6 Chapter 1.5 Life moves forward

Waking up I quickly filled the holes and packed my bag, setting out on the road. Walking is pretty boring like all it is one foot in front of the other and looking straight ahead.

I'm lucky that it's spring, meaning the sun isn't super harsh but it's still pretty hot.

Using this time I look through my stats.

*Name: Sekai Nosheka Okuno

Hp: 725

Cp: 750

Stats:

Str: 13

Dex: 14

Agi: 15

Con: 16

Int: 17

Wis: 14

Luk: 10

Elemental Affinities: Greater Fire, Strong Earth

Fps: (feet per second) 22*

Seems like I'm doing fairly good, but I can't help but feel... unsatisfied. 'Oh well, when I get to the Frost country I'll stop in a village and practice for a week or so, that'll give me some time to build up my Con and Dex at least' so with that I nod and continue on my way.

Funnily enough in just 5 minutes, I came across my first village!

It was a small one, and going by the amount of wood around I'd bet that it was a lumber village.

Walking through it for a bit it was very odd, while the town looked like it should be very wealthy with the amount of wood it cuts, instead, it looked to be mediocre at best, with a few people looking like shells of themselves.

Overall it was a very odd town, I honestly wanted to help out, the only problem was I didn't know-how.

Now a lot of people would say just hunt a few things and you'll be fine, after all, isn't that what you have jutsu for?

The problem with that comes from the chakra beasts.

Yeah, that thing that every Fanfiction always features? They're real, incredibly dangerous, and the entire content is infected with them.

Most of them aren't that strong, squirrels that can fly like birds, boars with hide as strong as a rock, wolves with electricity running through their fangs. But they are still powerful and most hunters have to go through a lot to hunt for their villages.

Luckily they don't interfere with the villages too much, but again, they make hunting hell.

Thinking about it for a second I look around then see a kid begging on the side of the road, he looked to be about 3 maybe 4 years old, old enough to talk at least, with a ragged worn-out blue shirt and baggy pants.

His eyes and cheeks were partially sunken and his voice raspy as he begged every person that passed him.

Seeing a child like this... pissed me the hell off.

So, I figured it was time to do something with that fire affinity of mine and went out into the forest.

Using some pen and paper I had in my bag I began to write ideas for what I wanted to make, these ideas briefly went through a multitude of different things.

From a string of fire that would whip at the enemy, to a flame thrower that I would breathe from in between my fingers.

eventually, I settled on a simple ball of fire that I would make in my fingers and then use to throw at my enemies.

Then came the worse and harder question, how was I going to make it?

For this I decided on simple experimentation, I would run through a set of hand seals I had made, see how they reacted, then I would record it and go over them again.

All in all, with twelve different hand signs and an infinite amount of them to use, it took around 4 to 5 hours to get some results, which came in the form of a ball of fire about the size of a baseball, and a *ping*

*you have created a new technique!

what would you like to name it?*

Luckily I already thought of one "Fire release: Finger fireball!" because it was a fireball, that came from my fingers... unique no?

The result was this.

*Fire release: Finger Fireball Lv 1

Active

An incomplete technique made by Sekai that uses the snap of the fingers to create a fireball, the fireball is meant to be launched but is unable to be launched currently

hand signs: Serpent → Horse → Ram → Tiger

120 Cp to make

10 Cp per minute to maintain*

All in all, it was an awesome jutsu that I had made, patting myself on the back I decided it was time to try for a hunt.

I entered the forest north of the village and began slowly and meticulously walking through it, the green of the forest turned a vibrant yellow in the sunrise at which I was hunting.

Now many may wonder 'why are you hunting in the sunrise?' well that was simple, it was when all the predators get tired and going to bed, and just before the morning animals were waking up.

It took a while but I finally came across my target, a giant boar about the size of a Volkswagon from my old world, with odd tusks that curved downward and lush green fur with a brown mane around its head.

From what I heard while scouting out around the village the area around the village was soaked with lightning chakra, meaning most mutations here have something to do with lightning.

Knowing this I decided to stalk it for an hour or so before actually fighting it, and I found a bit into my stalking that its mutation was speed, specifically in that for a split second it would go super fast, then come to a stop, from my stalkings I could conclude that there was a 10-second cooldown in between each "dash".

I had to be careful with this, so first I took a field adjacent to where it was and used Earth Release: hole around 20 times (I leveled it up 3 times!) all around the field, in places that were just barely large enough for the boar to either trip or slow down.

Now was the time I was most prepared to fight it *ping* I quickly looked at the pop-up and read it.

*Quest has been given: First Hunt

Objective: Kill the Mutated Boar

Rewards for Completion: Blueprints: boar cloak, 5 Int or Con (depending on how you beat the boar)

Penalties for failure: heavy injuries, death of the village*

Another quest... wait, you mean I haven't shown you guys?

