To the Dark!!

As the horses galloped through the forest road, Connor's carriage headed steadily toward lord Eric's domain where Alice lives. The trip will take between two to three days depending on the weather, the horse's condition, and the possibility of monsters attacking.

Alva and Lydia were forced to sit inside the carriage alongside Connor and Alice by Dolrig 'You should sit with master Connor' he said.

"Since we are stuck here, can you tell me about your new sword?" Alva gently asked Connor who had a distant look on his face.

"Ah… Ahh...Sorry! Did you say something?" Connor stuttered.

"You seem like you're not here! Is there a problem? Even Alice looks worried about you!"

"Alva is right! Are you alright?" Lydia added up.

"I was just thinking, why did I kill those assassins last night? that isn't like me!" Connor said, his hands shivering.

"Was it the first time you killed someone? Don't worry you will get used to it!" Lydia said with a confident voice.

"I don't think this is what worries him, Not everyone is like you!" Alva replied to Lydia.

"They dared to hurt the hero, Death was their only salvation! you did them a favor!!" Alice tried comforting Connor.

"Somehow I feel like what you said is even worse than Lydia! Alice-sama please don't count everyone like you!" Alva commented on Alice.

They kept arguing while Connor was immersed in his thoughts.

Why did I do that? Alice was in danger, even if I listened to them nothing would guarantee that they would release her. No! These are just excuses in the end I did kill two people.

Am I in the wrong? What should I do?

{Notice: You're going too far! stop right there!!}

What?

{Notice: I said you're wrong! just listened to me. There are three reasons why you killed them!}

What reasons?

{Notice: First reason is the holy maiden skill! The skills say anyone who tries to hurt her(The holy maiden) will be teleported to the hero presence and be branded evil' the teleport part is still unusable due to the skill low level and the lack of a sufficient amount of mana, the branded evil part, on the other hand, is working perfectly!}

Just because of the skill?

{Notice: The moment they hurt Alice they were branded evil! What scares you more isn't the fact that you killed them but it's that you managed to sleep soundly afterward. You felt nothing from killing them, just the satisfaction like that when you kill an annoying mosquito!}

You're right, I expected to feel awful! I expected to throw up afterward but all I felt was … felt relief!

{Notice: that's what branded evil means! killing them will be good, and people are more likely to try and take their lives!}

And the other two reasons?

{Notice: you have a link with Alice as the holy maiden and with Mei as your tamed monster, those links can transfer not just thought but also emotions!! Alice who was on the verge of death, her pain, fear, and will to live mixed with the feral instinct of Mei to kill anyone who threatened her life. All those emotions flowed into you!!}

That does explain why I was able to talk with her even though she can't speak! Why didn't I think of that before? There is another reason, right?

{Notice: I and you are using the same brain to function, I have a closer and higher effect on you than the rest as I'm a part of you! My existence affects your deep mind. If I was in your case I would kill them with cold blood. You could say that my personality and yours are merged together!!}

I have three people infusing me? Alice, Mei, and Ariel?! That made me remember the boys' Joey, Garnt, Chris, and Kaho. Can I lose myself with that?

{Notice: You can't affect you but are still other people's personalities!}

"Connor-sama are you alright?" Alice called Connor.

He looked her in the eyes, she was genuinely worried about him.

I can't stay like this! Lydia is right. I need to get used to it or we won't survive!

"Yeah, I'm okay now! Alva, you asked about my sword?" Connor replied with a forced smile.

"Y...yes!" Alva answered.

I just need to forget this and get used to it slowly! At least nobody close to me died. I should just be thankful for that.

Connor drew his sword to show it to Alva.

"As you can see, it's a common weapon with the increased durability enchantment! if I add my Enchantment magic it won't break that easily!"

"It looks like an unenchanted sword! Are you sure it is enchanted?"

"Yeah! I did have Ariel appraise it and it said that it's enchanted. The enchantment on common items is usually weak and doesn't have any visible effect!"

"Can you really use it with your magic? won't that break the enchantment?" Lydia asked

"Ariel said that I don't have to worry about it! let me test it!"

