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Herman

A breath of fresh air was the first thing this new world gives me, I never realized how liberating it can actually be to breath truly clean air, since I lived all my life in the city and didn't have close relatives who lived in the countryside I guess I never had a need nor chance to go there, but it sure felt nice to be in such a place at the moment.

I looked around but there really isn't much to focus on, most of the place is low grass and a few scattered trees around, in the distance towards the... east I think, if the sun of this place moves the same as ours through the sky that's the east, there is a forest, a dense one at that, it takes over the entirety of the horizon of that side. Far beyond it I think I saw the faint image of a mountain range, towards the south the grasslands extend as far as the horizon, I wonder what exactly keeps the grass so low in such great expanse, the god said it was a peaceful place so most likely nothing dangerous, at the north I saw a few scattered tress in the distance, the forest seems to extend as well, but it doesn't occupy the whole side, this must be it's south-west edge, beyond it i was able see once again the faint image of the same mountain range, as for west, it's pretty much the same as the south, just low grass as far as the horizon let's you see, most likely well beyond it.

After scanning my surroundings I decided to check exactly I had on me. I didn't think about it before but I wasn't dressed in my work suit anymore, the one that I found myself wearing seemed more adequate clothing for the world I found myself in, I also had leather armor, a small recurved bow with a few arrows, a bag with a few rations of jerky and dried fruit, a belt in which there sat a knife, a leather canteen, and a short sword, all of it feels brand new but looks a bit used, probably made like that so I didn't stand out wherever I went.

With everything in my 'inventory' sorted out I decided to sit under the shade of the tree, after all I was supposed to wait for the Demi-god, and I didn't have much else to do other than look at the birds far up in the sky pass by.

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The... Demi-god was taking a while, I think I'd already waited for around 3 hours at that point, I mean, I did expect him to take a while to arrive, but this was getting a bit rudiculous. An hour in I decided to get a feel of the sword and the bow I was given, for the sword I'm pretty sure my moves are insanely unrefined and inacurate, as for the bow, of the 10 arrow shots I made towards the tree at somewhere around 20 feet, 4 landed off center, the rest just went by the sides, yeah probably not gonna use the bow any time soon, surprinsingly I didn't feel tired after 2 hours of training, the god did say he would give me the strenght to fare well by myself, but I think he made me be in top condition, which kinda scared me a bit, because what exactly awaited me to need me in peak human condition to just 'fare well'.

As I was pondering about the possibilities I suddenly noticed something in the distance, a trail of faint smoke suddenly rised a bit closer than the forest at west, a bonfire? No, the trail was to diagonal for a stationary source.

Then it hit me, well more like it reached me, the sound. The battle shouts of two groups, the clash of swords at the distance and the sound of the horses's sprint, from the little coherence the words could mantain at that distance I managed to gather a few things, one: a group was trying to protect a carriage, two: the other group was trying to capture the person inside it, three: the person inside the carriage seemed to be some kind of noblewoman.

This was my chance, the opportunity to 'save a princess'. I know it would be reckless to go on my own, I didn't even know if could be of much use, but I wasn't going to waste this opportunity, if I died it was my own faulth.

Once I had steeled my resolve I picked up my things up and started running towards where they seemed to be heading. Normaly I'd be tired after more than a few seconds, which says a lot about the me from before, but with the body the god gave me I didn't feel tired at all even after running for a few minutes, and sure enough, as a matter of fact I could feel myself rushing at such a pace the wind around me started to follow me, which made me aware of the fact that I wasn't in peak human condition, I was beyond it, If i was running the hundred meters I could probably end it within 5 seconds, and It felt like i could run a marathon at this pace without stopping, maybe only for water, so after a while I managed to catch up to the carriange and it's persecutors, partly because they got one of the wheels with some attack and part of it broke of making it get stuck in the mud.

I placed myself right behind a small elevation in the terrain which keeped me form being detected, from my higher point of view I got a good look at how the fight was going. One side was made out of individuals armored with good quality half-plate, only 3 of them had full-plate and for how detailed the middle one was, I'd bet my now non existent savings they are knights and the middle one was the leader, as for the other side most of them only had leather armor, there was one that has a worn out half-plate and seemed to be the leader of the group, for how they looked like I'd say they are more mercenaries than bandits.

The battle was quite fierce, and quite strong for what I could notice, while most of the combatant were probably a bit slower than the current me, the 3 knights and the elite of the mercenaries were clashing blades at a blinding speeds, even with my eyes which had most likely been slightly enhanced by the god it was difficult to follow their movements, neither side seemed to be losing or winning, but it was only a matter of time before someone took the lead, unless something unforseen happened, and that's where I come in.

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I took a deep breath an exhaled as I steeled myself, once ready I decided to try the sneaky approach going by the side of the battle towards the backline of the mercenaries bow in hand, I know I said I probably wouldn't use it, but I'm wasn't confident enough in my close quarter abilities to try to go hand to hand with clearly experienced mercenaries.

