image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/be87e08a-2abc-4e77-97da-ad92eb3d3c28/0_0.png]
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The golden hour bathed the Campus in a sweet light, and the only noises were the singing birds and the occasional distant car. The best moment to enjoy a book under the trees. There was only one obstacle. Gluing himself to the building's wall, Peter peeked around the corner. On one of the lawns belonging to the sports facilities, Peter’s Nemesis, Jack the Jock, and his court of sycophants were skylarking.
Lowering his head between his shoulders, he proceeded onward, trying to become invisible like Bilbo Baggins, the main character of his favorite book, The Hobbit. It wasn't meant to be.
"Hey, look, there's Peter," a voice called. Ariana, Peter's ex. Peter often thought Karen would have been a better name for her because she was always behaving entitled and judgmental.
"Come here, Petey," Jack beckoned.
"What's up, Jack?" Peter asked, attempting to appear confident as he approached the group.
"That's not a proper way to address your betters," Ariana said.
"How can I be of assistance, Young Master Jack?" Peter reformulated, contracting his abdominal muscles, preparing for the worst. Sometimes, Jack used his aura to make him puke or choke. Like Darth Vader if Darth Vader were a college bully.
This time, he was spared. "We're having a party. I reached the second stage," Jack forwarded a hundred-buck banknote. "Buy us some beer and bring it to my dorm. Keep ten bucks as a tip."
Gone was Peter's plan to relax in the evening sun, under the trees, reading a book. However, it was not Peter's first errand, so he knew well what to do. He hurried toward a small deli situated a few hundred feet from the main gate. Paying the owner ten bucks for sixty expired beers and keeping the rest for himself, Peter divided the cans between two gigantic plastic bags and returned to the Campus.
The gang was already inside the dorm’s lobby, the music loud. Jack took over the bags using only his pinkie, showing off his enhanced strength. Getting out as fast as possible, before the jock could find another task for him, Peter almost tripped into one of the regular security guards. Plump and unshaven, the man sat on the stairs, smoking.
"They asked me to warn them if some teacher comes," the guard explained, albeit Peter didn't care.
"If a higher rank Cultivator comes, they'll fly or something," Peter said.
"You know how it is… the brats ask, we obey."
Peter nodded and strode on. There were maybe twenty more minutes of the peaceful sunset to enjoy. Better than nothing. When he reached his favorite spot, Peter changed his mind. Instead of reading, he lay on the grass, hands under his head, letting the dawn bathe his closed eyes.
When the daylight dimed, replaced by the dusk, he rose, grimacing against the numbness in his arms, intending to walk away. He stopped short of leaving, noticing a silhouette on the running track. A girl. Jack's girlfriend… or maybe his ex, rumors were they broke up. It was probably true, or else she would have been at the party. The name evaded Peter's mind.
She’s pretty, he concluded. Dark blonde hair, bronzed skin. Long legs with defined muscles. Big breasts, bouncing as she ran. A concentrated expression… She was probably cycling Mana or whatever shit the cultivators did. A sweet girl with doe eyes and full, kissable lips. Popular, of course. Shaking his head, Peter left, walking toward his dorm. Seconds later, he heard screams. Noes and Help.
He turned on his heels and froze. A hundred feet away, on the running track, a giant wolf had appeared out of nowhere, snapping its jaws at the girl, who defended herself with a plastic chair. As far as he knew, she was a Mind cultivator, so she had no meaningful fighting skills.
"Hey!" Peter yelled to attract the wolf's attention while running toward the fight, struggling against his self-preservation instinct, telling him to run.
The chair broke into shards at the next bite, and the girl screamed anew, falling on her back. Peter yelled again, louder. The mutated animal growled, moving his eyes between the juicy prey nearby and a possible threat. Yet Peter's makeshift plan didn't involve getting into melee with a monster the size of a small horse. There was a javelin rack on the side of the lawn, just a few steps away.
Dashing at the shelf, Peter snatched a shaft and threw it after balancing it for a split second. It was a risky throw, with the target so close to the girl, but if he did nothing, she was as good as dead anyway. The two arching trajectories—the monster jumping for the girl's throat and the flying spear—met, and the mutated wolf fell to a side, the sharp stick protruding from his flank. A second later, the animal scampered into the forest, whimpering.
