"Uh? What's this? Where's the console?"
In fact, there were other things that were off as well.
"Wait...where's my apartment? Why am I sitting in a tall grass field? Where's the outpost!? Where's the forest!? Where's...where's..."
Right now he should've already been forcefully logged out from the server after its shutdown, it was already past the announced time, was there a system error of sorts?
In a panic, Rhemurus quickly stood up and began looking in all directions. And even though it might as well be useless at this point, he also attempted to use all the communications available in the game; Forced System Access, Chat, Call GM, Log Out, Message...nothing was working.
"What the hell, is this an elaborate prank? Were the shitty devs trolling us all? Where the news of the shutdown fake?"
- No...if that were the case, I would still be in the crimson forest. I have never seen this section of Midgard before, and I don't remember this scenery in any of the other realms of Yggdrasil, either.
In an attempt to calm himself, Rhemurus took the opportunity to look at his surroundings more carefully; he was currently standing in the middle of a plain tall grass field that extends for hundreds of meters in all directions, and above him, he could see a starry night sky. However, he immediately noticed that this sky was different from the one he was looking at just a minute ago.
- Those stars, they definitely aren't the ones adorning the night sky of Midgard. Not to mention...this sky...is it really a virtual sky? An artificial picture...?
Rhemurus may have been away from Yggdrasil for a very long time, but he will never ever forget the game images that will forever be rooted deep into his heart, and the night skies of Midgard are one of those. He remembers each individual star, each celestial body, the constellations that were tied to special job classes like [Astrologer] and [Cosmomancer], the fractured moon that used to be a smooth satellite before the massive in-game event remembered as 'starfall' shattered the Midgard moon in many uneven pieces. All of them, Rhemurus can still see them in his mind as clearly as if they were HD pictures installed in his brain.
And yet, none of those celestial bodies were hanging in the sky he was currently staring at. That alien, strangely overly realistic sky.
He then returned his stare in front of him and strained his eyes to see if he could find anything else further in the distance, but all he could see were large mountain ranges extending as far as his eyes could see.
"Even if there was something like a river or a road in the distance, I still wouldn't be able to spot anything because of this tall grass blocking the view."
Now that he mentions it, the grass surrounding him is nothing like the grass in the game, either. If it were, right now the grass would be either poisoning him or hardening into pointy spikes to stab him. Instead, the grass is soft to the touch and carries a pleasant natural scent that Rhemurus - that Tanaka Ito - had never smelled before.
And that's how and when it hit him.
- Wait...wait...wait...! I-I can feel this...I can smell this!
The computer laws dictated that the senses in the dive-in virtual worlds should be either limited to just sight and hearing, or if it includes smell, touch, and taste then these should be as dulled as possible. This way nobody would ever mistake the virtual world for a real one, no matter how advanced technology becomes.
And despite that, Rhemurus is perfectly capable of feeling and smelling the world around him.
He tried to find any explanation that made sense, attempting to use the personal supercomputer that was installed in his brain to calculate the odds of any possible scenario, even though as of that moment Rhemurus had no idea that his cranial CPU - and the rest of his original human body for that matter - was all but gone.
But still, his desperation was such that he was making super fast calculations out of the placebo effect alone.
"The rumored Yggdrasil II? No, the surprise launch of a sequel wouldn't justify breaking the computer laws."
Not to mention that, when a game developing company has to choose between adhering to the law and making a pleasant experience for their players, they will always choose to follow the law, every time. Deciding out of nowhere to make a fully perfect fantasy world for their players to enjoy at risk of being incarcerated makes no sense for the shitty devs, so Yggdrasil II can't be it.
"Virtual kidnapping? Nah, makes even less sense."
Yet another cost of convenience for such a technologically advanced world is the risk of virtual kidnapping, that is when you want to log-out of a virtual world so you can return to the real world, but whoever is in charge of administrating the virtual world - for one reason or another - refuses to let you log-out. Reasons for kidnapping someone in a virtual world can vary, but the universal constant is always how dangerous to the victim such a crime is, because if you can't return to the real world for prolonged periods of time then you won't be able to eat nor drink anything for several days, not even cry out for anyone to help you if you live alone as Tanaka does.
