After taking a while to calm down Asher reluctantly put on the armor and began the process of readying himself for the journey ahead. He knew that the system was going to transport him to wherever Ragatha was, the only problem was that he didn’t know if this was a human based settlement or just more open woods with monsters inhabiting every nook and cranny. After a second Asher gave up on trying to figure out which one it might be, he would just have to see which one it was for himself when he arrived. Then with a quick command he brought up his information.

[Name: Asher Gentry]

[Level: 6]

[Race: Human, Rank: F]

[Titles: Bear Slayer, Beginner, Rabbit Slayer]

[Core 1: None]

[Core 2: None]

[Core 3: None]

[Core 4: None]

[Core 5: None]

[Core 6: None]

[Abilities: None]

[Overall Rank: F]

Everything looked normal to Asher, except the new titles and the extra levels, but he knew that those were going to change, he had expected something else though, maybe a way to decide what stats went up, or a way to at least know how strong he actually was; without having to feel it out for himself. With a sign he just shook his head and brought up the two new titles.

[Title: Beginner]

[Effect: Gives +5% Damage to All Enemies]

“This is the shit I’m talking about,” Asher exclaimed, for once the system seemed to have given him a title that was actually good, but for all he knew this was the same title that everyone who went through this weird tutorial got. With that revelation Asher sighed and brought up the other title, already knowing what it probably said.

[Title: Rabbit Slayer]

[Effect: Gives +5% Damage to All Rabbit Like Enemies]

“Well at least I knew what this one was going to be like, didn’t get my hopes up for nothing,” Asher said to himself, quickly closing the message and moving on. He knew there wasn’t much more he could do or obtain here, and if there were secrets, he didn’t find then he could just cuss himself out later, the quest was very clear on when he would have to accept the reward. With that Asher gave in “teleport,” he said.

The feeling was unlike anything Asher had felt before, his whole body felt like it was being twisted apart. Then as if nothing had happened, he was standing in a massive clearing, a giant stone plate underneath him, runes surrounding him in a circle. The runes were a dark red and seemed to form a circle with a star in the middle, Asher knew that he was staring at a pentagon but what he was more worried about was the six equal distanced hooded figures. Each one wore a dark red robe that matched the color of the runes that surrounded him.

Asher quickly pulled out his knife readying for battle, but just as quickly lowered it realizing that none of the figures were moving, none had even bothered to look up from their positions after Asher had arrived. Slowly Asher crept towards the closet of the six, with a slight nudge of his knife’s butt end the hooded robe fell to the ground, ash scattering underneath it as if there had never been anyone there to begin with. With a sigh of relief Asher put his knife away and quickly put the robe into his inventory. He assumed that wearing it was a no go but holding onto the robes might prove useful later on.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Asher went around poking all the cultists who had yet to turn to ash, letting their remains fall to the ground, the robes neatly stacking them each into the same inventory slot. After he was done Asher looked around, searching for anything that might lead him away from the summoning circle, or at least that's what he thought it was. A few feet south was what looked like a brown path, it had paved gray and crown stones and seemed to be the only way out of the area, at least the only way out that didn’t involve wandering through the woods.

With a sigh Asher began his walk, there wasn’t anything of interest as he walked down the path, just shrubs and other signs of overgrowth, if Asher had any other route to follow, he would have, this path seemed like it hadn’t been used in years, but alas this was the only path that Asher was able to locate. As he continued his walk towards wherever the path seemed to lead, he heard the familiar sound of the system, then the system box appeared before him.

[New Quest: Welcome to Ragatha]

[Objective: Obtain Four Unique Cores]

[Reward: +1 Level, Random Core, 10 Gold]

Asher could only look at the quest with wonder, he knew that the core he had obtained was important, but he didn’t like the sound of the one he had been given by the system, he assumed that once he found a town or some sort of settlement, he would be able to get more information regarding the core. But here the system was trying to goad him into using the core. Asher quickly waved the screen away; he wouldn’t let the system use him at least not without him using it back. After walking for a little over an hour the path soon began to look considerably better, the further he walked the more maintained the path became. That was until Asher could see a fork in the road, and in the middle of the two paths was a well-kept sign.

[For Adventures]

[North - Fore 12km]

[East - Okport 5km]

Asher stared at the sign for what felt like an hour, but he knew it couldn’t have been that long. He had to decide which direction he was going to go and which city or town would give him the highest chance at living a peaceful life in this new world. He knew the system had some reason for him to get stronger, but he wasn’t sure if his wishes and the systems aligned. He would have to consider all his actions from here on out if he didn’t want to end up getting used by whatever or whoever controlled the system. With a sigh Asher turned towards the path on his right and began heading towards Okport, he could only assume that with port in the city's name that the city would be fairly big and with enough luck he would be able to get enough information without standing out like a sore thumb.

It didn’t take long before Asher could see the outlines of the city, closest to Asher was what he assumed to be the farming or residential district. Everywhere that he looked Asher could find either wheat or some sort of stable that housed massive two headed gray bodied bison, or at least that was the best way he could explain the creatures. Each beast had two short horns on each head and had muscles the size of a car, he was sure that if he pissed one off, they could easily beat him in a fight. How the farmers managed to keep them from going on a rampage was a mystery to Asher.

Finally, after another half an hour of walking Asher could see the city gates, a huge wall with a massive gate lay before Asher, the gate was open and two guards stood at each side, each holding a spear that was longer than their bodies and both wore what looked like medieval style armor. Asher had passed a couple of people up to this point and while none had stopped to talk to him, a few had thrown him a wave or a nod as he passed. With a brisk walk Asher managed to close the distance to the gate right as the sun reached about mid-point in the sky.

“Halt,” one of the guards said with a somewhat loud voice causing Asher to jump somewhat in alarm, quickly coming to a stop right in front of him.

“Papers please,” the guard said looking slightly down at Asher, Asher wasn’t small in any regard, it was just that this guard was easily over 6ft tall, and that was with the armor on, Asher could only assume that with it off he was over 6’2ft.

“Umm, I don’t actually have any papers,” Asher said with a smile, hoping that if he was nice to the two guards, they wouldn’t make his life a living hell. The guard just let out a long sigh and let his spear rest on his shoulder and he brought out some paperwork from a brown pouch that was attached to his right side.

“Anyone without papers will be required to register, along with registering you will be required to pay a one silver fee, anyone who can’t pay said fee will either be thrown out or can pay it off in the army, I assume you have the money?” The guard said, putting away what looked like a scroll, and for once Asher was finally happy with the system.

“I have the money,” Asher said to the guard eagerly with a nod, glad that this world seemed to love money just as much as his last world. With that the guard looked at his companion, the other guard gave him a nod and after a brief exchange the guard who had stopped Asher picked up his spear and began walking past the gate and into the city.

“Follow me,” was all he said. With that Asher rushed behind him, the other guard going back to his position.