The Dark part 03: Hhh! I'm in danger!

"Goo Giei Garina do rary!" From under the bloodied body of the hobgoblin, the goblin shaman chanted his magic. A swift, bright, electric bolt was launched toward Alice.

Without any time to dodge it, Alice had no choice but to tank it with her arms. Her poster looked like a boxer defending himself. The bolt wasn't fatal, but it severely burned Alice's arms.

"Achy! I hope this won't leave a scar on my arms." [Holy Healing Magic: Gentle regeneration], after using her magic to heal her burns Alice examined her arms looking for any scars.

The hamlet fighters were looking in awe at the woman standing in front of them, that spell would have easily killed any one of them but she just took it head-on!

"Are you really Alice-sama, the dragon princess?" The elder spoke in a confused, fearful tone. The dragon princess was never known to be a fighter; she was known to have healing magic.

Looking behind her, she took a glance at the elder and smiled, throwing a large golden emblem at him.

"That's me in the flesh, now be a good man and take your people and retreat, you're in the way!" She said with a smile, but the elder only felt intimidation from her. That wasn't a request but was an order.

"She has the Von Eric emblem! All men follow her orders and retreat as fast as you can!!" The elder screamed as he started running to the backline tapping any fighter that was in his way saying: Move!

Crackle!! Another electric bolt was heading toward Alice but this time she was prepared and dodged by bending her upper half.

"Not a second time, can't you see that I was getting ready?" Alice complained

The goblin shaman realized that he didn't stand a chance and started tried desperately from under the hobgoblin corpse.

Alice used her incredible strength to pull a fence was wall straight from the ground and walked with it toward the goblin shaman. Other regular were too distracted by Alva to respond to their leader's cry, and those who noticed didn't lift a finger.

Goblins are instinctual creatures, if their strong leader wasn't a match for Alice they didn't dare fight her.

Alice then drove the wooden fence wall straight through the goblin shaman chest.

As their leader died the goblins started to retreat back to the forest in fear.

"Kill as much of them as possible so they won't dare lift a finger against this hamlet ever again!" Alice shouted to everyone who can hear, the hamlet fighter heard it as a call for them to jump back into action.

"Follow my lead! Slay as much as you can as they run away!!" Following Alva's call, the fighter got hyped and started chasing the gobbling with her and cutting everyone that was in their reach.

"Kill them All!"

"Don't show them any mercy!"

"This hamlet is dangerous! Scram to the depth of the forest and never get out again!!"

The men kept shouting as they pushed the goblins back.

In the heat of battle, a man was glaring at Alva's majestic figure as she cut down every goblin that came in her way, just to notice a goblin sneaking on her back.

"Behind you!!" The man cried at the top of his lunges.

A grey, majestic horse rushed at the goblin biting its neck, and then stomping its corpse with unparalleled ferocity,

"What in the…" the man said in disbelief.

Alva turned and started patting her horse.

"Good boy, you will get a treat when we reach home!"

"A warhorse?! I never I thought I'd see one again in my life!" The blacksmith said.

"Some of the goblins did run up the hill but I never told you to chase after them, we only hunted those who were running toward the forest, if you want to know why go take a look for your selves!" Alva said with a proud face.

The fighters were intrigued by her word and gone up the hill to check it, they only found blood and guts, tens of crushed goblins corpses were scattered everywhere. In the middle of this massacre stood a single majestic black horse, bathed in blood.

"This is Lord Alen's personal warhorse that carried him through countless wars, he did lend it to Alice this time since he was getting restless in the stable!" Alva said.

"You mean…!" The elder gasped.

"This horse Alone has enough strength to give a seasoned warrior a run for his money!" Alva said.

"Enough talk! Elder, if there are any injured people bring them to me!" Alice shouted at both Alva and the elder.

As Jean the horse saw Alice he galloped toward her waiting for praise.

"You did a good job there! Let's go find someone to wash you up from that blood!"

Alice took Jean to a nearby well and asked a man from the village to wash it as she was going to heal the injured, she didn't forget to left a warning.

"Ah! Before I forgot, Jean hates to be ridden by strangers so if you tried that he might kill you!"