But Tanaka Ito is the textbook example of a complete nobody, someone who barely lives above poverty and will never amount to anything besides yet another random salaryman. If you're going to risk being prosecuted for virtual kidnapping, at the very least you would capture a rich individual, or someone with important connections, not someone like Tanaka. So virtual kidnapping was also discarded.
"A glitch in the system? No, the game's performance would have decreased, and I would've also received a message from the devs at this point if that was the case."
So just as fast as a possible reason popped up in his brain, it was quickly shut down by the logical explanation of why said reason wasn't the case at all.
Before long there was now only one possible explanation that makes sense in his current situation. He doesn't want to admit it, it's way too fantastical and trippy to even assume in any normal circumstance, but his pragmatic mind is pressuring Rhemurus to simply accept the truth so he can move on.
"This...isn't a game world. Like, at all. It simply can't be."
As his mind was finally accepting the extraordinary situation he currently found himself in, he felt a sense of tranquility that was slowly dissipating his panicked state.
Now properly looking at his hands, he noticed that those weren't his real hands, they were his Yggdrasil avatar's hands. While still human, the body his mind was currently inhabiting wasn't the one he was born in, and yet despite such a thing, Rhemurus - Tanaka Ito - didn't feel any sense of discomfort nor body-mind dissonance at all. He felt like this has always been his body since the very beginning.
While Rhemurus was still very confused, he was now much more at ease than he was before. The soft and chilly night breeze on his skin helped him relax even more, a breeze that was there since the beginning but was too exasperated to properly feel until now.
He slowly breathed in the air, a natural air that isn't toxic, an air that doesn't require an artificial pair of lungs to breathe without getting poisoned while doing so, an air that he oh so enjoyed filling his new lungs with, and slowly breathed out.
- To think that the people of the past took this for granted, just being able to breathe outside air without choking to death on pollution. Never in my entire life had I hoped to experience such a thing.
His previous world did indeed have arcologies where the rich and powerful lived in literal safety bubbles that had the cleanest air money could buy, but Tanaka is certain that not even those individuals would be able to experience such a peaceful and mind-calming breeze like this one.
So calm he was in fact, that Rhemurus was unable to sense the immediate danger approaching him. Because as it turns out, as beautiful as mother nature can be, she has no favoritism over who she benefits and who she screws over.
The tall grass that feels pleasant to the touch and has such a nice natural smell also happens to be a perfect cover for predators that use it to camouflage their movements and their scent, plus the soft breeze that gave him a sense of calmness he never felt before was also a perfect carrier of his own human scent, alerting said predator of Rhemurus' presence and location.
A quadruped creature was slowly moving as silently as the dark itself, approaching Rhemurus from his blind spot with him being none the wiser.
It's true that Rhemurus is an experienced player of Yggdrasil, but the body he's currently stuck with is that of a level 1 player, and a human without any special senses, no less. Had he picked his first level in something like rogue or ranger, perhaps even monk, he would've been able to at least detect something approaching, but spellcasters don't get access to such things. The bulk of their power is their spells, which they have very precious little of at low levels.
Not to mention that none of the spells Rhemurus does have right now would've been able to alert him of the predator, anyway. Only his [Nature Sense] skill could potentially be able to alert him, but as of now, it's too weak, at least compared with the [Stealth] skill of the predator who wants to devour him.
And thus, his peaceful contemplation of the new world was going to be abruptly cut short, the silence of the night will be destroyed by the sound of a ferocious, hungry animal jumping on its prey.
- So peaceful and beautiful, this world is. I could lose myself in this view for hours...days...
But he couldn't, because if this truly is a real, physical world, then that also means that things like hunger and thirst are no longer mere game mechanics, they're real dangers that could potentially kill him if he isn't constantly aware of them.
Fatigue is on that same boat too, he just remembered. Since level 100 players always have one way or another to nullify fatigue - usually by using items like rings or amulets, assuming your race of choice isn't already immune to those things by default - the last time Rhemurus had to worry about such a thing was when he first began to play Yggdrasil so many years ago. And now fatigue is a constant threat to him once again.
"Can't stay here for long. Maybe there's a forest nearby, or a river."
If this world has sapient races or not, he still can't tell. But if intelligent people do exist in this world then that could also mean civilization, and that in turn means properly cooked food and places to rest, which also means that he wouldn't have to scavenge to survive.
