Star Tear Village

Kyle felt the arrows flying towards him and quickly made short work of them. Some of them he caught and others he deflected.

He followed the trajectory of the arrows back to their origin. No doubt the elf had moved, but he wasn't worried about the elf right now. He knew who he really needed to look out for.

Just as he suspected the hobbit was already working on cutting the hammer guy loose. Kyle just tugged the whole line of people backward until they fell on the ground.

Kyle was holding a small rock the entire time and nailed the hobbit in the head before he could escape.

It was hard to tie-up thieves because they were really good at escaping.

He also knew his knot tying skills were not the best. Instead of tying up the thief, Kyle stripped him of everything, even his undergarments.

He found a sheet and tied it around his waist. He didn't want to humiliate the guy.

He stripped him completely because he watched too many movies where the clever spy or thief had all sorts of things hidden in the oddest places.

The only thing he didn't do and the only thing he refused to do was a cavity search. Maybe he would regret that later, but he was only fifteen and the thought of doing that grossed him out.

He still wasn't sure how to secure the thief. The easiest solution was to kill him, but Kyle aspired to a greater calling. He wanted to be a hero, not a villain!

He finally realized he had no other option than to just tie the thief up like everyone else. He would just need to be extra careful.

The only person he had left to worry about was the elf. He used a technique from Immortal Body to use his internal energy to increase his senses.

At first, he could only do one sense at a time. He started with his hearing first. This allowed him to hear some of the movements the elf would make from time to time.

The elf was extremely stealthy and it was only occasionally that he heard him move. It took him two hours until he was able to heighten his sense of hearing, smell, and sight.

As he paid attention, he finally figured out the movement pattern of the elf. Kyle stealthily took one of the arrows he captured earlier and timed it so he threw the arrow just ahead of where he predicted the elf would appear.

"Ahhh!" the elf yelled. Kyle dragged his prisoners behind him as he ran to the downed elf. An arrow stuck out of the elf's shoulder.

Kyle knew you shouldn't pull out the arrow if you weren't prepared to treat it, so he left it in and took everything but the elf's undergarments and tied him up with everyone else. He was now leading a train of five prisoners.

None of the prisoners said anything to Kyle. They weren't sure why this strong kid didn't just kill them. Maybe he wanted to sell them as slaves?

The problem with that was Star Tear Village, the nearest village within 500 miles but it didn't allow people to buy and sell slaves.

The further they walked the more puzzled they became.

After another hour of walking, Kyle was getting nervous. He looked at the distant Star Tear Village and estimated he had been walking towards it for about four hours.

The problem was he didn't feel like he was getting any closer to it, and he didn't have a lot of time but he also had the burden of his attackers.

He was also worried he might be attacked by someone else at some point.

Just as he had this thought, he sensed a familiar presence, "Wolves," he said.

Kyle grew to hate wolves at this point. They ganged up and killed him in two dreams. They were really vicious, their teeth and claws hurt, and their breath stank.

Now that he was able to heighten his senses he understood that he and his prisoners were being surrounded by the wolves.

Without a second thought, Kyle ran to the hammer man and untied his bindings. Then, he took the bag of holding he store all their gear in and dumped it out in front of him.

"Take the knife free your friends, grab your gear, and get out of here. We're surrounded by wolves and I'm not strong enough to protect all of you."

The hammer man and his companions were shocked. "You don't want to kill us or sell us as slaves?" he asked stunned.

"Why would I do such a thing? Sure, you guys attacked me for no reason but I don't believe in killing someone unless I have no other choice. I just hope you won't stab me in the back. I'm pretty confident I can escape the wolves on my own. Will you be okay?" His question was shockingly naive but sincere.

"We'll be fine," the hammer man said still shocked by the exchange. This was a dog eat dog world when had anyone but his comrades ever cared about his life?

"Well, what are you waiting for? Free your friends before the wolves turn them into dinner!" Kyle yelled worried about the coming attack.

The hammer man snapped back to reality and untied his friends. They all took their gear and made their escape.

Kyle was relieved to see them leave. Now, it was his turn to escape. Unlike his previous encounters, he was much stronger, faster, and smarter in how he dealt with the wolves.

He managed to evade their attack and broke through. After twenty minutes of walking, he caught a familiar scent. When he came around a small hill, he found the five former prisoners waiting for him.

"Do you still want to fight?" Kyle asked as he hesitated for a moment.

"What's your name kid?" the hammer man asked.

He almost answered 'Kyle' but realized he was in his hero suit, it wouldn't be appropriate to give his real name in such a situation.

"G-Hawk," he said.

"G-Hawk, a noble name," the lady Knight said. Kyle was actually surprised. She was the first person who didn't make fun of his hero's name.

"It's unusual, what is its meaning?" the elf asked.

"The 'G' stands for Gorilla, it just means I'm as strong as a gorilla and as swift as a hawk," Kyle said with a shrug.

"Did someone give you this name?" the hobbit asked.

"Where I come from we get to choose these names for ourselves," he said.

"These names?" the elf asked.

"We have the names our parents gave us, but then we create our hero name for ourselves," Kyle said.

"An interesting idea," the lady knight said with approval.

"Where are you headed?" the mage asked him.

"I'm trying to get to Star Tear Village, I only have till evening, about four hours, to get there. If I can't get there in time I'll be in trouble," Kyle answered.

"We can get you to Star Tear Village in less than an hour," the hammer man laughed. The others nodded their heads and smiled kindly.

"There's a trick to getting there your first time. If you don't come in with someone from there, you'll never be able to get in," the mage said. Kyle was visibly shocked.

This meant if he killed these people or let them die he never would have entered the village and he would have failed his mission. He wondered if this was a lesson for him from Gramps.

"You were right, Hemler, he didn't know the method to get into the village," the elf laughed.

"He's a good kid," the Lady Knight agreed.

The group of friends laughed happily, not at Kyle, but because it made them happy meeting someone who was so good in this hard place.

"Come on kid, we'll help you get to Star Tear Village," the hammer man, Hemler said as he laughed good-naturedly.

<CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE UNLOCKED THE SECRET PATH TO STAR TEAR VILLAGE.>

<CONGRATUALTIONS, YOU HAVE ADDED THE ROYAL ADVENTURERS TO YOUR FRIEND'S LIST.>

<+1 Charisma>

<1200 XP>

<REWARD: TITLE: HERO OF JUSTICE AND 200 GOLD>

<REWARD: MAP OF STAR TEAR MOUNTAINS AND 200 GOLD>

<WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEVEL UP?>