Cheating random villager

Kad was just an ordinary villager from Riverwood Village, but he had always nurtured dreams of leaving the village and becoming an adventurer. Despite his lack of talent for magic or sword, he never gave up and continued training.

These days, when he was 17 years old, he already managed to reach level 3! Which only served as further proof that he was a complete trash as other villagers of his age reached level 5 or 6 without putting in as much effort.

Kad let out a sigh as he remembered his slow progress. Right now, he was in the forest to cut some wood as a punishment, because he was training his swordsmanship the whole morning and forgot to feed the chickens.

"If only I had some talent," he mumbled, a touch of frustration in his voice, when he picked up a stick in the shape of a sword.

Kad swung the stick several times, completely unfocused on his woodcutting duties, when he unexpectedly spotted something in the distance. About twenty meters in front of him, a wolf emerged from the deeper part of the forest.

"Wolf?!" Kad thought, his heart racing at the sight. He had never encountered a living wolf in his entire life, and now he was suddenly faced with one. His mind was a complete mess as he panicked.

"Calm down, Kad," he muttered to himself. He had dreams of becoming a hero, so he couldn't afford to panic over a mere wolf. After a moment, he managed to regain his composure and held the stick as though it were a real sword, pointing it toward the wolf in the distance.

At that moment, the wolf charged at him, and Kad braced himself, ready to confront the incoming beast.

As the wolf drew closer, Kad swung his stick downward in an attempt to defend himself. However, the wolf was swift and agile, easily dodging his attack and jumped on him, knocking him to the ground. 

He was utterly defeated in one move.

"It's over," Kad thought, no longer resisting. His sense of incompetence overwhelmed him, he just wanted to die now.

The wolf was about to claim his life, when a fiery projectile suddenly struck it, knocking it down from Kad's chest.

"Huh?!" Kad opened his eyes, when he felt the weight on his chest disappearing. He looked around, confused, and found the wolf lying motionlessly five meters away with an ugly burnmark on his side.

Kad turned slowly in the direction of the projectile and saw a man shrouded in a dark robe, his face couldn't be seen under the hood, but there was a mysterious aura surrounding him, sending shivers down Kad's spine as he gazed upon the powerful stranger.

"Is that a magician?" Kad thought, his mind struggling to accept the reality before him. Could his dreams finally come true?

He heard many stories about powerful magicians, who came to a village and for some reason decided to take someone on an adventure with them. And today, something similar really happened, or at least the first part.

"Be careful next time, there are some real monsters in this wood." Wain warned him and began to turn away, but a determined voice halted his departure.

"Master, please take me with you," Kad begged him, dropping to his knees. He couldn't afford to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

"Unfortunately, I have no need for an apprentice," Wain initially replied, but then he looked at Kad again and fell into a deep thought.

"Would you like to become a hero who would fight against a great evil?" He asked.

Kad's heart raced with excitement. "That's my ultimate dream!"

It was really happening. He will become a hero. Please don't wake me up!

"So, you don't mind any circumstances as long as you become a hero?" Evil sneer formed under Wain's hood, but Kad didn't notice it.

"Yes," Kad responded without hesitation, his second thought being that maybe no, but he didn't want to lose this opportunity and return to feeding chickens. "I don't mind dying as a hero." He declared, determined.

"Don't worry, dying won't be necessary." Wain had trouble holding his excitement, perhaps Ollios did a wrong job at cleaning this emotion.

Wain browsed through the Chaos Shop, finding out that servant contracts cost over 10 Chaos Points, so he took out a sheet of normal paper instead.

"However, I can't let just anyone know of my secret, so you would need to sign this contract." Wain continued, with an evil smile, as he lied through his teeth about the contract.

Kad obviously didn't have any knowledge regarding contracts. He didn't know how to read either, so he just guessed the content of the paper before him. If it was a contract, then his soul would probably be mentioned in it, right? His thoughts went wild.

He considered whether to sign the contract for a while, until he decided to do it. It can't be worse than living here, right? He thought and placed his hand on the paper, repeating the oath after Wain.

"I, Kad, swear on my life that I will always uphold the terms of this contract," he said eventually.

"Great, then from today onward, your name will no longer be Kad but Kadden… Kadden Langley" Wain said a random name that was stuck in his mind. "We will leave immediately. Do you want to inform your parents that you are leaving?" Wain asked.

"Yes." Kadden replied, realizing the weight of his decision. Did he do the right thing? He couldn't help growing nervous, but he followed Wain nonetheless.

"System: You have somehow completed the quest [The First Step], receiving 10 Chaos Points."

Wain frowned, seeing the notification, but he agreed that he cheated.

...

On their way back to the village, Wain and Kadden encountered a group of five youths who had obviously been waiting for Kadden. The leader of the group, Jadon, fixed a mocking gaze on Kadden as he remarked, "So, Kad, you've finally arrived. Did you manage to make a new friend?"

Jadon was a talented youth from the wealthiest family in Riverwood Village, and in his eyes, someone like Kadden, who lacked both wealth and talent, wouldn't be worth his notice.

Yet, there was a reason he had been lurking here, ready to confront Kadden. It was all because of Kadden's strikingly handsome appearance. Despite his lack of resources or skills, Kadden's good looks had made him the talk of the village, causing Jadon to be jealous.

He, and many other boys didn't like Kadden, because of his popularity among the girls. To vent their frustration, they often found him in such a situation and beat him up.

None of them expected Kadden would find a friend, though he was a weird one, wearing black robe without showing his face. But for Jadon and his gang, it didn't matter. With a 5-to-2 advantage, they believed they would have no trouble teaching Kadden's friend a lesson about the true nature of his "trash" companion.

"Jadon..." Kadden's face drained of color as he saw Jadon. Normally, he would have begged them to spare him, but this time he had his newfound master and he didn't want to appear weak in front of him.

"You're not going to beg? How dull," Jadon sneered. "Beat him, guys. Let's see how long he can keep up this act." Jadon's laughed. He had been in a bad mood all day after his girlfriend broke up with him, saying he was ugly compared to Kadden. 

Why did it always have to be him?! He raged, preparing to beat Kadden, when Kadden's "friend" suddenly spoke.

"Ah, we're actually in a bit of a hurry, so if you could make it quick," Wain notified them, unaware of the situation. He thought they were merely Kadden's friends and he wanted to bid them farewell.

"Make it quick?!" Jadon fumed. "Who do you think you are? Change of plans, guys. Let's start with this fellow." He wasn't in the mood to get ordered around today.

Wain was taken aback. "Why me?" He couldn't understand the situation, but facing the approaching youths, he had to defend himself.

One of them tried to throw a punch at Wain, but with the difference in levels, Wain easily caught his wrist and crushed it.

"Aargh!!" The youth screamed in agony. Wain's movements were too fast for him to react in time, not to mention defend himself.

"You-!" Jadon was equally stunned, but his words remained stuck in his throat, when he saw the astonishing scene before him.

Several fiery spears suddenly materialized around the man in the black robe, scaring silly Jadon and the others. They absolutely didn't expect Kadden's companion to be strong, moreover a magician… They were doomed!

Jadon wished to turn back time, when he saw the fiery spears closing in, but it was already too late.

"Let's go." Wain said and walked towards the village, while Kadden was stunned by what just happened.

He killed them! Kadden panicked. He heard that one shouldn't mess with magicians, but he didn't expect these rumors to be so true. Moreover Wain did that without a second thought. He grew nervous, unsure whether he wouldn't disappoint his new master. He didn't want to end like Jadon and the rest.

He took one last glance at his previous bullies, before running to catch up to Wain.