2 Forger Village

Four days went by quickly and uneventfully.

Derk had gotten along with Alaric well enough, as they often took stops to eat and rest the horses. Alaric learned a lot about him during their journey, one could even call them friends.

As shaggy looking as he is, Derk is relatively well-mannered. When Alaric talked with him, he seemed as if he was trying his best to hide his accent— of course, it didn't go well.

"Well lad, the village is just ahead of 'ere!" Derk shouted, the trotting of the mules being too loud for casual speech.

His words rang true, Alaric could see the houses of his village up ahead, numbering eight in total. A large forest just beyond it, acting as a form of natural barrier and easy access to food.

Remembering the small slime colony near his village, Alaric thought, 'Once I arrive, I definitely have to get my hands on a slime.'

Slimes infested a large area of the Arcana continent. Even larger cities found it an issue to clear out slimes, let alone Alaric's small village. Here, slimes were considered pests.

Soon, the distance between the carriage and the village shortened. Alaric could now see a small sign to the side of the road, "FORGER VILLAGE AHEAD."

They had finally arrived, and not a moment too late. Just ahead, Alaric could see the hunting team returning to the village.

'Seems like this week's hunt was rather bountiful.'

"Alright lad, we're 'ere!" Derk said.

The horses came to a stop, and Alaric exhaled. His parents, the village chief, the hunters, everyone had high hopes for him. Now, he had to deliver the bad news.

Derk's mules stopped just outside of the village gates. The wooden gates were connected to a circular, rundown fence.

Alaric hopped out of the carriage, saying, "Thanks for the ride, Derk. Why don't you stay for a meal?"

Derk appeared to be in thought but eventually rejected the offer, "I'd better not. I got to get on going, need s'more clients to make ends meet."

"Of course, I won't see you off then. Family is waiting."

"May we meet again, lad," Derk muttered, having his mules turn around and set off.

With Derk's departure, Alaric began mentally preparing himself. Although he felt confident in turning his weak talent into something revered, others wouldn't. Authority Among Slimes had probably already been recorded in the Neuling Kingdom's records as the weakest Lord-type talent in history.

A small distance away from Alaric, a voice could be heard, snapping him out of his stupor. "Alaric?! Is that you?!"

A middle-aged man, seemingly 50 to 60 years old noticed Alaric and was immediately ecstatic to see him. Seeing the man running at him, his long black-gray beard swaying as he did, Alaric exclaimed,

"Chief Forger!"

'The last person I wanted to see...'

The Village Chief, Ravio Forger, had been especially hopeful of Alaric's return. From what Alaric knew, Ravio's father had started this village, and upon inheriting it, Ravio had quite the ambition. He wanted one of the villagers to unlock a powerful talent, and turn this village into a grand city.

This ambition, of course, had been pushed onto Alaric.

"You're back! I already know someone of your ability unlocked quite a powerful talent! Let us announce it to the village at once!"

Ravio was practically jumping out of his shoes, completely confident in Alaric. Normally, when someone exudes large amounts of intelligence and wisdom at a young age, it's a reliable insurance that they'll unlock a powerful ability. After all, the intelligent had mana pools much larger than the average person.

Since Alaric had been born with his previous life's wisdom and intelligence, they thought him to be a supreme prodigy.

Ravio had already been walking towards the center of the village— there lay a podium (for Ravio to make announcements) and a set of tables and chairs (for banquets).

"Wait, Chief!" Alaric was alarmed. He didn't want the entire village to know of his talent until he was powerful enough.

Ravio didn't even turn back to look at Alaric, simply continuing to walk while he replied, "What? You've come back, this must be announced!"

Alaric stuttered, "Chief Forger, I think we should keep my ability a secret..."

This finally brought Ravio to a stop. He seemed to be a bit anxious as he turned around.

"Why? Is it... is it weak?"

"I have unlocked a Lord-type talent. We need to keep this a secret for now, lest the other villages get word."

This was the excuse Alaric thought of, he was still unwilling to reveal the specifics of his talent. Chief Forger wasn't the type to ask questions, so he knew this should go relatively smoothly. After all, the plan Ravio had thought of for their village's future, was to use Alaric to annex the surrounding villages.

"Oh... a Lord-type talent! You've... You've awoken a Lord-type talent?! You're right! Those old fogies would definitely do anything in their power to be rid of you!" Ravio rambled.

Actually, including Forger village, there were another 5 villages nearby. The land surrounding the forest, also known as the Great Forest of Neuling, was heavily sought after. The royal family had long rid it of any powerful beasts, so the forest was a great resource point.

Each village sought to annex the others, and gain providence over the forest's resources.

"Yes sir, a Lord-type talent. I will definitely surprise you all later. I will personally annex those 5 villages myself!"

Ravio laughed, "I didn't raise you up alongside your parents for nothing! Come, we shall announce your return and that you have received a powerful Combat-type talent!"

'That's good, I'm glad that the Chief is ignorant...' Alaric thought.

The platform wasn't too far away, they arrived in only a few seconds. On top of the platform was a wooden rod, with a megaphone at the top. While this world hadn't produced microphone technology, a simple sound-amplification formation was easy to come by.

Ravio stood in front of the mic, cleared his throat, and said, "Alaric has returned!"