“Damn it Eskil!” Sam roared out as he stood on a field. ‘I am naked as the day I was born… Wait, I was just born… Through magic though huh.’

He knew the dragon to be a bit unconcerned about others' well-being, but then again he had told him what his task was and Sam had learned the skills he needed. He just felt that Eskil could have said something as a warning so he could be mentally prepare himself for the transfer.

Sam looked up to get the sun’s position and by that, approximated where north were. The sun was high up in the sky and Sam guessed it was around noon. He had no idea where the nearest town was or anything as Eskil couldn’t transfer him to a specific spot, just a region at best. He only knew the task and the setting that was given just before the transfer.

“Shit, I need clothes, more important some form of footwear too.” Sam said to no one but himself, as he looked around his surroundings.

His body looked human as much as he could tell. He had been afraid that something would have changed after all Eskil put his spirit self through. He wasn’t sure if he could be called human anymore as his body was created by Eskil’s magic.

‘My new body looks to be between twenty to twenty-five years old… Hmm, I should start with feeling out the body. Test skills and while I am at it I can create some footwear while I am at it.’ He thought as he started to slightly stretch his body.

His skills are Dragon’s Soul, Dragon’s Body and Dragon’s Mind. These helped him train every part of him, both mentally, physically and spiritually. As Dragon’s Soul was training his soul and therefore training all underlying mana functions as capacity and control.

The best part was that when activated it boosted his mana control and he could train it as much as he wanted in the dream realm. This skill had therefore reached level 3 already. Training it was in theory easy, but in practise hard, as what he had to do was keep the skill active and then do mana control exercises that Eskil had taught him.

Dragon’s Mind skill was at level 2 as it was both physical and spiritual. It had been hard to train in the dream realm, but had worked a bit. It helped him with problem solving and remembering stuff as well as handling stress at activation.

What Eskil had said was that the skill trained the connection between body and soul and this was called the mind or something like that. That was the reason it was hard to train in the dream, as he only had the soul there and no physical body.

To train it he needed to activate the skill and do mental exercises, best was if the exercises were both theoretical as well as physical in nature. Puzzles and games like chess could do, but more or less any problem solving activity could be used.

The last skill, Dragon’s Body, couldn’t be trained at all, he just could gain the knowledge how to train it and what it did. This meant it was at level 1. Dragon’s Body was a form of full body enchantment skill.

The way to train it was to have the skill active too and use physical exercises that also trained his stamina, strength, agility, dexterity and perception and could be activated for strengthening the body with a cost of mana.

Sam sat and thought about his skills. ‘I should train Dragon’s Body and Dragon’s Mind to level 3 before I actively seek out any civilization. If for nothing else then for my own safety!’

Sam knew that monsters could be lurking about and sentient beings could be as dangerous if not more than some monsters. He thought that it was better to prepare a bit beforehand. He didn’t know how good this body of his was so testing was needed and then training.

He did some more stretches to get used to his new body. Turns out it was in the norm of humans, not weak, but neither strong either. In physical terms he was at the movement so average that it was almost funny. That strengthened his idea that training up his skills to level 3 each was necessary.

Sam walked over to some bushes that looked like he could make sandals off of and began his work. He had only seen some videos before, so it took him a while to get the hang of how to make them.

He needed to learn what was edible and came to the idea that he could try to find animals and watch what they ate. So after making the sandals, he searched for any small critters that he could steal, hunt and learn from.

Sam found himself lucky as some rabbit-like creatures lived nearby. They ate some sort of nut, berries and grass. The grass would probably be hard to melt for his stomach, but the other things should work.

‘If only Eskil could have shown me a map or something over the region I was going to end up. Then I could nevigated a bit, probably.’ Sam thought as he watched the rabbit-like creatures from his hiding spot.

Sam started to train his body on the second day as that was the only weapon he had at the moment and if a monster would come he was defenceless. He used Dragon’s Body skill while doing the exercises each morning, he kept the skill on when he did other activities like when he was scouting the area.

He only needed to be sure that he didn’t run out of mana as he needed some if he got attacked. He could probably defeat a single goblin or other monster or animals at the same danger level with the skill activated, but if they teamed up or stronger beings arrived he would have a problem.

He did the same with Dragon’s Mind, activating it when he had to solve something, like how to distil the water he took from a stream he found and when he tried to build traps.

He didn’t know how long it would take to get his skills to level 3. He guessed around a month as he had the Dragon’s Body skill active as much as he could. The skill made him a little faster and stronger, though at level 1 the boost was very low. Both because his body was not really strong and the boost was just a few procent extra, but he needed any extra he could have to survive.

There were many different skills to train one's body, soul and mind, but the better skill, the better the buffs it gave at activation. Sam’s Dragon skills were at the better end of the scale and therefore the boost at level 1 enough to be felt.

At the time he reached level 2 for Dragon’s Body. He had built a small camp for shelter against the weather and had been able to trap some of the rabbit-like creatures and found where the nuts and berries grow.

He was thankful that no dangerous monster seemed to live nearby. He had been able to gain another skill too, nothing mayer, only some simple quality of life skill. It had even reached level 3. It leveled fast, so Sam bagan to think that simpler skills leveled faster, but gave less benefits.

