Name: Aiden

Class: Hydra Lord

Race: Chimera

Level: 10

Abilities:

Hydra Physique: 10

Identify: 6

Mark of Storage: 10

Sword Mastery: 2

Aiden looked over his status, it has been a week since his encounter with Torin. He has covered quite a distance thanks to his newfound speed. He could have probably made it to the capital already if he did not take the time to hunt down random monsters Fleur led him to. His bond was currently eating a skewer of boar meat. Thankfully he got her to cook the meat this time around. She will still say there is no need to cook it because it would not have any negative effects on them. Aiden knew she was right but he could not let go of his humanity completely. He only got her to agree to cook her portions after making her try some of his cooked meat. Fleur was more impressed with how the taste improved and had nothing to do with how it is safer to eat, Aiden let out a sigh, his body would probably accept raw meat the same as cooked now so it truly did not matter. Aiden wrapped himself in his cloak and closed his eyes seeking some well-needed rest, he knew Fleur would watch over him in his sleep.

It was later the next day when Fleur led him toward a group of people, this was not the first group of people Fleur had informed him about, but they ignored those other groups of people because he did not want any trouble. The reason he headed towards this group was because of the large number of monsters surrounding them. After a few minutes, he finally could see the scene before him. A group of teens probably around Aidens age was surrounded by a group of at least 20 goblins. The goblins were all around level 13 except for one which was level 20. Aiden guessed that was the leader of the goblin hoard. The teens’ levels were all close to level 15 but there were only 3 of them. They were holding their own but the number disadvantage would be their downfall eventually. Aiden pondered if he should help them, he knew it would be the right thing to do but was it his duty to help? Fleur was the one to decide for him by reminding him he did not know where the capital was exactly just that he was heading in the correct direction. Aiden took off his cloak and stored it in his mark; he did not want to wash it again.

William was starting to lose hope in their chances of surviving this encounter. It was just his luck that he and his friend would run into a horde of goblins when they went out hunting without one of their escorts. He promised his father they would be fine since his group was all over level ten and they also had Claire who was a healer who was trained by the church with them. She could heal any injuries Kevin and he received from the low leveled monsters, which populated the region outside of the city, but they got cocky, they ventured too far and now they were going to die because of it. Will looked over at the very important healer and noticed a goblin was just a few feet behind Claire and neither he nor Kevin could save her in time. With burning lungs from fighting, Will screamed “ Clarie behind you!” It was too late she could not react in time but right as the goblin lifted his wooden club to crush the skull of the girl he called a dear friend the goblin was beheaded with a sword. Will was in shock did his father have them followed to make sure they stayed safe? He doubted it quickly because he had never seen the man before in his life. Will moved closer to Clarie to make sure she would not have another brush with death so soon. The battle took a quick turn for the better with the help of the stranger. Will and his companions watched him slaughter all of the low leveled goblins soon all that was left was the leader, a level 20 hobgoblin. Will charged the hobgoblin with the stranger while Clarie was treating a nasty gash Kevin received early in the fight. While fighting the monster he could tell the man was powerful but he used the sword with the skills of a beginner he might have gotten the skill Sword Mastery but it could not have been very high in level. The level difference made the final fight take a while with the stranger doing most of the work but it did finally fall to their swords and Will fell to his knees totally exhausted. He let his sword and shield fall to the ground; they survived and it was thanks to the man who chose to help them. The man in question was cleaning his blade with a rag when he sheathed the weapon he walked over to Will and asked if he was okay. Will smiled at the man and said “ Yes I am fine I do not have any major injuries which could cause death, Did my father send you to follow us to make sure we did not get ourselves killed?”

The man's face showed confusion at Will’s question then he shook his head. “No, I have no idea who you all are. I was just making my way to the capital when I came across your group and I decide to help”

