It had been little over a week since Finn had been summoned to this new world. He had picked up on a few key facts during that week. Mostly he studied and learned to read some of the local language, to the level of an elementary school kid. Which unfortunately was the same level he read English in. He had also learned a lot about how Adventurers worked here.

Adventurers were routinely hired to clear out the areas that had become infested with monsters, or to play escort for valuable objects and people. Unfortunately, due to the number of Adventurers and Soldiers that died during the first Wave of Calamity that struck Melromarc. The monsters that inhabited the country had resurface with a vengeance. Monsters that were close to the capital were quickly put down by the local military. But for those that lived near the border they only had the Adventurers to call on for aid. Unfortunately, Adventurers would only be able to help those who could afford it.

Any other time the Melromarc military would have been able to deal with them, but right now the military was effectively crippled, and the local taxes had been raised to help repair them. That had the side effect of forcing the outlining villages to near poverty. As such the only reward that they could put forward were little more than chump change compared to the dangers that fighting the monsters in the area would bring. Making the entire venture not worth it.

And so because no one killed the monsters they increased in number and strength, raising the difficulty of fighting them and the price needed as well, but the more monsters there were the less money the people on the outskirts could put aside for the adventurers, so with no money the monsters don't get killed. Then it all repeats in a vicious cycle.

Fortunately, Finn wasn't in this line of work for the money.


Finn ducked and rolled forward, barely avoiding a wooden club the size of a tree trunk from caving in his head. He popped up immediately and at the same time lashed out with his sword.

The blade easily carved through the rotund belly of the creature he was in battle with. It stood twice as tall as him and was four times as wide. It only wore a loincloth showing off its green skin and bulging muscles. Its pig like face let out a squeal of pain as it tried to back away from Finn. It was what was commonly referred to as an orc.

The orc backed away, as it did it swung wildly trying to keep Finn away. They were on a narrow pathway formed on the side of a mountain with the only way forward blocked by the orc's bulk. It was the perfect place to try to knock Finn down the mountain so it could leave, and if it tried that a week ago it might have succeeded. Instead Finn's form seemed to blur as he rushed into the orc's guard and plunged his blade into its chest. The force of the blow was so great it knocked the orc prone.

The orc let out a squeal with its final breath and died.

Finn panted a bit as he hopped from the dead orc to the ground. He flicked his blade along the ground to clear it of blood. He looked around the field for more orcs on the pass but none that he saw were still breathing.

Finn counted the orcs that littered the mountain pass. "How many do you think that makes altogether?"

[Adding to the creatures you killed within the caves, 40 monsters altogether.] said a voice only he could hear as Owl chimed in.

Currently Finn was on a job that led him to a village in one of the outlying territories that surround the country of Melromarc acting as a border between them and the other nations. Each territory was controlled by a noble that in turn was subordinate to the King.

Finn was in the northwestern territory, where usable farmland was few and most of the area consistent of rocky plains and mountainous areas. The mountains were home to valuable minerals and gems but also home to powerful monsters.

The quest had started in some poor nameless village where Finn had killed the first wave of attackers, he then followed the fleeing survivors to their nest in the mountains. From there Finn entered a cave and laid waste to everything within. A few had escape in the fight hoping to flee from him and live another day, forcing Finn to hunt them down along the mountain path.

Which with his recently increased Perception stat it was all too easy to track them down. With it increased he noticed the smallest things that would have normally pass beneath his awareness. Sometimes he could even tell what people were thinking or notice if something was sneaking up on him.

"I don't feel any more orcs around us." Finn remarked as he strained his senses observing the area around him. "Can you see anything Owl?"

A soft droning sound filled the air as a small object shaped like a metal manta ray hovered infront of Finn. It settled on Finn's outstretched prosthetic hand and seemly merged with it.

[It appears as if all hostile enemies in the surrounding area have been eliminated.] Owl reported.

Finn clenched his fist a few times in thought. The first week here Owl had focused on repairing the functions she deemed most important. The one she had fixed first was the mechanisms necessary to create and use the substance called Digi-resin. It is a goo like-substance that could be programmed to take on any form. Mom and the other people of Founder's Island had used it to construct an entire city within a month of arriving on Ooo. The amount of Digi-resin Owl could hold and manipulate was small, but Princess Bubblegum had devised a way to make more on the spot.