After healing the injured and feeding the horses Alice decided that it was time to continue their travel but the elder called her to give his thanks on behalf of the entire hamlet.

As she heard him Alice smile as if this was what she was waiting for, she picked a sword that was lying around and wedged it between two large rocks.

"Listen, well people of this hamlet, a hero has appeared and I, Alice Von Eric, his holy maiden was here to save you on his behalf. Therefore if you wanted to thank someone then thank him!!"

Silence dominated for a moment before the elder opened his mouth.

"I don't want to be rude to our savior but a hero's appearance is a great deal, you surely don't expect us to believe you without a prof?"

Alice took out the appraisal orb from her pocket and used it to only show her blessing to the people of the village. Showing that she is hosting Lydia's soul to them was a bad idea in her mind.

"My eyes! The Hero's holy maiden skill, so it was true!" The elder bowed as soon as he saw it.

"Your holiness, I beg your forgiveness for my earlier remarks. What are your orders?" The elder said in a respectful tone.

"No specific order, direct your thanks and prayer to the hero! This sword will work as a temporary shrine since we are in a hurry; use it as you like!"

"May I as your holiness, how much time it was since the hero-sama appearance? Are we the very first follower?" The elder asked.

"It had been just a couple of days, but we were in Bluemill so there are other followers there too. But no worry, considering how big of support the hero will get your village is still from the very first to receive the hero's blessing!" Alice replied in a reassuring and gentle tone.

"Who… Who is this hero! Why isn't he here?" Havin called, almost crying because he was getting scolded earlier.

"Havin, watch your tongue, you're speaking to her holiness the holy maiden. Sorry for this child's lack of manners we will see it straightened!" The elder apologized.

"Elder, no need for that. Those who developed a skill at an early age are either geniuses or have a loose screw, this kid seems to be the latter since he plunged himself into a suicidal struggle with the hobgoblin! I like it!" Alice replied.

"What do you mean…" The elder said in confusion.

Alice walked to the kid and looked him in the eyes.

"What do you intend to do if you met the hero? Answer truthfully!" Alice asked.

"I heard that the dragon princess was just a healer and that she had no fighting capability, but now after you met the hero you have grown stronger right? I wanted to ask him to make me stronger!" Having was starting to calm down as the conversation became just between him and Alice.

"A straight answer? That's impressive; I expected you to stutter or tries to lie like any kid your age! Here is your answer, the hero is fighting evil right now and we're heading toward my father's domain to gather forces to help him as fast as possible. I want to take you with me but I can't I that's because… you tell me! What are you?" Alice asked.

"I'm a dead weight that will just slow you down, I know this much at least!" Havin replied.

"Good then here is your trail; after we leave you to try to follow us to my father's domain! If you survived I will make you a paladin and give accesses to all the training and educational facilities available!" Alice said.

"Alice-sama isn't that a bit harsh for a kid?" Alva voiced her concerns.

"Not really, I didn't specify how he should come. As long as he gets to my father's domain he will receive what I promised him, he could ask the people from this hamlet to escort him if he wants or embark alone on the journey but the training he will receive will depend on the method he used! If he led people to protect him, I will give him leadership training, if he forced his way alone he will get fighting training and so on…" Alice explained her trial.

"I will do it! I shall get there as fast as I can!" Havin replied.

Alice smiled at him as she nodded.

"That's the spirit, and this is my last advice for you! You should revise the way you use your healing magic, I could see it from afar that you were messing it up!" Alice said.

"I'm messing it up? How?" Havin asked.

"That's for you to discover! We will be going now, make sure to stay alive this time!" Alice said her farewell as she mounted her horse.

…

Deep underground and a fair distance from Connor, Vanessa had received a gift from her master Xaviin.

A group of masked people approached Vanessa, and they stated that they were reinforcement sent to her by Xaviin alongside a gift to help her.

The gift was a tightly closed coffin; Vanessa was reluctant to open it since it was clearly something she shouldn't mess with so she decided to call Xaviin for an explanation using her communication orb.

"Lord Xaviin, this is Vanessa calling for your advice!"

