Bold=Character speaking.

Italics=Character's thoughts.

[_]=Item/Spell/Ability.

When the rain stopped

The demons that slaughtered this village and probably countless others were now all dead. Alongside all the villagers who lived there. And there was only one person who yet drew breath inside the village, and there were no witnesses who would be able to testify and see what happened. To a complete outsider, if they saw the sight, they might just as well assume that the man in the mask was probably responsible for the slaughter, and instantly jump towards accusations. This was not ideal. While Kalman thought that he might simply disappear after the "fight", he still had a few things left to do, and this would keep him in the village for at least an hour or so. Additionally, if he simply disappeared, that might draw even more suspicion and draw attention. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Kalman knew that while he had protection against divination magic, this was not an omnipotent defense. If someone saw what happened with their own two eyes, and reported the information to another, there was nothing Kalman could do to stop it. One did not need to be a level 100 Player with levels in Stealth related classes, who were notoriously difficult to detect, in order to witness the one-sided slaughter that had just occurred. An illiterate peasant could do the job just as well. Not to mention, there were items that could be crafted by certain classes, notably Engineers, which could bypass anti-divination magic, seeing as they helped one gather information in the good old-fashioned way, without magic. In other words, anti-divination measures won't help against someone with a pair of binoculars or someone hidden in a bush. But Kalman only thought of this after the fact, and he also realized that jumping into the village like a blind madman was a potentially fatal mistake. Yet he had the audacity to call his foe an idiot. Very hypocritical. But he managed to get away with it, and focused his thoughts towards the present.

"Hmm, should I move the bodies? Should I destroy them? Bury them? Do I leave them alone? Do I discriminate between the demons and the humans? If soldiers see a bunch of dead villagers, but no demons, they'll have questions, and probably try to arrest me. If they see a bunch of dead demons, but missing villagers, the same will happen. And if both are either gone or here, I'll still be drawing unwanted attention, when I'm practically a babe in the woods. Aaaargh, this is so stressful! And looking back on it, there's probably a few more questions I could've asked. Like, where his master is located, or where the other attacking forces are, or what the hell a Greed King is. Stupid, stupid!" -The young man scratched his head while pacing around, trying to figure out his next steps.

"This rain is really annoying, but it looks to be slowing down, so I'll just wait for it to end on its own. As for bodies, I think I'll just leave them be where they are. Letting the officials take care of things is probably best, though I have no idea when they will arrive. Might be in the morning, might be a week from now. Plus, I don't know whether or not the dead are buried or burned, and whichever one I choose may end up being a grave offense if it's the wrong choice, based on what I know from Earth customs. I should probably head inside and see if I can find something useful, but first…"

Kalman turned his gaze towards Axos' beheaded body and the severed head on the ground. The face still held a mix of fear and gratitude. But he did not care for this. What he wanted, was to inspect the weapon he owned. He picked up the comically large great sword with only one hand as if he were picking up a branch, and then proceeded to cast [All Appraisal Magic Item]. The way he received the information was different from the way it worked in Yggdrasil, but this was hardly surprising. Instead of a screen popping up with the item's name, stats, owner and manufacturer, the information flooded his mind. And it was a waste of brain cells. The item was pure garbage, no, it was below garbage. It was a weapon fit for around a level 30 warrior, which meant that the wielder was not much higher than that, probably level 35 or so. Against someone who had hit the level-cap and wore a full set of Divine Equipment, a thousand strikes would not be enough to be considered as even remotely threatening. He thought about pocketing it, putting it in his inventory, but he merely discarded the item near the headless body, deeming that it would be more useful to possibly placate whoever came here.

After discarding the comically oversized fly-swatter, Kalman started looking around, and he saw one house in particular which was a bit larger than the others, built upon a slight elevation. It was around 100 meters away from the majority of the corpses, but this house was in ruin all the same. Though he knew there were probably no survivors, he decided to entertain the idea for a brief second, and approached the door.

"Hello, is anyone in here?" – Kalman sounded loudly, and he then proceeded to knock a few times, just to make he would be heard.

"Hmm, guess place is empty. I'll make myself at home in that case."-Kalman thought as he opened the door and walked inside.

