Chapter 14 - Fate Worse than Death

In any case, once he returned after cleaning himself, Zack had another excellent and very fulfilling dinner. During that time, he did some research about where he should go next. He probably could have asked instructor Amanda, but perhaps that wasn't a good idea; if he made enemies out of people, they might cause trouble for her if they saw him interacting with her.

"When it comes to monsters and weapons… I guess there is that place," Zack thought when he returned home and then sat on his bed. "This will be convenient for me, but it will be disgusting as well."

In the end, Zack decided to go to one of the least visited territories dominated by monsters. The place was a hellhole because of the disgusting creatures there… They were goblins. They were quite resilient, but the real issue with them was that they would keep prisoners… to increase their numbers. 

Goblin warriors would keep women, and goblin ladies would keep the men… some guys joked around about becoming a plaything for a goblin lady once, and the guy was crazy enough to do that… or perhaps desperate enough. In any case, people found his corpse later. It was being thrown away after he bit his tongue. It seemed that he could only tolerate so much fun from the smelly, fat, dirty, and ugly-as-hell goblin ladies.

"They use weapons, so they should give more XP compared to the giant ice slimes," Zack thought. "Since they also multiply fast, there should be a lot of them waiting for me to grant me the title of goblin slayer."

After making up his mind, Zack fell asleep… he went to sleep in a good mood, so he thought that he would also have a good night. He was dead wrong. As Zack fell asleep, he found himself transported back to a time of innocence and tragedy, to a memory engraved deep within his soul. In his dream, he was once again a ten-year-old boy living in his hometown with his family.

The memory began with a sense of tranquility, the warm embrace of home enveloping him as he played in the streets with his friends. But soon, that tranquility shattered into chaos as the sky darkened with the shadow of impending doom.

In his dream, Zack watched in horror as a massive army of drakes descended upon his hometown, their powerful wings blotting out the sun. The creatures were fearsome and relentless, their roars echoing through the city as they unleashed devastation upon everything in their path.

The city's walls, once thought impenetrable, crumbled before the drakes' might in a matter of minutes. The defenders fought valiantly, but it was a losing battle from the start. The city was overrun, its streets filled with fire and destruction.

Amidst the chaos, Zack witnessed the unimaginable loss of life. His once bustling hometown became a graveyard, with the bodies of friends, neighbors, and loved ones strewn about like discarded toys. Out of a population of fifty thousand people, only a few dozen managed to escape with their lives.

And among those who perished were Zack's own family. His parents, uncles, aunties, cousins—all of them were taken from him in the blink of an eye. He watched helplessly as they fell, their cries of pain and fear echoing in his ears long after they were gone.

Usually, Zack would wake up in a hurry, but he woke up this time around just covered in sweat. He had that nightmare dozens of times over the years, but it looked like he was getting used to it, finally.

"I guess my confidence grew a bit, and that is why I didn't wake up like usual… I am still have a long way ahead of me, though," Zack thought and then sighed.

Zack thought that his days from now on would start pretty good no matter what, but Power doesn't solve all the things in life.

That morning, Zack didn't feel like eating either, but getting hungry during the day would be even worse, so he forced himself to eat a bit… still, it looked like his luck was really bad. When he approached the guild, which had the Territory of the goblins under their control, Zack found some of his classmates in front of the building. They all looked at him and frowned… those guys were the ones who graduated at the beginning of the third year of the academy… almost the first group, so they wondered if Zack had a death wish or something.

Nevertheless, Zack didn't have time to entertain or deal with them. He just entered the guild without hesitation. The Bloody Sword guild headquarters was a massive structure, towering above the surrounding buildings with an air of dominance. Its walls were made of dark stone adorned with intricate carvings of swords, skulls, and other symbols of battle. Above the entrance, a large banner bearing the guild's emblem, a blood-red sword dripping with crimson, flapped in the wind, marking the guild's Territory with unmistakable pride.

Zack was greeted by an awe-inspiring and intimidating sight inside the guild's main hall. The hall was vast and grand, with high ceilings and walls adorned with banners depicting scenes of glorious battles and triumphant victories. At the center of the hall stood a massive statue of a warrior, sword raised high in defiance, a symbol of the guild's unwavering determination to conquer any challenge that stood in their way.