Will was shocked very few people would risk themselves for other people who they did not even know. “Surely you did not risk your life for a couple of people who you do not know?” Will protested. The man rubbed the back of his neck when he heard Will's response. This reaction made Will believe there was something the man wanted and if it was money or their gear they would not be able to put up much of a fight since they were all exhausted from the battle, but why would he go through the trouble of saving them if he planned to steal their things he could have just waited out the goblins and after they died he could have taken their money and gear. The man finally answered Will’s question, “Well, I am heading to the capital and I do not know the exact direction to it, all I know is I am heading in the correct direction, So I decide to get the information from you three, also I was not going to let you three all die when I could have stopped it from happening” All Will could do was laugh at the man simple answer. Will winced in pain as his laughter reminded him of one of the club swings from a goblin that struck him in his ribs. Claire walked over to him and she was already finished healing Kevin of his injuries. She looked over him with one of her healing skills and then proceeded to cast a healing spell in the places he was hurt the most. Will saw the strain of low mana on her so he grabbed her hand before she could cast more healing spells on him “ Claire you have healed the most serious of my injuries, before you waste the rest of your mana you should check our new friend here for injuries and heal them. It is the least we can do for him at the moment”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Claire nodded and got up and walked over to the man but before she could check him he spoke “Your healing won’t be necessary, I have no wounds in need of healing”

Claire scoffed at the man he was covered in blood. How could he have no wounds in need of healing? She used her skill to check the man for injuries and to her surprise, he did not have a single scratch on his body. “How do you have no wounds when you just fought over 20 goblins and one hobgoblin?” Claire asked in exasperation

The man simply smiled “ I have already healed myself”

“So you are a healer?” Claire asked in confusion

The shook his head “I am just a swordsman I can not use mana”

Before Clarie could question the man further Will spoke up. “Clarie, how about we stop integrating the man who saved us” Will said as he got up and put away his sword and shield. He walked over to the man and offered his hand “I think it is time we introduce ourselves, My name is William Gilling” Will pointed to Clarie” This is Clarie Wyncox our healer, and Kevin Colborne our scout and tracker “ Will noticed when he was introducing them the man showed no knowledge of who they were and that they were nobles. The man took his hand “ Well met, my name is Aiden”

Will noticed the lack of a family name and he did not push for one since the man saved their lives, he also noticed the tattoo which was partly showing when they shook hands, it was high quality which meant the man had a lot of money or it was a marking for an important house, but without seeing it fully Will could not tell.

“Well, Aiden you would have reached the capital if you would have just passed us by. It is hard to miss the massive city, but I must thank you for your assistance again” William bowed to the man in respect. You can have the mana crystal the hobgoblin should have in his body since you did most of the work in killing the monster and I would be honored to have you travel with us back to the city. It should only take a few hours”

Will looked at the man's clothes as well as his own, noticing all of the goblin blood. “I think there is a stream nearby where you and I could wash some of the blood off us. We do not want to cause a scare when we enter the city after all” Will said as he started to walk in the direction of the stream.

The party made the quick trip to the stream, Clarie and Kevin stayed on guard since neither of them was a close-quarter fighter they did not have that much blood on them. Will took off his leather armor and undershirt and stored them inside his storage ring. Aiden gave him an odd look, Will was about to explain where they went to man when he took off his own bloodied shirt and stored it in a storage item of his own. Will was surprised, to say the least, there was more to this man than it seems. His clothes are ones of a commoner but his sword is well made, nothing fancy but still well made, to say the least. Since Aiden was now bear chested Will could finally see his tattoo fully. It took him a couple of minutes of pondering before he asked the young man his questions. “That is quite a well-done tattoo you have there Aiden, is it depicting sea serpents?” Aiden stopped washing and looked at him “ You are close but no, sea serpents are incorrect”

Will nodded his head and went back to cleaning the blood off his body, but his curiosity could not be dissuaded that easily. “It looks extremely well done, does it have significant meaning, maybe a family crest or guild mark?”

Aiden could tell the man was trying to find out more about him since you do not see many people his age taking down monsters with such ease as he did earlier in their battle. He did not know why he was misleading with answers and not just telling him the truth, but when the man introduced his party earlier he made sure to say the three’s last names with somewhat importance. Aiden did know of nobles but had never met any. They would never spend their time in an orphanage after all. “You could call it a guild mark I guess” Aiden took out an extra shirt he traded some boar meat for in a small village he passed a few days ago. He donned his cloak after and turned towards Will “Are you ready to head back to the Capital”

Before they headed out Aiden checked what the gains were from the fight, he gained 6 levels so he was now closer to his new companions in level as well as his Sword Mastery gained 4 levels. I guess fighting monsters that used weapons probably helped level his skill. He knew he was still a complete beginner with the sword but the skill helped him use the sword as a sword should be used and not as a club which was how he used it when he first started his journey to the capital.