42Chapter 1 - The New World
Author's words
First, thank you for the kind reviews. Even if I haven't responded, I read them all and it made me incredibly happy to get support, even the littlest. I hope I can live up to your expectations and I will try my best to give you improved content every time.
As to talk about this chapter, honestly I have no idea how it renders in the eye of a stranger to the story, but I hope you can appreciate it nevertheless. I am alone creating the story and I have no one to check if I am writing a shitty script. That is why, if someone wants to check after me, I would be glad to let him yell at me for my mistakes.
— Sasugasm
Part 1
As the sun slowly illuminated the sky, Kabal regained consciousness bit by bit after a long night's sleep.
Everything was calm and relaxing. The ambient sounds were faint, and very few could disturb his sleep — the cold wind was blowing the leaves and the birds were squeaking in the distance. The only thing that troubled him was the cold damp ground — he was in an uncomfortable position, and the leaves were itching him.
…
Wait ? What ?!
Kabal got up in panic and watched his surrounding — he was outside, in the middle of what seemed to be a forest.
"What the hell is going on ?!"
... I don't remember anything of the sort …Did I drink too much yesterday ? I don't think so ? I recall YGGDRASIL closure but nothing after. What is this place ? I have never seen something so … natural.
As he was pondering these thoughts, he had inadvertently pulled up his hand to his mouth to bite his nails — a bad habit of stress.
When he finally paid attention to it, his mind went blank. He stood still dumbly and stopped breathing — watching himself for 5 seconds — it wasn't his hand nor his body.
W— What !? … H— How ?!... Did I got caught in some mafia traffic and my body was swapped with someone else's ? It doesn't even make sense ! But why such a place ? They want me to die quietly ?
After a minute of fast-paced reflexion, and quite shaken by his sudden state, Kabal observed his surroundings. He was totally panicking and as disoriented as ever — his hopes were that he would get a clue of what happened by taking a glimpse of the situation.
It was early in the morning, and the sky was still dark. Trees surrounded Kabal in a very dense vegetation and a lot of dead brown leaves covered the floor. Even if he could barely see outside of the forest, he successfully distinguished a mountain not so far away.
… I have no idea of where I am.
Kabal stood still thinking of the course of action he should be taking while shivering out of panic. His thoughts consisted of quick sentences like "I'm gonna die" or "It's got to be a prank" but after an internal struggle, he eventually envisaged to head up to the mountain — he wanted to get a good sight of the region and see if he could recognize anything familiar. Furthermore, he couldn't stay passive and do nothing. He felt it was better to act, even if his actions were devoid of senses.
With some courage and uncertainty, Kabal got up and walked toward the mountain.
After 10 minutes of walking, Kabal found himself face to face with a river. He was thirsty, and the unexpected sight of water was a boon for him.
If the water is poisoned, I'm a dead man… Doesn't matter, I'm too thirsty.
He walked toward the river, albeit rather sluggishly. The weight was just too heavy to accept. How could he just simply accept his new body, the strange environment or the oppressive silence of the forest ?
Midway through the road, he remarked a strange form lying under the shadow of a rock. He leaned closer out of curiosity and suddenly froze — a brown grizzly was peacefully eating a fish... and Kabal had surprised him.
The astonished beast saw Kabal as he was dumbly staring at her — immobile. As unlucky as it could be, the bear felt threatened due to his freshly caught prey and, consequently, he charged the dumbfounded human with a particular imposing sound.
What the hell ?!
Seeing the speed of the monster in front of him, Kabal was confused and instinctively curled up in a defensive position with his arms protecting his head — hoping that it would minimize the damage. Soon after, the bear caught up to Kabal and tried to stuck down his teeth in his forearm while tackling him down.
... But, instead of grasping his arm and propelling him forward, the beast did not even hurt Kabal — it was as if it had tried to attack a stone pillar.
Instead, the imposing body flew throughout the air and landed on the dirt, causing a muffled sound. With a great confusion and some minor injuries, the frightened grizzly arose from the ground and ran away in a hurry, leaving his fish behind.
… ? W-What ? ...Did the bear just trip over ?
After this roller coaster of emotion, Kabal couldn't believe what just happened. As incredible as it may seem, he was alone and alive and the bear had been getting out of here as fast as possible.
