38 First group companion.

POV: Dylan Oakwood "Rookie Guide"

I sat at one of the tables in the main hall of the Guild, waiting for "The Golem" to return, or as I now knew him, Devas.

"The Golem, can't disagree with that nickname, especially seeing him in person," I murmured as I watched the man present proof of his mission to one of the Guild attendants and a little girl. The proof was the lifeless bodies of a complete Direwolf pack.

I shuddered slightly as I saw the corpses appear one by one, reaching an incredible number of twenty-two, the last being the body of an alpha in its full maturity.

I could see the gazes of lower-level contractors present changing with each carcass Devas pulled from his Travel Space.

I could practically feel the disbelief, admiration, envy, and fear conveyed by those looks. It wasn't without reason, as Direwolves were known as newbie killers for a reason.

Direwolves were much larger, aggressive, resilient, strong, and, most importantly, much more intelligent than any other beast in their family.

They set ambushes, hunted with planning, but what made them so feared by low-level contractors was that, unlike common wolves, which didn't have much mana in their bodies, Direwolves saw and hunted humans as prey.

All this ignoring the fact that they always hunted in packs, never alone, and if a pack had a fully matured alpha?

I shuddered slightly just at the thought. A large pack with a fully matured alpha could probably pose a threat to an entire party of silver-ranked contractors.

"No," I shook my head. It would likely be dangerous even for a small group of steel-ranked contractors, and yet here I was, watching a lone man pull dead body after dead body of such beasts from a small bag.

I was pulled from my thoughts by Devas' voice coming from the other side of the table.

"Sorry for the delay, had to finish delivering the proof to complete the mission," he said as he sat on the other side of the table in front of me.

I had to calm my heart before speaking. For a man his size, he was deceptively quiet; I hadn't even noticed his steps before he spoke.

"No... it's nothing, I'm glad you agreed to talk to me." Darn it. Why couldn't I even hold a conversation properly? What will he think of me stuttering like this?

"Anyway," he dispelled the strange atmosphere at the table with a wave and restarted the conversation. "My question stands, why me? I'm just a bronze rank, and from what little I know about the Guide Order, they should have people to help you in this situation."

That was true; the Order had contacts in the Guild in case a guide wanted to become a contractor. I would just need to ask one of the Order's superiors, and I would have someone to escort me while I did missions.

Not to mention my older sister... but I wouldn't ask her for help even if I were dead!

I organized my thoughts to not keep Devas waiting and began to speak.

"Yes, the Order has something like that, but I didn't want to depend on them. I wanted to see for myself what the real world was like, so to speak." It was true; I was tired of being treated like something fragile, like a delicate porcelain decoration.

He hummed to himself while tapping his fingers on the table.

"I understand, to some extent, taking risks is good, takes you out of your comfort zone. But why me? After all, there are dozens of people here." He waved his hand towards the hall. It was true; there were dozens, if not more, Guild contractors right at that moment, both low and high ranks.

"And you seemed afraid of me too, for some reason. That just makes your decision to want to form a group with me even stranger," he finished, turning his attention back to me.

I swallowed hard under his gaze, but gathered my courage and began to speak. This was my chance to show my family that I could do something great beyond being just a bookworm, that I could be like Melissa, a Platinum-ranked contractor.

"I could have gone to other people, yes, but everyone already has some kind of group formed." I pointed to the other contractors at the tables; most, if not all, had a group of three to seven people.

"By rumors, you don't seem to have any group. That was one of the reasons. The other is that you seem to fight hand-to-hand. I'm an archer, so that would cover our weaknesses." At this point, without realizing it, I was speaking each word faster than the other.

"I can promise that I'm an excellent archer. I also know a lot, both about flora and fauna, so I know about the monsters, beasts, and plants we should avoid or go after."

Before I could continue, Devas interrupted me by lightly tapping the table, making me jump a little.

"First of all, breathe, man. I'm not going to run away or anything. You can speak calmly." Only then did I realize that I was out of breath from speaking so much and so quickly.

He took a metal container from his bag and handed it to me.

"It's water, drink and take your time."

I didn't hesitate to take a few sips and let my breathing normalize. Meanwhile, Devas had continued to speak.

"Now, first of all, what rumors are these about me?"

I blinked briefly before handing the metal container back to him.

"There are several, actually. That you're a fallen noble seeking revenge, so you take on so many missions every day." I started, not noticing the disturbed look Devas had on his face.

