OVERPOWERED CHAPTER 5: TUTORIAL
Felix awoke to the delicious smell of food cooking over a fire. His senses were adjusting to his state of still being among the living when he was so close to the bosom of death. The pain he currently feels reminding him of his terrible ordeal, of his foolhardy arrogance and false bravado in facing down a monster beyond his strength. However, the part that felt the sorest was his left arm… or where his left arm used to be but instead the only thing he found was stump wrapped in bloody bandages.
The now armless adventurer was hyperventilating and started waving his hand around the stump, as if he could summon more mysterious magics to make him arm reappear. The tears began to come up slowly as strangled gasps and hiccups replaced his frantic breathing at the loss of a limb, he grew very attached since birth.
"This can't be happening…I must be dreaming or something, yeah this is a dream. I didn't end up transported in another world with monsters and magic. I'm just imagining this while passed out at the factory conveyer belt, taking a short nap after a week straight sorting out depleted plasma batteries."
Felix's sobs and feeble waving of his remaining arm above his stump continued for a few more minutes before the reality of his new status as a cripple crashed down on him. The crying was now replaced with wails of despair as he bitterly accepted his survival that cost him an arm.
"It's alright lad ease up. You still got a life to live with the remaining limbs. Its not so bad once you get used to it, you might even find some things being more fun with just the one left… or well you know right."
A voice interrupted Felix's mourning of his missing arm as the one-armed novice turned to face the source of the voice. The one who tried to give some comforting words yet obviously fell flat with it was a middle-aged man with a scruffy looking beard and a mess of brown hair. His face told the tale of a long life of hardship yet still managing to smile at the end of the day, his blue eyes having a little light in them despite the stress lines and wrinkles that his face had. He wore clothes like his own adventurer garb, but instead having a worn brown cloak that covered the rest of his body. What he could see that isn't covered by the cloak was a pair of slightly worn boots that have seen much use yet continued to function as well as a pair of brand-new ones just like his cloak.
The old man was sitting on a rock close to the fire which was the source of the delicious scent of food. The wonderful scent turned out to be some sort of stew or broth, probably made from wild game in the forest and wild vegetables growing in said forest. Pulling his gaze away from the old man Felix took notice of where he exactly is right now.
It seemed that the old man brought him in a cave on the outskirts of the forest where he almost met his maker, outside the cave is the forest where he took his first steps in adventure and the resulting aftermath of losing his arm. The cave itself wasn't too deep as he could see a wall at the far end of the cave illuminated by the campfire that was cooking the soup. The final thing his eyes scanned in the cave was a large pack that had three swords close to it in their sheathes, one of the swords obviously his while the other two belonged to the old man that saved his life.
"Alright it seems that I still need to work on my pep talking skills so I'll just stop it for now. How about we change your bandages and get some soup in you. You must have many questions just like I do, especially how a young boy barely making his way in the world ended up in one of the deadliest places to humans in the world".
"So, you randomly appeared here in the grass field outside the forest and decided to head deep into said forest not knowing the dangers that could possibly be in it or if you even have the capability to defend yourself properly? Pretty gutsy my boy!" said the stranger as he prepared a bowl of soup for Felix and handed it to him with a wooden spoon.
"Well, the alternative was staying outside the forest and wait for any nasty beasts like the one that took my arm to kill me so yeah, going into the forest and having a say where I die seemed like the most sensible idea" replied Felix in a saccharine tone. He would have continued with more sass but decided to eat and rest first in order to have the energy for maximum sarcasm output.
Felix decided to tell it straight to the old man instead of making a convoluted story seeing as he felt too mentally drained to come up with a decent fake backstory and he had nothing to lose by telling the truth. A brief respite from the negative emotions building up in him came when he consumed a spoonful of the broth prepared by his saviour, salty and savoury with a hint of sweet mint flavour. The soup itself was a broth made from salted beef, sugar and mint, such a simple dish yet packed with flavour as well as introducing a cooling sensation from the mint and the sugar served as a buffer to the saltiness of the beef.