"Heh, in retrospective I should've picked [Ranger], had I known beforehand."
Even at level 1, the survival skills of that class are nothing to scoff at, but he picked druid, so he must use the card he was dealt with.
"Mmm, should I start walking forwards? I can't tell where north is in the middle of the night, without any sun to guide me."
- Wait, is there even a north or cardinal directions in general in this world? If only I could ask somebody.
And it was at that very moment when the silent predator who has been stalking him finally decided to attack.
Even if the predator's [Stealth] skill was stronger than Rhemurus' [Nature Sense], there was nothing said predator could do about the fact that the skill forcefully deactivates itself the moment an attack is made. But most of the time it didn't mattered because the prey usually lacked any special senses that alerted about the danger fast enough.
Usually, that is.
The moment that the predator attacked and its hiding skill turned off, Rhemurus' own perception skill sounded a painful alarm on his head, as if a grenade detonated inside his skull. He looked behind him as fast as he could and he saw it, death jumping right at him.
Had he turned his gaze a fraction of a second later, then that would've been the end of Rhemurus' story in the new world, tragically ended before it could even begin.
But he saw the danger at the very nick of time; a large open maw with pointy teeth lunging at his neck at high speeds.
It doesn't matter what species you are, if you're an animal driven by instinct or an intelligent creature, as long as you're a living being with a brain then you're hardwired to feel that primal emotion that's responsible for keeping you alive, that emotion known as fear.
His heart rate accelerated and his body activated the survival mode known as hysterical strength. For a brief moment, Rhemurus' physical abilities were higher than those his level 1 statblock would normally have, which isn't that much in this new world, but any small advantage could mean the difference between life and death.
Time seemed to slow down from Rhemurus' perspective. What could he do? Run away? He can't outrun a beast when it's this close. Attack? His weapon is stored in his inventory. And does he even has access to his item box at all in this world? He has no time to ponder that, he needs to act NOW!
Only choice left is to block, but with what? His shield is also stored in his inventory alongside his weapon, so he had no choice, he will shove his arm into the beast's maw. Better to lose a limb than his neck.
In an instant, the beast's jaws buried its fangs on Rhemurus' left forearm with the strength of a large guillotine. The only reason his arm wasn't fully chopped off was that the studded leather armor he was wearing also covered his limbs alongside his torso, limiting the damage somewhat.
But still, Rhemurus felt a pain he had never felt before. If it weren't for the excessive amounts of adrenaline overloading his senses, he would've already fainted from the shock alone.
And he noticed that he wasn't the only one in distress either, because now that the beast was locked on his arm Rhemurus could take a brief glimpse at its angry eyes, the eyes of a predator incredibly frustrated because of the prey's unexpected reaction and prompt self-defensive response. What was supposed to be an easy kill will now fight back, the beast won't have it easy!
That's right, Rhemurus - Tanaka Ito - has every intention of protecting his life now that he's no longer trapped in that hellish world known as Earth, he will live in this new world full of wonderful nature, and nobody will take that from him! So in defiant response to the beast's furious stare, Rhemurus delivered the most powerful kick of his life, a kick strong enough to make the beast release his arm and make some distance between them.
His left arm was free, but it was bleeding heavily. Blood loss is yet another danger that low-level players always had to be wary of, so if Rhemurus doesn't heal his arm soon, or at least stop the bleeding somehow, he will die before being able to give it his all, and the beast will have won, so he will definitely not have that.
It's true that he had a healing potion in his item box, but he wasn't thinking about that. He couldn't waste time considering something that he wasn't even certain was a viable option right now because as of that moment, he had no way of knowing that his item box did, in fact, came with him and he had access to it.
Not to mention that something much more alarming was happening in front of him, something he definitely didn't expect.
"You damned monkey! Why didn't you just stay still so I could devour you!? I was going to give you a swift death, but now I will take my sweet time eating you...alive."
Those words didn't come from Rhemurus' mouth, they came from the mouth of the beast. He should be wondering why is the beast speaking in a language he can understand, but the fact that the beast can speak in the first place is a much greater cause of concern right now.