How the hell did I forget to do that, like, what did you think that ping when I decided to leave the village was?

Know what, whatever, yeah, quests are a thing for me.

Getting back on track, I then moved up to the trees and found my target, and this was where the hard part came in. I took a pebble that I had grabbed from the ground, then I went through three different hand signs Ram → Ox → Dragon and I took a name that I had been toying with for a while "Earth Release: Pebble Shot!"

Throwing the pebble left a blue trail behind as it smacked into the side of the Boar, causing it to stumble a bit. I was given a brief second to admire my work and the fact that it worked... maybe this world would be fun after all?

Just as I had thought that, like an angry Aizawa to his baby students, the boar rushed my tree at superspeed and sent it tumbling down, causing me to jump out of the tree and into the field where holes were littered everywhere.

I was immediately put at an advantage as the boar tripped and fell from one of the holes. Giving me enough time to run through the seals again and pick up two pebbles and shout once more "Earth Release: Pebble Shot!"

This time one of the pebbles hits its left tusk, causing a tiny crack, while the other hit its nose, sending it reeling back, which left it open for me while I went through the hand seals "Fire Release: Finger Fireball!"

The ball of flame appeared on my finger causing me to quickly charge the boar, jabbing it in the side with the fireball, and just as I thought I would easily win this, I was hit by reality.

If reality was a Boar the size of a car going 70 to 90 mph straight at me when I tripped on the hole I MADE, then that sentence would be literal. Honestly, that wasn't the worst part, that came when the boar that charged me jerked his head upwards, causing me to fly into the air.

That didn't compare to when it donkey kicked me on my way back down though, honestly hitting the tree afterward was the best part about that combo.

I learned there on the ground, watching as the beast began to charge at me 'why did I think this was a good idea?' my vision began to blur.

'I'm just a coward... I couldn't even move when canon fodder wanted to kill me!' I remembered the bandit, as he held the knife to my throat, the terror I felt.

'So why... why am I still standing!?' I had gotten up, in a mockingly bad boxing stance, with my fists in front of me and feet off-balance.

'I should run, I should just leave, the village isn't my responsibility so why...' my teeth ground together, my muscles tensing, my fists clenching 'why the hell am I still here!'

The boar was 3 seconds away when the memory of the kid flashed in my mind, his gangly arms, his worn and torn shirt, his sunken eyes, and ribcage showing through holes.

At that moment, something in my heart ached, as I remembered my past life... I remembered the wars, the people left in poverty, the children that were forced to grow up because of when and where they were born, and the children forced to fight wars, to become killers.

'They shouldn't have to... they shouldn't have to worry, they should be playing, making mistakes, being young' I think at that moment, I forgot I was a kid myself, I hadn't thought of myself as a kid for a long time, even if I was.

'They should have the experiences, they should live the life...' the boar raised its head, it was only a second away, but that gave me my chance.

I channeled all the chakra I could into my fist, and stepped forward crouching low 'THAT I NEVER HAD!'

With a roar I leaped up, slamming my fist into its chin as the chakra burst from it, sending it into the air with a hole going from the neck to the brain.

With that I sit, catching my breath and thinking 'What... what was that about?' it took me a moment as that feeling settled in 'this feeling, is it... regret?'

It made me pause, did I regret my past life? I thought back to when I was six, the time I told my dad I wanted to be a superhero and he told me I could do anything I set my mind to.

That line led me on my life, where I studied hard, learned some martial arts (I forgot them after a year or two) It's what made my life, my life.

But I didn't have any friends after Billy died I didn't have any friends until I started the whole school idea about 4 years ago, when I met Nate and Brayden, Athena and Elle, even dickweed Jr was sorta my friend, even if I joked with him a bunch.

But at that time my childhood was over, by 12 I stopped being a kid, I opened my eyes to the world, and did I regret it?

As I focused on the past my mind showed me images I had forgotten. Kevin's face when we finished the hideout, made with a room for him, a homeless kid we met in the woods.

Jerry when I gave his abusive dad a bloody nose for coming up to the hideout and trying to punch his son. Jenny when I played a verbal smackdown on her mom's misguided Christian beliefs using the knowledge of non-misguided Christian belief.

Those memories and so much more, ones I forgot after so long... ones that made me feel a warmth that I hadn't in a long time.

'No... no, I don't think I do regret my life, I don't regret the mistakes, because if I hadn't made them... then I wouldn't have made the choices I did... I wouldn't have been the person I was.'

With my faith reaffirmed, I looked to my right hand to see it mangled and bloody.

So I got up, a message saying I completed the quest, gaining the blueprint and 5 points of Con, I began the process of dragging the boar to the village.

Remembering how long it was to the village I couldn't help but think 'It's gonna be a long road...'