“So the truth is, I am actually a 6th rank alchemist”

“So how exactly did the lich know of your identity?”

“I have no idea, a woman suddenly barged in my workshop and kidnapped me. When I woke up, I was in front of that lich. That is all I know.”

“So… why is someone like you here?”

“It is embarrassing but, I… had a quarrel with my father, so… I thought I should prove to him that I can do everything on my own”

“Your father?”

“The head of the alchemy union”

“...”

If someone like her stays unprotected in a place like this, of course she is gonna get into trouble…

“Anyways, I need some rest, I will see you later”

“Th-Thank you! I will make sure to make it up to you” She rose up from her seat and gave me a deep bow to express her gratitude. At Least she has manners.

I got up from my seat and exited the alchemy shop. For some reason I was frustrated. My body was craving something I don’t know of. As I was growing impatient, I made my way outside the town and into the deep forest.

I kept jumping between the tree branches. I had no idea what I was doing here but I suddenly had the urge to destroy something. I never felt like this before.

Suddenly I heard a group of goblins near my location. I quickly made my way there and noticed a group of goblins near a campfire.

I always wondered how those brainless goblins could make a campfire. Maybe it was their instinct? It is said humans also discovered fire by mistake. Maybe something like that happened to them once and that knowledge kept on passing to the next generation?

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. My whole body was telling me to kill them. Without thinking any more, I jumped right in the middle of their camp and unsheathed my sword.

The goblins quickly came at me as they noticed my invasion. I decided to start with my right since there were more goblins on that side.

With swift speed, I closed my distance with one of the goblins and sliced its head off in one strike. This scene intimidated the nearby goblins as they took a step back.

There were around twenty goblins in this camp which was quite the unusual number. Maybe they were from the camp I burned before. There were outside when I was doing my deed I guess.

I noticed a goblin archer preparing an arrow towards me. I quickly dashed towards a nearby goblins and grabbed its head and lifted it towards the incoming arrow.

Goblins were small creatures and because of their physique, they were light. So they are easy to pick up and use as a meat shield. It's a tactic I learned fighting goblin hordes when I first joined the army.

This not only helps defend against incoming arrows but also provokes the goblins. If used in right way, one can easily sweep down lots of goblins without problems.

But for some reason I didn’t want to use the easier way. I went for brute force. I plunged my sword deep into the ground and cracked my fist. Seeing that goblins started to jump on me from all sides, I sent a shockwave to the surrounding area with mana, momentarily paralyzing them.

I plunged into one of them with my knee at their face, smashing them into a tree from behind. Then I grabbed the heads of the two goblins beside me and smashed them into each other as blood splattered on my face.

I didn’t mind the blood as I was used to it. Instead, I got more excited. A goblin suddenly came for me from behind with a rusty sword. I grabbed it with my left hand and slammed his head into the ground with my right. It’s head got crushed as soon as I slammed it, maybe I put in a little too much strength.

I then threw the sword in my left hand towards the goblin archer. It was a headshot killing it on the spot. As the goblins kept coming at me one after another, I kicked them, crushed them, slammed them.

Finally I was now standing in the middle of a bloody pool, drenched in blood. I could have done this better if I used my sword to kill each of them in one strike.

Since I took my time with each of them, lots of blood scattered around. The feeling I had in my body was no more. It no longer craved anything.

I looked at my blood red trembling hands. I felt a certain satisfaction inside me. I just realized that I had a weird grin on my face.

Just what is wrong with me? Do I always make a face like that when I fight?

I took another mana drug even though I was not suffering from mana deficiency yet.

I can’t go back to the town like this. There was a pond near here wasn’t there?

I decided to go back to the pond where I did my first quest. It still looked like before. Except the part that not a bit of mana could be felt from the pond. There should still be some mana that could be felt from the pond even though I put a barrier around the Thousand year frozen flower.

I removed my coat and shirt and dived deep into the pond. Unlike last time, the water was warm. As I dove deeper, the place where the herb was before, now lay empty.

Someone must have taken it. I came back to the surface after confirming my suspicion. After getting a good soak I decided to get back to the town. My outfit was still bloody red. It was around 8 am, the time when people normally go to work.

Instead of going to the adventurers guild like other adventurers, I went to the inn. After I left the army I promised myself to give my body rest daily. I intend to keep that promise. In war, sleep was a luxury not even the commanders could afford.

As I opened my inn-room, I threw my coat and shirt on the floor and jumped on the bed.

I forgot to remove my boots, didn't I? Well, I don’t care

As I closed my eyes and relaxed my muscles, the weight of the day slowly faded away. Sleep enveloped me like a comforting embrace, carrying me away to a world of peaceful slumber.