Kabal still took a good minute to recover mentally, and checked if he had any wounds. He seemed to be untouched and could see no apparent injuries. His face showed a confused expression as he recalled what just happened.
The whole situation was just weird.
Why would a bear attack him then run away ? It made no sense whatsoever. Furthermore, he should have been a bit more afraid than that, his body should be shivering out of relief — Kabal knew it should be the case, but none of these emotions were happening.
Kabal couldn't help but reflect on this fact.
Was it the adrenaline who had this effect ? Or maybe because it wasn't his body ? He felt goosebumps just at this thought — if this corpse had an influence on his behavior, at what point would it stop ?
As he was pondering this matter, something stopped his train of thoughts.
— Kabal had approached the river, and as he was about to drink, something caught his attention. His reflection seemed oddly familiar to him, as if he had already seen it before. It was rather improbable because it would mean that the guy responsible for this situation made a glaring mistake that could guide Kabal to him.
Out of curiosity, he looked closer and realized what was going on —
"I'm in the game… No, that's not possible. I should say that I am in a world similar to this game."
Due to his surprise and relief, Kabal had expressed his thoughts out loud — the reflection that he saw on the water was the face of one of his in-game character, coming from an infamous DMMO-RPG called "YGGDRASIL".
YGGDRASIL was supposed to be one of the games that allowed players to enter a virtual world and experience it as though it were real life. Supposedly, the game was supposed to close down the day before and, in the light of this event, Kabal had been present for its closure.
He was a fervent user, playing whenever he had the time and staying until the very end — even after his friends left. That was why the nostalgia and the sorrow had caused him to close his eyes at the last moments — because he couldn't bear to see his world scatter and see all his precious moments disappear before his sight.
Usually, the server should have woken him up or disconnected him, but he couldn't remember anything after… This simple fact was enough to understand that he was certainly not in the real world but rather in YGGDRASIL.
It also explained the reaction of the bear from earlier — he had attempted to injure Kabal, and when it realized the difference in power, it ran away like any low ranked monster of the game.
I'm glad I didn't land on another monster… It would have been horrifying.
This sudden enlightenment made him fall in deep thoughts.
He found the world to be far too realistic compared to YGGDRASIL. The quality of the animations or even the variety of ambient sounds were far beyond the possibility of a DMMO-RPG.
The worst part was that he was too calm about it.
Deep in his heart, Kabal felt that he should be the victim of an anxiety attack right now, but instead, he was hardly troubled — as if he were used to that sort of unexpected situation. Returning to the real world was far from his first concern right now, and he couldn't help but feel uncertain about this.
Plus there was something else he found weird.
The feelings who just happened in this world seemed more real than anything he had experienced for a long time — his emotion were genuine and his mind as clear as ever. It was as if he finally woke up from a long dream and it greatly confused him because he couldn't tell anymore if the real world was this one or the other. However, he wrongfully thought there was one truth :
If reality had become like the game he used to play, he had little reason to try to get back to his life — he would surely be happier here.
Rest to see if this world is a nightmare...
Kabal sunk into deep reflection. Questions were left unanswered and he couldn't continue without finding an answer. Like why would he get transported to YGGDRASIL, and how ? He felt that as long as he had no answers, it was pointless to continue forward.
That is why, after a long moment of thinking of potential surmises, he finally came to an explanation — or more like a theory which satisfied him.
With a smile on his face he took a step forward.
He had come to the conclusion that this world had indeed become the new reality — and he firmly believed in the theory he had found because various explanations could back-up it.
To prove he was right as well as checking if this world was related to the game, he decided to try and cast a spell.
It's going to be ridiculous... I hope no one is watching.
He concentrated on the ability he used the most — the summoning of his favorite beast among the one he collected. Focusing on the spell, he tried to remember the feeling he had in YGGDRASIL and said the name out loud.
"[Summon Pet: Spyro]"
With a whirlwind of fire, a magical beast appeared in front of him.
It was a phoenix who resembled a majestic red bird with the size of a wolf. Its body exerted an unbearable heat and small sparkles kept surging from everywhere — as if it was on fire.
In YGGDRASIL, it was an exceedingly rare monster of the level 45 — although in term of power it was definitely stronger than the level 60. Kabal had found him after weeks of farming and had chosen "Spyro" for his name in honor to a timeworn game.