"That you're a high-ranked adventurer in disguise to confuse the Guild, or my favorite, that you're an experiment of a mage who escaped, as you seem not to tire or sleep."

I finished quickly, adding, "Not to mention that you never seem to wear armor. Hence the nickname 'The Golem,' since you wouldn't need armor to withstand enemy blows, just your natural resilience."

Only after saying all this did I realize that Devas seemed troubled by something, his gaze vacant as if blaming something or someone for some reason or another.

He remained silent for a few seconds, just looking into the air, and sometimes his gaze would fall to the right, as if he were reading something, before his expression worsened to the point where he seemed constipated.

"Devas, are you okay?" I asked worriedly. I wasn't a healing expert like my sister, but I could still use light healing magic if necessary.

He seemed to snap out of it with my voice and sighed deeply before asking.

"Dylan..." He began before muttering something that sounded like 'I'm going to kill Stark' or something like that. Who was Stark?

He sighed again and continued.

"First, ignore those rumors; I'm not a fallen noble or anything like that."

I suspected not, as this specific rumor had arisen among the older women of the Guild, both contractors and receptionists, so the chance of it being just a fantasy of idle spinsters was quite high.

There was also the fact that I would recognize if Devas were a noble; after all, I could dress plainly, but my family was one of the ten great ones in the kingdom... not that I would tell him, as it would only bring problems, both for me and for him.

"Second, I'm not a high-ranked contractor; I'm just a common Bronze rank, I can assure you." I doubted that; no Bronze rank could kill a Direwolf pack, especially without any injuries and without armor!

"And for sure, I'm not a golem!" He raised his voice a bit at the end before returning to normal level. "I'm human, I can promise you that."

I blinked confused at the last sentence.

"Human? What is a human?" I asked, and I could see him stiffen before speaking quickly.

"Terrarian, I meant terrarian, just mixed up the words, since these rumors have left me a bit unsettled." Strange... I didn't think it was that, but since he didn't want to delve into it, I won't stick my nose where it wasn't called for.

I'll only look up later what a "human" was, since I didn't know any species with that name.

He seemed relieved when I didn't insist on the subject and continued speaking while shrugging.

"Well, I'm not against the idea of forming a group." I could feel my hope growing, but he hadn't finished. "But with some conditions."

My smile diminished. Of course, there would be conditions, what was I thinking? Devas was someone with a promising future as a contractor; he wouldn't want someone weak like me in his group...

Unaware of my depressive state or choosing not to comment, Devas continued, raising a finger.

"First, never call me 'The Golem' again."

I looked at him a bit confused. Didn't he like the nickname? It was rare for common Guild contractors to have nicknames; only those of higher ranks had something like that. Most people would consider it an honor, especially a good one like "The Golem."

I nodded in agreement. Since he didn't like the nickname, okay, I wouldn't call him that.

Seeing my agreement, he continued, raising another finger.

"Second, you need to take care of yourself. I won't be anyone's babysitter. Sure, a group helps each other, but I don't want to carry dead weight around."

I nodded again.

"Of course, I may not be great in combat, but I'm excellent with a bow and arrow, and I know some magic. I'll pull my own weight, don't worry."

Even though my family didn't want me to train for combat, I had my brain. Real combat shouldn't be much different from the simulations I ran in my head.

He nodded, satisfied with my response, and raised the third and final finger.

"Third, as the rumors and my nickname said." He practically spat out the word "nickname" as he looked away to the lower right corner of his vision again.

"I take on many missions a day, wake up early, and go to bed very late. I won't expect you to do the same, but I won't be waiting for you all morning. If you don't show up, I'll proceed with the missions normally; you can find me later if you want."

He finished the short list, opened his hand, and offered it across the table.

"So, if you can meet these three conditions, you're in."

I blinked confused. Just that? No payment to join the group? No sharing spells or magic books? Just not calling him by the nickname, not being dead weight, and waking up early?

Without even thinking, I extended both my hands and shook his hand, agreeing, moving my arms up and down.

"Of course, I can meet that, I'm sure!" I shouted the phrase lightly, my happiness evident in my voice.

Finally! Finally! I'll be able to prove to my family that I can be much more than just a bookworm!

[...]

POV: Devas Asura "The Golem - The Streamer"

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: "The Golem".... HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH. Congratulations, DS! Or is it Golem now? What do you want me to call you? DG? (Iron Man laughing loudly emote).