With nanites, tiny little machines that could break down other materials and turn them into more Digi-resin. They were also the things responsible for letting Owl repair herself. Bubblegum had apparently set them up to self-destruct if they got too far away from Owl, to prevent another grey goo scenario from happening again.

"Never going to look at a cupcake in the same way again." Finn said to himself as he shuddered in remembered fear.

[What?] Owl asked.

"They really made you loaded for bear." Finn changed the topic immediately, but still spoke the truth with the amazement clear in his voice.

[I was made to handle any difficulties you might encounter.] Owl said the exact same thing every time Finn paid her a compliment.

Finn turned to the dead orcs and began to absorb all of them into his sword.

Catalyst accepted, Barbarian longsword improved.

Ability unlocked: equip bonus: increase strength by 5.

Rarity: Common.

Rarity, that was another thing Finn had unlocked. Every blade he unlocked had a rarity and the higher its rarity the stronger the blade. The ranks of rarity are Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, and Celestial. Finn could increase the rarity of his blades by letting the sword absorb previous accepted catalysts. If he gave it enough the rarity of the blade would improve, increasing either the bonus it gave or improving the Skill it unlocked. Though using the same material only improves it by a little, but by finding a stronger variant the progress made towards its next level increased exponentially.

Also, Finn had learned through one of his chats with Naofumi, that every weapon The Shield Hero unlocked came with an ability.

Finn told him that he never saw one for himself but told Naofumi about his stat points that he could put in any stat that he wanted. When they finished explaining to each other, a new option appeared to them. Selecting it showed a list of descriptions on the upgrading method based on the other's descriptions.

It became apparent then to them that each Cardinal weapon had a system in place for each specific hero based on them. It was also able to use the methods of the other weapons if they were told about it. Sense then Naofumi had been insistent that they would regularly share any information they learned about their respective weapon.

As Finn thought on all of this, he made his way back to the village that rested near the base of the mountain. It was quite a large village as the location made it a good spot to stop at before and after visiting the mountain. That was then, now it was a shell if its former self.

The villagers had gathered by the gate when Finn left waiting to see if he made it back, or if he died up there. Finn stopped at the gate as his gaze passed over the assembled people to focus on the village leader, Reuben. An older gentleman, with a scraggly grey beard and bald head.

"You've returned." Reuben said excitedly as his hands rubbed together. "The monsters? Are they gone?"

"The ones leading up the path and into the mines are all gone." Finn informed him. "You guys should be safe for now."

At Finn's announcement the people cheered. Reuben turned to the people around them and gave them orders to head up the mountain to secure the mines. Young men and women obeyed as they rushed off for a few minutes then came back with weapons and armor. They huddled up and made there way up the mountain.

"Are you sure about this?" Finn asked concerned. "What if more monsters show up?"

"It is fine Finn." Reuben said a fierce smile on his old face. "Our people might not be as skilled as you, but they have hunted enough monsters that harassed our mines to gain quite a few levels. As long as powerful monsters don't take root like before, we should be able to handle it."

"Okay, if you say so." Finn said as he matched the man's smile. "If you can't handle it then put in another request to the Guild and I'll come running."

"Thank you again." Reuben said as he reached into his bag and gave Finn a small wooden token. "Safe travels."

As part of the process of the Adventurers Guild, when someone makes a request to them, they are also required to pay the guild the rewards for there request on the spot. It is to assure the adventurers that they wouldn't get cheated by the people in question. In turn the people are given a token to give to the adventurers after they are done. The adventurers then have to take the token to the Guild building they got the bounties from to get paid.

[So now we have to walk all the way back to Castle town to finish the job.] Owl said.

"We don't have to, we get to." Finn corrected her as he placed the token in his inventory and made his way to the village exit. Finn pulled out a map from his inventory and mentally plotted his course back to the Guild hall. Finn looked out towards the distance and sighed. "I really miss Jake right now."

[Why.] Owl asked.

"Jake would have stretched his legs and we would have been across the country in an hour." Finn explained as he followed the path that led to Castle town. "Now I have to walk for the better part of the day, until I can hopefully catch a caravan heading into the right direction, even with that it would take me a couple of days to reach the city."

The last time Finn had heard from his brother. Was when Jake went off on his interdimensional honeymoon trip with his wife Lady Rainicorn. A month ago.