[Enchantment Magic: Enchanted sword], [Lightning Magic: Lightning blade]

The sword started to glow faint blue as sparks zapped out of the blade.

"I didn't ask this before but… how can you mix magic like it's nothing?" Alva asked.

"She is right, look!" Alice put her hands to gather.

[Holy Healing Magic], [Holy Detoxification Magic]

Alice was hardly able to keep her magic together, she was concentrating so hard her face turned red and she started sweating.

And with a heavy breath, she stopped her magic. Exhaustion is apparent on her face.

"See!" Alva said.

"She has been training from when she was nine years old and that is her level!" Lydia added.

They are right! Ariel has something to say?

{Notice: When you use skills or magic, I'm helping you with the process in the background!}

So you're like a graphic card? no wonder the girl at the inn and the maid at the Boran house got surprised when I used this to just heat water!

"It's Ariel helping me with that, she just told me!" Connor said.

"She can do that?" Alva said with a surprised face.

"Do you feel alright now?" Alice asked.

"Yeah"

…

Time passed smoothly without any event until it became nighttime.

The carriage stopped at the roadside to camp.

"Connor-sama. Would you mind a word?" Dolrig called from behind the carriage.

"What is it?" Connor replied as he headed toward Dolrig's location.

"Sorry I just want to talk away from the campfire. This day has been weirdly peaceful!" Dolrig said with a serious face.

"Isn't that a good thing? having a day without getting attached?"

"No, it's not! The forest is usually filled with monsters, not getting attacked while passing through it means that something has driven them off!"

"You means?"

"An extremely strong monster is lurking nearby, don't drop your guard no matter what!" Dolrig warned Connor.

"Have you considered that they are avoiding us? not a stronger monster?" Connor asked.

"Are ya stupid? monsters don't think, they can't know if someone is strong by just looking! They usually attack and if you seem stronger they will start to avoid you afterward!"

"So you mean even if we were strong we should be at least attacked once?" Connor asked.

"That's right! don't spend the night doing stuff with your women and forget the current situation! ya hear me?"

"I WON'T!" Connor said.

The guard put tents to sleep in. Alice, Lydia, Mei and Alva, and Connor are going to sleep in the carriage. Dolrig is sleeping with the guards.

The night went peacefully, Dolrig anxiety just kept on rising.

After preparing they continued their travels.

Dolrig was keeping his hand on his weapon all the time while looking around for any movement.

Just a few minutes away from their camp they found the remains of another camp.

The carriage stopped to check it out.

"I have a bad feeling about this! we should keep moving!" Dolrig said.

"Those tents are the ones we use!! it's someone from Bluemill's guard" one of the guards said.

"Can they be the messenger sent by Kage? I don't think he sent anyone else this way!" Alice said.

"Let's check it, I don't feel any breath around here! we should be safe for the moment!" Alva said.

"This is a bad idea, A bad idea. If they left the tents here that means they were attacked! let's get out of here!" Dolrig said.

Connor stepped to the camp, I don't see anything weird.

The guard hurried to check the tents and the bushes around.

"It's Avlon's team, these are his items in the tent!" One of the guards yelled.

"Don't tell me they were killed! I can smell a faint rotten corpses smell" Another guard called from the bushes.

{Notice: Warning, A strong monster has been detected in close proximity!}

"Everybody back off, this is an order!!!" Connor screamed at the top of his lungs.

The heavy footstep can be heard along with the cracking of trees.

From the woods, he emerged.

Almost 17 feet tall, two horns of his deformed face, worms eating away at his rotten skin, the horrid smell of rotting corpses filled the air.

"See I told you we needed to get the hell out of here!"

Ariel apprised this thing.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Name: zombie troll

Race: Undead

Health: 680/680

Mana: 110/110.

Stamina: 350/350.

Strength: 34 , Dexterity: 12 , Speed: 25 , Magic: 10 , Luck: 10

Constitution: 36 , Wisdom: 4 , intelligence: 1 , charisma: 2 , Will: 14

Skills:

[Club arts: Level 19], [Bite: Level 15]

[Regeneration: Level 18]

Condition:

Controlled

-----------------------------------------------------

Tch! Can we win or do we need to run away?

