Seth Williams, the Abyssal Assassin, and now a local hero in Sacria City, rubbed his eyes to wake up properly before starting yet another day in the adventurer hub.
It had only been a few months since he’d woken up in this world, but it felt like he had been here for years. Like he had aged a decade in that relatively short period of time.
From his time in the Tunnels of Grithza to fighting the bandits — it had been one strenous and dangerous situation after another and Seth was grateful that he had been able to come out on top every single time.
He had almost recovered from his injuries he had gotten from the fight against Gideon. Some marks had remained, but they didn't bother him anymore.
The fight had been close, tense and he had almost lost his mind, but in the end, it had been worth it for all the gold and especially, his new set of armour.
Looking down, he saw his new piece of armour he had gotten straight from Thorian as additional rewards for saving his daughter and killing Gideon.
Shadow Raven Lightweight leather armour - Rare Grade
Effects: +10 Agility, +10 Constitution, 1% chances of blocking a critical attack
The black leather armour suited him a lot and the stat boost was a welcome bonus.
Thorian had handed it all to Seth in a private ceremony in his office a few days back and aside from the leather armour, there was an additional cloak to go ahead with it and a dagger.
Shadow Raven Cloak - Rare Grade
Effects: +10 Agility, 5% increase in stealth
Shadow Raven Dagger - Rare Grade
Effects: +10 Strength, 10% chances of landing a critical attack
Seth donned the black cloak made from the same materials over his armour and sheathed the dagger. An additional dagger, especially of this quality, had been helpful to him and two daggers were always better than one.
It had all been a set that Charles had been carrying with him. He had bought it from the capital and since he had lost everything due to plotting against the Mayor, all his belongings had been confiscated.
Seth was sure that if Charles saw him wearing the armour, he would have a heart attack.
Thinking of how strange fate worked, Seth made his way downstairs to find Rebecca and the others already eating their breakfast.
A seat was empty on their table for him and he swiftly grabbed it before telling Jeff to send him his regular order.
“Hey, Seth, do you want to head to the Tunnels with us?” Vernon asked as he sat down. Rebecca chewed on a piece of bread next to him.
Elva and Jules silently ate their breakfast, but perked up their ears at the question.
“Another expedition?”
Jules coughed at that. The last time they had gone on an expedition to the Tunnels, he had lost his arm. If Seth and Rebecca hadn't rescued them, he would have been a meal for the Abyssal Horror.
Shaking his head, Jules explained, “No, it's not an expedition. We took on a quest to scout out the area where the Cave Lizards lived. Wyatt wants to make sure nothing strange is going on there by Lizards who might have survived. We can't afford another situation like that.”
“It’s just a scouting quest, so we would be back by night,” Elva said.
“He asked us because we are already familiar with the surroundings,” Rebecca said, looking up at Seth. “We wanted to reject it, but the money was good. I wanted some additional money before we leave for the academy.”
Seth nodded as his food arrived. “I don't know about that. I wasn't planning to go back to the Tunnels so soon…”
He had lived in the Tunnels for so long and most of the memories associated with it had been one of constant struggle for life. When he had gotten out of it, he had decided to not go back so soon.
A part of him wanted to explore more of the Tunnels, especially the Final Chamber where the King Centry and the other monsters he had seen in the final battle against the Abyssal Horror lived.
Though, he wasn't strong enough yet.
“I'm sorry, but Erika had a quest prepared for me,” Seth looked around, carefully picking everyone’s expressions. Thankfully, they didn't seem to mind. “I don't want to hold her off for long.”
“That's alright,” Vernon said, standing up from his seat. “I believe we will be fine on our own. We’d be avoiding most monsters, anyway. The dungeon’s been quiet according to recent reports from the Guild.”
Seth narrowed his eyes. He wondered why that was the case. Could it have been a natural result of all the monsters that were killed from the fighting against the Abyssal Horror? Or was something more sinister going on? He didn’t know. Perhaps he could investigate this matter with them later on.
“If you change your mind, you know where to find us.”
Jules and Elva were next to get up followed by Rebecca who waited till everyone had left before opening her mouth.
“You’re not going to change your mind, are you?” she said as she leant forward. “The scouting mission probably won’t take too long, but if something goes wrong, you know you might take a few weeks to get back.”
“Right.” Seth nodded, closing his eyes.
He thought about what he had discussed with Rebecca over the last few days. The offer she had kindly given him. To meet her mentor.
“And when will we be leaving for the Academy?” he asked as he looked up to meet her gaze.
Rebecca replied simply, “A carriage would be going towards the Academy in a few days. We should be able to get on it and reach there in a week.””
“I see.”
Seth looked down at himself. He recalled his life back on Earth. Once again, the events here in this world replayed in his mind.