[(MOD)RedHuntressLive]: YOU SAID YOU WERE SLEEPING WELL! HOW MANY MISSIONS DID YOU DO AFTER THE STREAM ENDED? HOW MANY HOURS DID YOU SLEEP? 3? 2?!!!!!!!!!

[AsuraLady]: YOU LIED! YOU SAID YOU WEREN'T PUSHING YOURSELF TOO HARD! DO YOU REALIZE YOU COULD GET HURT FOR LOSING FOCUS DUE TO LACK OF SLEEP!!!

[(MOD)GryffinHouseMatron]: Do you know how dangerous what you did was, young man? Imagine if you stumble in battle due to lack of sleep and get hurt, how would that be!

[BestToadSannin]: I can practically hear the sound of the whip. And they are worlds away; imagine if they were close... (Cold sweat frog emote).

I sighed for what should have been the hundredth time in less than ten minutes. Damn stupid nickname. Damn Dylan for opening his mouth and saying that I was doing missions early and going to bed late.

I shook my head, shaking off those thoughts. The guy wasn't to blame; he just commented without thinking too much. It wasn't his fault that I had hidden this from the stream.

I knew Ruby and Saya wouldn't like that I was doing this, MCGonagall being mad wasn't a surprise either, since the woman was practically the mother of Gryffindor, worrying about stupid actions must be a second nature to her at this point.

"Yes, yes, sorry moms, I promise I won't do this again." I said lightly with crossed fingers, not bothering to hide them from the camera.

I was at the kingdom gates, waiting for Dylan to return from wherever he had gone. He had said he went to get his equipment and accessories and wouldn't take long.

[(MOD)RedHuntressLive]: Stop lying! I see your fingers crossed; at least try to hide them when you lie like that! (Little Red Riding Hood angry emote).

[AsuraLady]: Ruby-san practically took the words out of my mouth; at least pretend you won't do it again!!! You didn't need to do that!

[JackSon]: They are like the wives I saw on a TV show. Why are they like this? Devas is strong, he can take care of himself. Why worry about him going to bed later? I stay up late many times too! (Confused seahorse emote).

[GryffinPotter]: I don't understand either; it didn't seem like Devas was in danger. Maybe an adult thing? or a girl thing? I heard Fred, or was it George? say that women are confusing, is that what he meant? (Confused lion with a lightning bolt on its forehead emote).

[(MOD)JackMom]: I agree with the girls, what you did was reckless and irresponsible, Devas! And what's this about you going to bed late, Perseus Jackson?!

I chuckled slightly amused to see Percy accidentally incriminate himself; the boy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

"I'm fine, I know how far my body can endure. It's not the first time I've done this; I did the same thing in your world, Saya." I only realized the mess I had made when I finished speaking.

I raised my hand and slapped it on my face.

Damn...

[(MOD)RedHuntressLive]: NOT THE FIRST TIME?! YOU DID THIS AGAINST THE ZOMBIES! WHERE A SINGLE BITE AND YOU WERE DONE?!

[AsuraLady]: YOU SAID ON THE RADIO THAT YOU WERE HUNTING THE ZOMBIES SAFELY! DID YOU LIE TO MY FACE?!!! AND WHAT IF YOU GOT INFECTED DUE TO CARELESSNESS?!!!

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: I... won't even make a joke, actually; just watching this is funny enough for me. (Iron Man eating popcorn emote).

[JiraiyaIsAnIdiot]: This reminds me of when Ma and I were newlyweds, good times, good times... (Old frog eating popcorn emote).

[ToadMatriarch]: Good times my foot! You were crazy! Do you know how many wrinkles I have because you went out to fight the snakes of Ryūchi Cave? ALL OF THEM! (Angry old frog emote).

Luckily, the one responsible for all this appeared, sparing me from having to answer, as I practically grabbed Dylan and forced him to accompany me out of the kingdom.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go. I don't want to lose sunlight; we have a good walk ahead." I hurried the guy, who looked at me confused but quickened his pace along with me.

"All right! What mission did you pick for us to do?"

I ignored the (CHAT) pings and turned my attention back to Dylan as we headed towards one of the carriages by the roadside.

"Extermination and hunting." As always, actually. I prefer this type of mission to something like escorting; I'm sure that in the first escort mission or something like that I do, something will go wrong, and very wrong.

"Let's go to a village near the kingdom; the village chief made the request a few weeks ago, something about a goblin nest attacking the village and destroying the crops."