Because of the darkness of the night and the tall grass limiting his vision, at first he couldn't make all the features of his attacker. But now that his eyes have adjusted and can take a good proper look at the beast, Rhemurus has a pretty good idea of what he's facing; a large gray canine that anybody would mistake for a huge wolf, but the fact that this wolf can speak can only mean one thing.
- This creature, is a worg! What's a worg doing here!?
Worgs were low-level Yggdrasil monsters that would be found in packs, usually with goblinoid allies using them as mounts. But regardless of appearances, worgs are unnaturally intelligent, so they were always the masterminds behind the alliances they made with their goblin riders.
However, 'low-level' is relative, because even the most basic worg is a level 20 monster, a creature that can squash a level 1 human like an insignificant insect.
Rhemurus would've normally been surprised by the fact that his arm wasn't completely pulverized by the bite attack of a creature 19 levels above him, his low-class armor is the literal definition of trash tier after all, but his adjusted vision could also spot the possible reason of such a relatively weak attack, something that gave him good hopes of surviving this encounter.
The ferocious worg is wounded, gravely. In fact, the worg is bleeding worse than he is, with multiple wounds throughout its body made by what Rhemurus can only assume are sharp-bladed weapons because there's no way another animal would leave cuts that clean.
And that would also explain why he was able to react to the worg's attack in the first place since a level 20 monster in full health would be much, much faster than the weakened creature in front of him.
- But still, would such wounds really decrease the power of a level 20 monster enough to have difficulty against a level 1 human? Doesn't matter, I should focus on getting out of here alive.
If Rhemurus wasn't in a desperate life-and-death situation he would've also realized that the weapon wounds on the worg's body were proof of intelligence in this world. Somewhere, there are sapient creatures capable of mining ore, smelting it into metal, and shaping said metal into weapons.
Civilization, in this new world! But alas, he can't waste precious instants thinking about that. Rather, his mind is currently fixated on something else, something that his gut is telling him can give him the edge he needs; his spells.
Despite this world having no game interface - or maybe because of that - Rhemurus can sense a power flowing inside him that he never felt before, a power that's faint, but it's definitely there. He believed he had an idea of what this power was and how it worked, and for the sake of his survival he was hoping he was right.
He reached deep inside him, trying to consciously tap into the power and shape it into a spell. Said spell was now perfectly visualized and ready to be cast, but there was something missing, the spell wasn't being cast despite Rhemurus commanding it to be cast with his mind. It seemed like the spell was waiting for something, as if it needed its caster's permission to manifest itself, as if it needed a call.
So without hesitation, he called it out.
"[Cure Light Wounds]!"
A magic circle manifested itself on Rhemurus' right arm, a circle that he moved towards his bleeding left arm to see if magic functions in this world as it did back in Yggdrasil. To his surprise, it worked! A warm soothing energy was permeating throughout his wounded left arm, and even though this 1st-tier spell didn't channeled enough positive energy to fully heal his arm, at the very least it stopped the heavy bleeding.
Seeing this, the worg became more visibly desperate and was about to lung itself towards Rhemurus again, so he cast another spell before it could do so.
"[Entangle]!"
The surrounding tall grass bind itself around the worg's legs, preventing it from moving and thus, making it unable to make any lungs.
Rhemurus wanted to take this opportunity and take the initiative to make an attack himself, even striking with his own legs and good arm would do, but something was wrong, he also couldn't move. Something was holding his legs tight, so he turned his gaze downward to see what was going on.
- Are you kidding me!?
The [Entangle] spell he just cast made the tall grass bind his own legs, too! But this didn't made any sense in Tanaka's mind, why would a spell he himself cast work against him? Magic definitely didn't worked like this back in Yggdrasil.
However, wasting precious moments thinking about that was a fatal mistake because, while he was trying to make sense of his current situation, the worg was rabidly using its own fangs to bite apart the tall grass binding its legs, and in just a few seconds the beast will be free while he himself will still be immobilized.
- Shit, using this spell was a mistake! Well, no choice then, if magic works in this world, then skills also work, right?
"[Skill - Dispel]!"
A universal skill that all spellcasters have, [Dispel] makes any spell cast by the user that has a long duration instantly end its effects.
