– BOOM! –
I looked blankly at the disaster I created. With a diameter of close to 100m, a huge crater not too deep but full on fire appeared.
“How did it come to this?”
The terrain in front of the cave was in flames. Luckily, the trees were further away or else they would be charcoal by now.
“Like it wasn’t enough the destructions that damn Gorilla created together with the Energy Stones, now this had to happen?”
I massaged my temples, feeling my head throb. I had a feeling something much more troublesome would follow.
“Ok, ok, hold on a second. So… I used the magic circle under the bathtub to infuse the stone with fire element and tried to make a fireball. I was thinking that, because the ice ball was so small I commanded it to ‘use all energy’… Did not expect it to become a goddamn meteorite-like fireball and engulf the entire zone. With only this alone I can destroy a village! Yep yep, dangerous. Got to extinguish this fast. It might be a secluded zone, but there can always be idiots like me going around searching for unknown places.”
The result of the experiment: fire element, destructive, only useful against demon lords or something like that.
.
In this new world, there are different races present, found inside the game and some are also still undiscovered.
The races already known from the game are such:
A group of ‘players’, just like Shen, composed of such different races appeared beyond the chain of huge trees which covered the entrance inside the White Mountain Valley.
A strong looking young man, who seemed to be in his early twenties, was gazing with wide open eyes at the sky that was slowly turning from a burning red, back to blue after Shen extinguished the fire. His class was Sword Warrior. As seen in his hands, he was carrying a huge sword.
“What the f*ck was that?! A meteorite? From where did it come from? It was as huge as a big house!” → Sword Warrior
Beside him, a gorgeous woman with blonde hair, curvy lines and two horns, looked with worry in her purple eyes. In her hands, a staff with a blue crystal was clenched firmly; her class was a Soul Seer.
“I-I don’t know. Hey, let’s finish this fast then turn back, yes? What if one of those will fall towards us?” → Soul Seer
Another young man looked with the same shock in his eyes. Even though his appearance wasn’t as attractive as the former two, his eyes shone with intelligence, but also with some immaturity. In his hands was a thin sword that shone with a bluish light. His class was Magic Swordsman.
“No, that wasn’t a normal meteorite, it wasn’t even a meteorite in the first place. It was the skill [Fire Ball] but those dimensions… Who did that?” → Magic Swordsman
The last one to talk was a Thief, or what everyone called, ‘Assassin’. He was fully clothed in black leather, had red eyes and 2 long and alert ears on his head, and at his back, a long tail. He was a wildcat of the race of Beast-man. His weapons were 2 knives.
“Bonny is right, let’s leave this place and report it to the Guild.” →Assassin
Normally, the ones who couldn’t get admitted or refused from schools would join the Adventurers Guild, which was more like a mercenary guild because it also had missions like ‘assassinations’, ‘kidnapping’, or ‘arson’.
“Why not report to the clan leader?” → Soul Seer
“For now, the guild is more powerful. In case of anything, that way we’ll be able to gather more people faster.” → Assassin
“I really wish to know what happened there, maybe there was a fight between experts! Guys! Let’s go and see how it ended!” → Sword Warrior
“Let’s not! I really don’t wish for any troubles, okay? What if there was a dangerous demonic beast that activated the gigantic fireball? If that thing discovers us, we’re dead.” → Soul Seer
“Hmm… I don’t mind either way. I’m curious too, but I still don’t feel like dying… Gario, what do you say? Should we investigate?” → Magic Swordsman
“I think it would be all right to investigate if we stay a little bit further; we don’t want to provoke whatever resides beyond this forest.” → Assassin (Gario)
The handsome young man cheered while the beautiful Dragoon showed a gloomy face. The group entered the dense forest with some difficulty.
“Why is the forest so dense in these parts?! I can barely walk without hitting a tree… ARGH! Let’s cut them!” → Sword Warrior
“Don’t!… if we make too much noise, we’ll attract its attention. Try to walk more carefully” → Gario
This group of players was part of the Clan Fire Wings, it was a medium clan and this group was one of the elites. The leader of the clan was lucky enough to have most of her members teleport under the same Kingdom. The kingdom Jian also had control of Shen’s Valley. The only reason this place was not populated was mostly because it hadn’t been discovered yet. The missing parts of the map were places the drawer were unable to enter; it was merely filled in by imagination. Even though humanity had not evolved for more than 5000 years, the borders had been pushed to the limits, not leaving any territory neutral.
Even though these members were elites, they were elites only in the game, the bravest person just started hunting around 14 days ago and nobody truly knew what was going on and how they got here. For a human from Earth, hunting or fighting was something extremely frightening. After all the food was consumed and a number of days passed, the players started going to hunt in groups; at first, of 6, some were going with only 5 people, really few were hunting with 4 or fewer people while the brave or the fools adventured either in a group of two or alone. They knew that in this world death could reside at every corner, so they had to adapt to this lifestyle quick, not having time to take care of the ones around them.
