7 Journey
When Kiro received the pendant from the chief Geoffrey; he suddenly recalled the reason he came to the Dainte forest.
"Okay chief Geoffrey, wait a moment, I almost forgot something, give me a moment."
Saying that Kiro went back to his room. Whilst he searched for his tattered black pant; then he scanned inside of its pocket. After knowing that the Greasy Grass was still intact. Kiro was relieved inside.
"Sorry for the wait." Going back to where the chief is, Kiro handed out the two pieces of three inches long Greasy Grass.
Upon seeing the Greasy Grass, chief Geoffrey wasn't shocked by seeing one but looked oddly at Kiro, who was handing him the rare grass.
"Kiro, what is the meaning of this? Why are you giving me two pieces of Greasy grass?" Chief Goeffrey exclaimed his confusion.
Staring at the confused chief, Kiro cleared out his gullet, as he soberly said. "Chief Geoffrey, just think of it as repayment for letting me stay here in your place. Plus, I am not shameless enough not to compensate for your generosity."
To him, these two pieces of grass were just a common object compared to the hospitality that chief Geoffrey showed him.
"It's fine, take it. I'm not short in money, and my conscience would not allow me to exploit the hard labor of the young one," Chief Geoffrey politely refused Kiro's generosity.
"Just take it as a parting gift. You don't need to worry, I have over eight left here inside my pocket." Saying that Kiro revealed the remaining eight pieces of greasy grass.
"See? There are eight pieces more. With this, I wouldn't worry about my travel expenses for a long while. So please accept it or else—I won't have a peaceful mind when I leave this village." Kiro urged the chief to take his gift, as he firmly stared at his eyes.
"... Okay, if it is for your peace in mind. I would gladly accept it." Putting away the greasy grass inside his pocket as he released a soft sigh.
"Mm," Kiro lightly nodded when he saw him accept his farewell gift. As he said. "With this, I can now leave this village with ease."
Hearing his voice, chief Geoffrey slightly sighed at the scene. "Haa~ young people nowadays, they are so hard to deal with." Watching Kiro, who was beaming with joy. He joggled his head in a headache.
The reason he helped Kiro was for him to diminish the lingering regret of his heart.
Now that he took care of his grief. Chief Geoffrey knew that Kiro doesn't want to be indebted to him while in actuality. He doesn't consider Kiro owes him a favor. In fact, it was the other way around. He was the one who owed Kiro a favor from his kindness.
Not only helped him to get rid of the shadow of his past. He even promised to help him take care of the family heirloom of his deceased son's wife.
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On the outskirts of the village.
Chief Geoffrey and Milo were standing at the west entrance of the village.
They are here to send off Kiro, who is about to set off for his journey.
Kiro did not forget to hand over a piece of greasy grass for Milo; at first, he tried to reject his offer. However, when Kiro showed him that, he still has seven pieces more. Milo couldn't help to shamelessly ask for more. But Kiro didn't give another to the shameless fellow.
"—well our meeting is short, but coming here reminds me of the warmth of having home along with your family. So, I will definitely come back here again, for a visit." Staring at the two, Kiro sincerely exclaimed his thoughts. After staying here in this village even if it is just a day. Deep inside his heart, Kiro felt warm.
Even more so, as he grew up in a rural area at his grandparent's place until he reached middle school. So it was a matter of course that Kiro felt nostalgic from the scenery and the cheerful atmosphere of the place.
Staring at the two people he ever first met upon descending from this world. Kiro was a tad bit emotional from parting. Even though their interaction was brief. The warmth that chief Geoffrey showed him was more than that. After coming from this world, Kiro's mental stability was in a mess.
That is why the virtue of old chief Geoffrey showed. Similar to a grandfather who was taking care of his wayward grandchild; it has more influence from Kiro's heart. The warmth he felt, the affection he showed, and caring that the chief gave to him has a lot of influence from the mentally unstable Kiro.
Even if he knew. Chief Geoffrey was only using him to get rid of his past regret. Kiro wouldn't mind it at all. Because he noticed the genuineness from his action.
"So—until we meet again, grampa," Kiro mumbles in an inaudible tone. Then he walked away without looking back.