The worg wasn't expecting the tall grass to suddenly release its limb in a single instant, so in its blind rage while trying to free itself, it inadvertently bit its own limb which made the worg howl in pain.
Rhemurus wanted to capitalize on this moment so he jumped forward with his now freed legs, he was the attacker now.
Aiming at a particularly large gaping wound on the worg's shoulder, he delivered a punch with all the strength he could muster.
The worg howled in agony again, and its bleeding worsened even more.
Rhemurus felt no sadistic pleasure from causing pain to the worg. He actually felt a tinge of guilt, but that tiny amount of guilt was greatly overshadowed by the simple fact that if he doesn't kill the worg, the worg will kill him. Those are the merciless rules of the jungle, the ugly side of mother nature.
So to not give the worg even a second of respite he took the opportunity to deliver another kick, this time to the worg's eye, right before jumping back to a safe distance.
- If only I could cast [Life Essence], that way I would've been able to see how much HP this monster has left.
The hit-and-run tactic was not a bad idea in the situation he currently found himself in, the only problem is that he doesn't know how long he can keep at it. His MP is that of a level 1 spellcaster, by his estimations he should be able to cast the cure wounds spell just a couple more times before running out, and the effects of his hysterical strength don't last forever, either.
All he can do is simply hope that the worg's HP is in the red and that at least a few more strikes that land should be able to end this horrifying fight.
"You...you damned monkey! You will...regret...this...!"
The worg acted tough, but anyone could see that it would drop dead at any moment. Foam was forming in its mouth and its savage eyes were bloated with bloodlust.
Beasts are the most dangerous when they're at death's door, so in an act of desperation that was most likely a waste of breath, Rhemurus tried to appeal to the predator's sense of self-preservation.
"Take this opportunity and run away! I promise I won't follow you, so you can heal your wounds and live to hunt another day!"
"And just what will nourish me while I lick my wounds, monkey? These fields don't have large enough game to sate my kind's hunger. I never would've even been forced to run to this remote place had I not been tricked by a treacherous two-legged creature just like yourself!"
- Oh, of course, since those wounds were inflicted by weapons, it seems this worg almost became someone else's prey before escaping whoever was hunting it, then decided to go for an easy target like weak old me to have something to eat while he found a place to hide.
"I do plan to lick my wounds to hunt another day, and your flesh will sustain me while I recover!"
He should've known that there was no point in trying to reason with a hungry creature that considers you food, but it was still worth a shot, Rhemurus feels.
And so with nothing else to say, both prepared to lung at each other once again. Rhemurus was planning to try and land a strike again while the effects of his hysterical strength last, but the worg already saw that trick once and it wouldn't work against it a second time.
Yet another thing that Rhemurus isn't aware of right now is that he's not fighting a monster from Yggdrasil, he's fighting a worg that was born and raised in this new world. Rather than mobs with predictable AI and scripted attacks, the worgs of this world are experienced hunters who take full advantage of their superior intelligence not only to coordinate their pack attacks but to learn and grow as they fight for survival.
So with the player being none the wiser, he jumped forwards at full speed with his good arm in the shape of a fist once again, and that's exactly what the predator was expecting.
In one instant it almost seemed like the strike would land, but right at the very next moment with a speed that Rhemurus definitely wasn't expecting, the worg contorted its body and not only dodged the attack, but managed to land another bite on him, this time on the non-wounded arm.
Desperate, he tried to free himself with another kick, but that was another move that the worg was also expecting. So instead of allowing the kick to land, the worg buried its massive claws on his leg and pinned him to the ground.
The exploding adrenaline on Rhemurus' brain was now such that he didn't even care about the pain anymore, so he used his wounded left arm to aim a strike at the worg's neck in a silent prayer for his life.
However, all that did was simply make the worg angrier, anger that manifested with an even tighter grip on his limbs. The damage to his body was now such that not even the adrenaline could block the unbearable pain.
In an act of retribution, the worg used its other front limb to bury its claws on his left arm and used its superior strength to overpower the human's already wounded arm, so even if Rhemurus casts any more cure wounds spell, his hand will be unable to reach anywhere.
It's the end.
- There has to be something...anything else I can do...it can't be over...it just can't...!
So wounded and exhausted Rhemurus was that he didn't even have the energy to call out for help, even his hysterical strength was all but drained now.
