As Roy’s group was making their way toward Roger’s house, they inevitably crossed paths with packs of goblins. After Roy had quickly dealt with them as he did so many times before, Daniel looked at him with star-struck eyes.
“Wow, brother Roy, you are so strong. You are the strongest person I have ever seen!”
Daniel looked at Roy as if he was a childhood hero. The boy had imagined what kind of strength Roy possessed after seeing the carnage outside of their house, but the reality far outclassed his imagination.
On the other hand, Lorenz had a disturbed look on his face. His eyes were fixated on the pile of corpses on the ground and he couldn’t help but shiver in horror.
“You good?” Roy patted Lorenz’s shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m good,” the young boy replied with shifty eyes. “It’s just, they really look much like humans. Those eyes…”
“Yeah, it’s disturbing, right?” Roy sighed as he looked at the bodies of the monsters in front of him. If the corpses were covered with armor, this place would look nothing short of a human battlefield.
“Whenever I look at their corpses, it’s as if I’m looking at myself,” Roy added. “Maybe I too would look that way to them, if I was the one to lose and die.”
Lorenz’s looked up at Roy in surprise before he let out a chuckle. “So, how did you get so damn strong, man? I didn’t remember you a hero or a wizard.”
“Well, I just played with this world’s new rules,” Roy said with a bitter smile. “I killed ten of those goblins, and I became strong. I killed even more monsters, and I became stronger.”
“I guess that’s the kind of world it is, now,” Lorenz stated after a couple of seconds of silence.
“Yeah, that’s the kind of world it is.”
The two kept talking with each other for the remainder of their walk. Roy told Lorenz everything that had happened to him. He talked about the awakening, the knights, the villagers, the Ogre, and the red bear. He explained his plan for trapping the boss monster of the forest using booby traps and spikes, and the reward they would get after accomplishing that feat.
“So, what’s the plan?”
Roy was puzzled at Lorenz’s question. “What do you mean ‘what’s the plan’? I already explained it to you.”
“I’m not talking about that,” the young boy shook his head. “I’m talking about John of whatever the fuck estate. What do you plan to do with him?”
“John is definitely not gonna be easy to deal with. Seems like those who awakened by killing people are stronger than those who awakened normally,” Roy explained as his expression became serious at the mention of the noble. “Plus, he has so many villagers with him. If we fight him now, a lot of people will die.”
Lorenz furrowed his eyebrows and thought in silence. Finally, he looked at Roy and asked, “So, what should we do?”
“For now, let’s focus on what we need to do,” Roy said with a more relaxed expression. “After we kill the red bear and gain a safe settlement, we will have a massive advantage. We can hunt monsters and grow stronger without having to worry about the safety of those who have not awakened. And if we meet a strong beast we can’t win against, we would still have a safe place to escape to.”
Lorenz nodded with an enlightened expression. “Right, that sounds like a good plan. After we continue growing stronger, we can then go and fight him.” He then looked at Roy with a serious expression. “You better help me awaken like you did with the others, okay?”
Seeing Lorenz’s youthful but determined eyes, Roy couldn’t help but think back to Jaimie. “Sure, I can help you awaken. But you better listen to my words when we’re in battle or we have no deal, understand me?”
“Sure, you got it.”
The group soon reached Roger’s house. As they entered, the mood was somber and gloomy. The old people were sitting and laying on the carpet in silence, while the babies cried as their mothers calmed and soothed them.
One of the kids’ stomach grumbled loudly.
“Mom, I’m hungry…”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“It’s okay, Ed, mom will get you something to eat soon. Just sleep, just sleep.”
Roy’s heart dropped to his stomach. The feeling of responsibility and guilt gnawed at his chest as he looked at the people he supposedly save starve away.
“It’s not looking good here, is it?”
Roy was about to respond to Lorenz’s comment when Roger made his way from upstairs. The two walked outside for some privacy before Roy asked, “How is the food situation?”
“It’s not good,” Roger replied crestfallen. “Even with all the bread and jerky we stored, we don’t have enough for everyone.”
“Give it to the kids first, I’m sure no one would have a problem with that. And even if they do, they are a piece of shit.”
Roger nodded at Roy’s idea. “Yeah, we can do that for now. But we’ll still run out of food soon.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle that,” Roy replied with a confident voice. “I’ll go hunting in the forest. Hopefully, I can get some big game.”
