Kingdom of Munioko
Layla and I were back to upside world to the same room where we first met. She walked over to an hourglass, almost as big as her, sitting in one corner of the room and rotated it. The moment hourglass rotated, the room started glowing brightly. Once the glow had reduced, the room had changed it's appearance. It was now much cleaner and brighter. Even the outside was not dark anymore.
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Since I'm the origin, I have a duty to protect the upside down world. Using this hourglass, I can go back and forward in time. So usually I keep the world in a future state where no one is alive to make it seem like the place is completely ruined. Right now we are in present. This is the real upside down world." She replied.
"I didn't know you were strong enough to mess around with time itself. So, how are we going to start my training?" I asked.
"Right now we are having troubles with dragonoids. There is a drug problem in the kingdom of Munioko, so, let's go there and deal with some of the dragonoids on loose. They would be a good start since they won't be too high levelled."
"Sure." I responded. I didn't know what to expect but knowing Layla would be there gave me peace of mind.
...
Our journey was cut short by Layla just teleporting me there. We entered the walls of the capital and we were greeted by massive men and beautiful women with horns and tails. I could sense their power just by being in their presence. Ain't no way I'm dealing with them if one decides to attack me.
The streets were significantly bigger than any human kingdom I had been to while the houses were relatively bigger too. Apart from that, it seemed like any other kingdom from medieval ages.
Just as we were walking, someone bumped into me. The package fallen from his hand seemed suspicious since he quickly tried to grab onto it. As Layla had just told me about drug problem, I was on high alert.
"Hey, is the package okay?" I asked the kid but he got weirdly defensive and started running away. That's when I knew something was wrong but for now, I'll let it be. I've just entered the capital and I didn't come here to solve their problems. I only care about levelling up.
"Sir, we should go to adventurers' guild and see if something is posted about the drugs problem. Or would you prefer going to the castle and meeting the king himself?"
"I wonder... Let's go to adventurers' guild first. I think getting some on-field knowledge is better."
She nodded and showed me to way to the guild. We weren't going to register obviously. We checked the bullet-in board and almost all the commissions were regarding capture of drug syndicate.
I wrote down the details on paper before leaving the place. I don't want to interact with unnecessary people.
"So, first, there are slums on the outskirts of the capital which are high on drug related issues. Who would've thought?" I sighed. "We will go there first and see how bad the problem is. Our job is to only find the syndicate and defeat all members who are above level 40 and that's it. We are not here to solve their problem."
"Understood." Layla responded.
...
The slums were just as you'd expect. Run down buildings, messy streets filled with filth and malnourished population. That can't be solved no matter how optimistic someone is. Not only that but their poverty is none of my business.
We heard some commotion coming from just up ahead so we ran up to see two men fighting.
Both of them were merely level 15 so I was not as interested in fighting them but one of the guy's face had some red liquid smeared all over.
"Is that some sort of drink?" I asked Layla. Maybe they're intoxicated.
"Not that I remember. I haven't left the room ever since the five of us came into existence. All the information I have is given to me by the assistants of the sovereign dragons."
"I see." I clicked my tongue and tried freeing the fight up when one of them punched me which sent me flying into a building. I stood up wondering how someone of his level could do that to me. I charged at the man and blasted his face with fire ball but he barely got any burn marks. It was weird since my attack was a serious one. He is too strong to be level 15. I could easily put him near Rosaline's level...
The guy attacked me but I quickly put on the shield and took out the Polaris. I'm not adapt at using bows but since I have a shield I don't have to worry too much about being interrupted. I took my sweet time to aim at him and shoot the arrow with all the fire elemental energy I could put in. it went right through his head and he fell down lifeless. This sudden death caused panic to erupt as everyone started running around trying to escape the situation.
Layla checked on the corpse to see how he was this strong.
"He was using some sort of stat enhancing substance." She informed me.
Stat increasing substance isn't that uncommon actually but they don't make you twice as strong. Even the most elite class of enhancing substance can make you 20% stronger. This was entirely unheard of for someone to become twice as strong. But additionally, these stat increase are always indicated in the status window. It means it wasn't his own stats but something else working entirely on its own.
"Could it be the drugs?" I asked and she shrugged.
"My guess is as good as yours."