Inside, what he saw did not surprise him. There in the center of the room, was a table with four chairs. There was a hot-pot with some sort of mushy brownish orange food on the center of the table, and one could see three different loaves of bread, alongside three wooden jugs filled with beer. It seemed that the table had originally been set for three people, but the meal was barely touched. The people who inhabited this place, who called it home, left in a hurry, desperate to escape the attack upon their home. Kalman looked around through the home, looking to find anything remarkable. He found a stove, a fireplace, a makeshift bathroom, a wardrobe, two beds and a smaller one, but in the end, he saw nothing remarkable. Until he opened a closet, and found some clothes, an iron dagger, some linen cloths and a small leather bag. He inspected the bag, but found that it was empty. However, he opened one drawer after another, and again, he found nothing. He turned the house inside out, and found nothing that could even resemble a map. In fact, these people didn't even have parchment or ink, they appeared to be completely illiterate.

Kalman left the house in disappointment, and decided to enter another house, to hopefully find something of use. Again, he found nothing remarkable. It seemed these people were dirt poor, and could not help him. He entered another house, and another, and another, and again found absolutely nothing. Though for a quick moment Kalman thought that rummaging through these people's belongings was in poor taste, he steeled his resolve. After all, he had avenged their deaths, and was merely looking for a scrap of paper as a reward, nothing more. But it seemed the object of his heart's desire was destined to avoid him. Perhaps he would have more luck trying to use a consumable to resurrect one of the villagers, and get them to give him dirrections? But he was loathe to waste an item which would either do nothing or just bring him even more trouble. Just as he was thinking of what to do, he heard it. The thundering of hooves. The cavalry had arrived. Soldiers loyal to the realm had come to the village, probably to inspect what was going on. At least that was what he expected to happen.

From the westward path, the one toward the carriage where Kalman had first arrived here, came a small band of warriors, wearing basic chainmail shirts, leather gloves and boots and steel swords on their waist. Behind them, was a monstrous black dog with an absurdly long tongue, and vile breath. The beast's tongue was easily half its own size, and it had spikes near the end. It was evident why the giant mutt did not keep it inside its own mouth, it would most likely rip it to shreds.
The situation was obvious at a first glance. This…thing, was chasing these pathetic excuses of guards, or soldiers, or whatever they were, towards this place, towards the village. And from the fact that there were seven horses, but only four horsemen, it had already managed to use its tongue to catch three of them. Fear was written on the riders' faces, as they did not even bother to look back, or forward, toward their destination, for they would have easily seen the hundred plus corpses that were littered across the village center.

These men were running for their lives, and they were slowly losing the fight. Kalman saw this from a distance, before the men could see him, and quickly took precautions. If these things were as weak as they looked, it would be better to keep the best gear as a trump card, in case he ever had to face another foe of equal strength. If a level 100 Player saw Kalman using a mere Relic Class weapon as his primary weapon, they would no doubt underestimate him. He would have liked to also change his armor to a lower quality set, but there was no time for that. What was important, was that Kalman was already taking measures to pass himself off as a local. As the great Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, "Appear weak when you are strong, and appear strong when you are weak."

First things first, he quickly placed his two equipped weapons into his inventory, and withdrew a less valuable sword, of Relic Class quality, which itself was only two tiers below Divine class, yet powerful enough that it could be useful in a pinch. When it came to its appearance, it resembled a Krieg Messer, with a beautiful ornate handle, pure moonlight steel, and a faint teal glow across the two lines that traveled from the cross-guard up the blade's edge, and the weapon had a length of 1.5 meters. Based on speculation alone, it was powerful enough to easily handle a "Demon God", but weak enough that its loss would not be felt. The name, [The Sword of Zephyrus], was not changed, as this item was a quest reward from a quest chain on Midgard. Kalman had at least twenty other weapons of similar quality, from halberds, to axes, spears, daggers, and even bows and staves. He could easily gift one of them to a head of state to attain a potential favor to cash in, and retrieve the weapon at another time. But first things first, he had to deal with the man-eating hellhound.

He waited until the leader of the horsemen saw him, and then waited a bit longer until the leader saw that he was being stared at. Desperate to see the sunrise, the panicked man started screaming and shouting.
"Help us! Yeah you, help! We'll die if you don't!"

It was a desperate cry for help, and not unwarranted, as a mere second later, the hellhound's tongue had pierced the belly of the slowest rider. The body was then lifted up and thrown violently towards the side, and the horse stumbled and fell, breaking a few of its legs. It would never run again, and horses that couldn't run died. As for the beast, it did not pay its victim any mind. The relentless pursuit of the hell beast never slowed, as it probably thought that it could eat in piece once all the humans were dead.