He saw the Dark Blade hanging from his belt. He remembered the sneering face of Gideon, talking about the Cult. And Seth made his decision.
“I’ll prepare for the journey.”
“Alright,” she said as she got to her feet.
She left the inn and Seth ate his breakfast in silence. Although he had assimilated himself in this world, he still had a lot of questions remaining and for that, he needed to meet up with Rebecca's master.
Hopefully, he has the answers I seek.
Seth got to his feet after finishing up his breakfast. Paying for the food, he made his way towards the Guild.
The unfamiliar surroundings of the City had slowly become something he had gotten used to. He’d also made quite a few friends at the Guild, and the market area.
The residents were used to new people entering the city and they warmed up to him quickly after the news spread that he had saved the Mayor's daughter and defeated an infamous bandit.
He reached the Guild and just as he entered, a voice called him out.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
“Seth, you are up here early today,” Derek said, waving at him from a corner. His party members sat besides him on the table and nodded as a sign of greeting as he approached.
“Yeah, I wanted to take a quest and move my body around a bit. I have been feeling sluggish with all the rest.”
“The amount of coins you earned as rewards. I bet you can go a few months with no work.” Derek grinned at him. Seth had gotten around 100 gold coins just from the bandit quest.
Originally, there was only 60 gold coin reward, but Gideon had a bounty on his head, and that had factored in, increasing his overall reward.
He had also been rewarded for submitting the information that Gideon had been part of the Seven Seals, putting the whole case of The Banished in a new light. Though, it was on Wyatt and Thorian to investigate.
“I don't have anything else to do,” he said, suddenly missing the internet. Magic was cool, but he missed watching movies or scrolling cat videos on YouTube. “What about you all? Here to take another quest?”
“No, we are actually looking for another party member. We need a supporting mage or a Cleric in our team, but most adventurers are not interested and newbies aren't meeting our standards,” Ambrose said, taking a sip from a glass of ale.
“If only you agreed to join us,” Derek grumbled, looking up at Seth and frowning.
“I told you I don't mind doing another quest, but right now, I'm better off alone. I’d also be out of the city for a while, so it won't work out either way.”
Seth smiled. Aside from Derek, Vernon had also asked him about joining their party since they had the place for an assassin, but he had rejected it, deciding to remain alone for a while.
His decision mainly came from the fact that he didn't want to share experience with other people and was more comfortable alone. Moreover, until he was heading into a dungeon or going after a monster way above his level, the need for a party wasn't there.
“It's alright,” Derek said. “Just come to me if you ever change your mind. With you in my party, we could aim for being the biggest party in Sacria.”
“You have my word for it,” he said before glancing at the counter. The line wasn't long, so he bid Derek and his party farewell and stood on the back of it.
Five minutes later, he came face to face with Erika who smiled when she spotted him.
“Seth, I was just thinking when you would come,” she said, leaning forward.
“So, what type of quest have you found for me?” He asked and she quickly pulled out a piece of paper and slid it towards him.
Taking a good look at it, he asked, “Owlbears?”
A photo of a large beast with the body of a bear and the face of an owl was on top of the paper. Below it, information and rewards were written down.
“Yes, travellers have spotted these creatures in the forest area. The exact locations are written down here. They are generally Level 21-25, but are very sluggish due to their huge bodies. I'm pretty sure it would give you good experience and you would be able to handle them well. Reward is also 10 gold coins for the three of them.”
Erika explained everything and he calmly listened to it. Since he was at the verge of breaking through Rank 4, he was trying to take on stronger monsters and Owlbears were good enough.
“Okay, I will take the quest and be here in the evening,” he said and Erika brightened.
“Thank you, most of the parties were already busy, so this would help us out a lot. Just bring in their feathers as a proof and we would send one of our teams to go collect the body. They are valuable.”
Seth nodded and headed towards the forest area. For a brief moment, he wondered if this world had things like storage rings like he had seen in novels and anime. It would make everything way easier.
He decided to ask Rebecca about it later.
***
Seth looked down from the tree at the three Owlbears that sat in a clearing, tearing away a corpse of a Dark Wolf as all of them ate in silence. With the Cloak of Shadows on, they weren't able to spot Seth who hid in between the canopy of the trees.
The monsters had an avian head with a long beak that easily broke through the flesh of the wolf. With the brownish fur clad bodies and height, they looked like formidable opponents.
Two Level 22 and One Level 20.
Owlbears were humongous and their claws had enough strength to tear him apart, but for that, they needed to catch him. He was confident in his agility and taking a good look at his armour, he decided to start the attack.
He took a deep breath, calming himself down before he took the jump, his blade shining as a ray of sunlight hit it. He stabbed right into the back of the Owlbear as it cried out, dropping the piece of flesh it was devouring.