If only he had chosen a different class with a different set of starter spells, things may have gone differently.
Like [Cleric], for example, has [Inflict Light Wounds] as a 1st-tier spell, a spell that would've made much, much more damage to the worg than his puny punches and kicks did. And even a spell called [Deathwatch] which would've allowed him to see how close to death the worg actually was.
Also, other incredibly useful 1st-tier cleric spells like [Doom] - which would've reduced the attack strength and abilities of the worg - or [Divine Favor] - which would've granted him a boost to his own physical abilities - and even [Shield of Faith] - which made an invisible shield around his body to grant extra protection - would've helped him fare much better in this deathmatch than the spells Rhemurus did end up choosing.
Or hell, he could've chosen his first level in a heavily armored melee class like [Fighter] or [Paladin] since those always receive a starter medium armor, a martial weapon, and a heavy shield for free. Even if he had still stored the weapon and shield in his inventory, a medium armor like scale mail or chain mail would still be a considerable improvement from the light armor he got.
Even better still, taking his first level in [Mage] - the class he was the most familiar with - would've almost guaranteed his survival even with 1st-tier spells; he would've used [Color Spray] to stun the worg, then [Burning Hands] to set the surrounding tall grass on fire while he escaped, and [Magic Arrow] to snipe the worg from afar while he ran for his life.
It's true that there was no real guarantee that said strategy would've saved his life, but it would've still been much better than what he chose for his first level. [Cure Light Wounds] was legit the only spell that somewhat helped him.
But alas, all Rhemurus can do now is lament his poor build choices and the fact that he couldn't have foreseen something like this. But who could've foreseen it? He doesn't know, and at this point, it doesn't matter anymore.
- Wouldn't it be great if I miraculously leveled up? Gain the three 1st-tier spells I should've picked instead of the ones I did, and got a boost in stats that allowed me to win this fight?
If only this was an anime, Tanaka Ito said to himself as his consciousness slowly faded away.
The truth was that even if he did level-up and obtained the spells he wanted, it still wouldn't be enough to escape the situation he's currently in. A level 2 human is still no rival to a higher level worg, even a wounded one.
But at least, he won't die as yet another mindless corporate drone. Tanaka Ito will die free, in this world.
Or he would've had, that is, until he suddenly heard a hissing sound in the air immediately followed by the sight of the worg being violently pushed away from him by a projectile hitting it at high speeds and with tremendous force.
So great was the impact of whatever hit it, that the worg was thrown roughly three meters - almost 10 feet - away from where it was pinning him down in preparation for the kill.
A second after an internal surge in Rhemurus' body passed away - a surge that he assumed must've been the shock - he titled his head to look at the now totally still and completely silent worg. Half to see if it was still alive, and half curiosity about what the fuck just happened.
Rhemurus could see the handle of a sharp metal weapon that was obviously designed to be thrown protruding from the beast's neck. Judging from said handle's shape, he believes that said weapon is a throwing axe. While the weapon's material is obviously a very important aspect of how deadly it is, what also matters is how strong the wielder of said weapon is.
Worgs in general weigh around 300 pounds - roughly 136 kilograms - yet the beast that nearly kills him was so casually tossed away as if it was made of the lightest material in this world. Rhemurus can only imagine how strong whoever threw that weapon is.
He will get his answer very soon, however, because the throwing axe's handle let out a small electrical spark and began to emanate a soft glow before magically moving on its own, plucking itself out from the dead worg's neck and returning to the hand of its wielder. So to at least take a peek at the one who killed the predator before succumbing to death, Rhemurus tilted his head in the opposite direction and was greeted by quite a bizarre sight.
A group of four, he wants to say individuals, but any normal person - a normal human person, at least - would instead say a group of four monsters was standing near him. A normal human from Earth may have also been quite terrified, but an Yggdrasil player like Rhemurus wasn't terrified at all. If anything, he believed he had a solid idea of what these individuals were.
One of the individuals was currently inspecting the ground - most likely to verify if there were other predators hiding in the tall grass - a bipedal squamata that was actually quite large compared to lizards from Earth, but in Yggdrasil standards said creature would be medium-sized, the same size category as humans. So if he had to guess, Rhemurus would say that this is a lizardfolk, one of the demi-human races.