As I approached them I stopped at around 15 feet behind one of the very few bushes the grassland offered, as I readied my bow I looked around the backline in search of some priority target that might create a tide in the soldiers favor, that's when I saw him.

A robed figure with a staff shooting shining proyectiles that tracked the enemy soldiers and a few that shielded the mercenaries, there was no mistaking it, that was definitely a wizard, and it seemed to be a core part of the mercenaries tactic, with him there the mercenaries could be a bit more reckless on their offensive, so the soldiers had to be a bit more defensive, but with the magic missiles that wasn't good enough either.

It was clear who I should target so I drew my bow slowly, I only had one chance because the moment they became aware of me I probably wouldn't be able to target the wizard anymore. With that in mind I decided to go for a 3 arrow shot, it might be a bit difficult of a shot, even more for me, but it should increase my chances of actually landing a hit.

As I knocked the three arrows I took aim and a deep breath, after a moment I released the arrows hoping for the best, one landed on the dirt right behind the wizard, another one went above him and into a tree, but the middle one, call me lucky because it landed on his hands while he was casting a magic missile, making him drop his staff instantly.

As soon as they heard the painful scream of their companion, the ones that were close enough around him shouted to the rest of the group a bit in a panic.

"THEY GOT TOMMY, ARCHER BEHIND US!!!" as soon as he heard this the leader looked at the wizard, whose name seemed to be Tommy, jumping from a stoic mein to a worried one when he saw that I got his hands.

"SHIT!... Disengage, no point in risking ourselves at disadventage!!!" The leader said and all of them nodded while the ones that were in the fray ended whatever face off they were involved in, while they retreated some soldiers tried to give chase, but their leader told them off of it.

Soon the mercenaries got on their horses and ran off back the road they came from, as they left the soldiers gave a victory shout, rising their swords into the sky as a sign of comming on top in the small skirmish.

While they did so, I put away my bow and came out of the bush where I was hiding in and started walking towards them as amiable as posible, the first one to notice me shouted to the leaders, and soon one of them started to aproach me with two soldiers by each side while all of them sheathed their swords, it was clear they knew the arrow was mine.

As soon as he got close enough he started talking in a rather friendly manner "That arrow was yours wasn't it? You have our thanks, we weren't really losing yet but the battle was taking a turn towards that so you really saved us" even as he seemed to take the friendly approach both of his escorts where still wary of, which made sense.

"Well, it didn't really sat well with me to just ignore whatever was going on, still glad I was able to help" I said in salute, a bit embarassed about the praise of being a savior.

As he got closer to me he took off his helmet, revealing a handsome red haired man of around 25, once he stood close enough he extended a hand towards me for a hand shake, which I took with pleasure "The name's Liam Alegii, Knight serving under the House of Trucuri" he put a bit of an emphasis on the name of the family he served.

"Herman, Herman Cruz, nice to meet you Sir Liam" I said as the hand shake ended, he seemed to be slightly bothered by something in my response, but I didn't pay it much attention, I'd have time to learn etiquette later.

"Herman huh, haven't heard that name before, from where do you fare?" He said with curiosity, I kinda felt a little worry on his eyes though, maybe some place at war with another around here made that question a necessity.

I'd probably had trouble if I was asked this as soon as I arrived, not like I can say I'm from another world after all, luckily for me I had like 3 hours to think of a few things while I waited for the Demi-god "From a small village far away from here, it's a bit in the middle of nowhere so you most likely haven't heard about it"

"Humble origins for such a good archer" Said Liam recalling the fact that I nailed the hands of the wizard.

"Oh no that was just a really lucky shot, I'm not really that good with the bow, but I had to do with what I had" I said humbly, no use it trying to sell myself big when I barely knew strenght standards in this world.

"Certainly a good bet in the end, are you traveling somewhere?" He asked with a bit of a hopeful expression on his eyes.

"Not really, I just wandered aimlessly, this is the first road I've hit in all my travels though" technically I haven't lied about anything so that feels good for my consience.

"Is that so, then how about you come with us, we could use an archer, good aim or not" A new voice said from behind Liam, it was the other Knight whose name I didn't know just yet, as he approached us he placed a hand on Liam's shoulder, who ended up startled a little by the clang of shoulder guard with guantelet.

I thought about it for a moment, in one side there was the fact that I'm supposed to wait for the Demi-god to arrive, on the other there was the clear opportunity of a life-time to get some ties with nobility, plus the god did say 'preferably' meaning it probably won't be that much of an issue, having sorted out my thoughts I nodded in comfirmation "Yeah I think I will come with you then, I'll be in your care" As I said that Liam face turned slightly sour, for how friendly his approach was I was kinda getting the idea he didn't like a commoner traveling with them, maybe, I wasn't really good and telling peoples faces.

"Likewise, come with me then, if you are to travel with us, you should get to know who you be abiding orders from, In case those Mercenaries attack us again" Said the knight as he started walking towards the now almost repaired carriage, Liam and both his escorts followed behind and soon I followed suit and started walking towards it aswell.

Quite the good start for my new life if I say so myself, definitely more interesting than the god had foreseen.