Thomas had never experienced such a feeling, not even when Derek carried him up the hill. The scenery was flying by. He couldn’t even make out the trees and landmarks they passed. Somehow, he managed to keep his consciousness through the quick trip.
Soon, they came to a halt, arriving a short distance from the village. Thomas felt his feet hit the ground and staggered, doing his best to remain standing.
“Look.” Derek pointed to the village. “You wanted to come here, so here we are. Tell me. What do you see?”
Thomas looked ahead at the village. He had expected to hear sounds of fighting, clashes of swords on flesh, and sounds of ailing beasts, but he heard nothing. It was dead silent, other than the occasional snarl or yip from a beast. He realized Derek was right. They were already too late.
Still, he tried to remain hopeful. “There aren’t any sounds from humans. It’s quiet, but maybe there are still some people hiding inside. Maybe that’s why they are silent, so the beasts can’t hear them.”
Derek sighed. “I’m going to take you to the front. Then I’m going to go in and clear the village of beasts. He picked Thomas back up and moved toward the broke gate at the front of the village.
When Thomas got a glimpse of what was inside, he retched. It was a mess, a bloody mess. Not only were there blood and body parts of wolves and other beasts, but there were also other body parts—human parts. Two wolves were fighting over an arm while a bear stood over a corpse, pulling out the intestines. He retched again.
He finally knew why Derek didn’t want to go with all the others, and why he brought Thomas along. He knew it was going to be like this. He knew, and he wanted me to see it. For a boy of Thomas’s age, he was smart. He realized Derek’s intentions as soon as he was able to properly think again, after seeing the gruesome sight.
“Do you understand?” Derek asked. “This is what happens when you aren’t strong enough. This isn’t a mission to save a village, it’s a recovery mission.” Derek summoned his chest armor out of the storage bracelet he wore. “Wear this. I’m going to take care of whatever’s left in there.
He pushed the armor over Thomas’s head and pulled it down. The armor was big enough to cover Thomas’s entire body. “This too,” Derek said as he summoned a helmet Thomas hadn’t seen him wear before. Soon, most of Thomas’s vision was dark, and he could only see out of slits in the helmet.
“I doubt there’s anything around here that can get through my armor. You’ll be safe while I clean up the monsters—at least safer than staying behind with a group that can’t even handle a few wolf pups. Try to stay quiet.” With that, Derek walked away.
Thomas watched the man’s back as he got farther and farther away, replaying everything Derek had told him in his head. Then Derek removed the shirt that covered his back. Is he getting naked to fight the monsters? Is there some kind of achievement for that?
Derek removed the shirt he was wearing. He didn’t want to risk destroying one of the only proper T-shirts he had left. With what he’d seen of this world so far, everyone wore clothing that looked like something out of medieval times. He didn’t want any part of that.
He looked down, debating on whether to remove his jeans. Finally, he decided against it. I’d rather not fight in my boxers, and I don’t have many pairs of shorts left, either. I may be able to get used to some of the pants people wear here… if I need to.
Derek wasn’t worried about anything being able to seriously injure him with his stats. His current vitality meant he would recover from injuries fast enough, and his endurance made his body strong—probably strong enough to withstand a bite from anything in the village. He didn’t even think any of the wolves he’d seen previously would be able to break his skin.
He looked ahead at the mess of a village. He would look, but the chances of there being people alive, but in hiding, were slim. At least I’ll get some experience out of this. Derek flicked his wrist and summoned his glaive.
Derek surveyed the area, using Identify on any creatures that entered his vision. Well… the highest level is only 27, but most are in the low 20s. How are people who live around here not strong enough to deal with beasts like this? Have they gotten complacent after having this system for so long? Is there no sense of urgency? He had many questions and concerns, but they were for a later date.
Derek went straight for the highest-level beast in the vicinity, the level 27 Forest Bear. This time, the bear wasn’t diseased. Once beside it, with a single swing of his glaive, the beast fell. He took an extra second to make sure it was dead, then moved on to the next.
As he mopped up the monsters remaining in the village, he did his best to avoid spilling blood in a manner that would dirty his jeans. Bloodstains were hard to get out, no matter what world you lived in. Unless you found someone with a skill that could do it for you, that is. Derek didn’t know anybody like that, at least not in this world.
Derek worked his way through the mob like a hot knife through butter. Before long, he was clutching the neck of a bunny with his free hand. Noticing that it was the last remaining enemy, he squeezed, and the bunny went limp.
After finishing his objective, Derek saw numerous notifications flashing in the corner of his vision. No time for that… I’ll check them later. He dismissed them from his vision and walked back to the gate to fetch Thomas.
Derek looked down and frowned. I forgot about my boots. Though he was able to keep most of the blood from spattering on his pants, he had forgotten about his boots. With the pools of blood flowing through the village, it was an impossible task to keep his boots clean. Plus, his boots weren’t exactly comfortable to begin with as they were a part of his armor. I hope I can find someone who can make a comfortable pair of boots.
“Alright, boy,” he said as he made it to Thomas and pulled his armor back into his bracelet. “Now… we search. If there’s anyone left alive, we’ll find them.” He pulled the boy to his hip. “Stay by me and don’t venture off. The last thing we need is a monster jumping out from behind a closed door and killing you.”