However, Kiro never would've thought that after muttering those words out of sentiments. Chief Geoffrey caught up on his words.
Gazing at Kiro disappearing back, Village Chief Geoffrey's both eyes moisten.
As he stared at Kiro's disappearing back, the village chief's eyes moistened with contrasted emotion. He was happy when he heard Kiro called him grandpa at the same time. His guilt for using him to get rid of his past grief was slowly ebbing him in contempt.
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Kiro followed the road trail as he kept walking until the image of the Village of Dorest disappeared from his back.
"Hey Fixie, do you know when we would reach another settlement?" Kiro subconsciously blurted out a question.
"What do you mean by that, Master? Fixie has been sleeping for soo~ long that even Fixie forgot her current age is." Fixie grumbled in annoyances once she remembered that she has been sleeping for ages.
"Pfft, I almost forgot; you are a dormant lady. Unluckily the one who awakened you was not a prince like a story from folklore; rather, it was an otherworldly person." Kiro jested.
"Puuh~ Fixie is not old. Fixie is still young and healthy! Meanie Master Humph! Humph! Fixie won't talk to you anymore." Fixie coldly snorted as she voiced out her irritation.
Kiro didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing the little Fixie tantrum.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it, okay? Fixie is a lovely and cute young lady that will always listen to her Master; because Fixie is an excellent lady and a mature woman that won't mind Master's nasty joke." Kiro could only accept his defeat when he felt the impending wrath of his little fairy.
"Really? Fixie is a lovely and cute young lady? Is that true, Master? Hehehe~ Even if you are Fixie's Master. Fixie won't fall for you that easily! Humph, such a sinful Master~ No, no, no... Fixie is the sinful one, because of Fixie beauty even the Master is falling head over heels for Fixie!" She said while entering her delusional world.
This time Kiro regretted the decision of coaxing her. It doesn't help at all, and it was more like adding fuel to a pit of fire.
"Haa~now, now. It is time to wake up, I would like to hear a brief explanation about the statistics, even though I played video games in my former world. It was my first time seeing something like this." He has been wondering what statistics were all about since then.
The only game Kiro ever played in his former world was Streetfighter. The reason he played that game was to keep in touch with his friends and acquaintance from his school. So the knowledge he knew about this game was useless.
"Mm! Because Fixie is a nice lady, Fixie won't mind listening to Master's request." She said while still having the delusional dream inside her.
"Statistics is a data-gathering from the growth of the person. It was divided into eight categories."
"First is the strength. It enhances the physical power of the body. It also Improves the endurance and physical resistance of the person. While there is a hidden feature, once STR of a person is high enough. Self-healing function would be unlocked."
"Self-healing is a feature that enhances the person's body to have high tolerance from mortal illnesses."
"The next is Intelligence. It enhances the magical power of the body. As it boosted the person's memory and magical resistance."
"Dexterity improves the flexibility of the body as it enhances the agility of the person. Once the person DEX is high enough. It can even boost a person's reaction time."
"Now for the Concentration. It enhances the mental fortitude of a person. It also improves the marksmanship and the craftsmanship of the person."
"With high enough CON, there is a high probability of mental incursion defense to be born."
"Next is Charm. It boosted the drop rate from killing a monster inside the dungeon. Also, the chances that a person with a high charm to get attacked by creatures will slightly increase."
"Another one is Sense. It enhances the spiritual essences of the body. It also improves the danger-detection and perception of a person to discern traps inside the dungeons."
"With high enough SEN the person's perceiving the riddles would slightly increase."
"Last but not least Vitality. It enhances the lifespan of the body. As it also improves the person's health."
"If a person's VIT is high enough, the person can regain its youthful appearances."
After she explained to Kiro what is the use and the features of those stats. Fixie asked.
"Master may now notice this, but doesn't the Master's senses become sharper?"
Hearing her question, Kiro subconsciously gives a slight nod for acceptance.
After Fixie's long explanation, Kiro stops walking and then tries to digest the information he got.
If It were before, he wouldn't proactively try to ask this kind of question. He might even avoid it, right now with a sign of his growth, Kiro is accepting the reality of this world. Kiro was trying his best to adopt for his current self.
