Outside

Chapter 6 Outside

Drakus POV

A total of five day have pass since we entered this new world. Most of the time we remained within the Sanctuary. Getting used to the setup, making sure everything was in order, and stocking up on suppiles. We have yet to venture outside, Nu-Ru argues that we should first focus on defense and exploration later when we truly have a better grasp of everything.

Currently I was inside the Council room along with Nu-Ru. Through our investigation, the Guild building still retains its function and assets. We then moved on to see if that fact was in any way related to the odd notification. Because it wasn’t just us that was transported, but also the building and the NPC’s inside. Perhaps there was something clue we were missing.

“So have you found anything yet?”

“For the 25th time, no. Everything is the same as before.”

Just like me Nu-Ru was shifting through the data. However he was looking to see if there something else there. Perhaps something that hinted towards the mysterious notification.

Over the coming days, we worked out a schedule for everyone. Nu-Ru and I would handle the investigation of the building. Kaetzchen and Trion made runs through the different floors, performing inspections and check-ups. Arsenal and Manom were given the task of learning more of our new bodies. They mainly dealt with performing experiences and doing all kinds of practices. Finally Reptillia and Shae handled NPC affair, typically revolving around questions to better our relationships.

Closing the menu screen I sighed in frustration.  We were going in circles no matter from what direction were looking at it. Eventually I was fed up with it.

“We could try checking outside.”

“How many times have I said that we need to be careful?” And thus the argument started again. I was in favor of venturing outwards and surveying the surroundings. Nu-Ru was against it until we had a better grip of the situation.

“We’ve been stuck here for about five days and we are practically running in circles. There has been no progress inside the Sanctum. We can’t just sit on our butts hoping that the answer will come to us.”

“…I was planning on sending someone outside and doing some more scouting. So far, I’m still deciding who to send out.”

“Why not let me go?”

“You can’t be serious? That’s too much of responsibility for you.”

“I can handle it.”

“Like how you handle Altina?”

Arguing back and forth, neither side was planning on giving up.The issue that Nu-Ru alluded to was in regard to him seeing Altina naked on top of me. Needless to say that it took a lot of explanation on my part to clear up the misunderstanding. I was also glad that he didn’t blabber it to the others.

“That was one mistake. This and that are two completely separate things. Just send me outside, and I guarantee that I will get some results.!”

“Drakus. Look at it from my perspective. You’re asking me to send someone out into the unknown with who knows what out there. Right now we need to be on the side of caution an–“

“We’ve waited long enough!” I said as I slammed my fist on the table. He was making the same argument every time. “Sitting with our thumbs up our asses won’t do us anything. You said that we should be cautious but I don’t see it that way. If anything we’re being ignorant and frightful. Waiting around will only be a hindrance, surely you can see that!”

“…”

“I understand that you’re scared. So am I but we won’t get anywhere if we don’t peek our head above ground. If you won’t do it then I will do it as the guild master.”

“…….Ahhhh the others are going to kill me if they find out. Fine but it will be just you. Hurry back before anyone figures it out.”

I could feel the biggest smirk emerging on my face. Jumping from my chair, I double checked my gear. “Drakus! Catch.” Before I activated my ring, Nu-Ru tossed something my way. It was a light blue glowing rod. The item was called a [Transfer beacon]. The item acted as a beacon, sending an emergency signal to all friendly allies.

“I’ll be here looking over the controls a bit more. If you see anything dangerous then immediately activate the beacon. I’ll use the globe to locate the signal and teleport to where you are. Don’t do anything reckless!”

“I got it, trust me. I’ll be careful.” Reassuring him I activated the guild ring and teleported myself to the entrance of the Earthern Sanctum. From there I made my way to the entrance with minimal encounters. Just before reaching the outside I caught sight of some individuals at the entrance.

Stopping midway I hid behind a pillar within the room. Six figures were standing about and talking. On closer inspection they were NPC’s, one of which was Altina. My guess was that she making rounds throughout the building. The only way out was the entrance so my only option was to shuffle through from pillar to pillar. I kept to the backside of the pillar to make sure that none of them saw me. I was almost out until Altina spotted me.

“Drakus is that you?”

Hearing my name, I froze in place and I turned my head slowly. The NPC’s had their eyes on me, each one with a look of gleaming curiosity and surprise. Ignoring them and running away would only cause trouble. I quickly straightened up as I made my way towards her. As I got closer the NPCs started to kneel while Altina gave a bow.

“Hello Altina. What are you doing here?” I asked, doing my best not to sound nervous.

“I’m making my rounds through the Sanctum and I decided that the entrance should have some guards as a precaution.” Giving her report, the first thing I noticed about her was her calm and assertive nature. It was almost if the debacle never happened. Of which I was glad.

“I see, thank you for the hard work Altina.”

“Thank you Drakus. Might I ask what you are doing here?”