[We should investigate alternative forms of transportation.] Owl suggested.

"Can you make a car?" Finn asked.

[No, the amount of Digi-resin I can manipulate is insignificant to create such a large scale and complicated device such as an automobile. To create such a thing would require a fully built foundry]. Owl explained.

"Then were walking."


To past the time as he walked Finn began to sing out loud to himself and Owl.

"99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer, take one down pass it around 98 bottles of beer on the wall~"

….

"51 bottles of beer on the wall, 51 bottles of beer, take one down pass it around 50 bottles of beer on the wall~"

….

"Time is an illusion that helps us make sense so we're always living in the present tense~"

"Come along with me to the birds and the trees… is that how it went?" Finn muttered to himself as he walked along the path, the arrow in his mind leading the way. When he decided that yes that was the way the song went a scream of pain rent the air.

Finn was told once when he first left for a trip around the kingdom, to always stick to the main path as it was regularly cleared of monsters.

Finn ran towards the sound of the screams that emanated from a ways away from the path. After a few minutes of running he came upon them. Soldiers of Melromarc, there was an entire squad of them, and they looked rough. Their armor was sundered and broken in places, some were not even carrying weapons while others were busy carrying people. They were formed up and moved as one, the more able-bodied in the front holding off their attackers, and all the injured ones in the back.

They were being harassed by what almost looked like walking fish people. Finn tried to remember the name of the monsters. They all stood at around 6ft with pale green skin, covered in scales like a natural armor and eyes that were a glossy black. Arms draped below their knees ending in razor sharp talons and their maws were opened in an endless screech showing their needlepoint teeth.

There was also near 30 of them.

"Merrow." Finn muttered to himself. "Those are called Merrows."

15 of the Merrow were prowling towards the retreating guards while the others were piled together in groups feasting on the guards that were already dead. They greedily scooped handfuls of flesh into their mouths and growled at other Merrows that got to close. As some scoured the bodies clean, they stood to go after the still living guards.

Finn didn't slow down as he charged towards the guards, but as he reached the one farthest in the back, he jumped. His enhanced physical abilities let him easily clear the group of guards and he landed amid the Merrows.

As Finn's longsword plunged into a Merrow in the center of the group, the force of his leap stunned the others around him. Finn paused for a moment, marveling at the way he could move after leveling up a few times. The feeling of power coursing through him made Finn giddy.

With a smile that showed all teeth Finn crouched down and spun in a complete 360-degree circle, his blade catching the Merrows closest to him, cutting through their waist and sending them to the ground in halves.

The rest of the Merrow recovered and charged Finn, screams of rage emanating from them.

"Taffy Fields." Finn shouted as he stabbed at the ground, an effort of will turning the Cardinal blade into its candy form. As the blade contacted the ground it turned the area around Finn pink and sticky.

The Merrow that charged Finn took a few steps within the field and stopped in their tracks. The candied ground kept them stuck in place. Trapped and with nowhere to go Finn went to work hacking and slashing through the monsters like a scythe through a wheat field. With them dead Finn soon moved on to the rest, his blade bloody and smile still in place.

In many ways this place was the best, as there was always a fight around any corner and Finn found he had no real reason to hold back. Finn was always up for a fight, he loved fighting more than anything else really. Well, except for his friends and family of course.

The guards seeing the tide turning joined Finn in a renewed assault against the monsters and within minutes the only thing still standing in the clearing was Finn and the surviving Guardsmen.

"That was amazing." One of the guards said, an older man with a salt and pepper beard, his helmet was off showing his shaven head and he was a bit overweight. His voice was thick with pain as the man had a gash in his side that still bled slightly.

"Just doing my job." Finn said easily.

The man's eyes focused on the tag dangling from Finn's neck. An assessing look overtook his eyes as he looked Finn up and down.

"You're an Adventurer." The man said, a statement not a question.

"I am." Finn said sticking with the easier title.

Finn didn't necessarily lie, but he found out that while most people of the country knew that the heroes were summon, most of them didn't know what they looked like. Finn enjoyed the anonymity of it all and didn't want to lose it, so he never told anyone he was one of the Cardinal Heroes. The king and most of the nobles knew of course but they didn't mingle with people below their stations, so Finn's sort of secret was safe.

