“Pathfinder Ken with no known last name. Nationality: Japanese. Date of Birth: December 3rd, 1990. Age: 28 No criminal record. No developmental issues found growing up. No psychological or physical problems found based on his medical records. No delinquency instances in school. Only known family member is a deadbeat father that abandoned him at a young age which forced him into inheriting an illegal massive debt by underground criminal group, Red Spades.” Mayumi informed to the circle of men and women in suits around the large circular table.
“It's basically a spotless record if you ignore the debt he has.”
“Did he practice some kind of martial arts in school as an extracurricular activity?”
“None at all. He was in the middle of his class in terms of grades.” Mayumi relayed.
“I guess whichever Evil God that blessed him saw something in him that we can’t see for ourselves...”
“I don’t understand why we’re even giving him the means to strengthen himself. Ken is Japan’s first Pathfinder that was blessed by an Evil God. We should lock him up to prevent him from hurting anyone before he grows too powerful! He’s already strong enough as it is now!” Kazuhiko smashed his fist on the table.
“We can’t just lock him up without valid reason.”
“Then make up a reason! How hard could it be to frame someone in this day and age?”
“Don’t you feel embarrassed trying to criminalize someone before even knowing anything about them? So, what if he has been marked by an Evil God, he’s done so much good for us already. Don’t you know that he’s cleared seven dungeons within a month on his own? Compared to the average beginner F-rank Pathfinder, he’s already competing with D- and C-ranked Pathfinders in terms of efficiency!” Taigen defended the newcomer.
Murmurs came out in support for Taigen but Kazuhiko also had his own group of supporters. Arguments rang out between the two groups. Lots of shouting, spittle flying, and personal insults going left and right. Somehow a simple F-rank caused such a massive clash in ideals in his company. It seemed like the way to handle Ken could only be decided by the National Japanese Pathfinder Association’s leader.
“Enough.” S-ranked Pathfinder, Beast, Leader of the National Japanese Pathfinder Association softly spoke.
Everyone immediately shut up no matter how strongly they were arguing just seconds ago. They all waited for the boss to decide the fate of this rising star F-rank.
“Mayumi. How has his interactions been with his previous co-workers when he was a salaryman and now as a Pathfinder?” Beast asked.
“Many of the people we’ve interviewed mostly spoke positively about him. There were none that spoke of him badly except for his overly serious nature and inability to let loose and relax.” Mayumi informed.
“I see.” Beast closed his eyes. “Ken will be allowed to continue his duties as a Pathfinder. However, I want him closely monitored at all times. All information regarding Ken will now be an A-class secret. If any information about Ken is released from this room, expect to see me in the near future. Mayumi, continue to record and document Ken on a daily basis and report to me and only me with your findings.”
“Yes, sir.” Mayumi bowed.
“You are all dismissed.” Beast’s voice echoed throughout the room.
______________________________________________
“Riiiiiinnngggg!” An ear-piercing alarm blared throughout the city.
It didn’t take long for the people inside the city to quickly panic and flee to the shelters. That alarm was only used for one reason, monsters were attacking the city. Monsters that could only be delayed by the military while Pathfinders were the true exterminators of these creatures. These creatures from alternate worlds seemed to have a vendetta against humanity. Their only goal seemed to be capturing, killing, or eating humans.
The monsters came from a large white glowing door-shaped portal. A swarm of little green humanoids carrying weapons came from this door. Excitement flashed in their eyes as they saw the terrified and fleeing humans. With this excitement, came a lust for hunting. Goblins chased down the helpless looking prey without further hesitation after coming through the portal.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Mom!” A young boy ran back towards his mother that tripped over her own feet.
He pulled at her arm to quickly lift her up. They needed to keep running or the monsters would get them! One such monster stared directly into his eyes as it licked its lips and ran towards him and his fallen mom. Fear struck his heart terribly as adrenaline pushed his body past its limits. Using all the strength he could possibly muster, he hefted his mother on his tiny back and dragged himself forward.
“Toshi... leave me behind and run away on your own.” She twisted her ankle and knew that she couldn’t run away.
“No! We can make it!” The two were moving at a snail’s pace. Even with using all his strength, it still wasn’t enough to make them move faster.