Yes, goblins. I was surprised too. After all, goblins in Terraria, or at least the Terraria I knew, were an intelligent race, making weapons, using magic, and having a hierarchy and an army.

Even the goblin NPC was one of the smartest beings around. But here? Goblins were dumb, bloodthirsty, lustful, and greedy. The total opposite of the goblins I knew in the game.

Which made me think: What changed to be so different? Or were they always like this? The game just made them more "human," so to speak, but I guess in this case, it would be "Terrarian."

There was that too, right? The people in this world might look like me, but no one here is human, except for me. I'm glad Dylan ignored my slip of the tongue when I said that, but I'm sure the guy will ask me something about it later.

"Goblins?! What are they doing so close to the kingdom? Why hasn't the army dealt with them yet?!" Dylan said in a louder tone than usual, seeming startled by the news.

I shrugged. "Don't know; my best guess is that it's not relevant enough for the kingdom to mobilize the army, so they left it to the Guild and the contractors to handle it."

I don't think they, in this case, the kingdom's superiors, don't know about the goblins. So my guess is the closest to likely, in my opinion.

As we walked away from the kingdom, I returned my attention to the (CHAT).

[(MOD)GryffinHouseMatron]: Why aren't you worried, Albus?! The boy could have gotten hurt or something worse?!

[WiseWizardGleam]: It's true, Minerva, but Devas is an adult; he can make his decisions. I'm sure his decisions weren't impulsive; give him more credit. (Wise old wizard waving wisely emote).

[Purple Samurai]: I have the same opinion. The master is not weak; that was my opinion when I didn't know about the stream, now? I'm sure it will take more than a few sleepless nights to stop him. (Zombie with a katana seriously waving emote).

[SniperHirano]: True, Saeko-senpai! Devas-aniki is not someone who could be stopped like that. If he chose to do something, it's because he had his reasons! (Zombie with weapons with stars in its eyes emote).

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Hey, DS! Tell me something, I thought you preferred doing missions alone. Why did you accept the guy's proposal to form a party? Did loneliness finally hit you? (Iron Man asking while relaxing in the sun emote).

Not everything I do is thought out; in fact, many of the decisions I make are impulsive, but I'm sure if I say that I'll be reprimanded again, so I'll just stay silent and agree.

I quickly pulled up the map to respond.

("I'm glad that some of you trust me enough not to think I'll get myself killed out of foolishness").

Could it happen? Maybe, but I try to avoid it.

("As for the question. No, loneliness didn't hit, and yes, I would prefer to do missions alone, but Dylan is someone I know, if I can say that.").

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: So Terraria is also a world you know? Who is the guy? Someone important? (Curious Iron Man emote).

[WiseWizardGleam]: I was thinking about that too; you seemed to recognize him before. (Curious old wizard emote).

[BestToadSannin]: I admit it's kind of strange for someone as antisocial as you to want company, so he must be pretty important for this to happen. (Carefree toad emote).

[(MOD)RedHuntressLive]: HEY! There's nothing wrong with being a bit antisocial! (Little Red Riding Hood pouting emote). And don't think I forgot about you, Devas! You're going to sleep eight hours tonight, got it!?

I smiled slightly carefree; it was weird to have someone other than that old guy caring about me, but it wasn't a bad feeling.

("I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything, Red. And as for the question, yes, Dylan is possibly an important person; he would be The Guide, or one of the guides, actually.")

If what I know about the game and what Dylan said is true, he was just one of the guides. After all, there was an entire Order of them; I just hoped it didn't serve the same purpose it did in the game...

I could already feel my headache increasing just thinking about it, so I didn't focus too much on that thought and went back to "talking" with the (CHAT).

("And what's with this talk of me being antisocial? I can assure you I had friends back on my home planet!).

Even though few, I had them; I just preferred quality over quantity.

After a few more minutes of walking, Dylan seemed to realize something and turned to ask me.

"Sorry for asking, but are we walking to the village?!." He seemed disturbed just thinking about the idea. "The Jille village is about an eight-hour walk! We'll get there at night if we go like this!."

True, according to the map Dylan had shown me, the village was a bit far; it would take a few hours even for me, who could run without stopping.

That is, if we were walking.

I shrugged slightly carefree.

"No, don't worry; we'll use a faster means of transportation."

The guide looked at me confused and then looked from side to side, looking for this so-called transport I mentioned.