“Are you sure about that?” The middle-aged man asked in worry. “Won’t it be dangerous if you go alone?”
Roy warmly smiled at Roger’s question. “Don’t worry. You know me—I don’t do stuff that I’m not sure about. Just, when my group comes back, tell Marth that he is responsible for them and he can do what he thinks is right. But he needs to come back every hour so we know that everything is alright.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell him everything you said.”
After finishing his talk with Roger, Roy made his way back to the house to talk with the two little kids.
“Daniel, Jeanie, I will be gone for a bit. I will leave you with Mr. Roger, so be good kids and behave well, okay?”
“Okay big bro, we will be good kids!” Daniel replied enthusiastically.
“What about you, Jeanie?”
The little girl nodded shyly while hiding behind her brother.
Roy smiled at the kids’ reaction before looking at Lorenz.
“Sorry that I’m not going to hunt with you immediately as I promised. Once I come back, let’s go kill some goblins.”
The young boy clicked his tongue, “Stop worrying about everything and just go. We can talk about hunting goblins later.”
Roy was surprised at the young boy’s mature response, but he couldn’t help but appreciate it. Now that he finished everything he needed to do and say in the house, he made his way toward the outskirt of the village and entered the forest.
Minutes passed by as Roy looked around for traces of rabbits, deers, or pigs. However, what awaited him was not prey but predators. From the dense trees and the thick foliage, two red foxes jumped. They were bigger than any fox should ever be. If not for their snouts and the color of their fur, Roy would have mistaken them for overgrown wolves.
The two beasts slowly circled around Roy from different directions before one of them pounced at him from the right. Fuck, it’s fast!
Roy instinctively rolled out of the way before jumping out of the foxes’ encirclement. He knew that if he let them surround him, he would be in big trouble.
The two sides reached a stalemate, with Roy taking a stance with his sword, and the foxes baring their fangs. However, that was not to last for long as Roy ran into the forest with all his speed.
Thinking that he was running away in fear, the two beasts rushed after him with hunger in their eyes. Just as they got close to him, Roy stop and dashed back toward one of the foxes. With a quick slash, he cut through the beast’s side.
The wounded fox stumbled and rolled on the ground while whimpering. The other beast, however, did not stop its mad chase and pounced at Roy.
The young man, who still did not regain his balance from his attack, tried to block the beast’s charge with his sword. The fox easily sidestepped Roy’s slow and wobbly slash, before biting into his left forearm.
The beast expected to crush the young man’s bone with its fangs, but to its surprise, his flesh was tougher than it expected. Roy, on the other hand, gritted his teeth through the pain raising his sword and stabbing the beast through the neck.
Red hot blood gushed on the young man’s face as the beast jumped and kicked out of his way. However, it was too late. Roy’s sword pierced a hole through the fox’s neck, and no matter how much it flailed or gurgled, its fate was already sealed.
The young man stood up on the ground with blood dripping down his dirty hand. Both his and the fox’s blood merged and painted him red as if he was an asura that reigned over the battlefield.
Roy ran towards the other wounded beast and slashed its neck open. With the whimpering and the gurgles of the dying fox dimming into silence, Roy finally sat down on his knees to catch his breath.
“Damn, even the animals are becoming strong.”
Thoughts, possibilities, and conclusions rushed to Roy’s head. Were these foxes normal animals before, or did they come from wherever the goblins and ogres came from? If they came from another place then that was the end of it. But what if they did not? Did that mean that animals could become strong too? Did they go through a process similar to the awakening Roy had? The young man only had questions, but few answers.
Not daring to stay in a daze in a forest full of monsters and beasts, Roy stood up and checked his surroundings. After making sure that there was no more danger, he moved out.
After around half an hour of searching, Roy heard a sound from a clearing next to him. He slowly, while making sure not to step on any branch or make any noise, hid amongst the bushes and looked around. In front of him was a large boar that was peacefully munching on berries and roots. However, another sound caught Roy’s attention—one that was louder and more ferocious.
He turned around to find a large silhouette eating what seemed like the remains of a deer. It was almost a meter and a half in height and two meters in length. It was a boar, the largest Roy had ever seen.