Standing at the exit made Drax worried. At any point in time someone with enough authority to get them in trouble could show up. But no one had.

Besides himself, there was a girl named Ariadne and the soldier that was supposed to play the role of guide. They stood just outside the palace but within the walls of the castle grounds. It was late into the night and they had nothing but stars and moonlight to guide them.

Letto had chosen to opt out of their secret adventure, talking about how dangerous it sounded and his unwillingness to put his life at risk for no reason. Drax saw it as the reasonable decision. From what he knew about Letto, that was sane reasoning.

Aiden, on the other hand, was where Drax was having a problem. Actually, he didn’t have a problem with Aiden, he was just confused about who he had become.

The Aiden he knew was a simple kid. They had not necessarily been friends, but they had shared a few lectures together and hovered around similar social circles to have an idea of what kind of people they were.

Aiden was one of the simplest people Drax had ever met. And he didn’t mean it in a bad way. Aiden was the kind of guy you could expect to do what he was supposed to do when he was supposed to do it. He would not do it a moment sooner, neither would he do it a moment later. He could have a simple conversation with people but wasn’t known to prolong one for more than necessary.

Aiden was not a pariah of any kind, just someone who chose his friends carefully. He was amiable and shied away from confrontation, unless said confrontation was with Ted, his brother. In that case, he could get quite animated and loud. Drax had seen it once.

So what the hell happened to him?

Since they arrived on Nastild, he had been different. He was quieter, more determined. And always busy. Sometimes Drax felt like Aiden was intentionally avoiding him and Letto.

Drax could understand if Aiden was avoiding the others, but he and Letto were people he actually knew, unlike the others. They’d spent time together, shared lectures together.

Then there was the martial prowess. Drax had been in the school’s boxing team, he'd known people around all the sports teams, and Aiden had never been a part of one. He was not a guy whose name turned up in such conversations.

So why was he now suddenly a combat prodigy as far as the instructors were concerned? What happened that he was getting private lessons with a knight?

Drax shook his head, willing himself not to dwell on it. The truth was that while he worried for Aiden, there was a part of him that felt offended by Aiden’s actions. And the more he thought about it, the more it offended him.

There are two wolves living inside you, he told himself, repeating what his father often told him. One is good and one is bad, and they are constantly fighting. You must always feed the one you want to win.

And Drax always wanted the good to win. Good always prevailed. It always had to.

“Is everyone here?” the soldier that was supposed to guide them to their destination asked. “We only have three more minutes before we leave.”

Three minutes wasn’t a long time.

So while they waited, Drax pulled the blade of his longsword a finger-length free of its scabbard and examined it.

He knew nothing about swords. Even the ones they’d been using to train had all been wooden. The best he could tell about the sword in his hand as he revealed more of its blade was that it was clean. Not polished. Just clean.

And it was sharp.

Sam strolled up to them a moment after, coming from around the corner of a small well close to where they were. His footsteps were quiet. Anita followed behind him, eyes darting from side to side as if she expected someone to jump out of nowhere and bust them.

Drax half-expected that to happen, actually.

When Sam and Anita joined them, Sam took up command, taking a head count. Drax wasn’t a fan of how easily the boy was trying to assume leadership but wasn’t going to be the one to oppose him.

Sam had been the one to set this up so it was only fair that he assumed leadership.

“Just the four of us?” Sam asked in disappointment. “I thought there’d be more. I guess there’ll always be those not willing to take the necessary risks or make the necessary sacrifices.”

The soldier looked at all four of them and Drax could see him rethinking his choices so far.

Can’t be easy, Drax thought.

The man, by no other authority but himself, was about to take the kingdom’s most important guests out of the king’s safe hospitality and into unknown odds. If anything happened to them on this trip, Drax could only imagine what punishment would be given to the soldier.

“Sorry we’re late.”

Everyone present turned in the direction of the voice. The owner had called out in what Drax could only describe as a loud whisper.

