Chapter - 8 - To Rutherglen [1]

『For those who read the unedited version of the last chapter, I would recommend you to go and read it, I've changed a part so this chapter may come as weird.』

"Alright, we are ready to set off!"

Standing next to a cart, the man from last night called out to no one particularly. When they heard it, around twenty people got in the vehicle with Lucas and Joshua being the last two. Even though the cart looked like it could break at anytime with a thin fabric covering it, its interior was like a bus but not at the same time. It looked like a image from one of those futuristic photos with the 'thin fabric' looking like a glass covered with titanium instead. A few blue lines were displayed on the glass.

When they took their seats, a woman who looked quite muscular spoke up.

"Make sure you guys read the information displayed on the glass. They are based on the beasts we may possibly encounter."

Once done with her speech, she sat back to her seat. Following her words, everybody looked at the glass that covered them as they started to touch it. Just like a plasma screen, the glass was covered with pictures and articles. When Joshua was completely engrossed on it, Lucas tapped on his shoulder with a beaming smile.

"Cool, right?"

Without thinking much, Joshua nodded his head at him. He knew the technology was advanced but seeing it with his own eyes was a whole different experience.

"Yeah."

Seeing how amazed Joshua was, Lucas tried to strike up a conversation.

"I was also astonished to see this level of technology at first, we didn't have these type of things in our village."

"Oh..."

Lucas noticed Joshua's interest in this topic as he replied with a smirk.

"Well well, if you want me to tell you more about it, you need to tell me about yourself first."

Joshua thought for a second but the answer was already set. Lucas was the first person that took the initiative to approach him other than Ruby. Of course that didn't mean he trusted him or anything but he didn't want to waste this chance of getting close to someone.

"I... left my home. I have a few things I need to buy in Rutherglen and if things work out... I may become an adventurer or some sort."

"Oh, an adventurer? Even if you are 'fifteen' as you say, you still need to come of age to register as one. Are you planning on spending a year in Rutherglen?"

Ignoring Lucas' tone when he said 'fifteen', Joshua replied casually.

"Yeah, I know. There isn't much time left for my birthday though, so I'll wait for that."

Around 5 weeks, to be exact.

"Ohh~. Happy early birthdays~~."

"Thank you. Mind telling me your story now or..?"

"One last thing. Why were you so deep in the forest?"

"Ah.. that. I was chased by a group of wolves when we were travelling by horses. My horse was heavily injured and I had to run far away from the others because of the three that chased me. After a long day, I came across you guys."

"I see... It must have been hard. Are you okay now?"

Even though his lie was made up on the spot, Lucas believed him without a second thought. It was because of the clothes Joshua wore yesterday. After dealing with Midnight, he didn't have enough time to think about his clothes so when he met Lucas, his whole clothes were covered in blood and tattered from all the running he did.

But it was weird that the man from yesterday didn't think much out of it. Did he perhaps think he was attacked on his way or he just didn't see it because it was dark?

'I'd be freaked out if a boy with pale skin and dark messed up hair covered in blood would come up to me in the middle of the night from nowhere. Was that guy Buddha in disguise?'

"It's a good thing you had some spare clothes with you then, it will take a long time to reach Rutherglen, after all."

"Yeah... Now, its your turn."

"Alright alright~~, my story isn't anything special. I'm just going to Rutherglen to hunt some beasts and make some money out of it."

"...So you are a merchant?"

"No-no. My real goal is the military. I've did my best to save money till now to hopefully attend an academy one day but its just too expensive. So, I'm going to go to the military instead."

When Lucas replied with a shrug, Joshua was confused. As far as he knew, the military was supposed to be free because of the shortage of people, was it different then what he knew?

Seeing the questioning gaze Joshua gave him, Lucas understood what he was thinking without a need to say. He already had multiple people from his hometown asking the same question.

"...I know what you are thinking, the classes are free and a dorm room is provided as long as one joins but you need your own money to make us of facilities and eat something other than a dry bread and dirty water. You either need to have a high ranking or money to survive as a human being there."

"Ahh..."

Joshua finally made sense of the situation. Just because the humanity needed power figures didn't mean they were desperate enough to serve a red carpet for anyone. They prefered quality over quantity.

"So its 'survival of the fittest', huh?"

"Yeah..."

"But couldn't your parents or people you knew help you or why didn't you choose a way safer way to make money? I don't get it."

Lucas shook his head at Joshua's question, he had a sorrowful look.

"I'm an orphan. Ever since I came of age, I was forced to leave the orphanage. People from my village helped me out for the last year but I can't live off people's bread forever."

"I see."

A look of understanding appeared on Joshua's face.

Even though it still wasn't clear, he was reminded of his past life.

With having the lowest grades in his class on graduation, his family had to spend quite a lot of money for him to get into a college but even so, he was never really interested in what he studied about. If not for the reading homework his literature teacher gave him, he would never even be interested in writing either.

But once he discovered a whole another world in the book, he had the urge to force himself in the book and take a look at everything and anything. This part of him never died even once.

"What about your parents?"