‘Ok, I should scout further now as I reach level 2. I should be able to run both faster and longer now.’ Sam thought to himself as he looked south.

He had already chosen to go south as it looked most promising for finding any form of civilization. To the north was a forest that he didn’t know the depth of, west and east was just following along the forest.

‘Let’s sleep for tonight and tomorrow morning I head out a bit further! If I found nothing I head back here and scout west and east. I will not enter the forest more than necessary as I might get lost and there are probably monsters inside.’

Sam fell asleep soon after having dinner…

“Shhh, there is something ahead.” A small figure whispered to two others.

They were wearing clothing for ease of movement and some rough leather armor parts. None had a full set. The biggest figure’s armor had some metal pieces attached at crucial areas like the heart area. It was a bit heavier than normal leather armor, but otherwise had the same functions.

“Yea, yea. Kita, last time it was just a rabbit.” The last person said with clear mockery over the others' skill.

“You said you were a scout, but you can’t tell what it is your skill reacts to. Only that there is something there.” The biggest figure continued as he looked at the direction that Kita had pointed to.

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“Brother, I think we should just do her and then sell her. She cost more in time than she is worth at this point.” Kita heard the last whisper between the two brothers.

She had joined them on this quest to scout out the area. The brothers did have a bad reputation in town but she joined them either way because the pay was good. Already on the second night after leaving town she regretted her choice and tried her best to keep the brothers from herself. It had not been easy but they had yet to do anything.

“Okay brother, let’s do this. If it is another rabbit she is worthless and we rape her and then sell her of.” The larger man licked his lips as if the rest was self explanatory.

Kita could feel their eyes watch her. ‘I better run away tonight and leave them. Problem is that I am a weak scout and they are strong warriors. I need them to survive against any monster here, while they don’t really need me for more than scouting.’

They start walking toward where she felt that something alive was. Her detection skill was good and bad, the good part was that it could see through simple stealth skills even at low levels. Bad part was that it didn’t point out any difference between individuals either at low levels. Thankfully it didn’t react to really weak things like insects. It had to reach a threshold of strength for the skill to care about it and by then she should be able to filter what she was looking for.

As they came closer to the target they could see a small camp and a man sleeping. They watched him for a moment as they were unsure what to do, he was almost naked, only some rabbit fur around his waist.

“Let’s rob him” the younger of the brothers whispered to the other.

Kita looked at the sleeping man and then back at her party with disgust. ‘Does it look like he has anything to rob? I can scream to wake him up and in the confusion slip away, that will give him a fighting chance and I can get away from these two.’ But before she came to act upon her idea the sleeping man woke up and watched them.

“Hello, I am Sam. Can you help me to town?” Kita looked him over in a split second and thought that he would be able to keep the brothers busy long enough for her to get away.

“Hey! watch out!” She screamed as she started to sprint away from any of them.

‘That sounded weird, but what should I have said? “They're gonna rob you, so, bye!” That would be even weirder’ She thought as she ran away.

Sam watched the girl run away while she cried out. He looked back at the two men that had now armed themselves with short swords.

‘Oh! I am to watch out for them I guess?’ He thought as he quickly stood up. Sam was happy as he did understand what she had said. He didn’t know why, but the language barrier between worlds seemed to not be a problem for him.

“I am guessing you two aren’t willing to show the way to town?” Sam said as he activated his skills to gain his boosts.

The Dragon’s Body boosted his body, he felt his body gain strength. The Dragon’s Mind boosted his mind, this made his still a bit sleepy mind clear up. The Dragon’s Soul boosted his soul, this helped control his mana as well as strengthen any spell he used.

He had no spells to use though, but he had learned that it made the boost from the other Dragon skills better in some ways. Like the Dragon’s Body when activated used mana as an extra source of energy to fuel his body. With better mana control he could concentrate more mana to specific parts of the body, that meant weakening the boost at one part of the body to strengthen it at another. It wasn’t perfect, but enough to give him a bit of an edge.

“Lad, we're gonna rob you, nothing you can do about it. Then we're gonna hunt down that girl.” Said the bigger man as he moved in on him.

‘Fuck, do I really have to fight this idiots? I can guess that they have some skills.’ Sam thought as the man’s short sword swished sideways aiming for Sam’s throat.

Sam crunched down to dodge the swing and made an uppercut that hit the guy's chin, while pushing more mana to his arm and hand. The sound of teeth smashing together and neck creaking from the recoil of the hit made Sam hope that he had a fighting chance.

Sam took a step back to get away from the others reach before a counter could be given, but no counter came. The man had fallen over unconscious from the hit.

Before Sam could think about what he had done, the slightly smaller man attacked from behind. He had circled Sam while he was occupied with the bigger guy. His sword flowed out in a stabbing motion, but Sam was able to dodge in time.

This was because the big guy was supposed to keep Sam occupied, while the smaller one stabbed their targets back. The problem was that Sam had taken the big one out too fast.

‘Damn his chin was hard, my fist hurts a bit. Should try to hit soft spots if I can.’ Sam’s fist pulse with a bit of pain. He could feel that nothing was broken, but pain is still pain.

