Chapter Eighteen: Limits Surpassed, The Merchant Tedbaldus

Blood shot out of Goblins mouth as a sword was put through its neck. When the sword was removed blood piled at its neck where the cut was.

Kenjiro looked down on the Goblin as he used the sword he had to cut into the monster's chest and take out a Mana Crystal.

Every monster has one, and each one was subtly different so that people could tell the difference between them. Although apparently the Guild had a machine to check what Crystal was which.

After taking out the Mana Crystal which was a green and orange colour, he put it in his pouch.

At this point, Goblins were no problem for Kenjiro. He could kill them easily. It only really became a problem when there was more than one, because he found it difficult to keep track of all them but his stats were more than enough for it.

He then looked around making sure no one was there before pulling down his mask and taking a few bits out of the Goblin.

His body, as usual, tried to reject the Goblin and he retched a little before it stopped. He was getting used to the disgusting taste it had, but it would never stop him from being disgusted by it.

He had also learned a bit more about his 'Gluttony' skill. Something he hadn't known before was the limits or restrictions of the skill. It was a bit stupid of him to assume that it had no limits on it, everything has its limits.

Well, he had actually only learned one new thing about it, but it was a big thing. The first monster of a species he ate would give him their full stats, but any monster of the same species after that would only give him half of their stats.

For example the first Goblin he ate gave him around eighteen strength while the next Goblin he ate, which was today, only gave him nine strength. He didn't know if it would stay at half forever or if he had to wait a while until he got full stats again or if he ate enough of one monster it would give him no stats.

But it was interesting to know, and also good to know. It also gave him an even bigger incentive to fight stronger monsters, as he couldn't just kill and eat weak monsters to get stronger without the risk of the increase just stopping one day. While fighting new and stronger monsters would guarantee big stat increases.

He also learned that fighting Slimes was as easy as running around a table with a little kid chasing after you. You could just walk and even though they might be running at full speed they would never catch up to you.

But, even though his increase in stats had decreased, that didn't mean he wasn't happy with it, in fact his strength right now was something he didn't even think was possible right after he came to this world.

[STATUS:

NAME: Kenjiro Yoshihisa

GENDER: Male

AGE: 16

CLASS: (N/A)

MANA: 82

STRENGTH: 132

AGILITY: 91

DEXTERITY: 88

ENDURANCE: 145

SKILLS: Language Comprehension, Gluttony, Goblin Language, Club Handling, Fertility Increase, Leader Species, Basic Regeneration, Mana Absorption

MAGIC: (N/A)

Mana Absorption

Source: Slime

Type: Passive

Description: Slowly absorbs mana in the air around the user, increasing their mana pool permanently. This skill is slow acting but can be sped up with training and if consciously focusing on it. Although an overload can happen if the user tries to absorb too much mana at once.]

He had finally gotten past the one hundred stat mark. And although he was happy, he couldn't help but feel so very weak. He had worked for this… he had gotten lucky with the Goblin Lord and with the first Goblins he hunted… and he had almost died during them times. And now that he had done that, it was easy killing Goblins, sort of showing his growth.

But… he was still weaker than his classmates. When they first arrived, everyone had at least one stat a hundred or over. And now after a month, he had only gotten two stats past that. His classmates were definitely further ahead of him.

Wait, a month? Kenjiro paused from his seated position on the ground as he was taking a break. He had been in this world for a month already?!

Kenjiro suddenly just got this wave of sadness. A month… he had been here a month and while he was here trying to get home, his family probably thought he was dead along with his class.

Kenjiro then shook his head and stood up, making his way back to the town. There was no use dwelling on the depressing things, it wouldn't do him any good and wouldn't get him home any sooner.

A lone tear came out of his eye, but he wiped it away before it could make its way down his face. Ain't no crying, Kenjiro told himself.

Surprisingly he hadn't gotten much blood on him. In fact he didn't have any on him, only on his sword which he wiped the blood off on the ground.

When he walked back into the city the guard at the gate only nodded to him and he nodded back as he used his ID card to get in.

The market at the entrance wasn't as busy this time, so Kenjiro didn't feel overwhelmed when he came in. He felt uncomfortable, sure, but overwhelmed, no… Well, kinda.

He walked past the people without stopping, he wasn't planning on buying anything anyway unless he needed to. And right now he didn't need to. Actually, he didn't even have the money to buy anything right now even if he wanted to.

As he was walking past he felt some eyes on him, so he just fixed his mask, making it cling to his face a bit more. Even though he did that the eyes were still following him.

Kenjiro looked around and didn't see anyone looking at him. So, he decided to ignore it, thinking it was some curious kid or something.

When he finally reached the guild and walked in, it was quieter than it was in the morning.

Some people were over at the tables in the guild having a few drinks and talking, while the staff behind the desks were talking among themselves.