Bringing Joshua out of his thoughts was Lucas' voice as he struggled with something in his hand. When he looked at his hands closely, he noticed that Lucas was struggling with the tangled earphones in his hands. He stretched his hands to him, making him give the earphones to him.

"One of them is dead while I talked things out with the other. I am in the clean as long as I keep in touch."

With a single pull of his hand, the earphones were untangled. Lucas was amazed, it normally took him around two minutes to solve it.

In truth, most people used earbuds nowadays but there were still some who prefered using the ones with wires. Lucas was one of those selected few, other than the fact that it wasn't really his choice but rather the cost.

"I see."

As the awkward silence sunk in once more, Joshua opened his mouth.

"But why not try and make more money to attend an academy instead? As far as I know, there should be some where any people of any age can enter."

"Hah, do you expect me to attend one when I'm 50?"

"But wouldn't they force you to work till your 50s in the military anyways?"

"Yeah, that's usually the case but I'm planning on doing my best to avoid signing a strict contract with them. All I have to do is stay low and not get in their nerves for around 10 years."

"You sure you are fine with it?"

"Even if I'm not, it doesn't really matter though."

Joshua wanted to prevent the awkward silence but now it was a depressed awkward silence.

'Mission failed successfully, If I were to say'

Once Lucas put on his earphones, he was already lost in his own world. Following after his lead, Joshua looked around the bus- ah no, the cart.

With the two of them sitting at the second last row, he could also see most of the people from his seat. Other than Lucas and him who were obviously the youngest in the bunch, most people looked like they were in their early thirties. Every one of them held onto their respectful weapons tightly as they read about the information or talked between themselves. He decided it would be the best decision to read about the information.

He looked at the plasma screen and the information displayed on it. The information was mainly about the beasts, animals and herbs in the area with a big map of the forest at the ceiling which was updated by their location every minute.

'Woah...'

He was astonished about this level of information. Did he accidentally came across a royal coach in disguise?

Just thinking that this was the basic level of information presented to literally anyone, his heart started to beat much faster when he thought about the detailed information humans had.

But this only left him with one question.

'If humans are already this advanced in technology and have a high understanding about the beasts and stuff... why are they in the losing end?'

It really was incomprehensible. Did it mean the other races had something far superior?

After a few hours of contemplating and digesting the information carefully, the cart come to a stop.

"A pack of beasts! Everyone, get ready!"

The voice belonged to none other than the woman who told everyone to read more about the beasts. Considering the urgency in her tone, Joshua quickly got up and tapped Lucas' shoulder in hopes of waking him up. Thankfully, Lucas woke up when a huge growl was heard outside.

--𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘸𝘸𝘭𝘭𝘭!!!

No, it wasn't just 'a' growl.

When they were outside, Joshua was dumbfounded. His whole point of view was filled with wolves with red fur who were each nearly 2 meters tall. Their huge frame and their crimson eyes were more than enough to make a kid cry.

But the reason why he looked at them blankly wasn't because of what beasts were in front of him but rather how many there were. Joshua couldn't count the exact number because of the adults blocking his view though.

He quickly activated his level 2 [Observation] skill.

====================

◌〔Canis Rufus〕◌

Rank: <E->

<[The User's skill level is too low for further information.]>

====================

Thankfully, they were <E-> ranked beasts that even Lucas could handle two or three of them. Unfortunately, their numbers were too high for them to underestimate them.

Using his [Observation] skill on some of the individuals who looked strong, Joshua got a general idea of their strength. With the strongest being around <C+> rank, most were bordering<D-> rank so the situation wasn't that dire.

Coming closer to the woman before, a relatively thin man reported.

"A pack of wolves. There seems to be around 50 of them."

What the heck...? Fifty? Are you sure its not fifteen?

Unlike Joshua who was looking at the red fur and the long canine teeths the wolves had with a shiver, the woman responded quickly.

"All tanks to the front! Get in formation!"

With her shout, everybody did as she told other than Joshua, who was forced to stay behind.

He was contemplating about something.

If he remembered correctly, there was supposed to be a [Quest] system with the [Achievements] he could receive. The only downside was, he didn't have any way to fight with those monsters. Sure, he had his daggers but trying to attack those huge monsters would only result in him destroying everyone's formation and getting himself and everybody here killed.

Left with no choice, he stood closer to the cart. Some people noticed him, including Lucas, but they decided to ignore it as he looked nothing more than a weak kid.

Taking advantage of it, Joshua took out the 〘The Linker〙from his pouch as he hid it in his pocket. Injecting his mana into the box in the corner, he looked at the fight in front of him as he activated [Stealh] on his needles. He felt dizzy because of the amount of mana he was using at the same time but it was tolerable.

-𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬!

-𝘒𝘭𝘢𝘮

-𝘞𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘱!!

-𝘛𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘨

With a myriad of sounds of blocking, hitting, cutting and shooting arrows, it really looked like a bloody battlefield. The more they killed the wolves, the fiercer they became while their lose were starting to have some loses with a tanker collapsing.

From the corner of his eye, Joshua could see Lucas shooting arrows as drops of sweats accumulated on his forehead. He was struggling hard to keep up with the adults and monsters.

