I am definitely about to turn a lot of heads. I thought to myself as I take in my own appearance. When I had made the contract before being brought to this world, I had been in my own room, wearing comfortable clothes. Sweatpants, a t-shirt, and bare feet, that’s all I had started off with. They hadn’t survived more than a week before becoming unrecognizable rags. Now however, my appearance was almost a billboard of my accomplishments. I had known enough about tanning to create a type of pseudo-leather. I had no tanning agents I could use, or even salt to keep out bacterial growth. I did however have another all purpose tool. Magic.
After I had hunted and killed a beast that looked very similar to a bull, I had decided to try turning its hide into leather to update my wardrobe. My feet were hurting fairly badly by this point, and my pajamas were already past the point of no return. So I had set up camp for a week, rinsing the pelt, removing all of the chunks of fat, meat, and all of the fur, and letting the sun dry it out. I then took the sections of the hide with massive gaping holes from where I had shot and stabbed the beast and used those to make long strips. I then roughly cut out the shapes for a pair of pants and a pair of boots. I wasn’t quite arrogant enough to think they were in any way good, and not nearly cocky enough to try my hand at a jacket, so I used the remaining pieces of leather to make a waterskin, a quiver, and a set of bags. One for the jerky I had dried, and one for all of the various parts I had yet to use. I was also able to finally kill a bird and use its feathers to fletch my arrows. I also used the pelt from a bear-like beast to fashion a cloak for myself. All in all I looked like a mountain man who had never before heard of civilization, raw and primal.
Due to the fact that I was eating almost every day, and undergoing fairly strenuous physical activity for months just working on survival, I had managed to put on a noticeable amount of muscle. I was nowhere near ripped, but I definitely had a lithe and athletic looking physique. Between my body and my gear, I was almost the picture perfect representation of a fantasy ranger.
“Alright, time to meet humans. I’m gonna go quiet for a bit so the locals don’t think I’m nuts.”
“And here I was looking forward to seeing you talk to yourself amongst the townspeople. I was even considering making a bet with Veronica about how long it would take you to be driven out by a mob of pitchforks on the grounds of insanity.”
“Ehh, it wouldn’t actually be anything all that different. I kinda talk to myself a lot. Veronica a demon acquaintance?” I asked upon hearing the unfamiliar name.
“Indeed, and a wretched gambler. She has a rather odd sort of magic where she can straight up wager mana pools. As a result she is sometimes the strongest of us, however she has also lost almost the entirety of her power multiple times, and had to start building her mana capacity from the beginning.”
“Holy shit, remind me to ask how that works. It would be super cool if I could figure out how to just straight up steal other people’s magic, but that’ll have to wait for now. I’ll talk to you in a bit, bye!”
It was a rather odd sensation to say goodbye to someone but know that they’re still there. Kinda like shaking hands with someone only to end up in the same elevator, only this time the elevator was my mind. However, I had something far more pressing to deal with than the inherent awkwardness of my situation. The most intense trial I had faced in my new life so far, one I was not sure I could pass successfully. Social interaction. Full on, face to face, having a conversation with a human, and having it go well. I was doomed.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Feeling a sense of dread and despair coursing through my body, I walked up to a guard posted next to a closed gate leading inside. I called out, “Hey there, can I come in?”
The guard gave me a once over, taking in my caveman-esque appearance, then shot me a look of pure suspicion before replying, “Don’t get a lot of visitors around here, what’s your name and business in town?”
Now I know what you’re thinking, and no this is not some lazy writer just magically making sure everyone speaks English so that everything would flow easier. In fact, me and the guard are speaking complete gibberish to the ears of the other. Due to the size of this world, many more languages exist than on my old Earth. Each village and town basically forms its own dialect, making communication with travelers a downright impossibility. Out of necessity, a certain custom became the norm. When speaking with someone they don’t recognize, the people of this world would put a small amount of mana in their throats, so that their intent would get sent out along with their words. According to Sophia, this methodology is actually based on a popular mind control technique amongst beast tamers. And because you weren’t pushing hard enough to assume control of the other person, the mana cost was near negligible. Although, if I were to be low on mana from practicing magic, I would have to wait for a bit before trying to hold a conversation.
I shot what I hoped was a laid back smile to the guard before answering: “The name’s Leo, and I’ve just been wandering around for the most part. I come from a ways upstream of this river here, and walked downstream to find this place. No real business in town except maybe getting some decent food, a place to sleep for a while, and updating my whole clothing situation. I know I pull off the whole mountain man vibe but damn these pants are uncomfortable.”
I saw the guard visibly become less suspicious as he chuckled along with me, but he also became noticeably more alert, as though what I had said both showed that I was dangerous, but not necessarily hostile. I wasn’t sure where the danger had come in, but oh well, it was a start. Whatever could get me in town faster.
“You said you come from upstream? How far?” The guard asked.
“Not really sure actually, it’s not like I marked the distance. I’ve been walking for a couple months though, so a few hundred miles or so, give or take?”
Immediately the guard stiffened. He looked at me the same way a hiker might look at a passing grizzly. I was confused by his reaction, and heard a little concern color my voice as I asked “What’s wrong? What did I say?”
“N-nothing sir. Please, don’t let me keep you waiting.” The guard almost sprinted away as he called to his partner to raise the gate. I was a little suspicious about the speed at which he changed his mind, but Sophia decided to pop in and say it was understandable, and probably not a trap, that she’d explain what the guard was most likely thinking later. Reassured, I shrugged to myself, and walked through the gate, excited about finally raising my standard of living to that of an average human once more.
A Guard’s POV
I had first seen the man when he was still a considerable distance away. At first I had thought he was one of the local adventurers, returning from completing a job. However, he was alone. None of our locals are either foolish enough nor strong enough to consider wandering into these monster-infested woods alone. That had led me to believe that maybe they had run into something too strong for them and an entire party had been wiped out. Then as the man grew closer I finally saw his cloak, fashioned from the pelt of some ursine monster. No adventurer I knew possessed a cloak like that. An outsider. Immediately I was suspicious. The last time we had received visitors in this town was months ago, a traveling merchant accompanied by two iron ranked parties of adventurers. The time before that was over a year ago. Again by a rather sizable group of travelers. I had never even heard of someone traveling on their lonesome like this man appeared to. I had to assume that he had lost his companions along the way, and he was the last one alive.
Speaking to him had convinced me otherwise though. He was too easy going, too happy for that to be the case. If he had lost his party in those woods and just barely managed to survive he would have shown anger, fear, desperation to get inside. The man, Leo, had demonstrated none of that. He spoke with the easy confidence of a man who chose to walk alone. His tone had shown that he meant no ill will to the town, but when I heard the distance he had covered, I couldn’t breathe. Hundreds of miles of monster infested woods in a matter of months?!? Surely he was simply bragging, he couldn’t possibly mean his words. The look on his face told otherwise. He was confused at my surprise, as though saying “Of course I did it, why shouldn’t I?”. This man was strong. Far stronger than almost anyone else in town, I was sure of that. Maybe only the steel ranked adventurers would be able to stand against him should he grow angered.
My pulse hammering furiously, I stopped delaying Leo and allowed him passage before his friendly demeanor vanished. As I watched him walk further into town, I finally released a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding, before rushing off to inform my superiors about the monster who had entered our town.