"I'd like to hire you then." The man said his eyes flickering around looking to see if there were more monsters coming for them.

Finn didn't bother looking, because if there were any monsters close by then his Perception would have picked them out long before they pounced.

"What kind of job?" Finn asked.

All around them the other Guardsmen were bandaging their wounds as best they could and were getting ready to move out. Some of them were digging around the corpses of the dead guards, pocketing things and moving on to the other bodies. Finn figured that they were looking for identification and if not, well Finn has looted the fair number of corpses while growing up.

"Me and my men were taking a…" the man paused looking at Finn again in that assessing manner. "Prisoner when he killed some of my men and fled into the forest. We set off in pursuit to recapture him but ran into those things." The man trailed off and shivered slightly in fear. "If not for your intervention I feared we would have died."

Finn could tell where this was going.

"You want me to find him for you?" Finn guessed.

"Yes." The man said his eyes narrowed. "I'm willing to pay you from my own personal funds, if you managed to capture him and bring him back to me."

"How much is that?" Finn asked.

"15 gold pieces. Not a piece higher." The man said.

Finn paused considering, the way money worked in this world was that of metal coins made of bronze, silver, and gold. The value increasing with each one as well. The way it went was 100 bronze coins were equal to 1 silver piece and 100 silver were equal to 1 gold piece. So far, the only money Finn has made has been in the form of bronze or silver. Finn wasn't worried about money since he didn't spend much of it anyway, except to buy food. As he usually slept outside or in stables, he didn't have to pay for a room either. Even so gold just was not something to be tossed away.

"Okay." Finn agreed. "I'll do it."

The man smiled and let out a hearty laugh. "God must have shined down on me in this moment to send you here in my time of need."

Finn laughed nervously with him, but he had a few questions to ask before he could go. "What does he look like?"

"Small, would barely come up to your knees. He has black and white hair and is dressed in rags. Most importantly is that the prisoner is a Demi-human, some breed of dog and is around ten years old." The man said easily as if there was nothing wrong with what he said.

Finn blinked confused as he asked for clarity. "Did you say ten years old?"

"Yes, is that a problem?" He asked curiously. "With the way you handled those other monsters, some Demi-Human trash shouldn't be much of a problem."

Finn clenched his fist as the smile dropped from his face and he did his best not to clock the man infront of him. If there was one thing, he didn't like about this place was the people's hatreds towards someone just for looking different from them. For Finn, a person who grew up as the only human in a land filled with every kind of being imaginable, it was impossible to wrap his head around. All he knew was he didn't like it when he saw it. He decided then to end the conversation there before he did something rash.

"Where will I find you after I have him?" Then I'll know where to go to avoid you. Finn finished in his head.

"Take the path down south for a few miles and you will come across an outpost, there I'll be staying until the next morning and then I'll be off to the capital." The man said pointing off into the distance.

"Got it… um… you never told me your name." Finn said apologetic.

"Hah where are my manners! I am Captain Bennett." Bennett said with a bow, he let out a little groan as he bent over but stood up straight again. "Thank you again for your help."

"Thank me after I'm done." Finn said.

"Be careful Adventurer, the little bastard is quick on his feet." With that last warning Captain Bennett let out another laugh as he ordered his men to move out. Which was slowed as those that were injured had to be carried but eventually, they were all on the path and heading for their outpost.

Finn waited till he was sure they were gone, then he turned to the dead Merrows. He held his sword out to them and let it absorb the corpses. In a brief flash of light, the clearing was free of bodies with only the stained ground showing something had happened here. Finn checked to see what he had unlocked.

Catalyst accepted, Water Dwelling Sword unlocked.

Ability locked: equip bonus: increased swimming speed 1.

Catalyst accepted, Man Slayer Sword unlocked.

Ability locked: equip bonus: increased attack against humanoid figures by 5.

The first one made since, but how did he unlock the second one?

"Oh, it was probably because of the dead guards." Finn realized. Eh, worries for later.

Finn held out his mechanical palm, as he did an orb of goo gathered there, it formed quickly into a manta ray type drone that took to the air without any sound. It buzzed around Finn slowly and then took off into the surrounding area. When it was gone Finn held his arm parallel to his chest as a screen appeared atop it. The screen showed the surrounding area from a bird's eye view as Owl spoke to him.