As soon as the creature emerged along with the various effect from the summoning, Kabal felt a deep bond with the creature and knew instantly that it would do everything he commanded it to do. He was pleasantly surprised by the fact that he actually used magic without an interface, but the familiar view of his pet settled his convictions.
"Woah, it actually worked."
He couldn't help but laugh out of relief — he was now confident that he could guarantee his security if this world only had critters like the bear from before. Yet, there was still one question flowing through his mind — what would happen if he died ?
The more he was thinking about it, the more it seemed that this world was different than the game. His lack of information, the weird sensations he experienced until now and the bad feeling about the region made him understand he had to be extremely cautious about his actions.
His one and only objective, for now, would be to find a way to survive quickly and collect information quietly.
Therefore, his first action was the most obvious thing he could do. He intended to equip himself with the best gear in his possession.
He elevated his hand approximately to where the inventory panel was supposed to be and swept his hand to the side. As he did that, a curious hole appeared, and he dove his hand in.
If you looked closely, you could see that it was filled with a myriad of objects that had peerless beauty alongside a big glowing bag.
Entirely satisfied with what he just saw, because it meant that all his items were still here and in a perfect state, he withdrew one by one the usual gear he spent so much time farming and equipped them. All of them were divine class and, as a member of a Mercenary Guild, he was proud of this feat — he had spent his life on the game to try and get only one of those gear only to repeat the process several times to complete his set.
Each element of his armor was awe-inspiring and carefully designed. He showcased a light barbute who covered his head alongside with a ponytail attached to the back. It was visorless, but you could hardly see his mouth or his eyes.
With this, he displayed tight stylized pauldrons on his shoulders, all pitched in dark gray, completed with a plate cuirass that had Nordic symbols carved in. His gauntlets covered his forearms and stopped right at his forehands, which were protected by brown gloves.
In addition to his body plate, he wore a metal belt, shaped in V, with a large round piece of precious metal in the center. His belt was completed with well-adjusted black and copper faulds, and an ample red fabric descended in the middle down to his knee. He didn't equip cuisse that would have been too heavy but instead wore a luxurious brown leather pant who covered his thigh.
Finally, he carried sturdy greaves and consolidated sabatons who offered a great defense with minimum weight — one could tell immediately that his equipment permitted a great agility while keeping an impervious defense.
With this, he held Gungnir, the guild weapon. It was a supremely high-quality spear that he and his guildmates created.
Initially, the guild debated for a long time to seek who would be the one honored to wear the guild symbol, but after discussion, they decided to give it to the guild master — Kabal.
The reason behind this choice was because they knew it was more of a decoration than a real equipment — the destruction of a guild weapon meant its disbandment and, as such, they were typically kept in hidden places without being used.
As soon as he finished equipping his gear, Kabal took a pose and shouted as to evacuate all the frustration and fear from earlier. He thought that the opportunity to see his character again would never come again — after all, YGGDRASIL was supposed to close down, and he should never have been transported to this world.
Due to this familiar sight, he couldn't help but to act on the moment and yell out of relief.
"HELL YEAH !"
As he uttered those words, his sudden excitement vanished — he knew it was dumb to react like this, but he also calmed because there was one more thing to do.
In the game, he always had the NPC he created following him around. She was the twelfth custom NPCs of the Guild and had the special status "[Companion]", which meant she could leave the guild headquarter even though she was much weaker when outside. It was greatly helping him and thanks to that, he could even complete a lower 5-man dungeon with some determination and time.
He knew that Ester, if she existed, should be guarding the guild's basement, but there was no way for him to teleport to her. Furthermore, he wasn't even sure that his guild existed anymore —
Instead, he took a small item from his inventory.
It was a permanent trinket called the [Friend Calling Horn] whose power consisted of summoning a chosen NPC from the guild — with a 12-hour cooldown. Observing the carvings on the wood, Kabal carried the horn to his mouth and blew it while thinking of invoking Ester.
As a result, a figure gradually formed in front of him along with countless sparkling effect, and, when the invocation came to its end, he found himself in front of a beautiful she-elf who instantly bowed down in reverence.
In a single glance, you could say she was terrifically dangerous even though she showed gentleness.
She was young in appearance, but her face was devoid of fatigue and betrayed a great wisdom. Her gaze seemed to penetrate into your soul, and you'd be tempted to think twice before staring at her pink eyes because of fear of having your mind entirely read. She truly was an incarnation of beauty — a dangerous beauty.
