Ethan returned to the river in no time and continued his journey south, anxious for the sun to rise. He was still wary of the things lurking in the dark around him and could not shake the feeling that someone had been watching him the whole time he was at the clearing.

It felt like being a thief about to be caught red-handed stealing a pack of sausages at the grocery store, he thought and jumped over another tree that had fallen due to age or the high winds the north experienced from time to time.

With no idea what time it was or when the sun would rise, Ethan continued jogging, hoping the forest would soon end and some signs of civilization would appear. Fortunately, this cannot go on forever, he thought, feeling slightly tired and seeing his stamina fall below fifty percent yet again. He chose to stop and rest for a few minutes.

First, he pulled some of the cooked meat from his storage space, marveling yet again at the power to store things and keep them as they were when he put them there. Then, he smelled the steaming piece of grilled meat and bit into it, savoring the taste for a few moments. When his immediate hunger was somewhat sated, he pulled up the first message he got at the clearing.

A new title [Unwavering] has been earned!

“Huh? Titles?” he said, not understanding what the message signified, and pulled up the title’s description.

[Unwavering] (title)

You have been affected by magic multiple tiers above your rank. Your ability to sense [karma] has been increased. Your will on the soul and its potential has been increased and can be sensed by others either when examined or indirectly observed.

Ethan read the message three times, trying to understand its contents, but no matter how he read it, he did not come to understand what it meant exactly for him. Of course, he knew that the monster in the clearing was of higher rank than him. What he did not feel, however, was that it somehow affected him. After all, it was dead when he looted it.

“Hmm. Rank makes sense, but what about this karma part? Will people now be able to feel all the bad deeds I did?” he trailed off and remembered how his storage worked, pulling the window up. Just as he expected, the available space had increased by another twenty or so spaces. Hmm, that is surprising. I wonder how common this is, he wondered.

Next, he pulled up the message regarding the loot he had managed to snag and read it.

[Tainted Silver World serpent] has been looted!

[Aspect of Chaos] has been added to your storage.

He read the message and choked on the meat he was swallowing. He immediately fell into a coughing fit, trying to regain his wits, spitting the piece of meat stuck in his throat. “What… chaos? That can’t be good,” he said, gasping for breath, as he pulled the item out to examine it.

[Aspect of the Chaos] (aspect, mythic)

An aspect seed containing the power of order and disorder.

Do you wish to absorb?

Yes/No

“Nope,” he quickly declined the prompt and dismissed the window, putting the seed back in his storage. “No way I will risk it absorbing some power of disorder in the middle of the forest. It's still night.” He looked around him and noticed that the sun had started to rise, casting the first rays of its welcoming warmth, dispelling the gloomy shadows around him.

He let out a weary sigh, releasing some of the tension he had been feeling over the past hours after leaving the massive serpent as some common thief with a single piece of loot tucked away in his storage. I really hope no one is coming to look for this thing. I have enough trouble as it is, he thought, feeling that he had to go to keep the distance from some unlikely pursuers.

He got up from where he was perched, checked his stamina, recovered to about two-thirds, and started running again, enjoying the warm morning sun hitting his face from time to time where branches above parted.

Ethan had to recognize that there was merit in leaving the castle, coming into the forest, and facing the dangers as he had. For one, it allowed him to train and test his abilities against real opponents. Gloomy was an excellent training partner, but it could not replicate the thrill of a real fight and the feeling of actual stakes of life and death on the line.

He was not sure how common such training constructs were, but he was happy he managed to find and salvage Gloomy, as it would undoubtedly come in handy along the way. I wonder if I could ever face that massive snake on my own. Or whatever monster that managed to kill it, he considered, thinking about what other dangers hid out there.

While the prospect of facing and surviving larger and more dangerous beasts and getting stronger simultaneously was a fascinating concept after the weeks he had spent tucked away in the gloomy castle, Ethan still felt that he had to survive the day ahead. He knew from the stories he had read that legends did not rise in one day.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

What am I thinking about? Legends? Mr.Yashida would smack my ass with a stick for thinking so highly of myself, he smiled to himself, remembering the old man and his scolding that had helped him survive up to this point.

Ethan continued his half-run, half-walk next to the river at a varying pace due to the constant changes in terrain until the sun was high in the sky, signaling that noon had come. Then, just as he was about to sit down and have his lunch, after squeezing through some incredibly thick bushes, he noticed a large clearing up ahead.