"Then... How on earth I nearly died because of that monster? Judging It died from my bite, It is definitely a weak monster, right? Given the high number of Strengths, it shouldn't be like that, right?" Kiro asked in confusion.
"About that Master, the blessing of the God of Creation only activated after you successfully unlock the System Upgrade, so only means Master base stats at that time was way much worse than an average person in this world."
"Then what about the weird sensation I felt, and why is my brain enhanced to the point, I can even utilize perfect memorization?"
"I don't know about the weird sensation you felt Master, but probably because after descending from this world. It was for the first time your body feeling mana of this world."
"The reason Master felt his brain was enhanced was because of Master Innate Skill [Appraisal] without an enhanced brain, Master's head will explode from an extensive knowledge that is flooding inside your head. So the reason Master felt his brain wasn't the same as before, is because the [Appraisal] skill enhances its user brain capability."
"Oh, now I get it. So it was like that. No wonder I felt my brain was being enhanced after receiving that massive knowledge and [Appraisal] skill."
"But... The current problem right now is, my charm, isn't a bit too high? Won't I attract monsters because of it?"
"Ah! About that Master, you do not need to worry. Your charm may be more eminent than the normal person. The effect only worked inside the dungeon. Any regular creature outside the dungeon won't be affected by the charm effect or else the human settlements would be long gone because of multiple people with immense charm."
"Haa~ you should have told me that from the very beginning, I was worried for nothing." Kiro was relieved to hear that the monsters outside won't be attracted by his high charm.
Unfortunately, his life and death experience was still fresh inside his head. Subconsciously, Kiro was terrified of the monsters.
Thinking until this point, Kiro muttered. "Well, eventually I will face a lot of monsters in this world. It may take a while for me to adjust. I must get used to it, the sooner the better." Kiro repeated the same words over and over again to remind himself that he can't always escape from this problem.
"Yes, Master is right! Go, Master, keep fighting!" Fixie cheerfully said, as if trying to boost the morale of Kiro.
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Along the way, Kiro was attacked by countless low-level monsters. But with his newly enhanced senses, he avoided most of the monsters. However, sometimes there was a persistence bunch that would keep tailing him, leaving him no choice but to fight back.
At first, Kiro was having a rough time dealing with low-grade monsters. But, if he wanted to adopt from the lifestyle of this world. He has no choice but to struggle with the frontal attack of these monsters. He knew that he couldn't always run from the trouble.
If he only wanted to avoid the monster he shouldn't leave the village from the first place. However, when Kiro thought of living a life inside the walls while he cowered in the dark as he bent his knee in fear. Hiding from the monsters with a daily routine of eating and sleeping whilst being afraid to set out his foot behind those walls.
How disheartening a life could be if he lived like that. It was only rotting himself until death arrived—while an image of a life like that flashed inside his head. Kiro proclaimed deep inside him.
'Why would I shrink back just because I am terrified of the monster? If I lived in the village peacefully, who could tell that monster won't attack the village where I am at? It was only temporary peace. Imagine living a life hiding behind those wooden walls while having a hard time sleeping at night due to the fact that a shadow of my incompetence has been haunting me...'
'I would rather charge into a group of monsters and face death than live a miserable life!'
That day when Kiro drew a perceptive line for himself, he already had a firm resolve not to abandon his will to live.
Standing straight up ahead, facing the unfamiliar world without knowing what awaited from the future. Charging bravely as he overcomes the tribulation in this fresh life.
As he followed the road trail. Kiro ultimately reached another village, staying there for two days and one night.
He sold a single piece of greasy grass for 40 pieces of silver coins from a peddler passing by.
The reason he sold it for such a cheap price from the marketplace, first because the freshness is slowly deteriorating, while the effectiveness of the medical herb is gradually dissipating.
Asking the peddler when he will reach the nearest town, the peddler said a half-day of travel he will reach a well-developed village with small inns for a traveler like him. Then after entering the village, a day of worth travel to reach the nearest town.
Hearing the peddler, Kiro gives him a slight nod, saying a word of appreciation.
"Mn, thank you."
"Not at all, it is me who should thank you for selling me this greasy grass for such a cheap price."
Saying his goodbye from the peddler.
Kiro continued to head toward the west.