Trying his best to keep his cool, Joshua directed his needles to the wolves. He couldn't attack their eyes as that would be too obvious no matter how thin his needles were so he chose to attack the front legs when there was around 20-25 wolves remaining. He made sure he chose the thinnest needles he had to avoid suspicion even though he doubted anyone would be calm enough to notice what he did.

𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘩--

Once the needles pierced their legs, the wolves lost their balance, allowing their side to attack them more easily.

Of course, Joshua wasn't planning on letting them steal his kills. He redirected his needles to the wolves' stomach, where their flesh were the softest. He made sure he sent around 3-4 needles per each to make sure the wolves were dead with a swift motion. Thankfully, even though it wasn't fatal for all of them, nearly half of them were dead. Joshua knew the only reason for that was because they were thoroughly worn out by the adults but as long as he got the kill steal, it was all fine.

He knew there was a long way for him to actually take an active part in the fight against beasts anyways.

After a few more minutes of continous fighting, the whole pack was dead with 6 loses on their side.

====================

⊗<[Congratulations! You have killed a beast for the first time! 500「Achievement Points」 will be given!]>

⊗<[Congratulations! You have killed a beast for the first time! 500「EXP」 will be given!]>

⊗<[Congratulations! You have killed a〔Canis Rufus〕for the first time! 200「Achievement Points」 will be given!]>

⊗<[Congratulations! You have killed a〔Canis Rufus〕for the first time! 200「EXP」 will be given!]>

⊗<[Congratulations! You have killed 8〔Canis Rufus〕! 80「Achievement Points」 will be given!]>

⊗<[Congratulations! You have killed 8〔Canis Rufus〕! 80「EXP」 will be given!]>

...

⊗<[Congratulations! You have leveled up! You are now Level 3!]>

⊗<[Congratulations! Your skill [Stealth] has leveled up! It is now Level 1!]>

====================

Joshua was delighted as he tried his best to keep his composure. He didn't want anyone to think of him as a maniac who laughs at the dead of people after a long fight.

Because of what they have been thorough, they decided to take a rest and loot the wolves while they were at it.

If they were to come across another pack with their tired selves, it would be a quick speedrun to the other side, after all.

But of course, they didn't plan on resting right next to the corpses either. With 5 of them looting the wolves and skinning them, the rest took the cart to a place bit away from there.

Thanks to his 'zero contribution' during the fight, Joshua was forced to help with bandages. Unlike the ones from Earth, these ones had a sticky and elastic feeling to it, it was like holding a slime, making the one feel weird. He kept repeating the process of wrapping the bandages and applying ointment on people.

...It wasn't a pleasurable experience.

After he was done with that, he took a bottle of water and went to find Lucas. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, he felt extremely uncomfortable by the weird gazes the last 12 adults gave him. A part of them looked at him as if he was a prey, some were unhappy, some were grateful and the most were... weird.

Luckily, Lucas wasn't too hard to spot with the enormous bow he carried.

He sat down next to him as he passed the bottle of water. There were no words exchanged as they stood in silence but in reality, they were all to exhausted to speak.

'System, how much mana do I have left?'

====================

[MP] = 7/50

<[It is recommended for the user to make sure their MP isn't any lower than 5 points to avoid fatal health issues.]>

====================

"What the-!"

"What's it?"

Just as he was about to shout, Joshua managed to hold himself back. He forgot that he was next to Lucas for a second.

"Ah. I am sorry, I thought I saw a huge cockroach."

"...You are not scared of those gigantic wolves and a single cockroach?"

"It's just a preference."

Trying to put the weird look Lucas gave him, Joshua thought back to how the adults looked at him, it really was the difference between heaven and earth. Shaking his head, he focused back on the last sentence the system said.

'I avoided a death flag albeit barely... I need to be careful about how much mana I use in the future..!'

"Everyone, unfortunately, we couldn't find any beast cores but we will distribute the spoils of battle according to the number of beasts one has killed! Gather here!"

When Joshua looked at the source of voice, he noticed it was the same thin guy from before. Lucas from his side got up and headed off to there after lightly patting his shoulder.

Watching them from his side, Joshua remembered that he also gained quite a lot from this. He called out to the system while the others were a bit far away.

When faced with the black and light cyan screen again, he quickly noticed that the letters [Quests] was written with were now white, signifying that it was now available for him. When he clicked it, three options of [Daily], [Weekly] and [Monthly] were displayed in front of him.

The second he was going to click on [Daily], Lucas was already back.

"Hey, it seems like it takes around an hour or two from here to Rutherglen so we decided to continue as soon as possible before the sun sets. Let's go."

Joshua took out his phone and he could see that it was already [16:44]. Considering that the sun sets around 18:00, they had a very little time so he nodded his head and followed his lead.

He had no time to waste since his mother was drying at every passing second.

『Author Note: I just remembered that I was using the 24-hour clock all the time, for those who uses 12-hour one, its [4:44 pm] and [6 pm]. I'll make sure to leave notes from now on with this parentheses.』