The lizardfolk was wearing a black-colored breastplate that was custom-made for the reptilian body, and acting as a cushion for the scales behind said armor were plain withered clothes that were either so worn out that they lost all color, or never had any color to begin with. On the right hand there was what appeared to be some sort of club, and in the left hand there was a rounded shield.
Just behind the lizardfolk were two other demi-humans, also bipedal, but large-sized this time - that is, one size category larger than medium-sized - who were also easily identifiable by the experienced player; one was a hunched primate with bluish skin and trunk arms, and the other was a bovine with dark brown skin and two large horns sprouting from the skull. An ogre and a minotaur, Rhemurus is certain.
The ogre was wearing a masterfully crafted full plate armor made out of some greenish blue metal, on the head there was a helmet that matched the armor, and on the right hand there was a magnificent greatsword that sheens with a violet light. Well, by human standards it would be a greatsword, since in the ogre's hand a greatsword functions like a one-handed longsword.
And the minotaur was more lightly armored, with only an exquisitely crafted hide made of a monster's skin acting as physical protection. The horns were sporting pieces of bone with some weird runes etched into them, and there was a large axe on each side of the minotaur's hip.
He also noticed that it was the minotaur's hand where the magic throwing axe returned to. This minotaur is undoubtedly very strong, most likely the physically strongest member of this group.
And the last one Rhemurus noticed was quite different from the others; the fourth demi-human was standing on the ogre's imposing shoulders and was also a primate, but small-sized, and had greenish skin with oily brown hair growing from the scalp. The face was covered by some strange mask, but it was pretty obvious that this was a goblin.
From a distance, it was difficult to tell if what the goblin was wearing was either padded armor or leather armor, but there were a pair of sheathed knives and a small crossbow that were distinguishable enough, even from a distance.
- A demi-human adventurer group, huh. So this fantastical world has non-human sapient beings. I would've definitely loved to explore this new world, what a shame.
Rhemurus would at least like to thank these individuals for not letting him end up as worg shit, and if possible, ask them if they could bury him somewhere nice, perhaps even this tall grass field would be okay, but he didn't even have the strength to utter a single coherent word anymore.
As he was preparing to close his eyes and go to sleep forever, the lizardfolk walked up to him, took a good look at the human's wounded body, and spoke in a voice and said words that Rhemurus never expected to hear from a creature that has a reptilian throat.
"Hey there, you're still alive aren't you? Resist for a bit, alright?"
"...wh...wha..."
"Don't waste energy trying to speak, I'll heal you to the best of my capabilities, so hang in there."
And just like that, the lizardfolk opened a reptilian hand and several magic circles manifested in the palm. There was no mistaking it, the lizardfolk was casting a tier spell, the magic system of Yggdrasil.
So many questions flooded into Rhemurus' mind in that moment; why can a lizardfolk speak my language despite lacking human vocal organs? How can this creature use the magic of Yggdrasil? Is this a player too? Are the four of them players?
All these extraordinary events happening one after the other in such quick succession, without any break. Rhemurus - Tanaka Ito - simply couldn't take it anymore.
- Forget it, this is way too much, just let me rest, at least for now.
Without paying any attention to the healing magic permeating throughout his body, he closed his eyes for good and allowed his brain to turn off. He will take a long sleep and has no intention of waking up for a good long time.
[One minute ago]
"Darn it Vak-Mak, weren't you supposed to make sure none of these remaining beasts escaped?" The lizardfolk berating his teammate said out loud while running as fast as he could.
"I placed the best traps that I know how to make! That specific worg must be quite crafty, slipping through my traps like that." Replied the goblin.
As a rogue, Vak-Mak took great pride in his trapmaking skills, so he's quite upset that a beast was able to evade them, even if said beast was an intelligent worg.
"Be that as it may, that worg won't be alive for long. Zagdher gave it a fatal cut, and Sleyvo landed some good clean strikes as well, we just have to make sure that nobody else gets hurt before the creature succumbs to its wounds."
The one speaking with such calmness and authority was the party's leader; Hakuun, the eldritch knight ogre mage.