"I come as you command Kabal-sama."
Cold sweat went his back. Kabal instantly regretted his action.
He had concluded that it was dangerous to make assumptions on how this world was working, yet that is precisely what he just did. He had assumed that the NPC would act the same way they did in the game and thus, that they would be lifeless puppets.
He was potentially in a very perilous situation right now because he did not know how the NPC would react and trusted that he had no chance to win a fight against Ester.
"Forgive me but did I do something wrong, Supreme One ?"
Ester was showing sincere concern and bowed her head even deeper in respect as if she did something unacceptable. Kabal felt it was his fault for troubling the beauty that was in front of him and apologized at once.
"N— No. Sorry. You did nothing wrong."
Even more now that she had lively expressions and movements, he found Ester to be really attractive — he knew that he designed her to look like this, but seeing her doing such delicate, realistic movement reanimated his feelings.
"There is no need for you to worry about me or to apologize, Kabal-sama. I am but a mere tool for your greatness. I must ask forgiveness for my arrogant question but may I ask what is troubling you ? Is this new world the cause of my presence here ?"
Kabal suddenly panicked at the thought that she could be reading his mind. She had guessed quickly that he was on his guard as well as his current situation. In astonishment, he let out a sentence spurt out of his mouth.
"How do you know ?"
Ester took that question for a test of her loyalty.
She had asked a question without being authorized to do so and had been peeking at the situation without her master consent. On her point of view, it was only normal that she would be doubted by now.
"Forgive my rudeness Kabal-sama. I indeed looked past your figure and took a glimpse at the environment. We've been in many worlds, and we've seen many things, but I am unfamiliar with the situation we're actually in. It seems that this is an entirely new place that I do not know."
She was talking with such confidence in her words that it was terrific.
"Usually, I have a feeling that tells me exactly where I am located compared to the Lost Shrine of Erebus — it serves me to use the [Teleportation] spell. But in this world, I have no idea of the location of the guild headquarter. It feels like it is shrouded in an impenetrable fog.
Furthermore, I couldn't help but notice the presence of the legendary weapon that only you may wield, Kabal-sama. Combined with the fact that you, unlike the ordinary, summoned me at my full power, I deduced that there could only be one meaning : an unknown situation."
She guessed that much out of a single glance ?!
His lower jaw was slightly displaced out of astonishment and fear. Kabal had sensed that Ester was considering him like some sort of god, but now, he was in the same way certain that he could not fulfill her expectations.
He feared her reaction when she would discover that he was just a mere human. The living in front of him was just on a whole new level — he could not imagine himself outsmarting her, even in his wildest dream. With little information, she just showed a reflexion that would have taken him a considerable time to understand, and with even bigger hints. It made him feel like he could never hope to reach that level of deduction.
For now, it was better to act natural and collect information, at least that was what he concluded. He had two goals : get a better idea of Ester personality and what she wanted to make sure she would not turn against him as soon as he would make a glaring mistake.
Furthermore, it seemed like she knew him for a long time when he was just seeing her for the first time. It was embarrassing to let her bow her head like this for so long — playing the role of the leader was probably the best course of action.
"Umu... You may raise your head... You are right. It seems that we're in a new world which differ from YGGDRASIL. We can't possibly know what lies ahead and as such we have to prepare ourselves for the unexpected. That is the reason that pushed me to call you here, I want you to follow and protect me."
... Was it good ? Does she at least know what Yggdrasil is ?
Ester was intently watching him with stars in her eyes. It seemed that she drank every word he said as if it was uttered by her idol and was shivering out of excitement.
"Then I shall obey without fail and protect you with my life if necessary. I am truly honored to be chosen to explore this unknown land with you, Kabal-sama."
She seemed to be about to burst as she said these words, but Kabal couldn't make a remark about it — he was too afraid of the consequences. Instead, he just articulated his order with his mind alert.
"Uhh... Let's follow the river."
He began walking clumsily along the river when Ester suddenly exclaimed what she had been holding until now.
"Ah ! Forgive me, but I can't hold it anymore... Please allow me to take a look at the region, I beg you to give me this favor ! There is so much that I do not know, I have to list everything before we leave or I risk forgetting. I'm sure it could serve a purpose later !"
Kabal turned to her with round eyes. It wasn't like she had to ask his permission to do anything.
