Time To Level

"Lick!" Sim shouted. 

[MP -20.] 

[MP remaining 80/100.] 

He walked slowly as he killed slow stupid goblins with barely a root just flicking them as he kept thinking about his newfound knowledge. 

["Goblin" Defeated EXP +50.] 

[Congratulations. You've reached 'Level 2' | EXP 50/100] 

[Useless Man points: 3] 

"This is boring…Lick!" Sim spouted. 

[MP -20] 

[MP remaining 60/100] 

["Goblin" Defeated EXP +50.] 

[Congratulations. You've reached 'Level 3' | EXP 100/200] 

[Useless Man points: 3] 

"Shut up and do your daily grind already," Caleb shouted. 

Sim started to get used to finding the Goblins with no problem as he bowled them down with a simple flick of the root and started killing them with another one or two hits. After some time, it became more fun to be able to kill things without actually having to think about what to hit at first. And after some time, he got really good at it. The only thing that was still very new to him were the spells he had yet to learn within the next couple of hours. 

[Congratulations. You've reached 'Level 6' | EXP 500/600] 

"When do I stop?!" He gasped. 

"Level 10 and then you can start hitting the board quests," Caspar smiled. 

"You both really don't like me do you?" Sim asked. 

They both gave no response as they watched him carry out baby tasks. He couldn't tell if they liked him or not. He figured they probably thought it was weird to keep an extra level 7 in their guild. After all, most guilds only had level 20-30 players as part of their training program. Sim, however, was an additional player with hardly any leveling on him making him think it was all part of the script. 

[Congratulations. You've reached 'Level 7' | EXP 700/800] 

Sim took out the potions as he revived his MP and HP. He looked around and saw a goblin running towards him but before he could react, Caspar stepped between him and the Goblin and started one hit KO with his large heavy metal ball. The Goblin fell unconscious. Sim quickly turned away so he wouldn't look too awkward watching them work together.

"I gain nothing from these guys anymore," Caspar sighed. 

"Where do I acquire a rune tattoo?" Sim asked. 

"Are you doing okay?" Caleb questioned. 

"I am doing okay, but sometimes the connection doesn't feel strong," He noted. 

Flexing his fingers he tried to focus on something else but failed. He was getting frustrated again. This whole process just wasn't working. There was no way he was going to achieve anything by being like this. If only he knew how to get rid of these problems, everything would go a lot faster. His frustration only grew.

"Reach level 10 and then we'll talk," Caleb responded coldly. 

"Fine…" He muttered. 

He continued to fight the goblin spawns as Caspar and Caleb watched on with bored expressions. After a while, Sim finally felt like his brain was starting to explode when the next spawn came into view.

"Caspar, do you think he is odd?" Caleb asked. 

"He is a newbie…just let it go!" Caspar scolded. 

[Congratulations. You've reached 'Level 8' | EXP 823/900] 

"Reached level 8 can I stop?!" Sim yelled. 

"Deal was 10! Keep going!" Caleb shouted. 

They went silent as Caleb continued to monitor Sim from afar as he pulled out cigarettes and a lighter. They watched his every move Sim stopped fighting for the moment as he stared into space. Suddenly he started to smile widely as he put the cigarette to his lips and took a deep breath.

"He didn't recognize you when you attacked him earlier and thought you were his sister," Caleb mumbled. 

"His sister must be a spirit user too then," Caspar scolded. 

"Hmm…" He thought. 

Pausing again, Caspar seemed annoyed by the fact that he wasn't getting paid enough for all of the trouble he had gotten in the past week.

  "We need to get outta here soon…it's almost evening," Caspar noted. 

"We will let him cap at 9 then since you seem suddenly busy," Caleb whispered. 

Dropping his smoke to the ground with a crunch. The sound of the cigarette hitting the dirt made Sim turn and glare at him. Sim stood and walked off. After a long silence, he turned back to see Caleb watching him. As Caleb's head lowered in shame, Sim decided to ignore it for now.

[Congratulations. You've reached 'Level 9' | EXP 930/1000] 

"Yes! Finally! One more level!" Sim shouted. 