Ariel showed me our stat! we might have leveled up from the assassin's fight!

{Notice: Roger!}

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Connor Von Eric Hakai Monke. Level: 07

Age: 24 Race: Human.

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

Class: Hero.

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

Health: 420/420

Mana: 972/972

Stamina: 491/491

Strength: 22 ,Dexterity: 26 ,Speed: 28 , Magic: 30 ,Luck: 16

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

Martial art Skills:

[Martial arts: Level 10],[Mace Arts: Level 7], [Throwing: Level 1],[Sword arts: Level 1], [Pain resistance: Level 5],

Evocation Skills:

[Fire Magic: Level 6], [Water Magic: Level 7], [Wind Magic: Level 8], [Earth Magic: Level 9], [Lightning Magic: Level 12], [Light Magic: Level 4], [Dark Magic: Level 2], [Pure Magic: Level 9], [Enchanting Magic: Level 15], [Sound Magic: Level 2], [Magic Control: Level 12].

Restoration Skills:

[Holy Healing Magic: Level 8], [Holy Detoxification Magic: Level 4]

Taming Skills:

[Taming: Level 2], [Shapeshift: Level 1].

Draconic blood Skills:

[Draconic physic: Level 2], [Draconic senses: Level 2], [Draconic stomach: Level 1]

Ariel Skills:

[Ariel: Level 19]= [Appraisal], [Sentient]

Hero Skills:

[Patreon of the holy maiden: Level 4]

Blessings from the god of creation:

[Plot armor: Level 1], [Destruction: Level 14], [HeAw%=DeLoAw%: Level Unknown].

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Name Alice Von Eric Hakai Monke. Level: 07

Social stats: daughter of the duke, The hero's wife.

Class: Holy healer.

Titles: Servant of the hero, Hero fanatic, healer, The hero's second wife.

Health: 21/21.

Mana: 110/110.

Stamina: 14/14.

Strength: 8 , Dexterity: 13 , Speed: 12 , Magic: 16 , Luck: 18

Constitution: 9 , Wisdom: 22 , intelligence: 14 , charisma: 28 , Will: 28

Skills:

[Holy Healing Magic: Level 9], [Holy Detoxification Magic: Level 7]

Blessing of the hero:

[the hero's holy maiden: Level 1], [Martial Arts: Level 1].

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Name Lydia. Level: 13

Social stats: The hero's wife.

Class: paladin of the holy maiden.

Titles: Servant of the hero, Servant of the holy maiden, holy knight, The hero's first wife.

Health: 95/95.

Mana: 35/35.

Stamina: 90/90.

Strength: 26 , Dexterity: 12 , Speed: 14 , Magic: 12 , Luck: 10

Constitution: 28 , Wisdom: 14 , intelligence: 14 , charisma: 18 , Will: 18

Skills:

[Mace art: Level 16], [Holy Smite: Level 4], [Shield art: Level 16]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Name Alva Von Eric Hakai Monke. Level: 10

Social stats: The hero's wife.

Class: paladin of the holy maiden.

Titles: Servant of the hero, Servant of the holy maiden, holy knight, The hero's third wife.

Health: 81/81.

Mana: 55/55.

Stamina: 65/65.

Strength: 13 , Dexterity: 28 , Speed: 32 , Magic: 14 , Luck: 12

Constitution: 14 , Wisdom: 14 , intelligence: 14 , charisma: 18 , Will: 18

Skills:

[Rapier art: Level 15], [Holy Smite: Level 4]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Dolrig Brownbeard. Level: 10

Social stats: Hero party member.

Class: Battle smith.

Titles: Cursewilder, Dreadsmith, Devil Contractor.

Health: 66/66.

Mana: 55/55.

Stamina: 60/60.

Strength: 28 , Dexterity: 12 , Speed: 14 , Magic: 22 , Luck: 3

Constitution: 28 , Wisdom: 15 , intelligence: 17 , charisma: 18 , Will: 29

Skills:

[Cursed Smithing: Level 24], [Curse manipulation: Level 7], [Cursed smite: Level 1].