"Eehhh ? Uhm.. Sure go ahead."
"Thank you, Kabal-sama !"
And I feared she would burst out in laugh… I feel dumb now.
As Ester was running here and there, ecstatic at the sight of so much knowledge, Kabal couldn't help but observe her weird behavior.
The elf was uprooting plants, eventually using a spell on them and expressed her delight every time she found something new. Seeing from afar, the scene was quite comical and you could be tempted to laugh out of the way Ester was acting — but it was in the same way warming, like a child playing an odd game.
After a long moment, Kabal couldn't help but to think of a topic to discuss — he could let her do what she wanted but he hated the awkward silence reigning between them.
"Umu... You said you were summoned at full power, may I ask you what you meant by that ?"
Kabal felt he shouldn't be asking that question because he should be knowing the answer. Still, it was a piece of information he needed, because if she was stronger than in the game, he had to prepare himself.
Ester turned to Kabal with a weird purple flower in her hand, demonstrating an uneasy look.
"I am not sure if I can answer correctly. When we traveled the world, I used to be at a fraction of my real power, and it was only given back to me when I was to defend my given floor. This time, my ability are not restrained, and I am most likely at the same level as when I am in Erebus. But perhaps I am mistaken, and this is my restrained power too."
Kabal felt he was right to ask that question —
[Companion] NPC were supposed to be much weaker when outside to regulate the balance of power. If she was telling the truth, he just summoned a fully competent Guardian.
— It meant that she now had better stats and a lot more HP.
The guild's custom NPCs had more power than the players because their behavior was predictable and weak — if they couldn't match the player in performance, they would in strength. That was why Companion NPCs had a debuff to make them more vulnerable outside — and it seemed that Ester had lost this weakness in this world. As such, if she used the artificial intelligence that Kabal gave her, she was literally unbeatable right now.
— The inner programmer inside Kabal had coded a particular algorithm for her behavior, which made her a lot stronger than a usual NPC. The primary goal of his algorithm was to implement an automatic "learning" capacity — not only did the NPC artificial intelligence learned by itself, but it would also record and reuse everything it experienced. For instance, it had in memory all the items, equipment and playstyle of the player it encountered and would use those data to build up specific behaviors depending on the situation — using probability laws and complex calculations.
Following this idea, he was curious to know if the electronic data he implemented in her were influencing something or even existed.
"Sorry for asking, but may I know what would you do in such a situation ?"
That's a bit bold… I hope it will work.
"I hope I will not bore you with my incompetence... In the immediate, I think we should search for a place to establish your bastion because we can't get back to Erebus. We also lack information about this place, I do not doubt your supremacy, but it could make you lose your precious time if we wander unaware. I suggest to send a dispensable invocation to scout ahead and evaluate the local wildlife. I guess that was what you intended to do with this Phoenix if I'm not mistaken ?"
Ester harbored a large smile as she was talking.
"At last, if there are intelligent lifeforms in this world, I doubt they would comprehend your might even if I were to explain to them. Instead, I would suggest to slowly take them as subordinates if they're worthy of the title. There is no doubt that they will bow to you when they will understand the authority of a Supreme Being. In case they do try to fight you, rest assured that none shall survive your wrath."
Kabal was left dumbfounded at these declarations, letting slip a rictus that betrayed his emotions. He had intended to find a residence, but it was more an idea of survival than conquering.
She had a good point with sending a scout — plus he had totally forgotten his mascot following him — but openly reveal himself ? He was not sure that he could keep up with the basic monsters of this world. In the worse case scenario, everything in this world was level 100 or over and had been perfecting their skills for far more time than he did — he could not possibly let himself be killed because of this kind of stupidity.
"... I would like you to discard such shallow thinking and remember that someone who is stronger than both of us could appear at any time. As such, I trust that we should be sneaking around until we're absolutely sure that we risk nothing revealing ourselves. If we encounter a monster, just follow the basic strategy and stay hidden. Don't forget that you're here to cover our retreat."
He said those words in a harsh manner, one that permits no answer. He did not intend to do so at first, but it was probably the only time that he could lecture Ester on her thinking, that is why he addressed her in this manner — as to convince himself that he was the one in command.
"Understood, Kabal-sama. As expected, you truly are incredible. I bow once again before your superior wisdom, I will try my best to memorize those wise words."