Ted and Aiden were walking up to them. While Ted’s sword hung sheathed at his waist, dangling from his sword belt, Aiden wore the same belt but held his sheathed sword in one hand a little too casually.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to tell him,” Sam whispered to Ted sharply when they were close enough.

Ted reeled back in mock hurt as if physically struck. “Who? Me?”

Sam threw his hands up in frustration. “Yes! You!”

“Couldn’t be...”

Ted paused, waiting for a response. Sam just stared at him.

Accepting that one wouldn’t come, Ted said, “That was the part where you go, ‘then who?’. Anyway, what can I say? I lied.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Sam shot back. “This entire thing is based on trust. How the hell do you expect us to trust you after this?”

Ted looked between Sam and Aiden before thumbing at Sam theatrically.

“Do you believe this guy,” he chuckled. “In what world does he live where an older brother would learn of a way to get stronger and better and not tell his little brother? If anything, this should make you trust me more. At least as a person.”

Drax couldn’t fault the logic. In fact, right now he was finding it a bit difficult to trust Sam. The guy had literally told someone not tell their own brother that they’d found a way to get stronger.

Yes, the task was relatively dangerous, but everyone deserved to at least be offered the opportunity.

Standing to the side, the soldier was becoming fidgety, his shoes digging nervously into the ground. Despite his discomfort, he said nothing. He simply watched them and grew more uncomfortable.

“Can we please leave before someone finds us,” Ariadne told them. “The last thing I want to do is get someone in trouble.”

Sam turned to her. “And what’s the king going to do if he finds out? Ground us?”

Drax smacked his forehead in disappointment. “She wasn’t talking about us, Sam.”

“Then who?” Sam gave him a look of genuine confusion.

“She’s talking about our kind soldier over here,” Aiden said, strolling up to the soldier. When he got to the man he placed his hands behind him in a casual stance. “Your name, soldier.”

Drax, to his surprise, caught the soldier straighten up and tuck his legs at attention.

“Ded, my lord,” the man answered.

“Class?”

Ded hesitated. “Scout, my lord.”

That took Drax by surprise. Sam had told them that Ded had the [Soldier] class. But he was really just a [Scout]?

Well that makes sense, Drax thought. At least a scout’s a good person to have when tracking down an enemy group.

Aiden looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding once, as if he had just judged that the soldier would suffice. Then he gestured at the inclining slope covered in bushes in front of them. “Lead the way, Ded.”

Ded gave Aiden a short bow, then walked into the bushes in a crouch, moving the bush aside with his hands until it swallowed him whole.

While Aiden had been the one to gesture him on, he was not the first to follow. Sam was quick to brush past him while Ariadne followed after a moment of hesitation. Anita followed in her green highlights with Ted right behind her.

Drax moved and Aiden followed right behind him. As they were swallowed by the bushes, Aiden did something he had not done since they’d arrived in this new world. He spoke to Drax first.

“No Letto?” he asked.

Drax shook his head. “No Letto.”

Aiden made a thoughtful sound. “I guess he didn’t follow. Wise.”

Drax paused, confused. That was it?

Nine days of giving nothing but quick responses and hurrying off to keep himself constantly busy, and when he finally initiates a conversation, that’s it?

No. Drax was not having it.

“Is everything alright, Aiden?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Aiden nodded, then paused as if rethinking his response. After a moment he shook his head. “Sorry, it’s just been a disturbing past few days.”

“It’s been a few disturbing days for everyone, Aiden,” Drax said before he could stop himself. His voice came out a bit harsh, leaking some of his feelings on the subject of being ignored. “We all were going about our lives one moment, and the next we were in another world.”

Aiden scratched the back of his neck nervously.

“Yea,” he muttered as if to himself.

Why was Aiden being nervous around him now? Displeasure turned into worry and Drax ran through his memories, looking for any point where Aiden had ever been nervous around him.

