At the dorm, Viers and the other trainees were eating supper. Viers wasn't popular nor particularly liked among the kids. They tended to stay away from him which suits him just fine.

Usually Viers ate alone, peacefully eating his meal in silence while he listened to other kids talking about teenagers' gossip with each other. Hoping there was some kind of useful information buried somewhere among the jibber-jabber and not simply a complete noise pollution. But, more often than not, it's pure nothing-important-nium.

Whether because of pity or kindness or any other reason, Paina, Farley, and Max sometimes bring their meal near him and dine together.

“Viers, did you hear? The boars in the south become man-eating boars! Now, they eat the humans they killed!” Paina spoke after swallowing her meal.

“Seriously? That’s bad ain't it?”

Boars are omnivorous but normal boars certainly ‘don’t’ eat humans.

“They’re monsters so not strictly animals anymore, monsters could be strange and mysterious, beautiful or grisly.” Said Farley next to Paina.

“How do you know this?” Viers asked the black-haired girl.

“There’s an announcement at the guild, you should go there more often. Town officials didn't announce it to everyone to prevent panic but the Adventurers guild is in the know. My guess is because they hope more adventurers will come to hunt the boars from surrounding towns. Anyway, you should visit there from time to time to know more of the state of things. There are all kinds of news.” Paina helpfully answered.

Without my smartphone and internet coverage, I certainly don't have the news in the palm of my hand anymore so Paina’s suggestion isn't bad. Perhaps this is the way it works in this world. Extraordinary news trickling from the top, to the Path-seekers, then to the civilians. Other than spreading unnecessary unrest among the civilians, it's because the Path-seekers are usually the only ones who could do something about it.

Anywho, there's a board with more detailed news pinned there about what's happening at Luxore and its surroundings in the cult’s underground base but I wasn't paying it enough attention. It couldn't be helped, I’m very busy.

“They also said the mayor is going to construct a fort to defend against the boar attack. There are all kinds of quests with good rewards about fort construction now. Earth element users should be having a field day, they could do those quests far easier than other people.”

Viers nodded, he seemed to be deeply in thought.

No matter how high the reward is, they should receive less than me. The cult is paying me in crystals, way higher than the guild is paying them. Truly, evil pays.

“I wonder if we'll be okay… What do you think about this, Farley?” Said Viers to one of the perpetrators of this situation.

“I think it’s going to be fine, there’s still a lot of adventurers, in this town or in the neighboring town. There’s also the church’s people, they’ll always fight to defend the innocent people.” Farley spoke after some thinking. Her face was very sure.

Paina nodded in agreement while Viers sighed in his heart.

Haaah… This is going to be ugly isn't it? To be fair, if she said it’s ‘not’ going to be fine, I’ll also think it's going to be ugly. I just know it. I should train more. Now is a good time to get insurance.

“Speaking of the church, I made a friend recently. She’s an acolyte from the church, her name is Rose.” Paina said cheerfully.

Paina didn't realize it but Farley raised her eyebrow and Viers held his breath for one second. Paina told them about her meeting with Rose and the following bonding trip.

Rose… wasn't she one of Leon’s band of heroes? Let's hope it has nothing to do with me.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Paina was still speaking, Farley’s face was a stone mask, Viers touched his moon pendant from above his shirt. They finished their dinner soon after. Each with their own thoughts.

***

Since the ghoul incident, Viers had two orders from the top to mobilize so far. Unlike the first time, Viers had some options about the task he had to do. He chose tasks that didn't involve much fighting and low difficulty.

He raided a shipment of Mana crystals outside of town with others from the cult. He needed to engage in combat with one of the guards but his daily training paid off. Viers let loose a few Arte and killed his opponent without too much difficulty. The guard was also a level 0 but far weaker than Leon. After he had done his duty, he let the other cultist from his group do the rest. It was a low difficulty mission so Viers only got a crystal for that task.

The other task was even easier, the cult wanted to steal alchemical ingredients from a warehouse. Viers acted as a lookout, with his mutation enhanced hearing combined with Sharpened Hearing Arte, his awareness covered a substantial area.