"Ha ha! Point taken. Well now that you told me your story I'll explain where we are right now. We are currently in a valley named 'The Monarch's Tantrum" located in the outer realm of wild beasts and monsters far from the inner realm of man. Legends say that this place used to be a huge expanse of trees with no mountains surrounding it. The mountains themselves formed as the aftermath of a battle among the Eight Greed Kings. Many stories told of the Kings forgoing technique to instead hurl giant portions of the earth at each other in rage, hence the name".
The stranger stopped his explanation to prepare his own bowl of soup and proceeded to eat. Once he cleaned the contents of the bowl, he reached to the simmering pot above the campfire to pour himself another bowl and continued his storytelling.
"It was quite a destructive show of raw power fitting for beings that conquered the world. Eventually, the gigantic mounds of earth that were thrown around formed into the mountains we know today, as remnants of the forest that use to exist here still flourish as spots dotting around the valley. The wolves you encountered were one of the many remnants of beasts and monsters who were under the control of the Eight Greed Kings before their dissolution left them unattended and unleashed into the wild. Oh, one last thing to note about the forest is that hardened adventurers often use the perilous terrain and high-level monsters to train. It's a place where even adamantite class adventurers tread lightly, and copper class adventurers would be lucky to even last 30 minutes."
As the old man finished the story about the legendary figures who created the valley and populated them with monsters who have a love of human flesh as well as the general purpose of the valley in modern times, He reached for a canteen of water to wash down his finished meal before passing it to Felix.
Felix contemplated the stranger's words and started to think about who these "Eight Greed Kings" were. Its highly possible that he wasn't the only one teleported in this world and those kings and perhaps others also teleported here from YGGDRASIL. This could be a really good or really bad thing. His old world was a shitshow of apathy, pollution and just all out misery. Video games were often an escape for everyone from that nasty world but unfortunately, sometimes people think the misery of the real world needed to spread in the virtual world as well and started shit. From random trolls to outright malicious bullies YGGDRASIL and all other DMMO-RPGS had a fair share of these assholes. And if he was thinking right on the mark, he might possibly be stuck with those same assholes in a world where their magical abilities and stats become reality, turning them into cruel gods!
The crippled player decided to milk more information from the old man regarding this world and perhaps if he had some information of players also appearing recently. Felix mused that while the game shut down and landed his ass in this world without even a notice, his "tutorial" has begun now.
"That's an interesting story there old timer but can you elaborate more on who these 'Eight Greed Kings' were? And not only that but can you tell me more about this world itself and maybe anyone else who just suddenly appeared like those kings? Its probably a big deal if people just randomly appear out of nowhere right? Speaking of appearing out of nowhere, do you perchance also know about how these 'Eight Greed Kings' came about and if there were any other people like them who are around? Also who are you and why did you save me?".
Felix capped off his long list of questions to ask the reason for his life being saved by the old man. Life is harsh and the only ones who can make it stomp on others or take an opportunity one else had the ability or guts to take. He learned very early that the only reason to help others is for your own benefit as well as earning favours you can cash in at any time. The old guy must want some money or something else for his trouble of bandaging a snot nosed kid lurking in a dangerous forest playing hero against monsters who could probably tear apart real adventurers.
The aforementioned stranger began scratching his thick beard in contemplation (probably on the price he wants for the food and medical services rendered) before speaking. "I'll answer your questions based on how much I know so let me start off with the easiest one! The name's Jasper Hart! A humble traveller who has seen much and decided to cap of his final journey in a relatively calm manor by seeing what this world can offer".
"Now on to the topic of the Eight Greed Kings. As the name implies, they were eight immensely powerful tyrants who conquered the world over 500 years ago. Most of the stories surrounding them are just rumours and warped over time but these people were no joke in terms of ability and influence. For all their cruelty inflicted on the world and each other it was thanks to them that humanity was able to thrive in the present as well as perpetuating the use of tier magic. The only thing that physically remains of their time on this world is the city of Eryuentiu. Rumours abound say that magical artifacts of tremendous power still remain in the city even after the Thirteen heroes took their share of the items to fight the evil deities".