-"Ahh! Have my gift reached your hands?"-

"Yes it did, but I don't seem to understand what it is!"

-"To put it simply, It's a third-rate Death Knight, since I didn't have much time on hand to make a first-rate one!"-

"No master Xaviin, even this one is a powerful masterpiece!"

-"We are facing the hero remember? Kill on sight, and burn the corpse after that put the ashes in the unholy water I provided and send it to me at top security!"-

One of the men showed Vanessa a big glass bottle holding black liquid.

"Do we really need to go that far?"

-"I found in an ancient table about the first hero that he was burned to ashes in a fight just for him to resurrect like a phoenix!! It's also stat that the fire he was burned with was the fire of Gehenna! The Eternal black flame! Anything that flame touch becomes nothing and he survived it!! Like what the hell?! Ahem! Ahem... Sorry I lost my composer remembering just how much bullshit the first hero was able to do."-

"Anyway, Xaviin-sama I will be extra careful with this matter!"

-"Good, the hero you're facing shouldn't be that strong this early in his journey but it's better to be cautious than sorry later!"-

"You sound tired, are you alright?"

-"I'm an Undead so I'm not supposed to feel exhaustion, but I have a lot of work lately with the approaching war and the High elves sniffing around for our traces and now I have to deal with hero too!"-

"That sounds painful, best of luck for you lord Xaviin"

-"I wanted to ask you about this lord Xaviin thing, just call me Xaviin since we are business partners!"-

"In the near future you will be one of these world Lords, I wanted to show proper respect since my small assassin guild is piggybacking on you to become one of the bigger guilds in the world!"

-"Don't say that! You are saving my ass since I can't afford to have one of the bigger guilds works for me, you help me become one of the Lords and when I become one I will support you to become a bigger and stronger guild it's a win-win!"-

"Anyway, how does this Death Knight work?"

-"Open the Coffin gently!"-

Vanessa slowly opened the Coffin, inside there was a mummified corpse holding a small wooden box.

-"Take the small box and put it gently away for the moment, on the corpse's hands there are two rings, the one on the left feed it to the corpse and the right one put it on the middle finger of your hand."-

"Ok, it's done! What now?"

-"Slowly open the small box, but make sure to keep it away from your face in case something has spilled!"-

"Well I did, everything seemed normal. I see two bottles, one holding a purple liquid and the other is clear like water; I can also see a small bag!"

-"The purple one is necrotic essence and its highly dangerous for living things, the clear one is holy water and the bag hold protective equipment"-

"So what do I do with them?"

-"The protective equipment are gloves and a mask, soak them in holy water before wearing them, since you're alive you don't want any contact with necrotic essence!"-

"Why? What will happen?"

-"The necrotic essence will eat away at the flesh of the living just like strong acid but just a single droplet is enough to turn a grown man into a pile of bones in half a day!"-

"That sounds painful, now I'm finished! What's next?"

-"Slowly pour the necrotic essence inside the corps mouth, make sure you use it all, and don't let it touches you!"-

Vanessa slowly poured the necrotic essence as per Xaviin's direction.

-" Now simply chant back after me, I Vanessa, order you to stand and be my eternal servant, spreading death in my name!"-

"I Vanessa, order you to stand and be my eternal servant, spreading death in my name!"

As Vanessa completed her chant, the corpse started to move violently and the necromantic magic took effect. Clouded in death and despair an armored knight has risen even though Vanessa could feel that fighting this monster is a death sentence she could never feel threatened by it due to the ring.

"Lord Xaviin, are you sure this is just a third-rate death knight?"

-" Yes, its overall power is weaker than a first-rate death knight by a huge margin, it's also weak to sunlight and holy magic adds the fact that it needs to kill at least once a month to stay functional!"-

Strongly gripping his Greatsword, the death knight stood in front of Vanessa waiting for his orders.

Vanessa looked around and counted her men, a total of 20 people and a single death knight, 5 mages, 10 assassins including her, 3 tanks, and lastly 2 rangers.

"Lord Xaviin, with this I should be able to finish the mission successfully!"