Curious fact, there was a noble family in Terraria that was responsible for most technological things; their name was SteamHord, or something like that.

But the point is, they had invented an engine a few years ago, a steam engine, yes, but still, an engine. Which meant I could bring the Humvee without it looking too out of place, after all, there were already cars in this world, just rare, as few people had them and very expensive.

Would the Humvee stand out even with that? Yes, but people who looked at it would just think it was just another expensive car, after all, few people would understand the difference between the Humvee and the cars in this world.

I waved slightly to the air, more theatrics than anything, and made the Humvee appear from my inventory outside, right next to us.

Dylan jumped when the car appeared, and then looked at it with a look between scared and amazed.

"A mechanical carriage! How do you have one of those?! They're horribly expensive!." He looked like a child looking at a new toy, moving around the Humvee and observing everything.

Huh? Mechanical carriage? Was that what they called cars here? How uncreative.

"I have my ways." I said as I got into the driver's seat. "So, are you coming or not? We don't have all day." I pointed to the passenger seat.

He didn't hesitate to jump into the car, looking at everything inside as well before asking me.

"Are you sure you're not a noble? This rumor seems more likely now..." He looked at me suspiciously and then at the car again.

I ignored his question and started the car, making the engine roar and Dylan startle for the tenth time that day.

I put on my seatbelt and pointed to his, which he copied my actions and put on the belt the same way.

"I'm not a noble, I've already said; this car was from a friend of mine, she sort of gave it to me as a gift." And if she hadn't done that, it would mysteriously disappear into the air, but that's another story.

I didn't let him answer, as I accelerated the car and started driving in the direction I knew was the village, following my Mini-map, without worrying about the tires bursting or something, after all, after the fiasco that was Saya almost dying from the tire exploding from the bullet, I had changed them a long time ago.

The four tires were now the tires used on armored cars; I managed to find some spares while roaming around Japan, so the Humvee was officially a small tank. I just needed to figure out a way to reinforce it with runes and put some machine guns on it, and it would be perfect.

When I accelerated, Dylan practically clung to the seat and the belt in fear as he screamed.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! NO MECHANICAL CARRIAGE CAN GO THIS FAST! WHAT IS THE ENGINE MADE OF IN THIS THING?."

I laughed slightly as I accelerated more; come on, I want to get to this village before noon; let's see what the goblins in this world were made of.

After all, the ones I knew in Terraria were formidable enemies; let's see if these are similar to the ones I knew or just the dumb creatures the kingdom made them seem.

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YAY! I'll start with the chapter today since I have some news to share later.

First, yes, Dylan is "The Guide," so he will be important. I plan to introduce some Terraria NPCs into the story from now on, all of whom will be significant to the Terraria world.

Second, why accept the proposal to form a group? Simple, who better to explain the world to Devas than the guide? Dylan is essentially me (the author) explaining things. (Or almost that, after all, he might still be wrong since he is a huma-Terrarian. And the Order, as good as it is, is still fallible).

And the goblins! Yes, they are different from those in Terraria (the game). Did something happen to make them like this? Were they always like this? For now, Devas doesn't know, but it's something I plan to address in the story—it's one of the global plots I've been thinking about.

Well, that's it for now about the chapter. Now, onto the news.

First news: I posted an auxiliary chapter with some pictures of items. I'll keep posting more as the story progresses—pictures of items, people, monsters, how I imagine them in the story. Since Terraria is 2D, I'll try to create a 3D image for you to get an idea beyond my descriptions.

Second: The Interlude/Omake poll. I'll leave it up until Monday, so the votes are still valid. (What you did to Jiraiya and Fukasaku was sad; I feel sorry for them).

Third and most important: The frequency of chapters. Some people noticed that it decreased, yes, but it's not because I lack ideas for the story or intend to stop. No, it's because of a lack of time.

I'm in exam week at college, and my time is occupied with that. So I'll take a mini hiatus until Monday to organize everything and return to posting on the normal schedule. I'll also stock up on chapters until then.

So don't abandon the story; it will continue. I just need to finish things on my end.

Well, that's it. Good night to those who stay, and happy reading.

As always, comment! I'm reading everything and like to interact with the comments.

PS: Dylan's name is something "Canonical." I'm using possible NPC names based on the wiki, so if some random name appears, it might not be so random!

PSS: If you were in the (CHAT) at the current moment of the Stream, what would be your nickname and what would you comment?