It wasn't as if I just said something valuable… Did she understood something else or is she just blindly following me ?
"May I ask you why do you serve me ?"
Just why would I ask her this question ! It's dumb as hell !
"You are the one that rules over Erebus and all the Guardians. You created me, but you are also responsible for the rest of us. That is only obvious that I, your creation, should be serving you."
She had answered instantly with no delay as if she had prepared her text before. Even if Kabal understood that Ester was greatly estimating him, it was a shock to hear the praise that she destined at him — and he could not help himself but lessen the words she just uttered.
"You know, I've been bestowed upon this position because I found the name of the guild… There was a running joke among us, we used to say that the hardest part of the game wasn't to play it but to find the name of your avatar. That's why when I found a fitting name for the guild, they decided to let me create and manage it. I don't think I'm that great."
"I see.. so that's what's going on. Forgive me for not understanding earlier, I will be more careful now."
As he heard those few words, he froze instantly. He felt like he had made a blatant mistake, and thought that it was the time where it would be decided whether Ester would remain loyal or where she would lose all faith in him.
…? What did she understand ?
Now that he was looking back to what he said, he understood what had gone wrong.
He had expressed the fact that he could be in his position due to something else than his leadership skills, it was potentially dreadful in this situation with Ester that thought of him as a "Supreme One".
"I— It doesn't surprise you ?"
"You are the last remaining entity to whom we can pledge our loyalty ! Even if you're just here to play a game in a lesser avatar, my role does not change, and I'll serve you until my death, Kabal-sama. We were created to be loyal to the Supreme Beings. If we lose the last one remaining, what reason are there for us to exist ? If you decide to stay here to entertain yourself, we, the Guardians, will do everything we can so you never get bored. That is our absolute reason of living."
He relaxed at her words and let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that even if he made mistakes, she seemed so indoctrinated that it would be hard to make her believe he was a weak human.
It seems that she thinks I am currently playing, as if I was still in the game… Well, why not ? But she will have to understand we are not almighty...
"Good... Then let's proceed to explore the region, I think you had enough time to do your things."
"Yes, Kabal-sama."
After making a gesture to order his phoenix, Kabal didn't engage in a new conversation because he believed that it was better not to embarrass himself any further. Instead, he preferred to ponder the course of action he should be taking in the future and deeply sunk into his thoughts.
Part 2
After an hour of walking silently, Ester suddenly stopped and casually reported what she was seeing.
"There is a group of orcs with a troll ahead of us."
Even if it surprised him, Kabal knew what to do. He had been thinking of many scenarios during their walk, and he was happy that this situation was one of them.
If they were players like him, he wanted to regroup with them. It was logical to try and search for people that were in the same situation and get along together. For that reason, he wanted to approach the orcs and talk to them before trying anything else.
If they were aggressive monsters, it would be a great opportunity to experiment their level as well as his own, and in case the fight would take a bad turn, he had prepared a backup plan.
He could not use his divination spell to get information on them because he only possessed low tier abilities that would have been instantly spotted by most livings — they would think of an aggression and would directly attack him without the possibility of diplomacy.
Thus, he had concluded that the best approach was to buff himself with his best defensive abilities and try a friendly approach — in the worst case, he would unleash the best attack of his weapon and run away if they still lived after.
"I'll go and talk to them. I should have a good affinity with orcs, but if they attack me, I will use Gungnir unique ability. Use your [Guardian Angel] spell to protect me and cleanse all the debuff they could have cast on me — if they somehow survive after this. I will teleport out of the fight as soon as possible."
Ester had a questioning look on her face.
"Kabal-sama, I may overstep myself, but don't you think it would be better to allow me to deal with it myself ? I am fully aware that your orders are to be respected above anything else; however, it is a Guardian's job to prevent you from being placed in danger. If you get hurt, I will have failed my purpose."
Kabal didn't need to prepare himself to find a counter-argument, what he was going to say was obvious in YGGDRASIL and he believed that it would remain the same in this world.
"As a Divine Caster, your role is to support and survive. I can not possibly imagine a situation where it would be smart to send you first in line — even as a bait. Furthermore, you are not hiding for nothing, I want you to look if they are other hidden enemies in the surrounding area. I am in no danger, I trust your abilities and apart from World Items, there is nothing that can one shot me."
Kabal made a grimace about the last sentence.