Now that’s the million dollar question isn’t it? I needed an explanation that was good enough not to draw suspicion nor make them report it to the others.

“I’m going outside.”

“Outside?!” She said with a surprise look.

“Yes we finally decided to take some action and explore the area.”

“I see forgive me but where are the others? I shall call some other to accompa–.”

“T-that won’t be necessary.” Before Altina could finished, I respectably declined her kind offer only for her to twist her head back in surprise.

“But what would happen if something were to show up and we weren’t there to defend you?!”

The NPC’s, each one show a deep loyalty to each and every one of us. If I were to encounter trouble, it would be easier for one person to escape than a group. No doubt they would throw themselves at the enemy if it meant allowing me to escape.And that thought simply rubs me the wrong way. They certainly mean well but precaution must also be taken to in order to protect ourselves but the NPC’s ourselves.

“Are you saying that I’m incapable of protecting myself?”

“No, that’s not what I was trying to imply!”

“To me it sounds like that you have more faith in the guards than in me.”

“Please forgive me but if anything were to happen to you, it would be devastating!” I looked down at her who had her head down in shame. Seeing her react in such a way filled me with guilt as I was tricking her. It took all I had to keep myself from frowning at such a sight.

“I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t confident, besides I have precautions so your fear is needless.” Placing my hand on her shoulder, I did my best to convince her.

“A-As you command, but why is it that you insist on going alone?”

Yet again I was faced with another big question with no true answer in sight. This time I had to wing it.

“The rest of you NPCs have been doing a wonderful job maintaining the Sanctum while we’re in the dark. The others guild members are all doing their best as well, so should I. That why it’s my duty as Guild master to take the lead.” Winging it, I chose my words carefully.

“I see, very well then good luck on your mission Drakus. And…please be careful.” There was a slight change in her previous tone. It was subtle I could tell that she had her doubts and fears.

“I will.” Reassuring her, I rushed towards the exit.

Immediately I was greeted with a wide range of trees. Trees as far as the eye can see. The scene looked a bit similar to a rain forest with leaves of yellow and blue color leaves. The trees were a bit taller than the Sanctum, around 68 meters tall.

The scenic view was enough to make one breathless. Here I was, standing in the middle of an unknown forest. All the while a hush wind blew leaves into the air. I simply stood there, bathing in the tranquil serenity. It was one of the few times that I truly felt at peace. However I reminded myself that I was on the clock so I needed to hurry. Choosing a direction at random I got to work.

Over the last couple of days we learned more about our bodies. We concluded that we became our player characters. All the traits and attributes attributed to them are now ours. Their strengths, speed, perception, dexterity, and so forth. Within those days, everyone has their chance to test out their new bodies, all except for me.

Seeing, an opportunity I started to stretch my limbs for a moment. ‘Time for a test run.’ Taking a head start I ran towards a tree and kicked the ground. The ground beneath cracked as I jumped into the air. The next second I was high above the trees. “Whoa!” An awkward squeal escaped from mouth as completely over shot my original designation.

Flying past the branch, I landed back on the ground with a loud thud. Despite falling from such height, I barely sustained any damage. Said for the ground, which cracked from my impact. “Alright, let’s try this again…” Brushing myself up, I was up in the air in no time.

‘I see…so that’s where I went wrong.’ Landing on the branch, I came to the conclusion of what I did wrong. On the first jump, I exerted too much force and overshot. So that meant, I needed to only use the bare amount. Taking a few minutes to get a feel for it all, I was finally on my way.

“Sirva reported nothing within 3 kilometers…that just means I have to go even further.” With that in mind I started to pick up the pace and the area soon blurred. With no map or indication, I chose a random direction to go towards. As I flew through the forest, I took note of several occurrences.

Even while moving at such a ridiculous speed I didn’t feel tired whatsoever. Simply landing on the branches was enough to crack their bark. Eventually the trees started to disperse and I came across a small river. Checking to see fo the coast was clear, I jumped down. Taking a short break I took a drink from the river.

“Tastes just like water. If there’s a river here then maybe it connects to an ocean or waterfall.”

The river flowed downwards so that means the source was upwards. I had two options go to the source or see where it leads to. In the end I chose the source. Running alongside the river I reached a small rocky waterfall. The water flowed from a small Cliff side that formed a small lake under it, which further down makes the river. I couldn’t help but to marvel at the serenity of the scene.

“Man wish I had a camera so I could show it to the others.” Commenting to myself, I walked along the edge. Moving closer I spotted some materials laying in a pile. On closer inspection they were bags and a set of clothing. ‘Do these belong to someone?’ Before I could investigate I heard a quiet humming noise coming from the lake area and jumped into the trees to hide myself.

