Chapter 2: Ranga

They say that your fate is decided at birth by a roll of die.

It could not be more accurate when it came to the prospect of being strong.

Some are born strong or at least have the capacity to become strong, and some are simply not.

Ranga Drake found out about this the hard way.

Originally, just a boy working on a family farm in the Land of Rising Sun, Tenki kingdom, his life was turned upside down due to a monster attack. The monster had no mercy and killed anyone that tried to flee.

In the end, he only managed to survive by stabbing the monster in the neck with his knife, but that only annoyed the monster enough for Ranga to manage to run away.

The aftermath was devastating.

Entirety of Drake clan save for Ranga was wiped out.

In one night, his entire family was gone. Everything he cherished, loved, and known was gone, just like that.

Even the land that they cultivated crops on was burned down into nothingness by that monster.

There was nothing left for him to come back to.

Gathering up all the belongings and what little money that he could find among the rubble, he got on the first boat away from the Tenki Kingdom, not caring where it would take him.

The ship capsized. Many died.

Ranga managed to swim to the shore and found himself in a foreign land.

His red hair and blue eyes made him naturally stand out.

In Tenki kingdom, most kids are born with white or clear colored hair, but the hair gains color over time based on the nature of chi the child was born with.

Since this was a new life, it made no sense to go back to his roots as a farmer or even further, a woodcutter. Ranga wanted to try something a little more daring and preferably something that paid enough to make a living.

The job that was most daring and paid most depending on difficulty was an occupation of an adventurer.

Thinks seemed well until he noticed that most adventurers and even normal people used a power called magic that was fueled by mana.

Believing it was a skill that he too could master, he was initially excited by the prospect of it. People who used such abilities were almost unheard of in Tenki Kingdom, but perhaps it was different in this land.

Sadly, no matter how hard he tried to master magic, not a single one of his countless efforts bore fruit.

Eventually, he even paid an appraisal magic user to examine his status. Appraisal or status view magic users are rare, so anyone who wanted to use their aid had to pay big bucks.

What he found was life shattering.

It was not that he could not use mana, it's just he had no mana or more accurately, his body lacked the capacity to store or generate mana.

And second news was that he already reached his level cap, meaning he could not get any stronger. The appraisal magic user could not tell Ranga's exact level but did state that it was rather low.

Since he could not use mana, he chose to hone his swordsmanship and focus on usage of chi.

Unlike mana, chi is the person's literal life force energy, expending it would shorten the user's lifespan. That is why, warriors that use only chi usually don't make it past 40.

And unlike mana, it was not exactly creative, but very straightforward, to say the least.

Only way to become better was to hone his swordsmanship, or so he thought.

Unfortunately, as he found out the hard way, the master of the dojo was an absolute psycho that took delight in maiming and sometimes even crippling his students.

There were students that were missing an arm, a leg, an eye, or sometimes were straight up killed if the master was not in a good mood.

And apparently, this insane Aquarius kingdom was ok with him doing something like this due to the master's status as a former member of 9 Colors of Midgard Kingdom.

Those that have reached a certain level are considered heroes, able to take on 10,000, and those beyond them are known as 9 Colors or Color-Bearing Heroes, in other words, warriors who can take on 100,000 on their own. And then, there are those called Champion Level Heroes, who are even beyond them. At the very top, one hero would claim the throne of the Legendary Hero, but there has not been one for centuries.

Reaching a level of 9 Colors, no matter in what kingdom, gave one status comparable to a nobleman or a lord, allowing one to reign mostly rule-free.

After seeing the carnage that the Master of Dojo, Rogan, was causing, Ranga had just about enough and attempted to leave, only for Rogan to attempt to stop him by force.

Long story short, he managed to flee, but not before receiving beating that nearly crippled his body and severed the tendons on his right arm, resulting in Ranga currently only being able to use left hand.

Despite these handicaps, he continued being an adventurer.

Adventurers were ranked as follows: copper, iron, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, mithril, orichalcum, palladium, and Adamantite. It was a total of 10 levels, and by those standards, Ranga was currently level 2=Iron.