Kalman wasted no time in getting to action, as he instantly started running towards the riders. He thought of using a movement ability, but decided to hold that card in reserve for now. With explosive speed, he passed the riders, though it was not his top speed, not that he knew what that was as of yet. Then he jumped in the air and brought the sword down, and cut. A single stroke took the beasts tongue, and it started writhing in pain. It had never been in such a situation, never had to suffer such excruciating pain. But it would not suffer much longer. Kalman moved to the side, and lifted the blade above his head, slowly, for all to see.

And then, a single downward cut, and the beast died. Its ugly giant head flopped to the ground. It was bigger than that of a bear, and based on size alone it could easily eat a watermelon without any issue, but that did not help the beast in the slightest. The riders however, still looked terrified, as they could scarcely believe that the demonic mutt that had terrorized them, and killed who knows how many of their comrades, had been felled with just two swings.

Truth be told, the leader of these men did not expect this turn of events. He merely wanted to use this stranger to buy time while his men carried the message to the nearby city of Vheria. There, he could relay the news to his superiors, that all of a sudden, the border forts had been attacked and conquered by hordes of bloodthirsty demonic monsters, and nearby settlements had been razed to the ground. The abominations were merciless and terrible, and spared neither man nor woman, young nor old. Such was their slaughter, that the very concept of normal men like himself, trying to fight back, was as foreign as a salt-bath to a slug. But he was a man of his word, and he would honor it.

But first, he would have to correct his position. The man who saved their lives, stood in front of them. He spoke not a word, and waited to be addressed, but looking at him, it was clear that he was a complete mystery. His clothes and armor betrayed no obvious affiliation with any faction, though it was obvious they were of high quality. Was he an adventurer? What about his blade? Such beauty he had not seen before in his life. And one could not see his face. An ivory mask with bright lights in the eye-sockets crowned the man's head, and for a second the riders felt as if their very souls would be devoured. Unable to withstand the pressure, the leader of the retreating soldiers decided to compose himself, straighten his posture, and then break the silence.

"My name is Savastian, the second in-command of the Qila Rhea, a major fort on the southern part of the border between our nation and the Atyrau Kingdom. You saved our lives stranger, and for that you have our gratitude; would you tell us your name?" – Spoke the leader of commanding officer. Though he was still wary, he quickly gave a sideways glance towards his men. A sign that they should not reach for their swords. Savastian had seen how powerful certain warriors could be, and he risked death if he somehow offended a man that could kill the stuff of nightmares in merely two swings.

"Hello Savastian, my name is Kalman. You and your men looked like you had your hands full. Tell me, have you come to check on the village?"-Asked the stranger in front of him.

"The village? What village? We came from the fort, it was overrun alongside most of the smaller border fortifications. My superior's last command was to send me and a small contingent of riders to report the news to the nearest city. Who gives a damn about some village and their taxes!?"

Who cares about some nameless peasants and whether or not they paid their taxes or whatever, when Hell itself had decided to claim their souls?

But this did not seem to faze the masked man, who betrayed no hint of emotion.

"This village. Hessau, I believe it is called. I came here and found a bunch of demons feasting on the corpses of the former inhabitants. Luckily, I killed most of them, and drove the rest away." A lie, Kalman had left no survivors, but there was no need to say that. "I suspected that this was not an isolated incident, and you just said you came from a fort that was overrun, thus proving my suspicions correct. Plus, you were being chased by that thing."-Kalman gestured toward the bleeding corpse with his sword.

"The village? We didn't know it was attacked. Do you mean to say that they have already broken through the defenses?"

"Well, I don't know what kind of defenses you have, but based on how comfortable they seemed before I arrived, this probably wasn't their first time visiting."- Said the masked warrior, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Shit, shit, shit, this is bad! We never expected the main fort to fall in the first place, we thought we could hold them off until reinforcements arrived from the capital, but they just went around. Damn it, damn it!"

"So… what happens now?" - Asked Kalman.
"Now, we finish the task our commanding officer gave us before he died like a hero. We get to Vheria, we deliver the news that the outermost defenses have fallen, and shore up the city for a siege. After that, I'll do what they tell me." – Savastian answered with a sigh at the end. The man was clearly sick of this shit.

"What about the dead peasants? Are we going to leave them to rot in the open?"