He found none. Which meant Aiden’s nervousness started in this world. Was it just towards him or was there more?

But he spoke with Ded easily.

No, Drax corrected himself. He addressed him like a soldier.

Was that what was happening? Had Aiden spent too much time around the knight he was training with that he was only comfortable speaking in militaristic manners?

Drax understood the importance of what King Brandis was trying to have them do, but it didn’t mean they had to lose their humanity and social abilities because of it.

“Aiden," Drax said, reinitiating the conversation. He made sure his voice was soft, supporting. “If you have any problem, you know you can tell me, right? You can talk to me.”

They were stepping out of the bush-path now, and Aiden looked at him, hesitant.

Why does he keep looking at me like that?

It was the same look Aiden had been giving him since they got here. Whenever Drax tried to talk to him, he always had the same look on his face. He looked at him as if he was a decision Aiden was trying to make. As if he couldn’t decide if he was a friend or a foe.

Drax had thought about it for so long and he couldn’t find a single reason to make Aiden look at him like that. Even Letto didn’t get that look.

When they came to a stop in front of a small path in the castle walls, Aiden nodded.

“I know.”

His mouth said he had made a decision but his eyes said different. Drax didn’t like it, but he was willing to take whatever he could get.

…………….

Ded led the group through an intricate tunnel system that spanned a large space beneath the kingdom. As they moved, he told them of how it was an old tunnel designed in the event that the kingdom was ever attacked and the royal family needed to escape. It was something most of the soldiers that worked within the palace knew about.

Aiden found it ironic since not only was it not much of a secret amongst the soldiers but during the demon wars, demons had quite literally used it to get into the castle walls at some point. The result had COST Brandis his second son.

I guess they can blame Ted for that, Aiden thought. Though, he wasn't entirely sure of that. From what he knew, there had also been rumors of the demons having a spy within the palace somehow.

When they came out, it was out into the night breeze and into the city proper. This part of the kingdom was quiet in the night. Silent as it was supposed to be, the citizens turned in for the night.

On nothing but reflex, Ded turned to them and placed a finger to his lips, requesting for silence.

Navigating the city with its multiple houses and cobblestone roads wasn’t difficult. They meandered in the dark, the others walking with heads on a swivel, taking in the sights.

For the others, being out right now probably made the last few days of being kept within the castle walls feel like a form of imprisonment not protection or training.

When the time came to sneak them out of the city, Ded led them out through the sewers.

“Those were the sewers, right?” Anita asked no one in particular when they came out of it.

“They were,” Ded confirmed.

“Wow, makes me feel a bit ashamed of Earth,” she muttered. “I didn’t smell a thing.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“That’s because the sewer walls have enchantments that suppress smell,” Aiden said, looking around. “Then they coat the walls with bass-seed oil to reduce flammability.”

Ded looked at him in surprise. “Uh… I didn’t know that.”

Aiden noticed he had gathered a bit of attention and everyone had gone silent, staring at him.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time in the library,” he explained. “They have details of their architectural plans and designs.”

“Does it say anything about communication skills as well?” Sam remarked snidely.

Aiden wasn’t sure if the proper response was to answer him. The truth was that he’d been thinking about Valdan’s words for a while now and had come to the conclusion that the Knight was right.

He had made himself a pariah to the group. He’d been aware of it while he had been doing it, but maybe it hadn’t been the right thing to do. He couldn’t bring himself to care for those around him except Ted, and he didn’t see why he should.

But it didn’t make ignoring them right.

He’d thought that he could start somewhere small, a touch of conversation here and there. Maybe he could help Letto with his sword training. But a short conversation with Drax had been awkward enough for him, but it wasn't like Aiden didn't know why.

Drax had been the face of the war, spewing any and all negativity he could spread about Ted to the entire world, putting him down for the Demon King that he was.

Aiden never found out how Drax had known Ted was the Demon King but he’d been the one to inform King Brandis of it then. So it was difficult talking to him without thinking about it. And every time they crossed paths, Aiden always wondered if this time line would be different, if Drax would not become the active enemy of Ted.