Sadly, with the shape his body is in, lack of growth prospects, and reaching his level cap, it was clear this was as high as he was going to climb.

And now, after taking on a quest that many others alongside him have taken, he was running for his life.

The guild requested them to collect certain eggs from a nest, for a rather big reward.

Though, the suspicious part was, there was absolutely no information what beast the eggs belonged to.

Now he knew.

As he was being chased by a spider-like monster size of an elephant, Ranga started to question his entire life.

Everyone else was already killed, pierced through with spikes, unlike normal spiders that used webs, these ones seem to be of a needle-shooting variety, though they do use webs too, apparently.

Their flesh was as hard as steel, no matter how much the adventurers slashed at them, the spiders were unharmed. Perhaps if they at least had a level 5, gold ranked adventurer with them, they might have had a chance, but not a single one of them was gold ranked.

It was not even a battle. A battle implies there was at least a chance of winning.

No…It was a one-sided massacre.

Like lambs led to a slaughterhouse…

Ranga: 'What a sick joke'

Despite running as fast as he could, Ranga was not uninjured.

One eye slashed through and no longer functional and body that was given a beating of a lifetime.

If there was any chance of getting out of this alive, he had to keep running, even if his legs gave out under him, he could not stop moving.

Suddenly, more spikes rained from above, several pierced through his legs and one pierced him right through his lung.

Ranga coughed up blood.

It was over now.

His body was on the verge of death.

No chance of escaping.

Perhaps it's about time he accepted it, he was never meant to be a hero.

But it seems, fate had other plans.

"A carnivorous arachnid variant, huh? A rather aggressive one at that"

Ranga did not sense his presence, perhaps because he was too injured he neglected to pay attention to his presence.

No, it felt more like someone who is not supposed to be here, for some reason.

Chi users can generally sense life forces of those near them, but from him, he felt nothing.

As his only remaining eye focused upon his figure, Ranga could make out his features.

The man was positively bloody, wearing nothing but rags, and pale as a corpse.

His hair was rather long, reaching down to his shoulders.

But his eyes…they were glowing crimson, not unlike rubies or fresh blood.

"Say, I know he offended ya, but mind forgiving him?"

Without any hesitation, he approached the enormous spider monster and placed his hand upon its head.

For a second there, the monster seemed to be shivering for some reason.

After a moment, the monster turned around and went away.

"I like dealing with reasonable types. As for you…."

The stranger placed his hand upon Ranga's head and within a moment, all the pain was gone.

"There, this should fix you up"

Much to his shock, Ranga's destroyed eye was back to normal and so was all of his body.

Even the right arm seemed to be no longer maimed.

Everything was restored to a perfect function.

Ranga: 'A priest? No…with power like this…an arch-priest? Who is this guy? I have never seen him in the town, with such power, there is no way he would be not known…'

Before Ranga could ask, another Spider monster showed up, but this one was at least twice as big and far more aggressive.

Stranger: "Mind not interrupting? I am having a moment here"

The beast roared in response.

Stranger: "Fine. Let's get it over with"

The monster attacked but somehow the Stranger who was right next to Ranga vanished and reappeared right in front of the monster, placing his hand upon its head.

In a moment, the monster's body started to swell before exploding into pieces.

Stranger was covered head-to-toe in monster's inner fluids, but he seemed to not mind.

Apparently, he grabbed one of the monster's legs during the blast and now was munching down on it like it was his favorite snack.

Stranger: "A little hairy, somewhat chewy, but surprisingly tastes a lot like chicken"

Ranga: "What did you do?"

Stranger: "A simple expansion spell, just on a slightly larger scale."

Stranger looked at his right hand with which he performed the spell.

It was a tragic sight. It seems like using that spell ended up almost destroying his hand, leaving it a bruised and bloody mess. Ranga was surprised he was not crying in pain.

Stranger: "Just as I thought, this body can barely contain me. Well, I will be going now"

Ranga: "Wait!!! I would like to invite you over for a meal! I will pay!"

Stranger: "A meal?"

As if to answer his question, his stomach growled loud enough for Ranga to hear.

Stranger: "Well, I am hungry, so why not?"