Face to face they looked at each other. A second went by, no one moved.

“We don’t have to do this.” Sam said to the man, hoping that no more fighting was needed.

He was sure that he had a fluke with the hit on the other guy. Though his skills had helped him achieve it, he knew it still was a fluke.

“Fuck no! I am gonna cut you down for knocking down my brother!” The man roared out and then charged.

He aimed his short sword at Sam’s stomach. As the short sword closed in, Sam side stept and turned his body, the short sword only ripped his cloth. He gripped the man’s hand as it went beside him and pushed it down.

It made the man lose his footing and the short sword went into his thigh. Sam pushed him and he fell over too, a few meters away from his still unconscious brother. The blood turned his pants darker and the man began screaming out in pain.

Sam breathed out as he watched the screaming man. ‘Man, he will make any monster aware of them and the smell of blood is gonna make them hungry. I better run too, but first those short swords and then pants and a shirt.’

Sam took the short sword from the unconscious brother and then went through their backpacks in search of clothes. He left the other sword in the thigh of the screaming one.

‘Well he needed it to defend himself and his brother later from the monsters, I am not totally heartless.’ Sam thought as he put on the clothes fast and strapped the short sword to his new belt.

He took a last look at the brothers and then turned at directions the girl had run towards. ‘If someone is gonna help me find a town, that would be the girl that ran.’

Sam started running after the girl when it hit him that he had his first fight in his adult life. He had no earlier experience, but somehow his body had reacted as if on reflex. It was dangerous to not have control in a fight, but for simple minded fighters as the brothers the skill had been enough.

‘I better learn how to handle my skills, I would be dead if they had made a feint or attacked simultaneously.’

Sam stopped using the Dragon’s Soul as well as Dragon’s Mind skills, only Dragon’s Body skill did he leave active as it enhanced his perceptions and made it easier to follow the girl. It also made him a bit stronger and faster so he could keep a nice pace while running.

The fight between him and the brothers and him stealing clothes had not taken long, so the girl wasn’t able to create a huge distance between them. But she was fast and Sam had a feeling she knew where he was, as she immediately changed course when he tried to shortcut her.

‘Damn, damn, damn it!’ Kita thought as she ran and ran.

Just a few minutes after she ran away from the camp she had detected a being moving fast towards herself. It was either one of the brothers that she really didn’t want to be found by or the man that had been sleeping in the camp.

‘If it is the man, that would mean he made short work of the brothers and he would make even shorter work of me! I am so unlucky!’ She wanted to cry as she ran.

She changed the course yet again as her skill picked up that her pursuer moved to intercept her again. It was then she slipped. Her legs were tired from all the walking in the day and then the intensive running she just had done. Therefore she couldn’t keep her balance when she slipped and fell over. Through her skill she knew that her pursuer had reached her. She didn’t try to stand up, she sighed to herself as she turned around to see which one it was.

It was the unknown man that they had disturbed, he had clothes on now. She guessed his height was around six feet. His body structure was kind of average, not big in a fatty or muscular way, but he wasn’t lean in any way either. His grey-green eyes seemed nice to her as she tried to get a feel for her capturer. Their eyes met, she hastily looked away, afraid that he would do something to her if he thought her to be defiant.

“Are you okay? What’s your name? Mine is Sam.” The man said, his voice quite deep.

It was soothing to her as it reminder of her fathers voice a bit. Though this man’s voice is a tiny bit deeper than her father’s.

“I am Kita!” She said meekly as she sat herself up from her lying position.

‘My feet hurt a bit, but ain’t gonna say that!’ The thought passed her while she continued.

“What are you gonna do to me?”

“Nothing really, I need a guide to a town though. So if you could help with that?” Kita watched him as he sat down a few meters from her.

‘Is he lost or something? It is just two to three days to town from here.’ She felt out her foot and found it less painful than before. ‘Running would be a bit hard, but walking shouldn’t be a problem.’

‘Hmm, if any monsters arrive after all this and as my foot is, I would become monster food. I can’t run away like this.’ She glanced at Sam, he seemed nice to her.

“My foot hurts a bit, so I can’t run from any monsters. If I guide you, could you protect me if any monster shows up?”

The man called Sam nodded. “I can agree to that.” He said and continued. “I want to run a bit further away from my old camp as the other two made a lot of noise. I will give you a piggyback till I deem us safe.”

He crouched down in position so it would be easier for her to get on his back. Kita sighed again. She was glad that he didn’t see her face as he had turned away. She was blushing a bit while she put her arms over his shoulders and around his neck. His hands grabbed her thighs and held them around his hips as he stood up.

They stood quiet for a moment and she began wondering why he didn’t start running.

“So Kita, where to? I don’t know the direction.”

She died inside as she understood that he was waiting for her to point out the direction to travel.

‘God damn Kita, here you have found what seems to be a nice man for once and now you already fucking things up.’ Kita's face was burning, but Sam couldn’t see.

“ahm, that way!” She pointed southward, it wasn’t towards town but the nearest road.

Sam started running, Kita thought that he was fast even while piggybacking her.