And what if nothing changes? Aiden asked himself as they followed Ded outside the city, taking a detour off the main road. What if he becomes the Hero and Ted still becomes the Demon King?

Aiden frowned at the thought as Ded led them, walking by moonlight.

If he was being honest, Drax was not the bad guy. Aiden knew this. But he’d also never thought of himself as the good guy either. If he was being honest, he was on the side of the potential Demon King. And while Ted had never truly stepped on the battlefield or gone into the cities and kingdoms to lay waste, it had still been his part of the war.

And the number of lives his war had taken had been in the millions. Not for the first time Aiden wondered, if everything repeated itself, what would he do different?

Ted would be the Demon King again, which made him the villain. And siding with him makes you a villain, too.

Aiden had no delusions on the matter. But was he really okay with it?

If Ted is forced to flee, will you follow him? he asked himself.

As much as he would’ve liked to say yes, he couldn’t. Aiden wasn’t sure he could stand being the enemy of the entire world. It wasn’t like he’d grown to the peak of power before his regression. He’d just been a mere level 268.

Drax would’ve swept the ground with him back then and used him to pack the dirt. And Ted had been almost twice his level.

Aiden knew how to get strong and he intended to use his knowledge to do so quickly this time. But it wasn’t like he knew how to get to the top exactly. There were knights that had remained stronger than him until the very end amongst those that had survived the war. People had existed that could kill him without batting an eye.

Aiden had too many worries on his mind. There was the part of getting stronger, then there was the research on Demon Kings, then there the key and the giants.

And the Order.

Aiden sighed mentally, suddenly weighed down.

From taking them off the main road, Ded led them into the forest, they were flanked by high trees that blotted out most of the starlight in moments. But rays of moonlight slipped through the cracks in the canopy of leaves to illuminate parts of the forest.

“So,” Sam started talking, “just in case anyone is worried right now, don’t be. So far this world has been operating under game mechanics to a certain extent. We have a status and skills, and can apparently level up.”

Most of the others nodded as they walked, Ded’s attention never left his front.

Sam adjusted his sword belt.

“So I asked around," he continued, "and the combat and growth mechanics follow the same rules. I’m more of a mana channels and colorful core guy myself, but I can work with this, too. While the king is training us inside the palace, we can all advance to level one if we just kill a level three monster. I’ve done the math.”

“Wait!” Anita hissed sharply. “I thought you said that we were going after level one goblins.”

“We are,” Ded said without taking his eyes off the road.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Yes, we are. But to level up we’ll need to kill at least two level one goblins, maybe three?”

“Why goblins, though?” Drax asked. “Couldn’t we kill like a level one spider or something?”

Ariadne shivered visibly. “I hate spiders.”

“Not necessarily spiders,” Drax corrected. “My point is that couldn’t we kill something less… humanoid?”

Aiden understood why Drax was making the request. It was coming from—in a sense—a good place. However, it was blinding him from something critical.

“A humanoid opponent would be best at this point,” Ded said, stopping to squat and place his hand on the ground. “All my Lords and Ladies know how to fight right now are humanoids. Lord Higgins probably worries that facing something less humanoid may prove confusing for you all and lead to errors.”

Sam nodded. “I can’t have people freezing up just because they don’t know what to do when the enemy has four legs instead of two.”

“And how do you know we’ll freeze up?” Anita challenged with a scowl.

The grass around Ded quaked a little. He was probably using a skill.

Sam gave Anita his most empathetic smile. “Because I would.”

His words silenced Anita’s challenge and her scowl dropped, replaced by an apologetic look.

Ded raised a fist, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Please exercise silence, my lords and ladies. The enemies are not far.”

“The level ones or the level threes?” Sam asked.

Ded looked back at all of them, hesitating. “The level ones, my lord.”