"What is the possibility of the upside down world to retaliate against the outside world?" I asked.
"Why are you asking?"
"If they have any intentions to start a war, these drugs could be beneficial for the upside down world. I wonder if the king is allowing these drugs to flourish."
"The dragons once ruled the world but that was taken away by us. I wouldn't be shocked if they do think about using these drugs." She replied.
"I won't be too shocked if it is the nobility and royalty that distributed these drugs in the first place to see the effects." I sighed. It was so tiring.
"Ignoring this could become an issue. But it would go against our primary motive."
"We will not interfere." I said before checking my level. I need to defeat hundreds of such men to reach level 40. I wonder where I could get to fight so many."
"Maybe their hideout?"
"Good idea. But tracking them down might become an issue."
"Yes but I can teleport to the person who gave this person the drugs." Layla said.
"HOW- Y'know what... Nevermind. Let's just go."
She teleported me to a damp building with nothing inside.
"There are people on first floor." She told me before walking carefully towards the staircase.
"Are all on drugs?" I asked and she shook her head.
"I can't know. These drugs don't show up as status change so I can't know."
I nodded and walked upstairs while Layla managed the rear. I punched down the door and jumped in to see thousands of experience points.
"Okay so who do you get your drug supply from?" I asked but a massive man stood up and walked up to me menacingly staring down at me.
"Kid, are you lost?" He asked but I punched him with all my might but he didn't budge whatsoever. I checked his level and he was level 25. He has taken those drugs in high quantity I think.
"Funny... I couldn't do any damage."
"Looking for a fight?" He raised his arm to attack me but I activated my shield which tanked the attack from his fist.
"Is that... a shield? He must be not that strong." One of the man said. It was true that all shields were based on defense stat so shield users tend to be just tanks and not damage dealers but mine was based on HP so it was different. I still didn't have access to any HP related swords so my shield was not as strong but considering my level I could tank some attacks now from enemies of lower level.
"You're wrong." I said before taking out Heavenly Almanac. It was HP based weapon but additionally, every attack I did was considered elemental damage since it was magic book. I surrounded myself with fire magic and started punching the giant man. Every attack I did made the flames stronger since I was using air magic. Something akin to firenado. He tried defending himself and attacking me but neither really worked. Other men got up with their weapons and tried attacking me but again couldn't do anything because of the shield. It could break anytime though and I have to wait a few seconds before activating it so I have to be careful.
"Sir, need help?" Layla asked but I refused. I need to become better fighter. I took out Polaris and shot arrows made of ice at them to quickly cool them down. It should cause significant damage. I then used water lotus to freeze the enemies and then again fire magic to quickly heat them up. The tandem between freezing them and melting them quickly started chipping away their health and my shield kept me from taking any damage but suddenly all of them attacked at once and my shield broke.
Layla was about to jump in too but I quickly used all my energy to create another water lotus and sweep them away and it worked.
"You've gotten better." Layla complimented me as she sheathed her sword.
"YOU!" The giant man punched me really hard in the stomach making me cough blood and fall onto my knees. Just then he was sliced in two parts. I looked back at Layla as she sheathed her sword.
"My apologies. I deemed it necessary to interrupt." She said.
LEVEL UP: Level 36 reached!
I checked my status and I had reached level 36. At least beating these people give more exp points.
She... was she so fast I couldn't even see her come from behind me, slice a man almost five times bigger than me in half and move back?
I used healing magic and stood up.
"I can't imagine getting on same level as you." I said and she shook her head.
"There are ways. I'm just one part of the primordial one. Someone was once able to go toe to toe with them so I do know it is possible." She responded.
"Someone...? Is that someone alive?"
"Unfortunately, he was a mere human so he died before primordial one split into five parts."
"That sure sucks." I responded and checked the surrounding and found a ton of bags filled with the red dye. I checked the status and it showed:
Niksh: A enhancement drug that makes the individual twice as strong in return of their life (HP is not life.)
It actually specified that it takes away literal life and not HP. I wonder if the distinction is because it literally kills the person because 0 HP means the person would faint and not die.
"They must be trying to make a drug that doesn't have such severe side effects." I said and Layla nodded.
"Lets go report it to royalty and see how they respond." Layla said and I agreed.