me.”

“Did you want anything in return for rescuing us?” I asked seriously.

“Don’t overestimate yourself. I didn’t kill that big-eared cow for your sake! Bust since you mentioned it… How about this: Once you reach my tier, fight me.”

“…Fight…you?”

“That’s right! Fight me! You seem tough, for your tier. That girly too, for that matter. I could always use another sparring partner. With how many people are settling for mediocrity these days, our kind have to come together, you know?” he said whimsically.

Our kind? What the hell was he talking about? I didn’t want to suddenly piss him off, so I just agreed with him.

“Yeah, I get ya...”

“You have no clue what I’m talking about, do you?”

“Not a clue.” I affirmed.

He gave me an intimidating stare, and an invisible pressure bore down on me. I felt like I was sinking into the earth ever so slightly. Thinking that a fight was about to break out any second, my hand went to my sword, when the pressure suddenly disappeared.

“Hah! I like your attitude! Ignorance is only a sin if you’re unwilling to learn! I’m talking about ‘our kind’, kid! The ones that pursue greatness, no matter the cost! How many people have you met that are satisfied with their assigned roles in life? It’s damn near everyone! So many slaves to the system, pissing on the efforts of the true heroes!”

I nodded lamely, unwilling to even mention that my parents fell into that category.

“Now you, on the other hand, you’re exactly what I like to see in a young person! You use dark mana, don’t try to hide it…” he said threateningly. “But you don’t let that dictate what kind of person you should be! You decide for yourself! That’s what life is all about. Those who give up are already dead, is what I always say.”

“Right…” I affirmed, though I had my doubts about his rhetoric. While I would like to agree with that last part, I wouldn’t say that people who stopped leveling up had ‘given up’ on life. Hells, my mother and father had to work every single day of their lives to put food on the table.

“Hahaha! That’s what I like to hear!” he shouted, before gulping his roasted critter down in one bite. “Now then, it’s time for me to go. Don’t like to stick around in one place for too long, see? We’ll meet again, I’m sure.” He said as he stood up. With a final wave to say goodbye, he shot into the sky with a loud howl, a purple haze enveloping him as he flew to the horizon. Within moments, he flew out of sight.

The noise had woken Emeri up, who, thankfully, seemed to be okay physically.

“What happened?” she murmured as she stirred awake, trying to figure out what was going on.

“You know, I just met the most interesting guy. I’m not sure if I like him, though…”

Once I had caught Emeri up on what had happened, we took a few more minutes to rest and regain our bearings. Fighting the cursed Elephant had been a tough cautionary tale for us, in the sense that we clearly weren’t ready yet to fight beasts of such power.

This time, we had bitten off more than we could chew, and only survived because of a stranger that happened to take offense at the creature’s mana-alignment. A stranger that we could only barely trust, to boot.

The only good thing that had come of this situation, was that we had gotten quite a bit closer to our destination in the process of this request. On top of that, our fight with the cursed beast was bound to have scared off most of the other monsters in the area, which meant that we would make good time from now on.

Suddenly, Emeri remembered something.

“Wait a minute… Where is Swahili?” she asked.

The captain of the guards that had guided us here had warned us of the creature that had nearly killed us, and promised to reappear once it had been defeated. I found it strange that she hadn’t approached us yet, especially now that Dalius had departed.

Unfortunately, Swahili chose just that moment to clear things up. I say unfortunately, because instead of a warm welcome, Emeri and I found ourselves surrounded by two dozen guardsmen.

Several carried bows, blow darts, and throwing knives, all of which were aimed right at me. Oh oh.

Swahili appeared out of the shadows, her sword drawn.

“Step away from the heretic, chosen one.” She spoke, addressing Emeri.

“Swahili,” Emeri began, lifting her hands up in surrender, “I think you’ve misunderstood, the man that defeated the cursed beast has already departed! If you have some kind of grudge against him…”

“I do not misunderstand, chosen one!” she countered harshly. “We hold no grudge against the man that saved your life. But this heretic, that has ensnared your mind with his wiles, seeks to use you for his own ends! Step away from him, so we may free you from his clutches.”

I grit my teeth in frustration. Though I had learned to expect things like this, it still hurt to be judged. To be fair, 99% of people with my affinity were lunatics. They were bound to have low expectations at this point. I could tell Emeri still hoped to salvage the situation though, so I kept my mouth shut. Unfortunately, I didn’t share her optimism. This was only going to go one way.

“Arthur is a good person! He isn’t controlled by the system like so many others with his mana alignment! If you make an enemy out of him, you make an enemy out of me, too.”

“We shall free you, chosen one. You shall thank us in the end.” Swahili finished, determined.

At that moment, we all knew what to do. Emeri pulled her spear from its straps on her back and I drew my sword from its scabbard. None of these people were tier 5, so I felt pretty confident in testing their strength, at least.

Without any further hesitation, chaos erupted.