“Just out of curiosity,” Ted said in a whisper. “But what of the level threes?”

Ded gestured to the east. “The level threes are in that direction.”

Ariadne let out a relieved sigh. “Well, we know where we are not—”

“That way, we will find the level fives and higher,” Ded said, unintentionally interrupting her. “This request was posted on the adventurers' notice board in the guild hall, and a few adventurers are scheduled to be here tomorrow. No one knows what exactly the goblins are doing but there’s a speculation that they’re being led by a hobgoblin.”

Aiden was fairly certain that the group hadn’t encountered the hobgoblin in the previous timeline because hobgoblins were at least level fifteen monsters. All monsters evolved, and at level ten, goblins began their evolution into hobgoblins.

Aiden looked at the people around him and was sure of it. At their current strength, a hobgoblin would go through them like a wrecking ball through a barn shed.

“I say we go for the level threes,” Sam said.

“Why the hell would we want to do that?” Drax asked, flabbergasted.

Everyone’s faces turned into slow annoyance and Sam hurried to explain himself.

“Just hear me out,” he said. “Right now none of us are at level one. And ask the soldier, there’s a world of difference between a level one and someone without a level. A whooping world of difference. Think high school boxer and professional UFC fighter.”

“Still,” Ariadne muttered. “Level three is just a little too…”

“We need to get to level one as fast as we can,” Sam pressed. “The rising darkness is coming, everyone knows it. And I, for one, have no plans to be caught weak. We need to be as strong as we can get.”

Aiden stood silently, listening to the conversation. So this was how everyone was thinking?

Sam wasn’t entirely wrong. While the war didn’t start until another five years at least, the rise in demonic mana did bring about a lot of problems in Nastild over time.

The truth was, they actually had enough time. Bandiv had adventurers and soldiers that were more than capable of handling the rising problems. Yes, as time went by and demonic mana continued to rise, they slowly became understaffed, but that wouldn’t be for another year. Right now, the kingdom didn’t need any of them to step in.

Ted stood beside Anita where he’d spent most of the trip. But this time, instead of giving her his undivided attention as he had been doing, he was watching Aiden.

Ariadne walked up to Ded, and the soldier stood to meet her.

“Is it true?” she asked. “Is the difference between a level one and someone without a level that much?”

“All things being equal,” Ded answered carefully. “A person without a level cannot dream of winning against a level one in any kind of fight.”

“See?” Sam gestured at Ded dramatically. “That’s what I’m saying. We need to get to level one as fast as possible. Personally, I’m appalled that I’ve been here for a week and I’m still… well… here. In the stories they get to level one right off the bat. First chapter type of thing.”

Drax chose that moment to step up. “Ded.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“As a soldier, what is your take on this? What would you advise?”

Aiden held back a chuckle. Way to put him on the spot, Drax.

“With all due respect, my lord,” Ded started, careful once more. “I am beginning to think that this is a bad idea.”

“And there you have it.” Sam walked up to everyone. “You asked for advice from a level nineteen Scout. What did you think he was going to say? This is about taking risks so let’s take risks. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m more than ready for my first level.”

Ded’s gaze moved subtly to Aiden. Aiden gave the man no reaction. Truth be told, he wasn’t worried. He already knew the outcome of this escapade and was genuinely curious to know how it had happened. There was the possibility of his presence changing things but that didn't worry him. He was more than capable of handling his own.

With all the chaos he was witnessing, he really wanted to know how they had succeeded.

“Then how about this,” Ted suggested, speaking for the first time. “How about we face the level ones, then we see how things go. We can always face the others after that. Makes sense?”

It was a suggestion everyone could get behind and nods soon started going around.

“Good,” Ted said, his eyes on Aiden. “Ded. Please lead the way.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Ded continued onward and everyone followed.

Ted, however, delayed enough so that he ended up beside Aiden as they walked.

“You and I,” he said, “eventually need to have a talk.”

………………..