Abyssal energy flowed through his blade as he launched Savage Flurry. His strikes made holes in the back of the monster as it fell on the ground with anguished hoots. Before it could turn around and hit with his beak, Seth cut off its neck, finishing it off.
“One down,” he said as he looked at the notification in front of it, but there was no time to celebrate as the other two Owlbear looked at him.
Large monstrous eyes dug into him as a primal roar filled the forest. Both the Owlbears lunged at him, one of them slashing at him with its claws and other with its beak.
Seth jumped back, dodging both the attacks. The Owlbear was faster than expected and a claw headed right for his head, but he vanished from the spot, appearing right next to it and cut at its underbelly.
The information Erika had given him had told him to aim for it and the back of the neck. It seemed like it was correct information as the Owlbear cried out, grabbing its wound before charging at Seth with fury.
He simply dodged back as the creature followed him. It attacked with his beak, but found only a tree as it got stuck in the bark of it. Seth vanished and appeared right over it, his blade ending the creature's life.
Before he could take a sigh of relief, the third Owlbear smashed into him, sending him tumbling through the ground as he hit a boulder. Seth quickly pulled himself back up before another attack could land and landed on a tree in some distance.
The last Owlbear looked around, stomping it's hind legs and slashing at the trees, trying to get him to reveal himself, but Seth took his time as he waited for the right opportunity, making it look like he had run away.
When the monster thought he had run away, Seth appeared right on top of it. He backstabbed it and kicked, sending it crashing into a tree before slashing at his belly. Blood spewed out as the monster cried in anguish and misery before its eyes went blank.
You have defeated an Owlbear!
You have gotten experience!
He sighed, looking up at the third and last notification. He took another look at the surroundings before sitting on top of a boulder, giving himself time to recover. The attack he had taken hurt now that the adrenaline had passed away, so he took out a vial of potion and gulped it down.
Energy filled him as he felt a bit better. He opened up his status and frowned at his level.
Name: Seth Williams
Age/Sex: 31 years/Male
Affiliations: None
Class: Abyssal Assassin
Rank: 3
Level: 29
Titles: Earther, Bane of Monsters, Lizard Killer, Mark of the Abyssal Son
Skills: Identify (Level 2), Backstab (Level 6), Passive Sneak (Level 5), Savage Flurry (Level 4), Nocturnal, (Level 3), Dagger Mastery (Level 3), Cloak of Shadows (Level 3), Dark Step (Level 2), Abyssal Strike (Level 3), Unyielding (Level 1), Flickering Step (Level 2), Abyssal Form (Level 1)
Mana: 800
Health: 850
Stats
Strength - 110 (+10)
Agility - 144 (+20)
Constitution - 85 (+10)
Wisdom - 80
Luck - 76
Most of his stats had gone up by a lot in a short time, a reason why the battle didn't last long.
Just the title of “Mark of the Abyssal Son” had given stats way more than ranking up. It was one more thing he wanted to ask Rebecca's master.
Still, what bothered him was that he stood one step away from Rank 4 and ranking up would take much more than a couple of Owlbears. He didn't know how many months he would have to be at one level.
“Can't do anything about it,” he muttered, shaking his head and picking up the feathers of the three Owlbears as proof. “It's already getting late. It will be late at night when I enter the city.”
He looked up at the sky that was darkening and sighed before making his way out of the forest.
At night, more monsters would come out and from the information he recalled, they would be way more deadly, so he wanted to head back as early as possible.
Stepping up through the forest, he made no noise and kept an eye out for any activity in the background. In his mind, he reviewed the battle against the Owlbears and thought about the mistakes he made.
I could have taken note of the third one. It was an easy attack to avoid. I survived from the charge, but if it had used his claws, I might have lost an arm.
It was a habit he’d picked up recently. He knew that in battle, one bad moment was all it took for a person to lose his life. Just getting his level and stats up won't make him a good fighter. For that, he needed to—
A noise stopped him in his tracks.
More leaves rustled around him and he turned back, his hand moving towards his dagger. Footsteps echoed in the distance and it seemed like whoever it was had no intention to hide.
Hopefully it's some adventurer or traveller making way back to the city.
Soon, three figures emerged out of a bush. Unlike an adventurer, they wore dark cloaks that hid their whole body and a mask shielded their faces. Beyond it, their eyes shone as they looked at him.
“I'm assuming you all are no adventurers,” he said, feeling the air tense around him. Were those mages? He wondered and checked their levels.
??? - Level 30
??? - Level 31
??? - Level 34
He swallowed seeing that. For some reason, he couldn't check their names, but their levels were enough for him to know that he was in danger.
“There you are,” one of them said, stepping forward. “We have been searching for you, Seth."