He waited five heartbeats, because that’s what the scroll said. Then he proceeded across the lawn towards the house. He pressed himself tightly against it, edging along its walls without ever sticking over to the parts not hulled in shadow. Also just like the scroll said.

The trickiest part had been getting over the hedge and onto the estate grounds. It was the only thing the scroll hadn’t explicitly provided Marcel with, and therefore had taken him a few scratches and trial and error principal to figure out how to climb over it.

He hadn't been much of a climber in his old life, other then the time he had gone rock climbing once with his friend Jimmy. But with his new Strength and Dexterity he was surprised how effortless it went.

Since his feet had touched the estate grounds though, he had been careful to follow the scrolls instructions, just like Trider had trimmed him to do.

He was surprised how detailed the instructions were and how they guided him along almost like a tutorial. Was this how quests in this world worked? It truly made things easy. At least in terms of not thinking on his own.

A few beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead as Marcel had to hold his breath while passing a particularly thin shadowed part of the building. So far he hadn’t seen anybody around, which made him question the move of staying in the shadows, but better be safe than sorry he though.

Although it was a little surprising that no one was around walking these estates, they were positively enormous. If the front of the house had been sporting some sports cars, Marcel wouldn’t have been surprised to see a house like this on MTV cribs. It was a palace.

When he finally rounded the corner to the other side of the building, and he saw the backgarden, he had to reconsider. This was definitely MTV cribs level.

The back garden was as big as a football field. There were several fountains in distinct shapes and statues. Beds of colorful and exotic flowers (most flowers of this world would have, by definition, been exotic to Marcel). But what was most impressive, was the full blown hedge maze that took up the center of it all.

It stretched out for what seemed like a mile, and consisted of dense dark green hedges growing taller than Marcel could stand. Marcel wanted to walk straight towards the hedge maze, but glanced at the scroll's directions before that.

“Wait until the whole sun is visible when you look at the gargoyle sitting on the western corner of the roof.”

Marcel had difficulties figuring out cardinal directions in the best of times, and being in a world he had never been in before, definitely constituted that. He looked around until he saw said gargoyle statue sitting on the edge of the mansion's roof to his right.

Two thirds of the sun showed through it. So with a beating heart he waited.

The minutes trickled like sand. Every noise Marcel heard made him jump. It was a wonder that, almost half an hour later, nobody had discovered him still.

By now the sun was fully visible still, and Marcel set off towards the maze.

He hurried towards the hedge, doing his best to combine stealthyness with his desire to quickly find cover behind something. Only when he was hidden in the cool shade of the hedges did he breathe a sigh of relief.

The maze itself wasn't

Marcel walked farther until he saw a lone girl sitting on a bench. Her long blond hair fell down to her waist, her gaze seemed to be lost in thought as she stared up the olive tree in front of her.

“Hmph.” Marcel tried to get her attention.

She turned around in shock, standing up and taking a step backwards after seeing an unfamiliar man in her backyard. She opened her mouth and clearly intended to scream.

“No! No!” Marcel waved his hands as non threatening as possible. “I was sent to deliver something for you.”

She cocked her head, holding back her scream for now.

“Here, see, if’ve got a letter for you.”

The girl took the letter. Held it against the sun, like it was a bank note, and then pocketed it with a satisfied nod. Then she turned away from Marcel and sat back down on the bench.

“Sure. You’re welcome I guess.” Marcel felt a little disappointed about the girls reception. He had thought this might be his knight in a shining armor moment, but at least he had finished the quest now.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

He made his way out. When he was a few steps deep into the hedge maze, he realized that the scroll that had led him here by overly accurate directions had simply vanished. That resulted in him needed almost three times as long out of the maze.

Who would even spend his afternoon sitting in a fricking maze, Marcel thought.

He was almost at the entrance, or in other words the part of the hedge he had climbed, without any incident. When suddenly someone called out behind him.

“Halt boy.”

Two guards strode up towards him. They looked pretty non distinct, no particular colors or sygils that he could see on them. Surprisingly they also both carried rather impressive mustaches.

“I’m afraid you’re trespassing, boy,” one of them said in a stern voice.

“I think there has been some misunderstanding,” Marcel said. “Sorry I was just delivering a letter.”