"They shouldn't spawn undead overnight. And Vheria is only a few hours distance on horseback. Once we deliver the news of the fall of the fort to the headquarters of the Knights, they'll take care of things. Priests will be sent out alongside some guards and they'll take care of the dead bodies. Give the dead a proper burial under the eyes of the Six. Destroy the demons' corpses before those nasty magic casters try doing some twisted experiments." -The last sentence was said with clear vitriol, and it was evident that this person for one reason or another did not have too much love for spellcasters.

"Well, good luck to you in that case."- Said Kalman with a neutral tone, though deep inside he was disappointed by the conduct of the man in front of him, who had not even deigned to get off his horse.

"Please wait a moment. You said you did this?" -Savastian nodded toward the devastated village. "Well, the place was on fire when I got here. But I did kill most of the demons who that were here."
"How?"-Asked Savastian, clearly skeptical.

"With this, the same way I killed that giant dog you were running from."-Retorted Kalman, while lifting his sword up slightly for all to see. It was not even bragging, just stating facts. The same way a fisher would report how many fish he caught for supper.

"Captain, if this man can kill those things, then we need to get him on our side. And the Head of the Knights is surely gonna wanna speak to him!"- Spoke one of Savastian's underlings. In comparison to the bearded figure that was Savastian, this man looked no younger than eighteen and there was not a hair on his face.
"Yeah captain, let's take him with us, if more of those things show up on the way I doubt we'll make it to the gates." -This time it was a middle-aged man with short black hair and a black mustache, and it seemed his advice was more welcome than that of the rookie.

"Hmmm. Good points, both of you. So, tell me, Sir Kalman, would you care to join us while we make haste to the city? I'm sure that your heroic deeds will not go unrewarded." -Asked Savastian. The gears in his head were turning, and he realized that if more of those black dog things showed up, and the stranger didn't want to fight them, he may at least serve to slow them down. As it stood, he had little to lose by taking him to the city. All he needed to do was deliver the message, and after that he was home free. Perhaps he'd find a way to get out of this Kingdom and move somewhere safer with his wife and daughter.

The masked warrior put his left hand on his chin, appeared to mull things over in his head for a few seconds, before replying with a yes.

"Great! Get on one of the horses then. We have no time to lose!"

The captain was clearly energetic. Kalman however, had to try for a good half-minute to mount a horse. He could have easily run to the city or flied there, but that would have been a hassle to explain. So, for the first time in his life he mounted a horse. Or at least he tried to. Eventually he succeeded, and it was only due to his raw stats.

"First time riding a horse? I never would've thought." - Asked Savastian, who clearly expected the mysterious man to be a seasoned equestrian.

"Yeah well, not quite the first time, but you can say that it's been a while. Anyways, let's go."

And so, the group of men made their way towards the city of Vheria. For a few hours they rode through the mud, the heavy downpour having turned into a light drizzle. One of them in particular was barely managing to keep his ass on the saddle. Eventually, the young blonde man gathered his courage, turned around and asked Kalman.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure thing kid, ask away."-Replied Kalman without any hint of hesitation.
"That thing that was chasing us, how did you know you could kill it? Have you fought something like that before?"
"I've never seen a beast exactly like that but I've seen something similar. As for it's strength, it was pretty weak, I've dealt with worse. That little puppy was nothing special."-This lackadaisical response prompted a small gulp from one of the men.

"But it killed so many of the guards. It was strong, fast, and our spears just bounced off its fur. I've never seen a beast like that."
"That was probably a demon. You need a high-quality weapon, either enchanted with magic or elemental damage, or else you won't get far. Holy damage also helps."
"We didn't have anything like that…"- Lamented the young rookie, who after Kalman's little lesson, realized that if his Kingdom's soldiers faced these things again without the proper preparation, they would be slaughtered, just like last time.

"If you had clerics or paladins, they would've been very helpful, as they can buff your weapons and your bodies, inflict status effects upon the demons and do Holy damage to the demons while also keeping people alive. Plus, having a team of dedicated casters always helps, no matter what kind of battle you're having."
"But you didn't have paladins or magic casters helping you, and you killed dozens, no perhaps hundreds of those monsters. If you don't mind me asking Sir, where did you learn to fight like that?"-Asked the young man with a meek voice, careful not to poke the lion's den.

"Where I learned to fight like that…I , I don't think it matters, seeing as that place no longer exists."
Upon hearing those words, the young rookie's mouth finally closed and he hung his head down in shame, feeling that he had broached a sensitive topic that the man who saved their lives had no wish to discuss. The guards probably thought that he too must have lost people dear to him. That he lost loved ones at the hands of monsters, and for that reason he grew strong enough to one day be able to fight back.

