Chapter 7

"Okay, that's the last one," Shirou said as he picked up the crystal stones from his Kobold hunt.

Shirou hunted with ease, even though it was his first time hunting monsters. Perhaps it was because he targeted the group of monsters from a considerable distance. A hunter who can take down their prey without being detected makes the hunt more effective. One by one, Shirou shot his targets, causing panic among the monsters. They scattered, running in all directions, trying to escape the projectiles shot from Shirou's black bow. But none of them escaped his lethal shots. The monsters couldn't hide from Shirou's keen sense of smell, which detected the magical energy within them. Though shooting Kobolds from a distance was easy for Shirou, the hard part was gathering the [drop items] left behind by the monsters.

"Trace On," Shirou summoned a small bag, just big enough to hold the crystal stones he had collected. Slinging the small bag over his shoulder, he began descending the mountain. The mountain he was on was dry and full of small rocks. From the top, one could see down without obstruction, which was one reason why Shirou had such an easy time shooting his prey.

At the foot of the mountain, a young man sat on a rock, waiting for Shirou. He stood up when he saw Shirou coming down the mountain, showing no signs of exhaustion or injury. "Shirou-san, I hope you've got good news from your hunt."

Shirou shook his small bag, and the sound of the crystal stones rattling could be heard. "Here's my haul. I guarantee none escaped."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "You work fast, Shirou-san," he said, shaking his head before asking, "Are you interested in becoming a full-time worker for our town?"

Shirou didn't need to think long before replying, "Sorry, I'm not interested in staying in one place. I want to travel."

Living in a city and protecting its residents wasn't a bad job, Shirou thought, but traveling from city to city, from village to settlement, searching for dangerous monsters and eliminating them would help more people.

As they rode their horses back toward the city, Tyler asked, "Traveling, huh? So that means you're planning to go to the Dungeon City, Orario?"

"Orario?" Shirou repeated, unfamiliar with the word.

"Yes, surely you've heard of it. Even if you live in a remote place, everyone knows that city. It's where the Dungeon is located—the place where monsters are born," Tyler explained.

"A place where monsters are born?" Shirou was stunned by this information. He thought that instead of wandering aimlessly, it would be better to go straight to the source of the problem and deal with it there.

"Tyler-san, could you tell me more about that city? I've never heard of it before."

Tyler smiled and began telling the story as they rode toward Gusnansel.

Shirou listened attentively to Tyler's explanation. The young man told him how the city of Orario was created to prevent monsters from emerging into the world. It was also where the gods bestowed their blessings through their sacred blood, known as [Ichor]. Adventurers who received these blessings first had to join a god's [Familia].

With the blessings of their respective gods, adventurers could fight monsters much stronger than themselves. They grew from being weak to becoming more powerful through their experience hunting monsters, known as [Excelia, which could be tracked and updated by their god.

The adventurers' progress could be seen quantitatively in their [Status, which measured their strength [Strength, dexterity [Dexterity, agility [Agility, and magical power [Magic]. Each was ranked from 0 to 999, with 0-99 being I, 100-199 being H, 200-299 being G, 300-399 being F, 400-499 being E, 500-599 being D, 600-699 being C, 700-799 being B, 800-899 being A, and 900-999 being S. If an adventurer's status reached at least Rank-D and they had gained enough [Excelia, their god could raise their [Level, resetting their status to zero again. New adventurers started with [Level] 1 and a status of 0.

All of this reminded Shirou of the RPG video games that were popular in his world. Characters started at [Level] 1 and kept gaining experience points (EXP) to increase their [Level] and strength.

Shirou wondered if there was some connection between video games and this world.

Could the gods be playing a game and implementing it in the mortal world?

OR, WAS HE THROWN INTO A GAME WORLD?

"Shirou-san, we've arrived," Tyler's voice interrupted Shirou's wandering thoughts.

"While I go get your reward, I'll also talk to the mayor about arranging transportation for you to Orario. Riding a horse all the way will be tough; it's better if you go with someone who has a carriage," Tyler suggested.

"Thank you, Tyler-san," Shirou replied, nodding slightly. He had no reason to refuse such kindness. Not only that, but Tyler had also opened a path for Shirou so he wouldn't wander aimlessly.

While waiting, Shirou reflected on his choices and his past. He remembered how he ended up in this world—getting sucked into a portal along with Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes. How he was saved by an old man and later met the beautiful being he had never seen before, the Elf named Saria.

He had met new people he had never known before. Stranded in a new world that even Archer had never seen. Shirou started to feel a bit homesick for Rin, Fuji-nee, Saber, Issei, and even hearing Shinji's voice would bring him some comfort.

But such was fate; no one could predict it. Perhaps in the future, he would travel to Orario and meet new people. He would continue pursuing his dream of becoming a hero of justice. For that reason, he hoped the [Familia] he would join would be fair and just, not abusing their power.

'[Familia] are built through the blessings of gods. If I can understand a god's character, maybe I can gauge the [Familia] and the people in it,' Shirou thought.

Shirou began recalling the gods he had read about. He knew only a few Japanese gods and a little about the ancient Greek ones.

As he pondered, Tyler emerged from the town hall with good news. "Shirou-san, good news. There's a man who's heading to Orario now. You can join him and ride with him."

Shirou was surprised; he hadn't expected to leave so soon, but there was no point in hesitating. He decided to head for the city. "Thank you, Tyler-san."

Tyler led Shirou to the carriage, and Shirou followed him.

When Shirou saw the carriage, it seemed familiar, as though he had seen it before.

"I heard there's a young hero who can clear out a monster nest on his own?" An old man stepped down from the horse-drawn carriage.

A cold sweat broke out on Shirou's forehead. He hadn't expected the old man who saved him before to be standing right in front of him.

"Arther-san?"

"Oh ho, I didn't expect young Shirou, who once wanted to be a student, to turn into a hero..." Arther said with a faint smile.