It wasn’t long before they came upon the goblins.

Ded moved them into a crouch. They were covered by the bushes and some of them hid behind trees as they watched the goblins.

Aiden counted nine, each of them holding flaming torches. They loitered around, never getting too far from each other. From the looks of things, they didn’t seem to be on a patrol of any kind. They just… loitered.

Sam moved up to Drax who was currently crouched beside Aiden, hidden behind a bush.

“From what I know about goblins,” he said quietly. “They always move in groups. Which means it will be difficult to separate them. We’ll have to take them as a group.”

Aiden wasn’t sure of what to say to that. Sam was using the wrong source but he still had the right information.

“An ambush would’ve been good,” Drax said. “But we don’t have any bows.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Sam shook his head. “I know Denid did her best, but I hate bows, too stressful. Besides, the soldier couldn’t get us any. They take stock of the arrows so there’s no point. A few used swords wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows, but missing arrows is a different conversation.”

Drax nodded and turned to Aiden. “What do you think?”

One of the goblins ventured a little too close to a shrubbery and his torch almost touched it. A leaf caught ablaze and the goblin snatched it from the branch before it could spread.

Aiden noted how fast the action was, and how panicked.

“Whatever we decide,” he said. “We better be aware of the fact that these guys have very quick reaction speed.”

Sam made a small movement, drawing their attention.

“What are you doing?” Drax asked.

“Getting an alternative.” Sam held up a small rock. “We can cause a distraction and work from there.”

Aiden looked between the both of them. While the members of the group weren’t too far apart, only two members of it were making the plans.

Again, Aiden wondered how they had survived.

“Fighting a goblin is like fighting a teenager,” he said, offering them information he had. “The things I read suggest that they are fast and hyperactive. Their preferred fighting technique is to overwhelm their opponent with numbers. If they cannot, then they go for a hit and run, darting in and out of reach.”

He turned his attention to the goblins. None of them had any visible scar which led him to believe that they had no scars at all. They were short and green, with pointy ears and noses that were a little too long. And they loitered about in nothing but rags that covered only their genitals.

Their only weapons were the torches in their hands.

A goblin without a scar was a rare sight, which meant one thing.

“They are level one for sure,” he continued. “And from what I can see, they don’t have actual combat experience.”

Ded turned a surprised look on Aiden. The others had already moved in together, close enough so that they could hear him.

“How do you know this?” Anita asked. “You sound so sure.”

“None of them have any scars,” Aiden explained. “And one of them panicked when the bush almost caught on fire. A goblin without a scar is almost an impossible sight.”

“So we can take them?” Ariadne asked.

“They are inexperienced, my Lady,” Ded refuted. “Not weak.”

“While we are inexperienced and weak,” Aiden pointed out. “There are nine of them, so rather than try to pick them off, which won’t work unless Ded forces them to scatter, I say we overwhelm them.”

“I say Ded forces them to scatter,” Sam said.

Ted snorted. “Sounds like a coward’s move to me.”

“It’s called strategy,” Sam snarled. “Thinking with your head.”

Once again, Ded looked to Aiden. Again, Aiden ignored him. He wasn’t going to play commanding officer to a level 19 [Scout]. But he also wasn’t going to be party to a defective plan.

“Ded stays put,” he said. “Ded didn’t lead us out here to carry us.”

“You’re just objecting to support your brother,” Sam pressed. “The plan is a good one. Ded scatters them and we pick them off one by one.”

Aiden shook his head even as Sam was talking.

Sam pressed his nose between thumb and forefinger in exasperation. “Why not?”

“Because that plan only gets executed in two ways. One, they scatter and we work as a group to pick off the goblins one after the other. The pro is that Ded can watch over us the entire way.”

“And the cons?” Sam asked.

“By game mechanics, the experience gets divided between the entire group which turns out to be very little. Then we spend the entire night trying to track down the other goblins. The experience will be too little so we can do it all night and end up close to level one but not there. Or some of us will get there but not the others.”