The captain however, noticed the visible tension in the air, and decided to quickly change the subject.

"So, how did you kill that thing so quickly? What sort of [Martial Arts] did you use?"
"Martial art? No, I don't know any kung-fu."
"What?"
"What?"
"Hold on a second, you mean to say that you didn't use anything beyond your own strength to decapitate that beast?"
"Yeah, is that so surprising?"
"By the Six…" - whispered the Captain to himself, feeling more and more scared and dazzled.

After that little brain-cell killing conversation in which everyone ended up being even dumber than they were before, the riders made their way toward the city. There was only a few kilometers of distance left. As they did, the rain abated, and the riders made a quick pause at the base of a small hill.

"Finally, that rain was getting on my nerves, glad it stopped. Listen, Vheria should be just over this hill. It's a lovely place. Usually, the city guards would ask you for papers, but since you're with us, there won't be any issues. Just let me do the talking, okay? People have been on edge ever since the prince died in that freak accident a few months ago." Said the Captain to Kalman, who made a mental note to add the "prince" towards the list of things he should learn more about.

"Yeah, got it." -Kalman said with an affirmative nod, and at this point after a few hours, he had gotten somewhat used to riding a steed, though he was no cavalryman yet.

After about 15 minutes of trying to get over the hill, they succeeded and finally reached the top. The sight that greeted them, left none speechless, but it affected one person most of all.

The day was beginning to dawn. The sun was rising in the east, gently peeking over the snowy mountains, with an orange-reddish hue coloring the sky. Across the sky, the orange gradually faded to purple and eventually black that covered the western sky, which still showed the night sky and stars. The sun's rays gently pierced through the clouds that had mostly dissipated, while on the other side, behind Kalman, one could see constellations unseen before by his eyes. An artist could not in a million years mix colors so well. And that was just the sky.

The giant fortress city of Vheria was built on top of a pristine and clean river, with sparkling water that flowed from the east through the city before gently curving its way north and eventually continuing west, to the lands beyond the border. It's blessed waters were the foundation of various farms and wineries built across the countryside on gently sloped hills, and even now at the break of dawn, keen eyes could see peasants slowly making their way towards the black city gates. The walls were thick and tall, and they could easily contend against the likes of the Aurelian Walls, back when they existed. The masonry itself was exquisite, and one could tell from miles apart. Near the city's rear, a palace on a hill overlooked the multitude of houses and other buildings, projecting strength that would put a pause in any invader.

And to top it all off, the countryside was beautiful beyond compare, and when Kalman analyzed his memories, he found he had nothing on Earth to compare it to. He looked at the trees swaying in the breeze, the rain-drops on the blades of grass, the farms, charming cobblestone roads and everything else one would expect, and this pleased him greatly, for such sights did not exist in his home. And then he saw it. A rainbow towards the northeast. An unimaginably beautiful sight, one merely seen in images and video before, but never in real life, and it left him severely humbled before nature's grandeur. He gazed at the sunrise, and lost himself. He did not know how long he stared like an enchanted child. Eventually though, he was forced to snap back to reality.

"Yeah, our city is a beautiful sight, isn't it?"-Asked the brown-haired captain with pride in his chest.
"Yes, yes, it is, Savastian. I've seen and lived in cities that housed far more people than this one, but none were half as beautiful." - Responded Kalman, who managed to relax for the first time in several hours.

"There's nearly half a million people in this city. Half a million! Only the capital has more, and not by much. Though, I've heard that Kami Miyako has two million, but that's on the other side of the continent, so I can't imagine what that would look like. And it may just end up being baseless rumors." - Said Savastian with a slight shrug, who had clearly gotten tired of the fairy tales being peddled by merchants.
"Hmm, perhaps I'll visit that distant city one day, but now what has stolen my heart is something else. It is the serenity and beauty of the nature in these lands."

"What, you don't have trees and sunrises where you come from?"
Kalman answered the question with silence, and that spoke far more than any words.

"Let's go captain, we've been riding all night and the horses are getting rowdy."-Said the young blonde soldier who had been silent after his conversation with Kalman, and it was clear that he wanted to get home and sleep as soon as possible.

"Yeah, you're right. Men, ride out! Vheria is right there and we still have work to do!"
And thus, the group of guards and their guest rode down the hill towards the majestic city.

That's it for the fourth chapter lads. As always, your reviews are appreciated, and I thank you for your support. You should expect the next chapter to come out sometime this weekend. Until then, cheers!