"Are you all right?" Peter shouted, hurrying to the girl, a second javelin in hand, ready to use it like a spear if the beast returned.
"I’m O-OK… T-thank you…" the girl stuttered.
Peter helped her to her feet. The girl was shivering, still in shock, and Peter led her toward the nearby locker room facility. They entered and closed the door behind them, peeking through the reinforced glass.
“I think we’re good,” Peter said after a few minutes, his voice shaking. There was no sign of the wolf or other beasts.
"You… saved my life," she said hesitantly." There was gratitude in her voice but also disbelief. How could a normie save a Cultivator? That was the unspoken question.
"I played the Roman centurion in re-enactment shows," Peter confessed. “Centurio Mucius Porcius salutat nobila puella!” Peter moved the spear in his left hand and hit his pectoral with his right fist, stretching his hand in the Roman greeting.
She froze, making Peter wonder what did he do wrong. C’mon, she doesn’t think I did the Nazi salute, right? It’s nothing like it. Then, a few jerks passed through the girl’s body, becoming more frequent and finally letting way for an uncontrolled access of laughter.
“Sorry,” the girl apologized between laughs, pressing her hand over her mouth, yet still unable to stop. “I have no idea what you said, but it was like: Centurion Pork Snot brings you the bill for the paella. Hmpf...” she threw her left hand over the right one to muffle her giggles, with little success.
“For the record was: Centurion Silent Boar salutes the noble damsel,” Peter frowned, trying to cross his arms defensively but renouncing because of the spear. “Boars were among the most frequent totem animals for the Romans; they are stubborn and tough.” And now I sounded like a total nerd; he clenched his teeth. And why did I have to bring on my HEMA years in the first place?
“Sorry,” she apologized again. “I’m still shaken… I couldn’t control myself.’
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“I’ll walk you to your dorm,” Peter said, opening the door.
Keeping the javelin ready, he walked ahead, looking all around for any other monster, but there were none. Five minutes later, after she told him what way to go, they stopped before one of the larger and better dorms. For whatever reason, the campus was all but empty, which was eerie.
“Take care,” Peter nodded, ready to leave.
"Wait!" Feverishly, the girl searched in her small backpack and offered Peter a bunch of crumpled bills. All hundreds. "Please, take it. It's the least I can do."
Peter hesitated for a second and then shook his head in refusal, stepping back. Stealing from a prick like Jack was one thing; being paid for saving a life felt… wrong. "We should notify the teachers that a monster got past the wards."
“Oh no!” The girl facepalmed, eyes widened. The sudden pang of guilt gripping her face told Peter everything he needed to know. Her words only confirmed the worst. "I saw Jack entering the forest a few minutes before his group left… What if it’s one of his pranks?"
"Removing a ward totem to let monsters in?" Peter sneered, his nerves on the verge of breaking. It was the only explanation and one of the stupidest things to do.
"Can you keep the secret?” the girl begged, kneading her hands. “We’ll be expelled if word goes out… I swear, I didn’t know. I’ll call Ari to tell Jack to put the totem back."
She forwarded the money again. This time, Peter hesitated longer. It looked like she held at least five hundred bucks. On the other hand, it was a good occasion to get the bully what he deserved… The girl was nervous, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, imploring him with puppy eyes and slightly puckering lips. After scratching the nape of the head for a second, he chose option three.
"I don't need your money. I need a favor," Peter pushed back her hand.
"Pardon?" she furrowed her eyebrows.
"Is it true that you and Jack broke up?"
A slight hesitation flushed the girl’s face before she nodded, her eyes saddened.
“All for the better for you. He's a jerk. Anyway…" Peter stopped for a second, swallowing a lump and avoiding her eyes. "I won't call the teachers if you… pretend to date me a few times… We go out for a coffee, that's all…" he waved his hands to convey that he had no lewd intentions.
"Why?" she asked directly.
It was an honest question, and he gave her an honest answer. "I want to show Ariana I'm over her…"
She nodded and approached, then her lips whispered in his ear, sending a hot flow of air inside it: "Very well, Centurion Silent Boar. It’s time Jack sees that the world doesn't revolve around him. And for the record, we didn’t break up. I left him." With that said, she walked away, brushing the dirt from her clothes before entering the building.