"Even so, should we really be hunting the beast? Nobody lives near this area, I doubt the worg will threaten anyone before it breathes its last. Better to let nature take its course."
As a druid, the lizardfolk Sleyvo believed in the balance of the world. Killing a creature that is too wounded to survive for long could be considered to go against the natural order.
"So should we let it agonize in a slow death, instead of granting it a swift end? That sounds a bit cruel from you, Sleyvo." Said the minotaur - Zagdher - running beside him.
"Mother nature is indeed cruel. And besides, we will still get paid regardless."
"All you think about is money? What kind of druid you are?"
"Says the gambling barbarian."
Their leader - who was flying above them with Vak-Mak on his back - decided to intervene in their argument.
"That's enough, you two. Even if one single worg escapes from our grasp, it will taint the reputation of Blade Cyclone, and I'm sure none of us wants that."
The adamantite adventurer group Blade Cyclone was the most famous and influential adventurer group in the Argland Council State.
Originally, their country had no need for adventurers - at least adventurers as they were originally known in the human lands nearby - because the combined military force of multiple and varied races united into a single banner led by ancient and wise dragons was always more than capable of fending off any type of dangerous monster attacks against their country, and it still is. Rather, it was the relatively young Sorcerer Empire - known back then as the Sorcerer Kingdom - who reformed the adventurers into what 'adventurer' really means; explorers of the unknown.
So effective these true adventurers were that the dragon councilors unanimously decided that they should have state-funded explorers of new lands of their own. Mainly because any new unclaimed territory that these explorers could find was basically free real state, all the unspoiled natural resources and fertile land falling into the hands - or talons - of the state always meant that most investments in the adventurer's guild always had good chances of returning huge profits.
However, there were occasional situations when adventurers for one reason or another had to take some of the monster-killing jobs that their obsolete predecessors did for a living. The most common reason was that the local militia simply didn't have individuals capable enough to push back monsters that are either too strong or too numerous, and there were even some adventurer parties that specialized in handling these rare occurrences, making them closer to a tactical unit than a team of explorers.
Blade Cyclone happened to be one of those, currently deployed to stop the advancement of some apocalypse priest that was babbling nonsense about how the world will be destroyed by some 'slumbering horrors that will soon wake up' or whatever. Nobody really pays attention to what these lunatics say, and authorities usually just let them be, but there's always the occasional apocalyptic preacher that through force, charisma, or both manages to raise up a small army to break havoc, just like Blade Cyclone's target did.
This specific doom priest - a gnoll spellcaster that was powerful enough to rally up a considerable force of multiple violent monsters under his paw - has been rampaging through the countryside for several days, endangering innocent lives and causing massive amounts of property destruction. The city watch already has their hands full with keeping the populace safe, so the council decided to deploy their strongest adventurer team to contain and - if deemed necessary - destroy the one responsible for spreading such anarchy.
It turns out that the gnoll wasn't that overwhelmingly powerful himself, a spellcaster capable of using 4th-tier magic isn't unheard of in this country thanks to the magical mentoring of the dragon councilors, with the country's magic schools being all staffed by spellcasters who were either mentored by a dragon councilor directly or were self-taught by pouring through the tomes written down by one or more of the councilors.
On top of all that, the Argland Council State also produces mages capable of using spells that no other country - not even the Sorcerer Empire - can teach because their most powerful councilor is the Platinum Dragon Lord, a practitioner of the ancient art known as wild magic. So even if nobody else can use that lost form of magic in the country, new tier spells are still being influenced by Tsaindorcus' ancient knowledge and developed by casters under his wing, magic sages who then pass on their knowledge to capable students.
However, the strange thing is that when Blade Cyclone made contact with the demented gnoll and his physical description was reported through a [World Message] spell to their superiors, nobody had any records of said gnoll ever attending any of the magic schools in the country. In fact, it was in the middle of their massive battle when the party was informed that said gnoll wasn't even a citizen of the Argland Council State. Stanger still, the gnoll wasn't using spells from the system that is taught in magic schools, rather he was using spells capable of healing and inflicting wounds, so there wasn't a single doubt that the crazed gnoll was a divine spellcaster, a true priest that obtained power through his strength of faith.
But regardless of how the gnoll obtained his power, he and his makeshift army were still defeated by the adamantite team.