-" Don't give him a chance, a hero is far more dangerous than any monster just cause we don't know what powers he has and how fast he can grow! If you die you will just become more level to him!"-

"I know, I will try my best."

The call was cut off as Vanessa put the Communication orb in her bag, the men under her order lined up behind the death knight.

"I have the cave's map here, we will use it to navigate alongside the ranger's skill, when we spot the hero it's 'Kille on sight!' Mages don't use high explosive magic so we won't bury ourselves just focus on supporting and restraining the hero! Tanks do what you do best and protect the team. for us assassins, we will focus on taking the hero's life!"

"Yes ma'am!" The entire team shouted in agreement.

"The hero hunting team is now heading out! stay alert at all times!"

…

On Connor's side, he has just finished exterminating a second Hulking cockroach colony.

Sitting on a throne of hulking cockroaches he heard the message from Ariel.

{Notice: You have leveled up

Name: Connor Von Eric Hakai Monke . Level: 10

Age: 24 Race: Human.

Social status: The master of the Von Eric family, The master of the Von Eric Hakai Monke family.

Class: Hero, Divine Slayer. Portfolio: Destruction.

Titles: Toxic gamer, Another world traveler, Tamer, Partner of the gold dragon Kinryuu, Destroyer.

Health: 743/743

Mana: 1347/1347

Stamina: 631/631

Strength: 22 ,Dexterity: 28 ,Speed: 28 , Magic: 36 ,Luck: 16

Constitution: 32 ,Wisdom: 30 ,Intelligence: 37 ,Charisma: 28 ,Will: 32

Martial art Skills:

[Martial arts: Level 16],[Mace Arts: Level 8], [Throwing: Level 1],[Sword arts: Level 11], [Pain resistance: Level 14],

Evocation Skills:

[Fire Magic: Level 14], [Water Magic: Level 8], [Wind Magic: Level 15], [Earth Magic: Level 19], [Lightning Magic: Level 12], [Light Magic: Level 4], [Dark Magic: Level 2], [Pure Magic: Level 18], [Enchanting Magic: Level 22], [Sound Magic: Level 2], [Magic Control: Level 17].

Restoration Skills:

[Holy Healing Magic: Level 12], [Holy Detoxification Magic: Level 6]

Taming Skills:

[Taming: Level 5], [Shapeshift: Level 1].

Draconic blood Skills:

[Draconic physic: Level 4], [Draconic senses: Level 4], [Draconic stomach: Level 2]

Ariel Skills:

[Ariel: Level 20]= [Appraisal], [Sentient], [Analyse], [Encyclopedia], [Minimap], [Ego].

Hero Skills:

[Patron of the holy maiden: Level 5]

Curses from the god of creation:

[Plot armor: Level 3],

Destroyer Innate skills:

[Destruction: Level 17], [HeAw%=DeLoAw%: Level Unknown].

}

Just two levels? I'm pretty sure I killed over a hundred one right?

{Notice: 131 in total, the higher your level the more exp you will need to level up and weaker monsters will be giving you less exp!}

Do you mean?

{Notice: Keep fighting strong monsters to level up, the weak roaches won't give you much exp!}

What if I fought a monster stronger than me?

{Notice: If you killed a monster stronger than you, the experience will be increased.}

I understand, with all those corpses around I feel like I'm wasting food.

It's like I want to eat them since they have humanoid bodies and it creeps me out, and they are cockroaches!

Mei was sitting on Connor's head, It looked like she almost made a nest there.

"Mei, sadly we will keep eating worms until we find something better! I hope you don't mind?"

"Squeak!"

"Ah! Damn! she so cute!!"

[Minimap]

So, Ariel, the green dots are monsters weaker than me, the orange equal and the red dangerous?

{Notice: Green you can take them in masses, just like those roaches. A one-on-one battle is advised with an orange enemy and lastly, I don't recommend fighting a red one.}

Can mark the earthworms separately, since we need them for food.

{Notice: Ok, how about a banana symbol? it will fit you well!}

What kind of memory did you dig up from my mind?

{Notice: If you don't like it, how about chicken nuggets?}

Ok, Ok I understand, use the banana symbol! I will let it this time just because of the meme.