No, It cannot be, he thought and put his rest on pause, running ahead and out of the thick forest, leaving the gloomy atmosphere behind. What he saw made him grin as wide as his face allowed as a large field of golden wheat-like crops stretched before him.

The cultivated field was the first sign that his numerous weeks of hiding away in a dark castle like some ancient hermit were behind him. Ethan knew that where there was cultivated land - there were people. So he squinted his eyes and looked in the distance, covering them against the sun with a palm on his forehead.

Sure enough, in a moment, he noticed what he was looking for. A small village appeared in his sight, some kilometer or so away from where he had exited the forest.

He looked to his left and saw a simple dirt road come out from the forest just over the river. Looking at the village in the distance, he decided it would be better to walk on the road than through the field.

I would not want to make the first farmer in this place mad for stepping on his bread. Oh well, time to get wet, Ethan thought and moved to the river. He briefly inspected the water for any aquatic monsters and, not seeing any, jumped into the waist-deep stream, quickly crossing it.

Once on the other side, he remembered his storage power and cursed himself, “God dammit, I did it again. I should have stored my pants; now, it will appear as I peed myself. What a way to make first impressions, Ethan.”

Shaking his head, Ethan removed his wet clothes and squeezed out whatever water he could manage before setting toward the civilization in sight. He silently hoped the people there were more welcoming than the ones he first met in the clearing next to the castle.

He walked for good ten minutes at a quick pace before he got close to the settlement. Once there, he stopped and noticed that it had no notable wall to speak of. The buildings just began next to the open field. Their walls made him curious, though, as they appeared to be scratched and patched up in places. How do they keep out monsters at night? Or are there none in this place? he wondered.

Looking over his shoulder, he remembered the cloak he was wearing and quickly decided to store it, not wanting to be associated with the scumbags making human sacrifices, not sure if they were well known or not. Better not take my chances, he thought and started walking again.

Approaching the village, he slowed down and looked at the place. The buildings near the entry were built of wood and looked worse for the wear, with holes in their sides and patches littering their walls. A hip-high fence of the same wood stretched out and around the village as far as he could see.

Once next to the buildings, he could hear the sounds of human civilization as a hubbub of noises filled with arguing, yelling, and shouting came off from a distance. Wow, that sounds like a market fair in the middle of this place, he thought, his excitement tangible.

He walked through what counted as the small village entrance and marveled at the sounds and sights around him. The buildings reminded him of something medieval from the films he had seen, with things lying around on the streets. The streets were dirty and disheveled, but Ethan did not mind, as everything he saw here was better than the creepy castle he had been living in so far.

Just as he was about to wonder where the animals were, his nose was hit by the smell of manure from the side. He looked to his left and almost cried out as he heard the familiar oink emerge behind the fence. Pigs! That means there is bacon in this place, Ethan thought and nearly jumped up in joy. Oh, man, that is the best finding ever! he smiled and ran up to where the pigs were fighting for scraps in their pen.

In his joy, he did not notice a pair of women dressed in simple, crude linen-like dresses observe a towering young man, covered in blood and gore, not smelling any better than the pigs he was watching as if obsessed. Instead, they stared at him and silently exchanged hurried words, trying hard not to gain the man’s attention.

Once satisfied, Ethan shook his head, still smiling, and continued through the village. A few dozen meters in, he saw the first villagers peer out of the windows and doors of their tiny wooden houses, casting varying glances at him.

He waved at them and could not understand their problem as he smiled his best smile, but they continued to scatter, close doors, and say something unintelligible, pointing their fingers at him. What is up with people in this place? he thought, observing yet another elderly man run around a corner at a quick step.

As he saw another pair of women look at him with wide eyes and scrunch up their noses, he understood where the problem was. He raised his armpit and smelled himself, immediately recoiling at the pungent smell.

“Way to go, Ethan, way to go. Smell like a mule’s ass on a hot summer day, Jesus. Well, that is my first order of business then - to find an inn,” he said to himself, stopped, and looked around.

He immediately noted that a small crowd had gathered and observed him, some openly glaring. He looked behind the people and noted that all the houses looked the same, with no signs or anything that would mark an inn.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the villagers evaluating Ethan and him them in turn, he cleared his voice. Just as he was about to ask where the inn was, he noticed a little boy watching him with an open mouth.

Ethan put on his best friendly neighbor smile and asked the little guy, “Excuse me, young man. Where could I find a bath in this place?”