“Ok, we’re out. Stay close-…“ → Gario
“Oy, what’s up?” → Magic Swordsman.
After they arrived beside Gario, everyone went silent. The place looked as if some kind of war with bombs, grenades and flamethrowers had just ended inside the Valley.
“W-What happened here?” This… what kind of fight took place in these parts of the woods? → Bonny
“Bonny, use your [Soul Eyes], see if there are any traps or living beings around.” → Gario
“Okay.” → Bonny
She activated the [Soul Eyes] skill of a Soul Seer to look around.
“Hmmm… I see no traps and there seems to be nobody around-…wait, there is a human in front. He’s playing around with some Energy Stones.” → Bonny
“Huh? A human? Is he a player? What does he look like?” → Sword Warrior.
“Umm… he has short blonde hair, green eyes, and his clothes… he has a really expensive looking- white coat over some tattered and patched clothes, right now he’s sitting in front of the cave-“ → Bonny
-Bzzttzzz~-
While she was describing Shen’s appearance, some lightning shot out from one of the stones in Shen’s hand.
“Kya!” → Bonny
Because her eyes were focused on the stone, the sudden flash made her eyes sting.
“What was that?!” → Sword Warrior
The flash was strong enough to be visible even for the Sword Warrior.
“Both of you!…Quiet!…” → Magic Swordsman
Even though the Magic Swordsman tried to cover them, it was still too late.
“Hm? Who are you, people? → Shen
I didn’t expect to see someone coming here, are they players or residents of this planet? It must be because of that huge Fireball… I screwed up really bad here…
After hearing the scream of a female, Shen was able to identify them instantly.
“Hello. I’m Gario, one of the top 5 elites from the Clan Fire Wings, a clan from around the Jian Kingdom. These are my teammates, whom are in the same clan as me. May I know to who I’m talking to? We are people from a far-away place and we’re also called ‘players’, you might have heard of us by now.” → Gario
Players had come to this world in the numbered by the thousands. Right now, they tried to unite and survive in the new environment by training and understanding their ridiculous powers. The Kingdoms had already found out about such people but some choose to ignore, some choose to take action by subduing or assimilating, some started to bribe by offering some kind of benefits, while some started to do other, much darker things on the players.
Because the players came with either talent for martial arts or magic, incredible powers, and had close to perfect features, everyone wished to put their hands on such specimens, making them the strongest bioweapons.
All of these hidden thoughts were still unknown to most of the players, who thought their only worries were the monsters and the lack of money. They were unknowing the dangers that were right under their own nose.
“Ah. I’m Shen and I’m also a player. How can I help you guys?” → Shen
He asked neither politely nor disrespectfully.
These people have weapons. From their weapons, I can tell they are a thief, sword warrior, magic swordsman, and…is she a destroyer?
Destroyer is a class that uses as a weapon the huge hammer or the huge axe. Their brute force is monstrous and this class is mostly used by dragoons who have superior strength in comparison with the other races.
No, is that a staff? She’s either a Soul Seer or an Elementalist.
The Elementalist is a class that has control over fire and ice, using them for destructive spells.
“Ah, phew~, so is just another player? Ahaha, we got tense for nothing-ouch!” → Sword Warrior
The Sword Warrior laughed before he got hit in the head with a staff.
“Why are you so relaxed already? Even if he’s a player, we need to be prepared for anything. Look around you, do you really think he has nothing to do with this?” → Bonny
Was she talking about me?
Shen was amused by the view and remained sitting. His eyes became sharp as he examined their characteristics without being detected.
They seem weak. But if they’re also players, then they should’ve already acquired at least the same power as me, or even more. → Shen
“Then, Shen, why are you sitting here alone? If you got stuck we can help you out.” → Magic Swordsman
He doesn’t look like much, only that coat looks like something pretty amazing but the combination of the coat with the tattered clothes is really disturbing. → Magic Swordsman
“This place is my home, I’m not stuck. How about you people? Why are you lot here? Was it because of that fireball?” → Shen
I foresee a moment of annoyance… → Shen
Shen felt his temples throb already.
After hearing his answer and question, everyone went mute; they looked more insistently at him.
“Indeed, we saw a huge fireball falling over to this place. Do you know something?” → Gario
Gario stepped forward, walking toward Shen with a relaxed smile but sharp eyes.
Who is this guy? Why is he so relaxed after a huge fireball exploded over his head? Or rather, is this place really his home? I can’t believe it. → Gario
“Well, as you can tell, this world is full of mana. I wanted to experiment with some stuff I knew about but I ended up in blowing the entire area.” → Shen
There’s no need to lie. If they know about the mana of this world and the magic we’re able to use, then even an idiot could tell what’s going on. → Shen
The only problem was… the world is full of idiots.
