A spider’s head sized to fit the body of a lion overlooked poor little Rocky as it whimpered in fear. One second is more than enough time. I plunged my sword into the beast’s heart, forsaking any other chance at life. A terrifying roar shook the room, causing both me and Rocky to back away in fear. The little ball of fur came rushing back, hiding as deep as my pocket would allow.

A loud thud followed by a loud silence—that would be the best way to describe the aftermath. I rose up on my feet, barely standing, looking at my beaten body. I was lucky that the thing showed itself in a room where its movement was limited; otherwise, it could have been worse, but perhaps calling myself lucky that such a thing showed up is a contradiction.

After checking that it wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, I pulled out my sword and started cutting, but first I went for the hide. I was, under no circumstances, the type of guy to know how to do such a thing, yet the ability to improvise is important.

"I might be an idiot, but leaving this behind would only prove such a thing." I said it in a low tone, not wanting to hear myself. Quite the mess I’ve caused there, and that was only the beginning. All that was left was my prize, which I was more than eager to get. Lo and behold, I took the thing out, watching it with amazed eyes, not believing it. I might have gotten a beating that put me at death’s door, but this made up for all my trouble. Alarmed by my racket, Rokcy peered outside.

"Look, Rocky, a fucking sword! Can you believe that? And guess what it can do. It allows me to throw magic attacks at my enemies, like ranged slashing! Woo Ho-o-o..."

Magic, I forgot about that part. I, being unfortunate enough to be from another world, had no mana to my name, which meant that I could not use such an ability. My dream of spamming mana slashes at my enemies shattered in an instant, gone down the drain. All that was left was to use the sword as a regular sword. Well, at least the design was good looking, with a beautiful leather handle, an intiguing guard, with red and black stripes interlooping, and a thick silvery blade.

"Well, the sword is good as it is, too..."

I couldn’t help but cry about having no mana. Lucky me, I had an idea, yet someone with mana had to help me, or finding something I could ingest that contains mana should help. I was, and still am, kind of a madman when it comes to dumb ideas.

Having finished looting, I went on ahead with my journey, making haste for the end of the room. My movements were quite lacking, sloppy, but what else could I have expected after fighting such a thing? My face was met with a large stone door, and I could only cry at the thought of having to open such a thing. Lucky for me, it opened on its own, which would explain how such a creature got stuck down here.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The cold air hit me in the face, but I didn’t care. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs to the brim, then yelped as the stone entrance closed underneath me. Apparently, it led me outside the forest, right where I could see the village. My whole body ached with every move of mine, but I didn’t care; I had greater plans in mind.

Everyone was inside, sleeping or doing other things, while I was the lone guy walking outside. One house had the light on—the house of the elder who took me in. I knocked before entering, and his gaze pierced through me as I opened the door.

"Well, I’ll be damned. I thought you were dead." He came and helped take off the load on my back, which had gotten quite heavy.

I couldn’t help but laugh, showing off my sword. I was proud of myself, and so was he, but I still got an earful.

"How could you be so stupid as to not mark your way? You know, now I think you should have died for being so stupid. Heh, putting that aside, you did find quite a lot of things during your so called hunt. This bag of yours is heavier than it looks. Just what on earth is so heavy?"

He opened the bag. His eyes got wide, he closed the bag, then reopened it, not believing what he was seeing.

"Quite the catch, I could say." I was bragging a bit, since that was quite the feat for me.

"Young man, you keep surprising me more and more. Just how were you able to kill a spilion? I’m just-"

He sat down on one of the small wooden chairs, not believing his eyes.

"Kid, you’re either too dumb to die, or too lucky to die. Those things have killed more adventurers than you could even think of."

I noticed a smug smile on my face, one I didn’t quite want to get rid of.

"Well, I was lucky." I went with the truth, because why pretend I’m high and mighty when it might backfire. "I fought it in some underground basement of sorts. Oh, yeah, just what is that place? Most of it was turned into debris."

The old man placed his hand on his beard, slowly brushing it with his fingers.

"Oh, you found that place. We have no idea as to what it is, all we know is that Kenjin found it, and he turned it into this mess."

I brushed aside this matter, since it didn’t quite matter that much.

"Well, what should I do with the leather. Do you want it or?"

"Young man, you’re quite generous, but I couldn’t accept such a gift-"

I cut him short.

"Then let’s not make it a gift. Do you know about things like mana potions, or could you get someone with mana to meet with me?"

"Mana potion, I like your funny words. There are drinks that replenish your mana, but they are no potions. I can get you a few if you want, but it might take some time."

"Well then, if all’s settled, I’ll go to sleep. I’m barely standing right now."

"Oh, sure, let me show you your room."

When I got inside, I quickly stripped off my armor and collapsed face first on the bed. It didn’t even matter that I was laying in the most awkward position ever; I just wanted to sleep, and I did.