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alice, you heal us, if we get injured! Dolrig and the guard protect her!" Connor yelled.

"Do you intend to fight this thing? Are you dumb?" Dolrig called in shock.

"This thing is incredibly fast for its size, the carriage won't outrun it!! On top of that, it's controlled by someone running can lead us to a trap!"

"Why do you think that? you stupid hero?" Dolrig is yelling.

"There is no sign of fighting here in the camp, this thing might have just scared them to a trap!"

"As you wish!" Alice replied in agreement without hesitation.

"I will take the lead! Alva and Lydia support me!" Connor called to the others.

"This seems fun! Let's just see how strong you really are!" Lydia said.

"You owe me this one!" Alva said.

"Mei, you scout the surrounding area for other enemies!"

Connor drew his sword.

Ariel, help me with the skills.

{Notice: just use me as you were doing before!}

[Enchantment Magic], [Martial Arts], [Lightning Magic: Lightning blade], [Enchantment Magic: Enchanted blade].

"LET'S GOOOO!" Connor yelled as he extended his left hand [Earth Magic: Earth bullet]

The bullet did nothing to the zombie troll.

Tch!

Connor charged with Lydia and Alva in tow.

The troll swung his club -you might just call it a tree trunk because that's what it was- at them with incredible might.

[Earth Magic: Earth wall]

[Shield Arts: Shield wall]

Connor and Lydia blocked the attack.

Alva used Lydia as a jumping pad to get to the troll's head in one swift move.

[Rapier Arts: Bone piercing thrust] her rapier pierced the troll skull with a disgusting sound.

"Eat this!!!!!" Alva yelled [Holy Smite].

Alva's sword shined with a sudden bright light, the troll face got charred a little.

"Tch! not enough!"

"Shit! Alva be careful!!!!!!!!!" Connor yelled.

The moment Alva looked behind her the troll caught her! Slowly crushing her she cried.

"Let me go, you bastard!"

Lydia dropped her shield and grabbed into her mace with two hands.

[Mace Arts: Two-handed heavy hit], [Holy smite].

The sound of bone cracking was deafening as she hit the troll in his ankle.

The moment the troll lost his balance Connor aimed at his art that was holding Alva.

[Combined Magic: Expressionless Shell Shock]

The troll arm was blown off.

"Lydia takes Alva back to Alice for healing!!"

"YES!"

The troll ankle has already regenerated, and a new arm is clearly sprouting from its wound.

Ariel, is there any way to beat this monstrosity?

{Notice: Burn it to cinders!}

Nice!

[Fire Magic: Flame blade] Connor's blade bursts into flames

{Notice: [Lightning Magic: Lightning blade] has been canceled instead [Fire Magic: Flame blade] is now active}

"Let's start by burning your lower half!"

The troll swung his club at Connor.

[Martial Arts: Quick footwork], [Sword Arts: Deep slash]

With one swift move, Connor passed between the troll's leg cutting his thigh in the process.

"Now you fall down!"

The moment Connor turned toward the troll he got smacked with the Club.

He was sent flying and Crushed into a tree with a painful sound and coughed blood.

{Notice: Don't take your eyes of the enemy! You have a broken rib, cast healing magic on yourself!}

I know, I really felt that.

[Holy Healing Magic].

The second Arm that has the Club is dangerous, let's cut it off!!

But this time nobody is close to him to worry about

[Combined Magic: Shell Shock]

The troll shoulder was blown to pieces as the shell hit it, the explosion charred the wound to decrease the regeneration.

in the distance, as Alice was healing Alva, the guards were watching in terror.

A zombie troll, a monster that usually takes tens of soldiers to even attempt to beat. Even when they had the men for the mission they usually fought with a structure like a city wall or a fortress.

They could feel a slight movement in mana around them since the zombie troll never uses magic it's the hero doing. He is about to pull something crazy.

"Is it okay for us to be this close to the fighting?"

"What are you saying?" Alice said with a slightly angry face.

"This is why I never found a suitable man until now, Look at all those wimps! I'm jumping back into the fight!" As Lydia said that she started running toward Connor and the troll.