I really want storage, can't I get an inventory?

{Notice: No information was found.}

I guess it can't be that easy to get!

Let's get going, since I only know that Roa is to the north, I will have to get more direction, or get lucky and have it pope on the map since Ariel can cover a hundred meters in each direction.

When I was fighting monsters I managed to figure out new and useful magic with Ariel's help. By Earth magic to dig, Wind magic to provide me with breathable air, and Enchantment magic to increase my strength I created [Combined Magic: Earth Glide] and it allows me to swim right through soil and stones.

Right now I'm using it to skip the monster's encounter by moving through the ground and walls. Of course, I did have the bright idea of swimming right back to the surface but Ariel said that I will run out of mana and get suffocated or crushed, so it's a no-go.

Depending on how fast I can increase my MP pool I might never need to find a way out.

After that, I remembered that I needed just around 3000 MP to cause a nuclear explosion, but Ariel reminded me that it's 3000 MP just to initiate the explosion and the center will be right on my hand, so to keep a safe distance away and protect myself from it the amount skyrocketed to about 21000 MP.

From this, I guessed that having three-figure stats isn't that op! I want to see my MP in the ten of thousands! I'm going to max my build as the best damage dealer!

Ariel, I will keep moving in a straight line toward the north, so mark intelligent creatures differently on the map, I might need direction!

{Notice: And of course I will warn you if they pose a danger!}

Thank you! also if you find any more hulking beetles tell me too, I want some exp.

Let's call Alice, I don't know what she is up to!

…

"Alice, can you hear me?"

-Yes, Connor-sama. What do you need?-

"Nothing specific, just wanted to know how are you doing? since I haven't heard from you in about a day!"

-Ahh…! I'm really sorry Connor-sama, I should've made daily reports!-

"No, I didn't mean it in that way! just how are you traveling and give my greeting to Alva and Dolrig?"

-In that case, it's going pretty well thanks to the horse's stamina… ALVA, DOLRIG CONNOR-SAMA IS SENDING YOU HS GREETING… Alva said 'Ara, how nice of you I hope you're doing well too!' and dolrig 'I hope you did get used to eating worms, Connor-Danna.-

Connor laughed at Dolrig remarks as he remembered the awful taste.

"Tell him that I will save his portion of the worm meat!"

-CONNOR-SAMA IS SAYING THAT HE WILL SAVE YOU SOME!... dolrig is making a disgusted face, I guess he doesn't like worm meat that much!-

"I've been fighting some monsters here, did you get in any trouble up there?"

-In fact yes, we did save a small hamlet from a goblin attack!-

"Already a heroic deed I see, and I'm here just fighting hulking cockroaches and beetles"

-Egh… Big cockroaches! that seems creepy… AH? HE JUST SAID THAT HE FOUGHT BIG COCKROACHES AND BEETLES...WHAT? YES, I BELIEVE HE SAID HULKING BEETLES...HUH?... Connor-sama Dolrig is asking if you really faced a hulking beetle and if it was alone?-

"Yes, I did face them, and it was a mother and her children!"

-HE SAYS THAT IT WAS A MOTHER AND HER CHILDREN... WHAT FOR REAL?... Connor-sama evacuate the area immediately, as per Dolrig hulking beetles gather in groups to hunt Titanic Worms, usually seeing a hulking beetle is a bad sign but seeing more than one at the same time it is guaranteed that you are in Titanic worm territory…-

"Isn't it just a really big worm?"

-... Dolrig says that a titanic worm once destroys a whole dwarven fortress just by tunneling through it, no matter how the dwarfs attacked all their effort bounced right off its armored scales.-

"Seems pretty strong, but did they try to burn it?"

-He says that it's too big to burn, around 10 meters wide, and god's know how long it is!-

"If it was that size wouldn't it leave a gaping tunnel wherever she goes...Oh...Well...Shit!"

-Connor-sama, is there a problem?-

"The cave I'm in is too cylindrical for a normal cave formation!"

-You mean!!!-

Connor chuckled.

"Hhh! I'm in danger!"