Hiding within the leaves I waited to see something walking out from under the waterfall, a girl. She was completely naked, and humming a tune. Even from a distance I could tell that she was beautiful. Long golden hair hang from her head down to her waist. Her breasts were modest her curves and hips were proportional. Overall, she looked to be around eighteen or nineteen years old.

Dazed, I watched her from a distance from within the trees. Quickly I snapped out of it as I came to the realization, she looked to be human. Which proved there was intelligent life. Bringing my attention back to her I watched her carefully scrub her body.

It was only then that it dawned on me that I was basically peeking at her. ‘Ahhh, first Altina and now her.’ I’m slowly becoming a pervert.’ Bringing my attention back to the matter at hand again, I needed to return and report my findings to Nu-Ru.

Before I could dash away, I noticed a ripple in the water off the corner of my eye. Focusing in that specific area I noticed five creatures. Their skin matched that of the ground, camouflaging themselves. The creatures resembled crocodile with a humanoid body. They were slowly sneaking up on her, remaining hidden from the noise due to the waterfall.

As I watched from above, I weighed my opinions. ‘Should I go in and help her? But I have no idea if those things are dangerous or not. I had no idea just how strong those creatures were. Charging in could spell my death. But if I just watch then she’ll die!’

What Nu-Ru warned me about, played in my mind. Conflicted on my next choice of action, one of the creature sneaked up behind her. Opening its large maw it was going to eat her.

‘Ahh, fuck it!’ In a split second I made my decision and jump from the tree. Driving my hand forward, my original action was to punch or push it away. Instead my hand ram straight into the creature’s chest. A large scream could be heard from the creature and the girl who turned to watch it unfold before her.

Grabbing something inside its chest I decided to rip it out. I ripped out what seemed like a heart as its body fell into the water. The heart was bloody and beat for about ten seconds before it was a lump of meat.

Watching their comrade died, the others emerged from the water. Snapping out to reality, one charged forward. Dodging and sidestepping, I landed a blow on the creature, a punch to the eye. It was then that I realize our strength in this world. The punch I used didn’t had that much force behind it. Yet it was enough to send it flying backward, crashing against a huge rock near the waterfall. Watching the amazing feat, the remaining monsters grew hesitant.

Even I was astonish by my new found strength. However, I could pat myself on the back later. With only three of them left, I decided to get serious. Equipping my sword and shield, I charged at the nearest one.

Roaring, the creature charged forward too and retaliated with its claws. Jumping over the attack, I descended upon the creature. Using my sword, I stabbed downwards. The creature wiggled a bit before dropping dead. The remaining two used the time while I was pulling my sword out to surround me.

‘A pincer attack?’ silently praising the creatures resourcefulness They launched a simultaneous attack. The creature in front of me brought up its hand to slam me to the ground. Tightening my grip on my shield, I blocked the strike. Stopping the creature in its track, I swung my shield arm, swatting the creature off.

“|Heavy Cleaver|”

With little time to recover I chose to attack instead of defending against the creature behind me. Swinging its massive tail, I in-turn swung downward with my sword. A mysterious light glowed from my sword as I cleave straight through the monster.

The attack was more powerful than I thought, a massive indention could be seen on the rocky ground from my swing. The cut was clean as the monster’s body split into two. Blood and organs exploded from the creature, sprawling all over the once beautiful lake.

Turning my attention to the last creature, it decided to flee after seeing all of its comrades die.  Surveying the surrounding now, the once pristine waterfall was bloodied. Bodies and blood stained the beautiful surrounding. Unsheathing my sword, I walked over to the girl, whom stood there in a daze.

“Are you alright?” reaching my hand out to her, she immediately pulled her hand back.

“Behind you!”

It took a second before I registered her warning. Being knocked down I turned to see the creature that I hit against the rock still alive. Rushing towards me it pinned me and gnawed at my hand. This again was another evidence of our new found strength. I barely felt any pain from it, rather it was more akin to a light slap hitting against my arm. An annoyance really. Before I could kick it off I heard a scream.

Looking to the side I watched the girl from before running towards it with a short sword. Perhaps thinking that I was about to die. The girl attacked its wounded eye, causing the beast to shriek in pain. Swinging wildly, it knocked the girl away.

Distracted, I kicked the creature off before putting it into a headlock. After applying some pressure I managed to rip it’s maw off and split its head into two. The lifeless body hit the water, with blood and the vessels showing. The lake was dyed red from the blood and gore of the corpses.

Making sure there were no more interference I looked for the girl. She had her back against the rock and blood could be seen dripping down from her sides. “Are you alright?” I asked, rushing to her side.

“I-I’mm fine. Ahhh. Thank you for saving me against the crocado.” replying in a pained voice, it was clear that it was more than a small cut. She was seriously wounded and the blood kept on flowing. I didn’t have any potions on me but I do have a healing spell. |Healing Flame|. Hopefully, it should do the trick. As I raised my hand to use the spell my ears caught a certain noise.

