7 Ruins

"Yes! I've seen it with both of my eyes!" a young man with white hair reported to one of the council members.

"I see. Continue observing this Akoru kid." A council member ordered.

***

"Ahhh I had a good sleep last night. Now, what should I do today?" Akoru followed up with a yawn.

Akoru was walking around the capital. He didn't have any plans to do for the day, so he scouted the capital.

When moving to a new place, scouting the place is always the smart move. Akoru didn't want to stay in that place without knowing the locations of certain buildings. He sees a weapon shop, clothes store, a flower shop, blacksmiths and a few more industrial stores.

After a few minutes of walking, he walks into a back alley. There were cats scavenging the trashes, dirty puddles of water and many tiny insects. It had a pungent smell.

Akoru walks faster to get out of the alley. A few minutes later, he sees a group of three people, one female and two male.

It looked like one of those movie scenes where the main character saves his heroine from thugs.

Akoru ambles to observe what's happening without being suspicious.

"Hey woman! You wanna hang out with us?" A tall bald man said.

"Yeah, It's gonna be fun, come with us," a young man added.

The girl had long pinkish red hair, blue eyes, charming face and an attractive figure. She had her hands in front of her in a defensive position. She mumbled something.

"What's that?" the tall man said while bending down to get closer to the girl's face.

Akoru passed by on the group of people with his hands in his pockets, staring at the girl while walking. He was waiting for something. The girl glares at him for a moment with a depressed look on her face, a look that someone would make while calling for help. Akoru stopped walking.

'I see. Heh!' Akoru smirked.

He walks behind the tall guy and tapped his shoulder.

"What are you doing to her?" Akoru asked. "You're not harassing her, are you?"

"Who's this little kid?" The tall guy asked his companion.

"Hell if I know" the smaller guy answered.

"That didn't answer my question" Akoru said.

"Hey, Kid! It seems you don't know your position here" The tall guy said and then grabbed Akoru by the collar of his clothes, pulling him upwards. This causes Akoru's head to heat up.

Akoru quickly kicked his jaw, causing his hands to loosen and release Akoru from being choked. Akoru followed up with a right elbow blow to the tall guy's chest, sending the guy flying back. He grasped his chest, while blood started spewing from his mouth.

The other man brought out a knife he was hiding from his back pockets. He swung the knife diagonally towards Akoru.

Akoru ducked low, barely dodging the knife. He kicked the enemy's feet, sweeping it sideways, causing him to fall. Akoru then jumped up. As he reached the peak of his jump, he rotated his entire body facing downwards and kicked the man in his face with his right foot.

He charges at the tall man again to deal a knee attack directly to the face, but the man blocked it. Akoru followed up with a right hook to the man's face, knocking him out. The two thugs fell unconscious.

Akoru checks the chest pocket of the tall man and sees the Chroma plate. He was level 36—which is 8 levels higher than Akoru.

In his world, Higher Level doesn't always mean they're stronger. Strength differs from people, for example, someone who spent all his points in Strength would be strong physically, but someone who spent all his points in Intelligence would have better magic proficiency. They would both be strong, but in different ways. Using strength effectively will make someone even more powerful than people that has higher level than themselves.

"Are you okay? Miss?" Akoru asked the young lady.

"Ye-Yes! Thank you!" the girl answered.

"My name's Akoru. You?"

"Itsune"

"Heh! I see. Then let's go!" Akoru walked away.

The girl follows her. "Where are we going?" She asked while reaching her hand towards Akoru.

"You decide. I'm just gonna stay near you until you get home." Akoru answered while walking with his hands in his pockets.

"Uh- Uhmm. It's fine. You don't have to follow me. I'm okay"

"Nope. I don't want to see a pretty lady being ganged up again by some weird dudes" Akoru said smiling.

Itsune's face turned red as she chases Akoru, who is getting farther and farther. "Then, I'll just go straight home"

"Eh? That's boring? Why were you here in the first place?" Akoru asked. "Don't you have somewhere to go?"

"I was going to buy ingredients for our lunch," Itsune answered.

Akoru stops and turns around to stand on the right side of Itsune. He put his hands on her right shoulder and said "Then I'll be your bodyguard for the day since I have nothing to do. Is that okay?"

"Its fine, but you don't have to fo-"

"It's decided! I'll go with you until you get home safely."

The pair went to the market and bought some fruits and vegetables. Akoru treated her to some snacks while shopping. They were laughing and having fun. By this time, they seemed to have gotten closer.

As they finished shopping, they started walking towards Itsune's home. It was on the North-east part of the capital. It's a pretty decent house in the middle of a block, it's made mostly out of wood, had 2 floors, and a few flower pots outside.

"Do you want to have lunch in our house?" Itsune offered as she took her shoes off, entering the doorstep.

"No. It's fine" Akoru replied scratching his head, smiling. "Then, See you later!"

Akoru walked away with a grin on his face.

He was walking to the Guild to get a quest. Then he remembers he hasn't eaten lunch yet.

He quickly went to Diona's to eat. Immediately after, he went straight to the guild. There were a few people inside. It seems like there was nothing important going on for the day. He heads to the Quest board.

[Gather Bull Horns x5]

[Submit 10 Iron Ingots to Larman Smithy]

[Collect Purple Alligator's Tooth x3]

[Collect Blue Rhino Horns x 1]

Akoru grabs a quest poster.

[Eliminate Ruin Golems]

[Head South-West to the Merchant's Ruins. Eliminate the golem roaming around the vicinity]

[Reward: 10 Gold Coins]

"This seems doable. If not, it's a good testing session." Akoru muttered, he was clearly excited as this is going to be his first time seeing a Golem.

Akoru immediately set off to the quest location.

…

Akoru is walking through a dry canyon. There were gigantic reddish rocks on both his sides with different layers, each with a different shade of orange, red and pink. The gigantic rocks were blocking most of the sunlight, dimming the whole canyon.

He walks through this path for about an hour before reaching a grassy plain. Direct sunlight stuck Akoru's eyes again as he saw from afar, a few huge pillars and debris of mossy rocks.

Akoru walked closer and saw a few small trees around the area and a large mound of mossy rock with a large hole in the middle. It seems to be the entrance to the old building that is now ruined and abandoned.

Akoru walked towards the entrance. The path was rocky and there were large rocks in the way. Akoru was climbing one rock when the ground started shaking. He fell from his position and dropped to the hard stone below. He suffered a few scratches and a direct, painful impact to his butt.

"Ow! What's Happening" Akoru stood up from his position and kicked the rock he was climbing. "This rock!"

He continued kicking the rock, then an enormous shadow suddenly projected itself from behind him.

Akoru looked behind and saw a large human-like figure with red glowing eyes. It was one of the rocks he was climbing. It had enormous arms, legs and a round body and was composed purely of the mossy rocks in the vicinity.

Akoru's eyes widened, his legs shook like crazy from the sight of this huge enemy.

"You're my target, huh? You're bigger than I thought you'd be," Akoru drew his sword and pointed towards the Golem with a nervous smile on his face.