“…What did you say? Oy oy oy. You better not lie to us! What kind of idiot would believe that a nobody like you would create such a gigantic disaster by himself? And from where you got that nice coat, huh? Don’t tell me, you stole it then ran to hide in this hard-to-find place? You really have guts-“ → Sword Warrior
“Oh my God, can this guy just shut up?” Shen asked exasperated with a dumbfounded face. “On what basis do you say I stole it? Goddamnit, idiots like you I only saw in movies and read about in novels. I can’t believe I have to deal with such a specimen of a human. sigh….” Should I just blow them away? That would be though. I should learn some hand-to-hand combat style soon enough.
→ Shen
The Sword Warrior was already fuming; he wanted to rebuke him but was interrupted by the Magic Swordsman.
“You say this is your home, but on what basis is this your home? And that coat, you said you haven’t stolen it, then can you prove it?” → Magic Swordman
Shen was dumbfounded. As a researcher, he never had any patience with greedy people like these. With cold eyes and an even colder voice he said:
“If you’re here only to step on my nerves, then I’ll ask you to leave. I have a lot of work to do and I got no time to play around with brats like you.” → Shen
Even though they looked older than Shen, from young he saw those of his age and even those older than him as young brats. It was mostly because of all the memories he received from his past lives, making him feel already hundreds of years old.
“Please pardon my comrades but may I ask what kind of work do you have here? Alone? In this place?” He is quite arrogant. → Gario
“First, you don’t need to care. Second, yes alone. Third, yes in this place. Don’t even think of trying a 4 versus 1. If you don’t wish for a fireball to fall on your heads then you’d better leave, NOW.” → Shen
He said while making the mana around him to vibrate.
Shen hated conflicts and never really thought he’ll be able to win one versus many. Even so, he would rather get his bones cracked than have his pride stepped on without doing anything. He was this kind of person.
Even though I might get killed, I’ll be sure that at least 2 of these idiots won’t be able to move after our fight.
Shen thought while getting prepared for the worst. He got up and instinctively infused his mana inside his coat. Even so, what he still didn’t know was about how not everyone got his supernatural fighting instincts. While others still tried to understand their own powers, not even able to control them, Shen was already creating other abilities, growing in strength by the day.
Hearing his last word in such a powerful yet calm tone, the team of 4 people reevaluated this player.
‘He’s not simple at all, we must leave now.’ → Bonny
She took half a step back. From the very start, she wanted to avoid any problems but before she knew it, everything had turned for the worse.
“Hah! What are you? A child, screaming at us to leave? Come here so I can teach you some manners-UGH!” → Sword Warrior
As the warrior got closer, he felt a powerful pressure that locked him on the ground.
Everyone, Shen included, remained dumbfounded.
Why is he like that after coming closer?…AH! [Aura Release]! Oh, I didn’t know it had such an effect, that’s actually really useful, and this guy…heh.
Shen then smiled evilly. He began sounding like he enjoyed the moment, but then he abruptly changed his tone and got closer to strengthen the pressure on that Sword Warrior.
“Eh~? What? You wanted to show me what?” → Shen
“Ugh!” → Sword Warrior
“You think you’re big s***, eh? Get lost before I’m thinking of crippling you! You lot included, disappear from this place, the next time we see each other again, will be in combat.” → Shen
After feeling the pressure of his strong aura, then the cold words thrown at them, Bonny felt like she had to take action.
“I ask Mister Shen to spare my teammates, they didn’t know to whom they were talking just now, please forgive them.” → Bonny
She bowed her head in front of Shen, wishing like this she’ll clear away any enmity between them.
“Are you retarded?” → Shen
Although he just put on a tough front before, right now he was really irritated. His voice was cold while his aura emanated without his will.
“These idiots got greedy because of my coat and my home. If it wasn’t me but another player with no power, are you sure you would’ve stopped your teammates from robbing him? You are telling me you would’ve left that poor guy alone without stealing from or even kill him?” → Shen
“We-we wouldn’t kill anyone-!” → Bonny
Even though she said that, she wasn’t that sure herself. Bonny remembered her teammates showing weird behaviors after a week of living in this world.
“So you’re not denying about the fact that you’ll be looking at how your teammates are robbing someone weaker. Mhm, very good. The idiom ‘birds of a feather fly together’ is not wrong at all. You all just leave, no need to make yourselves more miserable than this.” → Shen
“Th-that’s!” → Bonny
She wanted to get this relation out from the ‘Enemy-zone’ but was interrupted instantly.
“Shut it. Leave, now.” → Shen
He simply turned around and walked toward his cave, not wishing to talk with the group anymore.
Bonny was shaking with shame and anger, she stabbed her teammates with hateful glares then turned around and left without even caring for her party.
Everyone reddened. Anger, frustration, embarrassment, fear, all of these were shining in their eyes but Shen couldn’t care less, he just wanted to research and prepare his plan for finding disciples.
“Theo would be a nice first disciple. After I teach him all I know, I’ll have him help me build the school. Hmmm, I’ll have to think of a name for it.” → Shen
Shen already forgot about the group when he entered his cave to write down what he had discovered about controlling the Energy Stones.