Peter considered returning to his dorm, but something nagged him. What if Jack continued behaving irresponsibly instead of fixing the totem? Somebody else could be hurt or killed. It was better to take care of the business himself, Peter decided. The ward couldn’t be too far from where the attack happened.
Peter first went to the locker room facility, inspecting the track through the windows. All was quiet. A minute later, he gathered his courage and went to the rack to take the last javelin with him as a backup. Suddenly, a blue text flashed before his eyes.
You have slain a Crazed Dire Wolf, lvl. 2. You have created and cleared a Quest: Save Damsel in Distress.
!System Unlocked!
“What the heck?” he shook his head, trying to chase away the afterimage. Then, a massive jolt of pain went through his body, and he collapsed on the grass.
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When Peter woke up, the darkness of the night reigned supreme. A flashlight shone intermittently between the forest’s trees somewhere in the distance. He wondered who strolled in a monster-infested area, but his curiosity was replaced by a voice. It was very close.
"Who's there?" Peter asked, patting the ground to pick up the javelin. Having a weapon in case another monster came was a good idea.
Peter frowned. The voice sounded… weird. Like the chipmunks in the cartoons. "Who are you?" he asked again, turning around twice. A voice this close should've had a body, yet there was none.
"Ah, OK. That's explains it. Young master Jack, you can come out!" Peter yelled, confident it was another prank.
"Gah…." Peter gasped. "I b-became a C-cultivator?" he continued, pausing to swallow a lump in the middle.
< Negative! Cultivators don't see notifications.> The voice had descended in pitch, but not by much.
"Define undesirable situation," Peter said, trying anew to identify any hidden prankster.
A sliver of doubt began to sneak into Peter's mind. Maybe he was becoming crazy. That happened sometimes with people closely exposed to Wild Mana, and monsters had large amounts.
"What the hell is going on?" he whispered to himself.
This unit lacks complete information. It was anticipated that this planet would undergo integration, and a System Seed was assigned to facilitate the process.> "What?" "Oh," was the only syllable Peter could say. He didn’t understand squat. “Can’t you speak normally?” The flashlight from the forest had approached and aimed directly at Peter's face, making him protect his eyes behind his arm. "You OK, kid?" The voice sounded familiar, and when the light diverted to a side, Peter found himself with the chubby Campus guard staring at him. "I'm fine. What are you doing here?" ` "A girl received a phone call, then the jerk in chief told me to come here and put back some… tantrum?" "A totem." "I didn't find it," the plump man confessed. "It's scary out there… There’s a dead wolf just a couple hundred feet away." Quest Chain: Fix the Totem displaced by Jack. Kill the nearby Crazed Monsters (1/4). Rewards: Various. Give me a break! Peter felt that the text in his head had been read faster than it would have been normal. That meant he was hallucinating. Exposure to the crazed monster’s Mana, for sure. However, he felt normal for the rest. So, chances were he’d get over the sickness soon. "Do you want me to take care of it?" Peter continued aloud, addressing the guard, who was still in front of him, "You'd do that for me?" the man asked, with incredulity in his eyes and voice. "For fifty bucks, and I borrow your gun," Peter pointed at the holster. The guard covered the gun in a protective gesture. "I can't, kid… I have real bullets there. What if you go berserk and mass-shoot those Cultivators kids?" "Then you tell the teachers I knocked you out and stole the gun," Peter said. "Seriously, I don't intend to shoot anyone except monsters." The guard sighed, searched his pockets for a bill, and offered Peter his gun and money. The weapon was a revolver, a simple point-and-shoot weapon. "If you do shoot them, aim for the testicles. Make them hurt." "Won't happen," Peter shook his head, fixing the gun behind his belt and taking the two javelins in his hands. "Want the light?" the guard offered the torch. "I'm OK," Peter said, ignoring the message. That he could see very well in the dark was known to him. No need for a hallucination to tell him the obvious. "I'll go back to the party," the guard said, leaving. "The music is good. Don’t shoot them while I'm there, OK?" After rolling his eyes, Peter entered the forest.