With the confirmation that he won't face these "greedy kings" with them catching a terrible case of death, Felix let go of the breath he held in relief. The only thing left to confirm are the other "gods" and what this world really is. He was however intrigued by this old city and took note of it on his mental list of "places to visit as long as I can keep my remaining limbs".
As Felix continued to ruminate on the knowledge on the Eight Greed Kings, old man Jasper decided to continue his storytelling. "As for how the Eight Greed Kings got here there isn't much info on that unfortunately. They came into the world as a force of nature crushing everything that stood in their way before fizzling out so any information regarding them is sparse to begin with."
"As for the beings in similar vein to the Eight Greed Kings, there were several. In order of appearance were the Six Great Gods that appeared 100 years before the kings. These gods began the extermination of hostile entities against humanity and allowed humans to flourish. Not only that but the gods also started the art of tier magic in which the kings eventually took over in developing and spreading it throughout the world! Just like the rest they're all gone but try not to mention that to the nice folks of the Slane Theocracy since they believe their deities have actually "ascended" to a higher plane after blessing this world and spreading the "divine" word of humanity's role in eradicating the "filthy" demi-humans and monsters".
It seems that touching on the topic of the Six Great Gods and Slane Theocracy made Jasper lose some of his enthusiasm and created a depressed aura around the campfire. Jasper shook his head lightly before giving a small smile and apology for ruining the mood before continuing his monologue of this world's history.
"It's quite ironic how the Eight Greed Kings continued the work laid out by the Six Great Gods, as they were the ones responsible for the gods eradication in their early years of conquest. After the dissolution of the kings came the time of gods again, only this time the Evil Deities decided to continue the reign of terror brought upon this world by the kings".
"But apparently the world had enough of so many destructive elements running around and the last known beings that appeared were the Thirteen Heroes. More specifically the leader of this group and his companion that established the hero group to face off against the deities. Don't let the name fool you however, the 'Thirteen Heroes' comprised of more than just 13 but seeing as the others weren't humans they were not included in the line-up and therefore sadly forgotten. The last known recorded deed of theirs was a battle against a dragon god of some sort. A few members of the heroes still remain currently with the most well-known member being Rigrit Bers Caurau, who last I heard had a career in adventuring. Magic is one hell of a power I tell you lad, since Lady Rigrit herself has lived over 200 years despite being human!
Once again Jasper became sad as he mentioned the apparently racist nature of humans in this world, but he did seem to perk up when mentioning this 'lady Rigrit'. Guess the old man likes his women older than he is and capable of slaying gods.
Jasper stoked the fires before looking out of the darkening sky, it seemed that his storytelling had taken so much time that night time is beginning to roll in. As he continued to stoke the burning wood and add more fuel to the campfire, Jasper seemed ready to give the final lesson of the impromptu history class.
"Seems we talked for a few hours and daylight is almost out. Its best for you to go back to sleep but I'll try to cap off this chat of ours in regard to the world you find yourself in now. This is a world inhabited by both humans and those not of the same species which can be divided to the demi-humans as well as heteromorphic races often seen as intelligent monsters. We currently are in the domains outside of the human realm, the outer realm where humans are viewed as both a source of sustenance and entertainment in the form of slaves. It is quite a frightening world where you experienced today your strength is quite 'underpowered' when facing its least dangerous creatures".
"Take that lost limb as not an end of your journey but the start of it! While you lack the power to properly fight now, I'm certain that you could thrive given the right tutelage and experience. I guess I answered the question to the answer on why I saved you as well, as it is the responsibility of the elders to guide young ones such as yourself to reach greater heights. As for the name of the world you find yourself in, its referred in so many other languages by hundreds of other races and beings that you might need to have more experience in your adventures before deciding which name to call it but for now I think the best name you could refer to it as The New World".
"Welcome to the New world lad! A dangerous and unforgiving reality filled with wonderous and terrifying discoveries to make by new adventurers like you. A world inhabited by beings and creatures Overpowered to a ridiculous degree! Where the underpowered count their blessings to see another day and live to tell the tale after every adventure".