“And what’s the second way?”

“They scatter and we scatter with them, picking them off. Pros, we stand a chance of leveling up as long as none of us lets them get a sword. Cons, Ded can’t keep watch over all of us.”

Sam frowned in thought.

Aiden was surprised. A part of him had expected the boy to refuse him just because he could.

“There’s also an overall problem with the plan,” Ted supplied. “If they scatter, they could inform the other groups, which would be really bad for everybody.”

“Also…” Ariadne pointed. “One of them is leaving the group.”

“We can’t let it go far,” Sam said, suddenly panicked. “We can’t afford to have two groups coming after us. I’m going to distract it.”

He raised his hand and chucked the rock he was holding before Aiden could stop him.

The rock bounced near the goblin, not too far, and it stopped and turned in their direction. Then it approached them slowly, cautiously.

“It’s coming,” Anita panicked.

“But it’s leaving the group so that’s good for us,” Sam said. “Who wants this one?”

“I guess I’ll take it,” Drax said. He reached across and drew his sword, unsheathed it. “Let’s put it down before it causes a problem.”

The goblin jerked to a stop as if it could hear the sound of unsheathed steel and everyone paused.

“Do you think it noticed?” Sam whispered. “I don’t think it—what the hell?!”

Everyone reeled back in surprise. A notification flashed in front of Aiden and he knew the others were seeing the same thing.

[Warning!]

[You have just encountered your first monster!]

[Goblin].

A goblin is an ugly and mischievous creature. They usually come up to 4 feet in height, or 5 feet on very rare occasions.

[Warning!]

[You have been detected by your first monster!]

[Survive!]

“How did it detect us?” Drax asked, taking his sword in both hands and rushing out of the bushes.

He ran up to the creature and swung up in a diagonal arc, hoping to cut it across the chest. Aiden didn’t get to see the outcome as a new notification popped up in front of him.

[Error detected!]

[You have just encountered your first monster!]

[You have not just encountered your first monster!]

[Error detected!]

[You have detected and been detected by a monster once before.]

[Error! Error!]

[System repairs recommended.]

[Prisoner # 234502385739] stand by for system repairs.

...

[System repairs in progress..]

[System Repairs... 0.04%]

What the hell do you mean by system repairs? Aiden thought, unable to hold back his panic. And why does it keep calling me a prisoner?

The last time his interface had mentioned anything about a system, it had asked him to wait for support while it contacted the administrators, whoever they were. In the end, the resolution had been his termination.

As much as he hated to admit it, he had been powerless then, and he was powerless now. If his termination was the resolution now, his death would remain an inevitable outcome.

“What the hell are you spacing out for, Aiden?!” Ted pulled him from under the arm. “Fight!”

The message disappeared from Aiden’s sight and he was faced with the sight of grey goblin eyes. He reacted immediately, raising his sheathed sword.

The creature stabbed forward with its torch and it struck the flat side of Aiden’s raised scabbard.

Not the time to be spacing out, Aiden thought.

It was the time to be fighting.

The goblin darted away from him quickly and Aiden realized everybody had scattered. Even Ded. To his side Ted was holding off two goblins with sword slashes and thrusts, keeping them at bay.

Aiden drew his sword free. He held the weapon in one hand and the scabbard in the other. He would attend to the notifications when they chose to attend to him again. For now, he needed to fight.

The goblin snarled at him and Aiden almost laughed at himself.

I can’t believe I’m taking a level 1 goblin seriously.

He took a combat stance and attacked.

Skill [Basic Swordsmanship] is in effect.

Aiden felt the effects of the skill as he closed the distance in a single step. [Dash] was no longer on his skill list, but the effects remained a part of [Basic Swordsmanship].

He swung his sword when he came to a stop and the goblin raised its torch to meet it. Blade cleaved through wood and came down on the creature, cutting through flesh and meat.

[You have dealt a critical blow.]