It took quite a bit of practice to familiarize himself with his super ears but with dedication and perseverance, he made use of his enhanced hearing sense to its full potential. Thanks to Viers’ warnings and enemy location reports, the heist went off without a hitch. Viers spent almost no Victa and he got three crystals in return.

Compared to other Training Center trainees that did the lowest difficulty guild’s quests to earn coppers and silvers, Viers earned a lot more than his classmates. Of course, Viers didn't flaunt it. Most of his classmates still thought he was just an average level 0.

He could have chosen more dangerous tasks, but Viers decided to not go all out. Building his strength quietly and minimizing risks.

He had heard that the cultists that did some of the tasks he opted not to take had a run-in with the church's people. Once again, Viers felt he made a wise decision. Facing the retaliation for Leon’s murder was not in his to-do list.

Luxore town was not a Mana rich region, to level up to level 1, Viers needed to absorb a lot of Mana. Since his environment wasn't suitable to absorb and gather a lot of Mana quickly, Viers resorted to Mana crystals. Using money to improve his strength, the very definition of pay-to-win.

But he wasn't the only one doing this, everyone was doing it. The limitation was the amount of money they COULD spend. That, or absorbing Mana normally by meditation technique, which was not ideal in Luxore town. It was a vicious cycle, the difficulty of life.

Not many fifteen-years-old could use Mana crystals like Viers in Luxore town. But thanks to joining the cult, he was bathing in gold, so to speak. After eating ten crystals in the span of two months, Viers was finally ready to break through to level 1.

***

A crystal was turning to dust in Viers’ hand, he just finished absorbing it.

“Fuu…”

With this, I managed to gather enough Mana in my body to attempt a level up! I finally did it… No time like the present, I should prepare.

Viers stood up and stretched his body, he had been sitting for too long his body felt uncomfortable. Viers looked at the double moons in the sky from inside his dorm room.

“My next step… A level 1 Path-seeker…”

Now that I think about it, my journey is quite tame up until this point. Sure I almost died more than once, witnessed a flying bull fighting three flying people, fought a couple of life and death battles too, and joined an evil cult that planted a tumor inside me. Other xianxia MCs already had many more things happening to them at this point, but not me…

Next spring, after I graduate from the TC, where would I go and what should I do?

I’ll go on a journey around the world, of course. This is the newbie village in my life’s story. There’s still so much to see!

I doubt the outside world would give me much peace and quiet, I’m a reincarnator for God’s sake! Any fantasy world is destined to be turbulent once a reincarnator appeared in it, and this IS a fantasy world. So I shouldn't waste any time.

Viers cracked his head left and right. He took out a tribal bracelet, it had three colors, red, green, and black. The bracelet was a magic item he purchased from the cult when Viers thought his advancement would be close.

It had no offensive or defensive capabilities. Its single purpose was to weaken the aura of the wearer. Unlike other magical items, the bracelet was hard to recognize as one without extensive probing.

Bracelet of Fake Perception. With this, I won't attract unnecessary attention. A tier 2 talent becomes the first in his class to level up? It would make waves and suspicions. Not to mention it would be telling everyone ‘I’m filthy rich and pissing gold because I drink crystals every day’ with a speaker.

Vier wore it on his left wrist and examined it for a while. He liked the colors and pattern.

Alrighty then, time to level up, solve the tumors, find ways to make permanent my temporary tier 4 affinity, and get revenge at the cult.

If the last one is not yet possible, throw a monkey wrench at their plan, make a grand and ugly mess of things before leaving spectacularly like a badass, try again after I’m stronger.

An evil organization always has a sinister plan ongoing so I’m sure the cult is brewing some nasty things. That plan should include the boars or the boar problem is part of the next evil plan. Becoming a level 1 before I’m knee-deep in that pile of shit is the right course of action.

Viers sat cross-legged on the floor like a meditating monk. He began his breakthrough process. In the sky, the clouds were starting to darken the moonlight.