[Where shall I focus the search?] Owl asked.

Finn paused in thought for a minute. If the guards were attacked by Merrows when they cornered the kid, then it would be best to start there. Merrows usually stayed around waters so…

"Look for large bodies of water, like a lake or a river." Finn told her.

As the Manta Drone flew up through the air the view on Finn's screen widen until most of the land around him was in view. The drone paused as it saw a river to the west of Finn. Moving quickly through the air it headed towards the river and flew along the edge of the riverbank.

It took a few passes but eventually Finn saw something near the edge and directed the drone towards it. It was the remains of a few Merrows and a couple of guards. Looking closer at them it looked as if they had killed each other, but there was no sign of a kid.

Still it was Finn's best bet, so he had the drone stay there as he made his way towards it.

Finn quickly made his way through the forest following the trail the guards made as they ran through it the first time as they fled from the Merrows and without much issue made his way to the river. But even if he wasn't being attacked at the moment, Finn still kept his senses peeled watching everything around him to make sure he wasn't snuck up on.

[Why are you looking for him?] Owl spoke up as Finn walked through the forest.

"What do you mean?"

[I felt the way your heartbeat spiked, you do not want to help this captain so why are we looking for the boy.]

"You're right, I'm not helping that man. But if there is a kid stuck in these woods filled with monsters then he needs help. So, I'm going to help. Simple as that." Finn explained.

Finn cleared the tree line and made his way to the dead bodies. He was lucky to have gotten here so fast. If Finn were a little slower the beasties in the woods probably would have dragged the rest of the remains away somewhere else to eat.

Finn didn't pay much attention to the bodies, except to note that most of their flesh was already eaten. Instead, Finn turned his attention to the surrounding area. He was trying to get a sense of where everyone scattered when everything went down. Finn wasn't much of a tracker or a hunter and what he was taught was haphazard at best. There was one trick he had learned though that he could put to the test.

Finn took a deep breath and focused using what little knowledge of the forest he had, combined with the blood stains and slight disturbances to the bushes and grass, Finn tried to guess at what could have happened here. As he did a picture began to form in his head.

The guards rushed forward breaking through the forest line and cornering their quarry towards the river's edge, only for the Merrow to then burst free from the waters depths and attack them. The guards fought them off best as they could then retreated the way they came. The Merrow following them eager to fill their stomach.

"But if they went that way..." Finn muttered. "Then where did the kid go?"

Finn looked around at the scene again hoping for something to jump out at him, he even squatted down to get a look at the grounds, hopefully he would find some footprints or something. After a few minutes of inspection Finn could not see anything. But he did hear the slight rustling of a tree branch.

Finn glanced at the source of the sound from out of the corner of his eyes and saw at a figure as they tried to hide themselves deeper within the shadows created by the canopy of the trees.

Carefully and quietly, Finn looked around the floor for a decent size rock. Seeing one that was the perfect size Finn reached down and grabbed it. Taking one more chance Finn glanced back to the figure in the trees. They were looking at Finn, but the way they kept still it looked as if they thought themselves unnoticed.

For now, anyway.

Smiling at what was about to happen Finn burst into motion. Popping up Finn spun towards the trees, the arm with the rock in it held out at his side. Using the force of his spin Finn turned his arm into a makeshift sling. Releasing his grip on the rock at the right moment Finn sent it rocketing towards the trees with all the strength his leveled-up body could muster.

There was a loud whoosh as the rock sped across the clearing. A startled scream as the figure in the shadows saw what Finn had did. Then a thud as the rock smacked into them. The creaking of breaking wood as they fell out of the trees. And finally, a satisfying plop as they fell towards the floor.

"Yes!" Finn exclaimed pumping his arms in victory, he made his way toward where they fell to collect what was almost definitely a monster waiting to attack him. When he saw what was laid out near the base of the tree though his face paled.

A small, skinny, and probably malnourished child laid on the ground before Finn. His black hair had white highlights mixed in and a set of dog ears twitched periodically atop his skull. He was wearing rags that had only worsen from his stay in the woods. His eyes were blankly staring at the sky as figurative birds flew around his head. Looking at his head Finn also saw that there was a rather noticeable bump on it.

[Ah.] Owl said helpfully. [You found the child.]