*Whooosh*

Notching my head back in time, an arrow flew by and hit a tree. On guard, I took a stance in preparation at the unknown force.

“Who’s there?! Identify yourself!

Instantly rushing out of the woods were an assortment of people. Spreading out along the shore, they surrounded us. Each wore a pair of light, white armor. Several of them had their sword drawn near me while others were stood behind with crossbows.

“Get the hell away from her you monster!” Hearing the cry, the men moved out of the way for a single man to walk through. He stood a head shorter than me and was covered with armor except for his head. A shield on his left hand while a claymore on his right hand. At first I mistake him for a girl but his sharp features contrasted that. He had bright blue eyes and had a sharply cut hair.

From the way he carried himself, he looked to be a knight of some kind. He made his way towards me, only stopping with a couple of centimeters from my face. Staring me down, I too returned the intense stare. There was something about his attitude that rubbed me the wrong way.

“Or else what?” Answering his question in condescending tone, He raised his sword but before he could do anything the girl spoke up.

“Cain, lower your weapon! You couldn’t see but that creature was the one who saved me from the crocado!” Hearing her voice, the man stopped. The man carefully lowered his weapon and started to look around. He still kept a hard look at me and ordered the people around him down.

“My apologies but I’m sure you understand the situation from my point of view.”

“No, no I can’t.” His snarky remark was rebuttal by my own. Ignoring me he ran towards the girl.

“Are you alright princess Lucia?”

‘Princess!?’ Doing a double take, I stared back at the pair. I couldn’t believed my ears, I never thought of coming across a princess on my first expedition.

“I’m fine but this wound is starting to hurt.” Answering in a weak voice, one of the men raced toward her and investigated her wound.

“Sir the wound is quite deep, it we don’t treat it then it will get worse.”

“Shit! We used most of our medical supplies on the last village.”

“I could help.” Overhearing their current issue, I decided to lend them a hand.

“We don’t need your help!” He turned at me furiously, instantly rejecting my offer.

“And if I don’t help you, your princess will get an infection and possibly die. From your tone about your medical supplies you’re in a tight position.”

“Sir if this creature can help us then we should take it, we won’t be able to get the proper medicine for who knows how long.”

Looking back and forth between the princess and myself, it was clear that the man doesn’t have much of a choice.  “…Fine, but as soon as I see you doing anything suspicious then I’ll have your head!”

“Please you couldn’t even get a scratch on me even if you tried.” Whispering the comment to myself, I pushed past all of them before kneeling down to her. Everyone kept their distance but remained close, ready to take action.

“Show me where the wound is.” Raising her arm, the wound was deep, the muscles and tendons were clearly damaged. A bit of bones was even visible. It stretched from her armpit to her stomach region.

“Hold still, this won’t hurt a bit. |Healing Flame|”

I opened my hands and a small yellow fire formed. Crushing it I spread it across my hand. The soldiers got a little jumpy when they saw the flame but restrained themselves. Gently placing my hand against the wound she let out a surprised yelp but quickly composed herself. The fire spread across the wound before disappearing with the wound. The cut was nowhere to be seen.

Stepping backwards, everyone looked in surprise at my feat.

“Amazing! I’ve seen spells that can heal cuts like this but they would leave scars. But the wound is completely gone!” cried one of the solders, inspecting the princess.

“Thank you!” replied the princess, giving her thanks.

“Thank you I suppose.” The man named Cain gave his thanks too, it was clear that his words were hollow, showing that he didn’t really mean it. Ignoring me again, he took the princess side, draping around her a cloak.

“No problem, glad I was able to help.” As I stood back up, I realized that I wasted enough time already. Before I could leave, I was stopped once more.

“Wait please stay.” said the princess, calling out to stop me.

“Why?”

“I wish to thank you for saving me.”

“Princess you don’t have to do such thing. Besides who’s to say this wasn’t his plan to get close to you and then kill you?”

“If he wanted to kill me then why did he save me from the crocado? He easily could have stay hidden and let them killed me but instead he came and protected me.”

While the two were arguing with one another I couldn’t help but ponder on her insistence of helping me. For their tone and attitude, the men under her command weren’t exactly amiable about me.

“Why are you so persistent on defending me?”

“My father said that anyone that is willing to go out of his way to help another deserve equal respect no matter who they are. How can I call myself a princess if I can’t express my gratitude to my savior?”

As I opened my mouth to reject her again, I was stuck with an idea. This was the perfectly opportunity to gain some insight on this new world. And right now, a princess was standing before me. Composing myself, I happily accepted her gratitude.

“If that is what you wish, then I’ll happily accept a reward, princess.”

“Thank you! I am the first princess of the Regios Kingdom, Lucia Q Regios….Umm what is your name?”

“My name? You can call me Drakus.”