"...I understand. I will trust in your wisdom and do as you command, but let me use defensive spells on you."
"Do as you wish."
After casting several buffs on himself and letting Ester add boosting spells such as [Blessings], [Increase Agility] and [Magnificat], Kabal firmly gripped his spear and approached the group of orcs.
Oddly, he wasn't afraid but excited.
In his heart, Kabal unconsciously felt like he was experiencing new content from a game, and thus he was taking unnecessary risks that he would never have thought of in normal time — if he had to die, he would die and screw it, that was the weird logic behind his strange behavior.
Thirteen orcs formed a tight formation — as if they were searching for something. They had their weapons at their hand, ready to attack anything, and were on the lookout. In front of the formation was a troll in heavy armor — but it was evident that his presence served to frighten eventual opponents more than for his pure strength.
"Hello ! May I ask you if you're from YGGDRASIL ?"
The orcs got surprised by Kabal sudden apparition because he had approached them with the [Silent Step] spell that he had cast earlier. Most of them pulled their shields up and waited for their commander.
An orc with paint all over his face took the first step and shouted with anger.
"You are quite arrogant human ! How can you think that someone from your race have the right to talk to us ! Prepare to die !"
A bit overwhelmed by the sudden hate that the orcs threw at him, Kabal took his spear with haste and prepared his attack. The troll was first in line while the orcs followed him behind — their commander's shout out was the sign to launch the attack. Consequently, they issued a battle cry and rushed in Kabal direction with their weapons raised up.
But — they had no time to react. Everything went at a speed they could not possibly comprehend.
— Kabal himself did not realize that he moved so fast. It was as if time moved slower for everyone in the surrounding while he had moved freely.
In a fraction of a second, he had taken his spear in two hands, jumped right into the troll and unleashed the fury of his most powerful attack.
"[Odin's Wrath]."
An immense navy blue light went striking the troll, killing him and the orcs at once.
The bottomless power of the ability went digging an enormous hole in the ground and caused pure energy lightning to struck down the already carbonized orcs. With the large crackling sounds caused by the attack followed a devastating earthquake and an immense shockwave who uprooted the nearby trees. There was nothing left around the point of impact, and an impervious shield of plasma was slowly forming around Kabal.
Usually, the ability was supposed to be channeled until it would release the final thunderbolt supernova after 10 seconds, but Kabal just thought of something — the possibility of friendly fire in this world. As a result, he instinctively canceled his attack, apologizing at once to Ester.
"Forgive me ! Are you hurt ?"
But the answer he got from Ester was nothing he expected. As the immense power gradually faded away, she seemed delighted and excited by what she had experienced.
"To think that I would one day be granted to witness Kabal-sama's ultimate ability ! That is the best honor you can do to me ! The pain endured is nothing compared to this. You have nothing to apologize for ~ "
She was humming in excitement and wouldn't care the least for her pain.
Kabal wasn't sure on how to respond to this. She seemed to have taken damage, but she was reacting as if it was nothing. Should he just let it be ? Should it be his role to care about her health ?
But as he was about to make sure she was alright, Kabal detected smoke in the distance. He was only seeing it now because the area got cleared thanks to his attack — the sky could be seen distinctly. He couldn't help but make a remark about it before asking Ester for her health.
"There is smoke over there. Does it mean there could be... a village ?"
He had asked this question rhetorically, but Ester took it to heart and answered with a serious look.
"Likely, the smoke seem to come from burning buildings. I would say that the inferior lifeforms that dared to oppose you just now were a scouting party destined to intercept the fleeing remnants of their plunder. I think we can safely assess that this force was supposed to deal with the most powerful opponent that they could encounter. Since you killed them with such ease, I trust that I can take care of the rest of their raiding group."
This situation wasn't something that Kabal could have thought of. As such, he had more faith in her judgment than his own and decided to follow her analysis.
"Then let's see what happened. If we can save the people living here by killing the rest of the orcs, they could be owing us a favor."
Let's just hope they're not as aggressive as these orcs...
With uncertainty, Kabal took the lead and headed toward the smoke.
He couldn't help but to ponder the fact that he just killed livings but felt as if it was a trivial matter. It wasn't as if he was excited — he just felt like he had finished a chore. Shrugging his shoulders, he concentrated on the smoke instead of thinking any further.
Perhaps I'm thinking too much… Let's just see what is this smoke.