The guard raised an eyebrow. “Why haven’t we seen you pass the gate then?”

“Uhhh…” That was indeed a very good question, and a very incriminating one.

Then the guard said. “We could ask you to leave kindly…”

“I was already on my way out anyways!” Marcel interrupted.

“But I don’t think we will.” He finished his sentence with a twisted smile.

Visions from Marcel’s brief stunt as a security guard for a parking house came to mind. Endless sitting around. Staring at unchanging screens. Nothing to do but to wreak your brains. He couldn’t say he didn’t emphathize with these men needing a change of pace.

He just didn’t quite emphathize with the fact that he was supposed to be it.

Luckily, he didn’t need to. He had a real class now. One with true power. In this world he wasn’t as helpless as in his last, he didn’t have to let himself be pushed around, and he didn’t have to take shit from anybody.

“Listen I don’t think you two truly want that,” Marcel said. “I get the boring parts of the job, and by gods I even get the lust for violence that human interaction can get you sometimes, but I have to warn you. I am quite capable of defending myself.”

The guards shared a look. There was a brief moment of them being stunned, a short retrieve into confused silence. Then they broke out laughing.

“Boy this day is getting better and better,” one of them said.

“I’m so glad I switched shifts with Derek,” the other one chimed in.

Marcel shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you then.”

He circled his mana, letting the rush of energy take him. With a mental command he channeled his “Heightening Skill”. It was one of the new ones he hadn’t yet had a change to use.

“Heightening:

An ability for the nimble warrior, honing its senses to the limit.

The skill increases the users Dexterity and Perception by a moderate amount. It also increases reaction time and instincts slightly.”

From his seven new skills, this was the only one Marcel had been able to try out so far. The difference while walking the streets hadn’t really been noticeable, but it had at least made him able to avoid stepping into shit at the last moment.

He wanted to see how it would play out in a fight though.

The world around him sharpened as the skill activated, and Marcel felt more confident. He took a step forwards, mimicking his best karate pose and gesturing for the guards to strike him first.

Both of them raised their eyes. One nodded to the other, and after a shrug, that one went after Marcel.

He surged forwards, aiming a punch at Marcel’s head. It happened so fast that Marcel barely managed to take a step back and evade the punch. When he suddenly and instinctually stood a feet away blinking at the man, both of them were surprised.

Marcel wasted no time and counterattacked though. He followed the input his other combat skill gave him.

“Spear proficiency.

One of the true weapons of the warrior. Simple, but deadly.

Gives the user proficiency with the spear. Makes learning and mastery the weapon easier and intills a basic instinct.

Also gives slight proficiency in hand to hand combat”

He threw a quick combination of punches, and finished it with a kick. His hands were blocked fully, but his kick managed to land and elicit a wince from the guard. He nodded in respect.

“A little tougher than expected,” he said. “That’s fun.”

Marcel snorted. He was only beginning. The guard would soon see just how fun it was.

Then the guard flared his aura. Marcel felt like he was staring at the sun. The man’s aura exploded and seemed to tingle on Marcel's skin just from standing close to the man.

His instincts screamed at him to retreat, to cower away. But Marcel was chained to the floor, staring at the guard in front of him with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

The man wore a self satisfied smirk now as he calmy walked towards Marcel.

What followed was nothing short of an ass whopping. Marcel felt man handled in ways he had never felt before since he had accidently flirted with Maurice Lelman’s girlfriend back in middle school.

The difference was, that back then he had gotten his head flushed in the toilet and a few nipple twists for it. Now he felt like every bone in his body was slowly broken in meticulous order.

At some point his surroundings started blurring. He wasn’t even aware of time passing anymore. The only thing he noticed was the glee in which the guards played with him and slowly broke him.

Some time later he suddenly slapped down in the dirt in front of the mansion. His world was a spinning mix of painful agony.

“Thanks for the entertainment,” one of the guards sneered from the gate.

His friend rolled his eyes. “You could’ve left some fun for me Gerry.”

“Next time we won’t just kick you out again though. So be grateful for our mercy today.” His colleague ignored the guards remark.

With that they turned back towards their estate, leaving Marcel wincing on the street.