With the remaining ghouls cleaned up he had leveled up again and was close to level 10.

As the final Ghoul fell from a boomerang throw as he cut its head off he smiled.

I got’em

Before collapsing on the ground, completely spent.

Upon waking, he assessed his health and found he was in perfect condition, with his arm fully healed. He moved and stretched it without any issues.

“What happened? I am surprised my arm has healed quickly?? How long have I been out?” Guin answered immediately.

“Your body went into shock and collapsed on the ground as you went unconscious. You passed out for about 2 hours. Now that your constitution is over 20 you should be able to heal any injuries you suffer with a nights rest outside of dismemberment and even then two nights should be able to heal even that.” As looked around quickly he noticed there was something flashing red in the corner of his eye.

What the hell is that?

“You have defeated the Castle of Glory and Bone. You gain a passive perk from this dungeon. “ As she said this the Skeletal Mage melted into what looked like liquid mercury and went into his flesh as he received the perk, Slayer of Bone.

Slayer of Bone - Your attacks and skills are much more effective against undead that are physically weaker than yourself.

As this was happening he noticed that undead bodies began to dissolve into nothingness as he looked around as Guin spoke up again.

“I strongly recommend that you raise your intellect and wisdom next at least 10.”.Marcus smiled and asked why as he began to explore the rest of the castle along with gathering up his bag and other gear.

“You have probably noticed that your current body is very different from your original body, correct?”

He nodded. For that he had no doubt. Setting aside the system and leveling, his actual base body was beyond human. For the past few days experimenting he confirmed it. Regardless of leveling or whatever, no base human even with his same stats would be the same as him. He just…knew.

“Well your body is infused with what can only be described as Smart Cells that upon reaching 20 Constitution has triggered your evolution. Your current body is an enhanced version of the base template for humans. Smart Cells that are in your body are designed to work independently of you and make you get the most out of your body and effects applied to you body. This includes leveling.”

That sounds like something straight out of a Sci-Fi movie.

“So what does that have to do with raising my intellect and wisdom? I am certainly not opposed to it but I want to know why specifically?”

“As you got closer and closer to 20 Constitution, your Smart Cells began to initiate the precursor to your evolution. This has caused your body to be filled to the brim with testosterone and other supportive cells to help the process. The side effect is Smart Cells were designed with the System in mind. You need to temper your growth with intellect and wisdom or you are gonna turn into a horny crazed berserker.”

As he reflected further on his last battle, he found himself torn. On one hand, he was clearly outnumbered, facing a daunting 20 to 1 odds. It felt almost insulting, as though they believed they could truly challenge his might. Yet, at the same time, he couldn't shake the feeling of being an invincible young god of war, destined to obliterate everything in his path.

This is what she must be talking about.

"I understand, and I apologize for what happened earlier. I've never felt so strong before; it was as if I could obliterate anything that stood in my path."

“The Smart Cells and The System was designed to cultivate confidence in your personal strength and abilities. That part is not a flaw but just like anything too much of anything is bad for you.”

As he searched the castle it was actually more like an Abbey or Tower. It wasn’t as large as he thought as the size of the tunnels made one think it was bigger than what it actually was. He found very little outside of a few very looking old coins made from gold and silver with some kind of X on them.

Along with a half plate that actually fit him that looked to be made out of gold. But he did find a map and personal traveling gear from the people that died here over the years. As he looked it over he noticed that this was a map of a country or state called Silveroak and it looked like he was here just underground. He quickly asked what Guin knew about Silveroak but she had no idea or thoughts that could help him about the country. As he continued to search until he saw a strange chamber with a pattern on it.

The chamber was a large square shaped stone room that was covered in strange patterns in the center of the room like someone was summoning a demon or something.

“This is an Exit Warp. Generally speaking people do not randomly find dungeons in the wild. They usually receive Dungeon Warps as a reward for quests and great deeds. This should actually take you out of the cave and at least to the surface somewhere close. “ Marcus stared wearily at the strange room.