The goblin from before was quickly catching up. Drool leaked from the side of his mouth as it stared at the easy catch in front of it. It didn’t understand what the prey was doing but regardless, an easy catch was an easy catch. It leaped above to strike down with its dagger to pierce through the two.
Toshi was filled with nothing but determination but only he understood just how much fear was present inside his heart. He didn’t want to die but he didn’t want his mom to die either. Choosing between leaving his mother behind or trying to save her, a child of his age obviously couldn’t handle such an intense choice. What he was doing now was pure instinct, not any reasonable or logical thinking.
The mother tried to do her best take as much of the blow from the monster as she could before pushing her son away. It was a much better decision for her to die than to die with her child. However, the two of them didn’t expect to hear an ear-ringing clang come from behind them. Along with that clang, they could hear the sound of something shattering and spurting out.
As Toshi turned around to look with his wobbling legs, he saw an uncle dressed in a business suit looking at a watch carrying a blood-stained frying pan in his hand. Next to him was the goblin with half of its brains knocked out of its head. It briefly stumbled from left to right before falling over dead. With an annoyed sigh, the uncle said something Toshi couldn’t quite understand.
“I didn’t plan to work overtime today. I should tell Mayumi, I expect a bonus for this.”
After saying that, the uncle soon ran towards the crowd of goblins with just a frying pan in his hand. Toshi turned around and looked at where he was bringing his mother to see countless dead goblins lying across the city. Most of them had a large dent on some part of their body that killed them in one hit. Toshi knew it was the uncle Pathfinder that dealt with them.
“Toshi... let’s go.” His mother stood up on one leg with his help.
The two of them slowly made their way past the various corpses of monsters ahead. From time to time, Toshi would turn back to look at the uncle effortlessly killing the evil monsters that ruined their city and almost killed him. A sparkle glowed in his eyes as a sense of burning ignited from his heart. That uncle was a true hero...
______________________________________________
“A goblin shaman.” Ken identified the boss monster from this dungeon fracture.
“Allow us, to deal with this lowly creature...”
“No, pick me! I’ll rip it apart before it could perform any strange magic!”
“I believe my skill will be most helpful in taking this goblin down.”
The various monsters that Ken captured within his body spoke out eagerly for him to use their power. Ken ignored them as he burst forward with the power of an orc coursing through him. His feet dug into the street as he blurred forward past the group of goblins surrounding the goblin shaman. Once it saw him coming, it began chanting to use its magic.
Ken tossed his frying pan at the head of the goblin shaman and interrupted its casting before appearing in front of it and shoving his foot into the face of the goblin. He jumped up and caught his frying pan before speeding toward the downed boss monster and brutally smashing its face in with his frying pan.
No mercy was shown to the goblin shaman as Ken beat it half to death without an inch of hesitation. His pan didn’t stop until most of the breath within the monster was extinguished. The goblins behind him were frozen in terror from the sight. This creature was even more of a monster than they were. An apex monster that little monsters like them couldn’t possibly compare to. They fled and left their leader behind. Running away aimlessly, just to get as far away as possible from the tall monster beating their leader to death.
Ken used the special skill given to him by the Evil God and captured the goblin shaman within his body. His hand pressed against the chest of the helpless creature moments away from death. In an instant, the goblin was sucked into Ken’s body and now he could use its special ability for himself whenever he wanted. It also added to the small few monsters already captured within his body.
These goblins that fled were swiftly cleaned up by the Pathfinders that arrived after Ken. Ken didn’t intend to converse with any of them as he headed back to turn in his report for this dungeon fracture. However, his co-workers had a different plan in mind as they rushed up to him. For some reason, a lot of the Pathfinders were very young. Most of them being between the ages of a young adult and teens. Apparently, the gods had an attraction for those that were young.
“Did you really kill all these goblins by yourself!?”
“Wow, you’re really amazing! What’s your rank?!”
“I’ve never seen you before! You must be a veteran Pathfinder! Can we team up sometime and explore dungeons?”
Ken checked his watch.
“I’m officially off the clock.” Ken decided to hand in his report tomorrow as he ignored the eager youngsters and headed home.