When I had paid attention to my messages, I realized that the bandit had moved far away from us.

"You see Natho? It feels good to try to be kind to others no matter what. That man seems to be someone honorable despite his questionable decisions and I'm sure he will remember you in the future when he decides to get back on the right track"

"I'm not sure why but I must catch up with that guy."

I didn't wait any longer and went after my target. We ran as fast as we could while dodging trees.

When my companion saw that I was following him his acceleration increases and the distance between us 2 grew even more

"Wow, just a few seconds ago you had every intention of murdering him in cold blood in the name of your might and now you want him to be your new friend!"

I didn't want that guy to be my new friend, I would probably dislike him too much but I had to know how he could benefit from this new Necromancer contract.

We were going downhill and the road was getting steeper and steeper, at that moment I decided to take out my shield to slide with it and by doing so I instantly gained more speed.

My target didn't notice when I was already too close to him and could barely react when we both collided wrapped in snow up to a nearby tree.

The impact wasn't so hard for me but he had dropped his hood and that's when I noticed that "he" was actually a "she."

The bandit all the time was a young woman with dark green spiky hair.

.

The girl was slowly starting to stand up , although her confident movements at the same time on her face I could tell some discomfort not knowing what I would try to do next and she seemed ready to react to my next actions .

"Hey, I'll need your help."

Those were the only words I said to her for over an hour. We were both c sitting by the campfire I had made, it was barely dawn, we did nothing but sit there in silence

"You see? I told you you could have a chance to make things better, now you have a new friend."

"You're part of the bandits that have invaded the lower villages aren't you?"

My new companion nodded her head positively.

"So you know how their communities are structured right?"

He nodded again

"I saved your life but no favor in this world is free and that is something that the more experiences you accumulate the better you will understand. I need your clothes"

"Natho, you're a married man!"

"My original plan was to kill you, steal your clothes and impersonate you so I could infiltrate the criminals and buy an item I need. You should thank me that in this situation you at least are still alive "

"That was absolutely horrible what you said, if our guest didn't want to talk before now..."

"It won't be simple.

I heard her speak in a calm voice for the first time since I met her over 1000 years ago.

"I'm sorry but you saved the worst possible person for your plan. They would never give me a fair shake with the low rank and reputation I have."

"She's right, when you're in a criminal group the lowest links almost never get a fair deal, they almost always have to resign themselves to offering the items they find for the boss unless they have one whose value is high enough to convince them all that you're above the majority."

"Could items like this give you some more rank and reputation?" I said as I pulled my newly acquired sword and fur from my bag.

"Wow" That was all my guest replied as she looked intently at the items I was holding.

After a walk we had both changed clothes and were about to arrive at Inverna village.

That location was once one of the most important trade centers among the few towns in the area and that was why the storm bandits had chosen that place for their base.

The infrastructure was quite damaged but still in better condition than in my village and several groups had formed near the solid rock-floored streets.

I put on my hood and went inside without saying a single word.

Several criminals were walking around the place with the items they had stolen, most of them taking them to their chariots or to other buildings in the place

[adventurer lvl 2] [adventurer lvl 2] [adventurer lvl 3] [adventurer lvl 2]

None of them were especially subtle as they looked at me in utter amazement, apparently none of them could believe at that moment that their level 2 companion could get items that rare for that place

"Hey, I thought you were going to die up there."

"Apparently you turned out to be not as useless as we all thought."

"Is it just me or do you look a lot cuter than usual?"

"They think you're cute Natho."

I walked up to the tallest building in the center of town, it was a concrete and rock structure over 3 stories tall with a bell at the top. Previously there resided the mayor and if what my companion told me was correct now there was one of the leaders of the storm bandits.

At the entrance I could see a tall young man with long white hair, he was much better dressed than all the other people in the place so I assumed he could only be the leader

[adventurer lvl 5]

"Well, well Blizz You know, I thought if you went out to try anything a random Goblin would kill you, my expectations of you were practically nil and yet it seems you came to surprise me in the best way possible. A rare sword and an expensive fur."

So the bandit's name was Blizz and she was part of the storm bandits.

"I'd like to make a deal for both of us" I Sharpened my voice as much as I could to get closer to Blizz's.

"Heh, I hope this doesn't go to your head too much and that you remember that I woke up too generous today. Mind you, if you try to take advantage of the trust I'm giving you now I won't think twice about putting you in your place again."