“How do you know so much about the world’s functions but not any of its history?” As he pulled back out the map of Silveroak the map itself did not look all that old. Maybe one or two years at most.

“I am new to this world as well. I was only given the knowledge of how the world works and how you will evolve.” Marcus' eyes narrowed.

“By who?”

After a painfully long pause Guin did not respond.

“Well that’s not creepy. Anyway, you have helped me so far and I doubt you would try and screw me over here as well.“

Marcus smiled before he looked at his clothes under his half-plate and realized he needed to clean himself in case he landed in or near a town. He decided to use several beverage boxes to make hot water and took his time to clean himself and his gear.

“Thank god these people had soap in their traveling packs though I am not looking forward to medieval dental hygiene and no deodorant.”

“The hygiene here is comparable to your home planet, functional toothpaste, deodorant, and quality soap are plentiful in Ervasta.” He nodded. That was good to know. If he planned on making a life for himself he did not want to have to invent soap and deodorant here. As he searched more thoroughly he discovered that wrapped in cloth was what he imagined was deodorant. He applied some water to it to try and bring it back to functionality.

Lemongrass, nice.

After applying some deodorant he looked over several more items and grabbed a long black cloak and a set of old but decent pairs of pants, brown shirts from some of the ghouls and a pair of boots. It took him nearly a day to fully clean himself and his gear but it worked out as he used his enhanced strength and speed to windmill all of his clothes and gear causing them to shake off all moisture before heading out to the Exit Warp.

“So long.”

As he was pushed through space he was surrounded by a forest near a road. He noticed it was mid-day and he smiled. With his spear on his back and his boomerang by his side he continued down the road with his bag slung over his shoulder.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The forest was strange; he saw beasts and creatures that he never saw before. Strange deer-like beasts with fur the color of Silver roamed in packs of ten eating what had to be some of the biggest apples he had seen in his life. Even the trees themselves were interesting. The “apple” trees bark was also covered in silver like patterns as the deer as he traveled.

As he checked the map again as he traveled he noticed that there was an ink blot that was fading in and out on the road and moved as he moved.

That’s weird. Is this some kind of GPS maybe?

As continued to look over at the map Druid’s Grove was apparently on the path he was following and it was marked as a large city by the map legend.

“I think the play is to head to Druid’s Grove, figure out more about where I am and things I can do to kill more monsters-” He heard the whistle of a crossbow bolt flying towards him as he rolled out of the way and pulled out his spear.

“Hey I am just a traveler here trying to get to Druid’s Grove. I want no trouble with you.”

As he looked around he saw a group with 4 men and 2 women appear all around him with blades and arrows as one of the women spoke up from in front of him. These people seemed strange to him. One of them had green skin, another had bright red skin and another seemed to be much shorter than the other and had purple skin.

There were also a few that looked like traditional humans with one of them being black and the other being white as well. What was strange to him was that the black guy had piercing bleach blonde hair. The woman who spoke up looked like what he imagined an Orc would look like but more human.

The woman had green skin, was well built and tall around along with having small but functional looking tusks that came from the top and bottom of her mouth. Her hair was jet black and faded on the side giving her the appearance of an Orcish Viking.

“You missed the toll, Hume. It's 10 gold marks to pass our toll.” Marcus looked around confused as he looked for a toll gate.

“Where is your toll gate? What kind of racket is this? You just shoot people because you can’t flag them down fast enough? You have some kind of manager or something.” The red skinned man smiled before he got a closer look at the man.

He looked like he had more middle eastern features with his large brown eyes and long straight hair before he realized that the man had horns.

“That’s because we did not intend for you to live, you muppet. Now hand over 10 gold marks or we take whatever is left from your corpse.” Marcus looked at the man wide eyed.