The two walked through the small village, searching in every nook and cranny they could find along the way. They found no one… at least no one breathing. There weren’t many buildings in the village, but they searched them all. Once, they got their hopes up after seeing a hand reaching out from behind a bed, but when they rushed in, they found it was only a rodent dragging the body part.
Thomas retched again.
“It’s alright, get it all out. Hopefully, you won’t have to see many more of these scenes in your life.” He comforted the boy. Then, in a voice the boy wouldn’t be able to hear, he whispered, “I doubt it, though.”
They walked out of the building, and Derek sighed. “I don’t know, kid. It’s not looking good.”
“Let’s keep looking,” Thomas said. “I don’t see Chief Leon or Brandi’s dad anywhere. They were the strongest in the village. There’s a chance they could still be alive.”
Derek shook his head but continued searching with the boy.
As the duo reached the backside of the village, they heard a growl coming from just outside the back gate, the one the group of refugees had escaped through. The two rushed out, Derek still keeping Thomas within an arm’s length.
The density of dead beasts was higher in the area. The two moved through the bodies and blood before coming to a small stream. By the stream were two men being attacked by a single, small wolf. The wolf was snarling and nipping at a badly injured man. He did his best to keep the beast away, but he was in rough shape.
Derek threw a dagger and instantly ended the confrontation. He and Thomas made their way to the two injured villagers.
The older man, who was fighting the wolf, looked up, confused. Then a look of recognition appeared on his face. “Thomas! What are you doing here? Run, the village is under attack.” Apparently, it had not registered to the man that there was no longer any noise or beasts around. He also didn’t seem to notice how easily the wolf before him was taken out.
“Chief Leon! It’s okay. Me and my… friend, Derek, came to help after running into Brandi and the others,” Thomas reassured the man. “Don’t worry, Derek is really strong… like… really, really strong. He already killed all the monsters left in the village. We’ve been looking for survivors for some time now.”
Leon’s mind finally seemed to process everything. He looked over at Derek, who was currently crouched down, pulling a dagger out of a wolf. “Thank you for coming,” he said. “Was there… was there anyone else alive?”
Derek shook his head. “I’m sorry, but no. You were the only ones we found. Is he…” He motioned to the man on the ground behind Leon. “Is he alive?”
Leon sighed and shook his head. “He is… but he won’t make it.”
“That’s Brandi’s dad, Travis.” Thomas recognized the man.
Derek used his Identify skill on the man.
Human Male
Level 23
State: Dying
Time Remaining: 1 hr 15min
Derek moved his hand to his bracelet but hesitated. I haven’t seen a dying state in a while. I haven’t been in a dying state in a while. He spoke to Leon, “He’s in a dying state. Do you have a healer or potion that would allow him to recover?”
If dying states were the same in this world and system as they were in his previous ones, that is. In his former system, a dying state happened when your health dropped to zero but no critical hit was inflicted.
When entering the dying state, a timer would start. It was essentially the amount of time you had left to be resurrected. If you got the proper healing in that time, you would live and be no worse for the wear. If not, you died. Taking another hit after entering a dying state meant death.
Not all people who lost their health entered the dying state. Take a critical hit to the brain, for example. Nothing could bring you back from an exploded head. Derek’s endurance allowed for him to have less critically important spots left on his body. He could survive damage to his kidneys and even liver. Only his heart and brain were enough to take him out in one shot.
Derek had a single potion left in his storage bracelet that would be helpful in this situation, but he was hesitant to use it. Resurrection Potions were expensive in his previous system, and he had already used two others on himself.
“No…” Leon answered. “We don’t have a Healer with a high enough level for that type of recovery. No healer with skills like that would come to a village like ours. We don’t have any potions or scrolls, either. Even if I knew someone who could make the potion, buying it would be an entirely different matter. Selling the entire village wouldn’t be enough.”
Derek nodded. It was as he expected. He ran his hand over his storage bracelet again. He had the urge to pull out his remaining potion to help the man, but he was in an unfamiliar world that he’d yet to understand. Giving up such a rare potion for a stranger was just something he couldn’t do. He made his decision.
“He’s got just over an hour left to live,” Derek said. “Can you wake him up?” he asked.
Leon moved to Travis and gently shook him, causing the dying man to open his eyes slightly.
“Do you understand what’s happening?” Derek asked.
The man’s eyes opened wider, and he nodded.
“Good. I can go get your wife and daughter, give them a chance to say their goodbyes, but that is all I can offer. Would you like me to do that?” Derek asked. Some people would prefer their loved ones to not see them in such a state.
“The beasts…” the man croaked.
“All taken care of,” Leon assured the man.
Travis breathed deeply. “Please, let me see them one last time.”
Derek knew he wasn’t doing anything wrong by keeping his potion. No sane person would give something so vital away to a complete stranger. Especially if they were in the same situation as Derek. He could, however, let the man say goodbye to his family.
He handed Leon a health potion and covered Thomas in his armor once again. He had plenty of health potions left of different qualities. Using one in such a situation wouldn’t hurt him any. Besides, it would be better if Leon could fight. His armor should keep Thomas safe, but he would rather not tempt fate.
“I’ll be back soon.” If he left immediately, he should be able to bring both Malorie and Brandi back quick enough to let them spend Travis’s final minutes with them.
Derek sped off, running back to the refugees at the fastest pace he could muster. In just under an hour, he was back with the mother and daughter. He sat them down beside Travis.
“Let’s move over there,” he told Thomas and Leon. “Give them some privacy.”