"A spear of Rhaegar and 3 health potions."

"Just that, such a common weapon? It pleases me to know that you don't lose your manners.

The man entered the building and quickly came out carrying a large box with several weapons.

"Here you go."

With one of his hands he pulled out a five-foot spear with a sturdy dark metal tip

[Rhaegar's Spear] [Increases attack by +3] [Increases attack speed by +3] [Durability: 130/130]

I left the items with my buyer and he handed the new weapon and the potions to me as I prepared to already retire

"By the way did anyone tell you that you look much prettier than usual? Maybe you gained a little beauty while losing a little stupidity."

"That guy is a complete idiot."

I walked out of town and came to where the forest began where Blizz was waiting for me sitting on a rock.

"Thank you for your services Blizz"

He didn't react at all when he found out that I already knew his name and he didn't react either when I walked away from the place so I could talk to Talkain

"I didn't tell you before but it looks like I have the option to make a contract with her as well."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Accept it."

"It would make sense to do so but I'm not yet concluded with your contract and besides..."

"Never mind, do it anyway. Blizz must have a very difficult life in her community, she needs someone who will support her"

"Talkain, just because I traveled back in time to fix the kingdom's problems doesn't mean I'm going to fix everyone's problems. A king's job is to see the most effective way to save his kingdom, not to see the most complicated way to keep a few people from being sad."

"Hey, I thought you've never been a king?"

"No, I'm not but I aspire to be and if all my efforts are not focused on saving this world then all this time travel will have been completely in vain and it won't matter if a random bandit is satisfied with her life."

"Don't make it like the king you say you are not, make it like Natho, the kind hearted, awkward, young hero with a poor sense of good dress who loves to help others."

"The world doesn't need that Natho anymore, they need the right person to make the most pragmatic decisions possible."

"Then at least give her a chance and accept her into your party, if you are so insistent on being pragmatic then having an additional ally in battle could greatly accelerate your progress."

"Accepting someone I don't trust could be suicide."

"I am here, I can sense the surroundings without anyone in the surroundings sensing me. If someone tries to betray you I will probably be the first to know."

"I'll leave any inconvenience in your hands then."

I went back to where Blizz was, she was making castles in the snow while I was gone but when she saw me she tried to hide them immediately

"Hey..." I took a deep breath knowing that this decision could end very well or very badly with no middle ground at all "Would you like to be part of my party?"

Hours later we were both following the river path.

The atmosphere had become a bit monotonous and neither of the 2 of us uttered a word the entire trip. Occasionally Blizz would simply stare at the new spear I had slyly obtained.

We found a small dark cave where the water body was still flowing, we didn't think twice when we decided to go in.

Once inside, the path expanded through subway tunnels and the river itself was divided into several of these paths.

This place was frequented by fishermen if they were in a favorable time but we were not in such a time. Somewhat ironic considering the later appearance of the celestial.

"Here we will hunt as many Kogart fish as we can for the next 17 days, I will keep 75% of all profits and breaks will be minimal. If you disagree with any of these conditions you can leave right now."

"There is nothing that compares to the price of a life, I will help you in this mission and the ones that follow if I can pay at least a part of my debt."

Honestly I didn't expect any kind of response from her, I thought she would just nod her head as she is used to.

"Sounds good to me...by the way, my name is Natho."

We went to one of the tunnels that led to one of the subway areas and came to a wide cave where the river parted even further and was much wider.

At the very bottom there were at least 5 Kogart fish crawling on the floor.

[enemy detected] [Kogart fish lvl 2]

They were dark gray skinned and the look in their eyes seemed angry. Although Kogart fish are a marine species they usually come out to land to consume certain types of minerals and strengthen their own scales

"The plan is simple, you attack with a dagger as fast as you can to attract their attention and that's when I get them with my shield and spear. Because of the distance I should have no problem keeping them out of the way."

She responded positively and we both descended down cave to begin the battle.

Blizz went to the Kogart holding 2 daggers in his hands. The creatures reacted quickly to her presence and bounced around hoping to attack her but my partner's speed was too much for them and at times even for me.

I launched myself directly against my enemies, with a shield and spear I attacked one of my enemies and it shot out against a rock

[Enemy Kogart has lost 20 health].

Two more tried to throw themselves against me but I reacted in time and pushed them both aside with my spear

[Enemy Kogart has lost 7 health] [Enemy Kogart has lost 7 health]

Blizz was still dodging all the attacks even with her knives in hand but in an oversight one of the creatures managed to headbutt her in the pit of her stomach and stun her for a few seconds.