He saw Saku with the other staff talking, and when he looked at her she turned around to look at him. She said bye to the people she was talking to and walked over to the desk.

Kenjiro walked up to the desk as well.

"So, I assume you completed the quests?" She asked, her voice the usual deadpan tone. "Or did you back out? You a scaredy-cat?" She said, her voice in her usual tone, but Kenjiro could tell she was joking with him.

Kenjiro just took out the Mana Crystals from the Slimes and Goblins as well as the Herbs. He had only found the common herbs, although knowing himself he probably walked past a few better herbs.

Saku took the Crystals as well as the herbs and put them in a box. "I'll analyse them later." Saku mumbled to herself.

She then looked back at Kenjiro, her eyes narrowed as she scrutinised him. "No injuries?" She asked, a bit surprised.

"No, I'm perfectly fine." Kenjiro assured her. Although that wasn't exactly true. He didn't gain any injuries today, but his voice and face were still messed up.

Saku nodded her head, but her eyes were still narrowed a bit, she seemed confused? But Kenjiro couldn't be sure as her face was still deadpan and her eyes were barely narrowed.

"Once these have been analysed by the machine and they are verified then you'll be ranked up." Saku said to him. "Congratulations." Saku said as she stuck her hand out for a shake.

Kenjiro looked at the hand before shaking it, blushing a little. He wasn't really good at talking to girls or at least talking to them made him nervous even though he tried not to show it.

When he let go of her hand he shivered a bit and looked around, feeling exposed for some reason.

Saku looked at him confused. "You okay?" She asked.

Kenjiro took one last look before deciding he imagined it, it was a different feeling then the one he felt before coming here. "Yeah, I'm fine." He assured her.

Saku nodded her head. "Well, there's no point in you taking any other quests. It won't make you rank up sooner and you'll just exhaust yourself. So, just go back to wherever you're staying for now or get stuff you need in town and you'll be ranked up by tomorrow when you come in and you'll get your money."

Kenjiro nodded his head, gratefully and started moving away, doing a little wave goodbye to Saku. She did as well before he left.

Kenjiro let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding as he started to walk back to the inn. He had some money, but he wasn't going to spend it unless he had to and he didn't want to risk not having enough money for dinner.

Although saying that, he was kinda full. As disgusting and horrible Slimes and Goblins were he still ate them and it's not like they just disappeared when he ate them. They were still in his stomach, and because of that he was kinda full.

So he didn't even know if he would need to eat dinner.

As he was just about to turn the corner to get on the street of the inn, a voice called out to him. "Hey, you, kid with the mask." Clearly they were talking to him. Because as much as he would want to ignore it and walk away, he didn't see anyone else with a mask around here.

Kenjiro turned around to look at who had called him. It was a short man with short curly hair that was covered by a top hat on his head. He was wearing a purple ringmaster tuxedo. He had dark tinted glasses that covered his eyes from all angles, making it impossible to see them.

Kenjiro looked at the man confused as to why he had called out to him. "Is there something you need?" Kenjiro asked, his voice sounding much worse than it had in the morning from speaking too much. If Kenjiro had to guess, he only had a few more sentences in him.

The man grinned hearing the question and answered him. "Walk with me, my boy." The man said, turning around and walking, with Kenjiro hesitating, the man spoke again. "Trust me, it'll be worth your time."

Kenjiro decided to follow the man, just to see what he was on about.

As he walked beside the man the short man spoke again. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Tedbaldus, a merchant of certain… goods and services." The man said mysteriously. Kenjiro was going to introduce himself before the man spoke again. "No need to introduce yourself, I already know who you are."

Kenjiro stopped walking as the man stopped a few steps ahead of him. The man just smirked as he spoke, while Kenjiro was on guard. "Don't be surprised. I find my customers, only a lucky few find me." The man then pointed at Kenjiro as he spoke with his voice getting louder. "And, YOU, my boy! Are one of the lucky few to be chosen as my customer. Congratulations!" The man then started clapping, as if mocking Kenjiro.

"Now, now, chop chop. There's no time to waste." Tedbaldus said, as he started walking again.

Kenjiro was hesitant, but followed. He didn't know how much Tedbaldus knew. But he wanted to know. He doubted the Tedbaldus knew he was from another world, but if he did he would have to find a way for him not to share it with anyone.

Because if he did and news about his survival got out, then the heroes could possibly track him down and try to kill him. You know, to stop Kenjiro from exposing their true nature. Although he doubted if he did that, that anything would be done. After all, who would the people believe? A scarred and possibly deranged person? Or a hero the Goddess summoned herself?

The answer was obvious.

In another place, in a dark room where nothing but a few things were visible because of a light shining in from outside the room a pair of eyes opened.

These eyes were bright Yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the dark.

The owner of these had a single thought in their head at the moment. 'What… am I feeling? What is this feeling?'

They had just recently had this strange feeling. They didn't know what it was. Although they would soon.