"Are they crazy!?" One of the guards said.

"Now that you mentioned it, picking a fight with an entire City to save a stranger from getting executed isn't something a sane man will do!" Dolrig said.

Rooooaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

The Troll started roaring as he bit his wound to clear the charred flesh.

The moment his wounds were cleaned he regenerated instantly.

Does this monster regrow his arms just like that?! it's almost as if he is an ugly horned fucking titan!

{Notice: he consumed a large chunk of his mana to do that, it's not a thing that he can keep doing over and over!}

Thank goodness, Even I'm not in the mode for a fight of endurance.

Let's drop him in a hole for starters.

[Earth Magic: Earth molding]

The moment the troll noticed the hole appearing under him he jumped to the side.

Tch! He isn't that dumb!

Lydia just joined the fight.

"Connor, do you need help?"

"If you can push him into the hole that would be great!"

"Gotcha!"

[Mace Arts: Canon Throw] Lydia's mace flew with an incredible force directly into the troll's face knocking him to the ground.

Lydia picked her shield that she dropped before, [Shield Arts: Shield charge]

Arhhhhhhhhh, she pushed the troll to the hole.

"Now move away! Dolrig you might need to close your eyes!" Connor yelled.

[Earth magic: Dome-shaped lid] The hole was closed leaving only four small holes on the sides and a fifth one on the top of the doom.

Now [Fire Magic: Persistence Fireball] Connor shoots a fireball inside the doom through one of the holes to ignite the troll inside.

"Do you intend to burn him whole? do you have enough mana to do that?" Lydia asked.

"I don't! and that is why I will try something!"

Since my fire magic is still low level, it will take me ages and a huge amount of mana to burn it. Then how about I use something else to keep the fire going and increase its strength!!

[Wind Magic: Air flow] this won't consume as much mana as the fire magic since I only need to move the air around and it can also increase the fire heat!

[Earth magic] to build the furnace foundation and keep it from crumbling

[Fire Magic] To ignite the fire and keep it from going out.

[Wind Magic] To increase the size and heat of the flames.

"Combined Magic: Blast Furnace! this should be enough to melt iron!"

It only took a few seconds for the troll scream to stop, and a few other seconds for it to turn into ashes.

Connor fell to his knees.

"Are you alright?" Lydia called to him.

"I'm alright! just some bruises and a lack of mana!"

Lydia gave Connor her shoulder as they walked toward the carriage.

…

"That was reckless! When will you learn to not expand all of your mana in a fight?" Alice asked Connor.

"I technically didn't expand it all! I still have 21MP." Connor said jokingly.

"That Almost nothing for you to fight with! What would you do if another monster attacked, Baka!" She punched him in the guts.

[Holy Healing Magic] she started healing him.

"Hero-sama, we apologize for not being able to join you in the fight!" One of the guards came to apologize to Connor.

"I asked you lots to protect Alice to keep you all away from the troll! Making you fight is just asking you to die, so don't worry about it!" Connor replied as he stood up.

"Let's search the tents for any remains from the fallen soldier, you need something to give to their families, right?" Connor put his hand on the guardsman's shoulder.

"Hero-sama…"

{Notice: A magic pulse has been detected!! be careful something is coming!}

The moment Connor and Alice heard Ariel warning the earth started to shake violently.

"An earthquake? grab into something quick!" Connor yelled.

"This is the same thing that happened a few days ago in Bluemill!" One of the guards yelled.

What is the meaning of this?

As Connor was thinking the earth beneath his feet cracked open and he started falling.

"Connor-sama!" Alice screamed.

Shit! I wound fall here!

[Earth Magic: Earth pillar] Connor created a pillar that he jumped from trying to get out of the crack.

Just one more and I will get back up [Earth Magic: Earth Pil…

Fuck! Am out of Mana…

Connor fell down as his consciousness faded away.

"Connor! Grab my hand…" Lydia screamed as she extended her arm toward Connor.

And at that moment, the crack Closed.

SQUISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Plot Armor: Level 1] ⇒ [Plot Armor: Level 3]