“Oh my god, its a demon. Holy shit, you have a demon with you!?! Is this some kind of mind control or something?” As he readied his spear and looked at the horned man another…person appeared from behind one of the others in the group except she looked like some kind of Gnome or Dwarf maybe with East Asian like features.

Sadness washed over the horned man's face as the small woman put her hand on his forearm as she spoke up.

“So you are racist against Delumes? Are you some kind of country bumpkin or something. Khalid is sensitive to that. Delumes are just like the rest of Umes. Just like you and me.” Marcus raised an eyebrow at the group.

Just like you and me? Maybe she is actually human and suffers from Dwarfism. I should play nice here.

“Ok, listen. I am trying to get to Druid’s Grove. That’s it, whatever I said to offend you I apologize but you did attack me and I am not from here.” Khalid spoke with more conviction in his voice than ever before.

“Listen up, Hume. We were just planning to rob you, that's it. Calling me a demon is just hurtful and backwards. Now the price is 15 Gold Marks.” The look of shock that spread across his face was visible.

These assholes tried to kill me but are calling me racist? What fucking world was this? Enough games. If 30 armored semi-intelligent zombies could not kill me then these people stood no chance.

Marcus started to walk the green woman before she spoke again. “Are you stupid? Give up your shit or die-” As she said that he quickly took a massive step forward ending up nose to nose with the woman and looked at her as she locked eyes on him with terror in them.

A collective gasp erupted as everyone snapped their gaze toward him. He locked eyes with her, an unyielding stare that seared into her soul. In his eyes, she saw the fierce essence of a true warrior—an unstoppable force burning with the desire to fight and annihilate anything that dared to obstruct his path. He smiled and began a soft chuckle that turned into a belly laugh.

“Marcus, you are falling under the effects of battle lust. Be careful.” Guin spoke before the Green skin woman continued.

“Umm backoff everyone. Seriously, umm Druid’s Grove is roughly a tenday's travel walking.” Marcus smiled at the woman and then stepped aside and looked at the various people here.

“Is anyone hungry?” Khalid spoke up. “We could eat” As the green skinned woman shot daggers at him.

“Have you heard of food boxes?”

The green skinned woman's eyes went wide and nodded. Before he reached into his bag and pulled out 20 food and beverage boxes and handed them to the green skin woman.

“Enjoy.”

He said before he walked away. As he walked away in the corner of his eye he saw others rush over and quickly activate them and eat and drink them with smiles on their faces.

They weren’t built for this. These people weren’t killers, just people playing pretend to get easy money. I will give them a second chance to see if they could or would change.

Before he quickly decided to test out his strength and speed by accelerating to his top speed as he quickly ran, the trees around him began to blur before he ran into a large tree and bounced off roughly 20 feet away.

Damn it that sucks!

“To handle the information your body is taking in, you must boost your intellect and wisdom. Otherwise, you'll be outmatched in high-speed battles against others who have similar physical abilities but superior mental processing power.”

As he pulled out a tree branch that was stuck in his leg at a weird angle he smiled. More and more this was starting to make sense to Marcus. He was gonna have serious trouble with someone with higher skill. Regardless of his high speed.

“Yeah, I gotta level up some more, I can’t even use my top speed.” As he thought about ways to make money and level up he thought about monster slayers in the various RPG games he had played over the years.

“Hey, Guin are monsters and such in great demand or have a great demand of monster slayers in this world?” After a long moment Guin spoke.

“Ervasta has not been fully explored outside of basic world knowledge. Only 20 percent of the world has been explored. With powerful monster groups constantly pushing back against human expansion and also monster invasions little progress has been made in the past 100 years. If we are in Silveroak then this region has a mixture of monster groups. There are both Undead and Lizard Monster groups. Monster groups also fight each other all the time as well. I imagine a monster slayer could make a small fortune.”

As he continued to travel using about half of his maximum speed he was able to reach Druid’s Grove within two days without any trouble.

Welcome to the Jungle.