The creature was going to attack it again but I quickly ran to cover it with my shield.

[You have lost 3 health]

Blizz didn't take long to rejoin and with his blades in hand made a slash that sent the Kogart flying before I could attack, without stopping his attack he hit the rest with precise slashes until one of them was stunned near a rock with 2 fangs out.

[Enemy Kogart has lost 10 health pts]. [Enemy Kogart has lost 10 health pts]. [Enemy Kogart has lost 10 health pts]. [Enemy Kogart has lost 10 health pts]. [Enemy Kogart has lost 20 health pts].

I came out of my astonishment to address the almost weakened Kogart. In one leap I was within a few feet of burying my spear in him until two of his companions attacked me in my blind zones and knocked me out of the air.

[you have lost 10 pts of health]

I realized too late that I had lost my spear 10 meters from me and the Kogart were still surrounding me, I had to draw my sword and fight 3 of them at the same time as I tried to retrieve my weapon

[Enemy Kogart has lost 10 health]. [You have lost 6 health points] [Enemy Kogart has lost 11 health pts] [You have lost 8 health points]

The beasts were constantly biting me and I had to use my sword and shield to keep them away enough but my distance advantage was rather short lived until another one of them attacked again. At that rate it looked like I would have to defeat some of them in order to regain the advantage my weapon gave me.

The difficulties ended when the spear shot out towards the head of one of my enemies and ricocheted towards my hand. It was that moment that I took advantage of to finish impaling my opponent.

[Enemy Kogart has lost 30 pts of health]. [Critical hit] [Enemy Kogart has been weakened] [You have gained 25 pts of exp]

A few meters away I saw Blizz exchanging attacks with 2 enemies at the same time. I tried to lose as little concentration as possible and quickly gave him a thumbs up in a gesture of thanks....

Blizz ended up cutting a creature in half as I ended up finishing off two others at the same time as her.

[Enemy Kogart has lost 25 pt of health]. [Critical hit] [Enemy Kogart has been weakened] [You have won 15 pts of exp].

[Enemy Kogart has lost 25 pt of health]. [Critical hit] [Enemy Kogart has been weakened] [You have won 5 pts of exp].

[Enemy Kogart has lost 25 pt of health]. [Critical hit] [Enemy Kogart has been weakened] [You have won 15 pts of exp]

[Enemy Kogart has lost 25 pt of health]. [Critical hit] [Enemy Kogart has been weakened] [You have won 5 pts of exp].

We were done with that task, our reward wasn't much but we had just what we had gone for

[item found] [Basic Kogart scales]

Elsewhere

"Hey, you piece of beast, get up right now What can't you see you're in our territory?"

[successful time travel]

"Where did this jerk come from? Whatever, he's only level 1, let's take off his nice armor.

[levels and statuses reset]

"Hey what's going on here?"

I...I had succeeded, my plan to follow that bastard king had proved successful.

This world, that jerk was dooming it with his stupidity. But apparently it was still too early, I and only I could stop things from getting worse.

But I knew I had to gain more strength before doing anything, I stood up with too much effort with the excessive weight of my armor, I was surrounded by a blanket of rock and snow and around me were several people who didn't seem too happy with my presence including a tall, white-haired man.

"Until you finally have the decency to stand up and show me a little respect, anyway I dawned very generous today so I'll only tell you once. Surrender your armor and we'll forget your insolence."

"You don't understand, I am here because the end of the world, the end of YOUR world has advanced by leaps and bounds. You are the only insolent ones here who don't show a little respect for the only person who can do anything about it..."

[you have lost 150 pts of health] [critical hit] [You have lost all your health pts].

I didn't finish my sentence when the tall man thrust a sword into my right side while holding me by the head

"I told you I would only speak once."

I was thrown against the ground as the people around me just laughed at my predicament

"That armor ended up being garbage"

"Who goes out to fight with something that can be pierced so easily?"

"You know what? Keep that junk you call armor, you know something, you can also keep the sword if you want to, maybe with a decent weapon you can finally "be the one person to stop the end of the world" "

[race skill activated: immortality of Undeath] [you've regained all your health points] [your mana usage has been restricted to 70% for the 30 hours].

"Thank you very much, but I don't think I'll be needing it" I said as I stood up and looked at the terrified eyes of the crowd.