"Unfortunately, I must leave now," Caspar smiled. 

"What happened?" Sim asked. 

"I have to do something," He replied. 

"Your starting quest is one more level, but it's okay," Caleb snickered. 

"What will we do now?" Sim questioned. 

Caspar pushed his hands into his pockets as he walked away. He said nothing else and eventually vanished. Caleb turned to Sim. The phone in his pocket went off interrupting their conversation. The screen lit up with a message from Kavan. "Call me back," He texted.

"Don't text me if you aren't gonna call me an asshole!" Caleb shouted. 

Sim observed carefully as he tried to listen in on the conversation. Caleb was clearly frustrated at this situation and was willing to throw punches, even though there was nobody around to see it.

"Hey, man, I will go there with Sim okay?" Caleb explained.

The author now stood curiously as he waited to hear from Caleb and Kavan. He did not expect to come across such interesting characters. He would love to know about them as well as he forgot what happened in this book, but he understood that he shouldn't pry. Maybe he could find other people who would want to know about him as well. He just hoped he could find someone he could relate to besides Helix. 

"So?" Sim questioned. 

"No time for chat as we gotta go," Caleb scolded. 

Holding his hand up in the air Caleb was stopped by a small crowd as they were all laughing at Caleb's face. Some of the bystanders looked amused. Others looked angry. Caleb rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms and turned away from the crowd. Sim smirked as he followed. It was nice being able to see people laughing in general rather than sneering at him. That was one less thing he had to worry about.

"Hey Caleb, training up a newbie I see!" A tall black-haired man laughed. 

"To be fair I didn't wanna!" Sim shouted. 

"Shut up Sim!" Caleb growled. 

The man bent over suddenly like a doll as he noticed his bloodshot broken eyes as he hobbled towards the nearest to them. Caleb grabbed Sim by the shoulder.

"You better get moving if you plan on staying alive," Caleb ordered.

He then released Sim from his grip as he made a fighting stance. Sim stood frozen for a second, unable to register the meaning behind Caleb's actions. He was speechless.

"If I could get one of those culty priest guys I could take them on!" Sim thought. 

"We do not fuck with those guys!  I said go! Way Crashing!" Caleb shouted. 

[MP -100. MP Remaining 29900/30000] 

Sim watched the water manifest and rose and crash into the crowd of zombie-like humans. Some ran away screaming while others tried to fight back. It was quite amusing actually. Seeing them running from the attack just made them seem more real somehow. Sim wondered if he should try to help.

He hesitated before running the other way, leaving Caleb alone to save the day. It felt wrong to run from what would be his first battle, but what was he supposed to do? Caleb was already handling it, the guy seemed pretty powerful to boot. 

With a small gaze, he noticed the blood staining the ground beneath his feet as he walked farther into the town. When he realized what it meant he stopped dead in his tracks he was so focused on trying to figure out what was happening that he forgot to take another glance at the blood trail. Before he knew it his legs carried him to his destination.

[Luton Village.]

He observed the town as it felt like it transformed into a tiny village overnight as through nature took it back to its former glory. There was no sign of any recent destruction and he was sure no human beings were living here at all. As he walked down the main street the smell of food wafted into his nose as he heard some voices.

"What is going on…" Sim whispered. 

He was always ignorant of the world around him, so why did he never notice the changes around him? What was different this time? Looking up, Sim saw people walking and talking normally. Some were holding items in their hands, most of which he was unfamiliar with.

"This place looks like paradise, but the blood led me to this town…this once was my home," Sim muttered.

He noticed the way the people were also hobbling to their side. Some were limping and others were just struggling slightly. Most had bags full of groceries or were carrying large amounts of books. Sim wondered if any of those books contained information about where he came from. Or maybe it was just another normal day in this village. No one gave Sim any attention, despite their presence.

"Brother!" Isla shouted. 

"Isla?" Sim replied. 

"Isla is no longer in charge of this body as of now I am Lily for your safety," Lily smiled. 

You could see the disappointment on his face. Even after being freed, he didn't forget about it.

Isla was the original owner of her mind. Lily was the first person Sim ever met next to Roman in this world. 

"I see…" He whispered.