Receiving the pendant.Kiro suddenly remembered why he came to the Diante Forest.
"Okay chief Geoffrey, wait a moment I almost forgot something, give me a moment." (Kiro)
Saying that Kiro rushes back at his room, searching for his tattered black slacks, scanning inside of the pocket. He was relieved to found out that the Greasy Gra.s.s was safe and sound.
Going back to where chief Geoffrey is.
Kiro handed out two 3 inches long Greasy Gra.s.s.
Upon seeing the Greasy Gra.s.s, chief Geoffrey wasn"t shocked by seeing one, but rather looked oddly at Kiro who is handing him the rare gra.s.s.
"Kiro, what is this? Why are you giving me two pieces of Greasy Gra.s.s?" (Geoffrey) asked in confusion.
"Chief Geoffrey, just think of it as paying the bill from letting me stay here in your place, I am not shameless enough, not to repay the generosity you showed to me." (Kiro) earnestly said.
To him, these two pieces of Greasy Gra.s.s was just a cheap item, compared to the hospitality and generosity of the chief Geoffrey gave to him, It was way more precious than the greasy gra.s.s.
"I won"t take it, there is no way I will take the hard labor the young one, plus, I am not short in money." (Geoffrey) politely rejected the offer.
"Just take it chief, don"t worry I have eight more pieces left here." (Kiro) says while taking the remaining greasy gra.s.s in his pocket.
"See? These eight pieces of greasy gra.s.s would be enough to support my travel expenses for a long while. So you better accept it, or else, I wouldn"t have a peaceful mind after leaving this village." (Kiro)
"... Okay if It is for your peace in mind, I will gladly accept it." (Geoffrey) put away the greasy gra.s.s in his pocket.
"Mn, with this I could have a peaceful mind while traveling." (Kiro) give a slight nod, as he looks at chief Geoffrey who has an awkward expression.
"Haa~ Young people nowadays they"re so hard to deal with." (Geoffrey) shook his head lightly, Kiro"s action was giving him a headache.
The reason why he helped Kiro was for him to lessen the lingering regrets he has deep inside his heart. Now that he manages to let go of his grief, chief Geoffrey knows that Kiro doesn"t want to be indebted in him, while he doesn"t think that Kiro owes him a favor. In fact, he was the one who owed Kiro a favor, not only he helped him to get rid of the shadow from his heart. He even promises to take care of the family heirloom of his son"s wife.
***
Outside the Village of Dorest.
Chief Geoffrey and Milo were standing at the west entrance of the village.
They are here to send off Kiro, who is about to set off for his journey.
Of course, Kiro didn"t forget to give a single piece of greasy gra.s.s for Milo, at first Milo tried to reject his offer, but after Kiro showed him, he had seven more pieces left, Milo couldn"t help but shamelessly ask for another stalk. Too bad for him Kiro didn"t give him another piece.
"... Well, our meeting is short, but coming here reminds me of being home, so I will definitely come back here again for a visit." (Kiro) said those words earnestly, He did feel warm deep inside his heart, staying here at this peaceful village.
Kiro grew up in a rural area at his grandparent"s house up until he reached Middle School.
So he felt nostalgic from the fresh air and muddy road.
Looking at the two people he ever first met upon coming from this world. Kiro couldn"t help to be a bit emotional from parting, even though he only knew them for a day, the interaction he has from the Old Chief Geoffrey was more than that, after coming from this world, his mental stability was in a mess.
That is why the kindness of chief Geoffrey showed for Kiro. Like a grandfather would do for his grandchild. Has more weight from Kiro"s heart. The warmth he felt, the affection and caring that the chief Geoffrey gives, has a lot of weight from the mentally unstable Kiro at that time.
Even if he knew, chief Geoffrey was only using him to get rid of his past regret but felt that the gentleness from those actions was real.
"So... Until we meet again, grampa." (Kiro) mumbles in a low tone.
After saying that, Kiro walks away without looking back.
He didn"t know, after whispering those words subconsciously, Old Chief Geoffrey manages to read his lips.
Looking at Kiro disappearing back, Village Chief Geoffrey"s both eyes moisten.
***
Following the road tail, Kiro keeps walking until the image of the Dorest Village disappeared.
"Fixie, do you know when we will reach another settlement?" (Kiro) blurt out a question subconsciously.
"What do you mean by that, Master? Fixie has been sleeping for soo~ long, that Fixie even forgot what Fixie"s current age is." (Fixie) grumbled in annoyances.
"So how would Fixie know if Fixie and Master are about to reach a new settlement?" (Fixie)
"Ah, I forgot you"re a sleeping old lady, too bad the one who wakes you up, wasn"t a prince charming like the story from folklore, but It was me an otherworldly person." (Kiro)
"Puuh~ Fixie is not old, Fixie is still young and healthy! Meanie Master Hmph! Hmph! Fixie won"t talk to you anymore." (Fixie) snorted coldly.
Kiro didn"t know whether to laugh or cry after hearing the little Fixie tantrum.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn"t mean it okay? Fixie is a lovely and cute young lady that will always listen to Master because Fixie is a very good, good lady, Fixie is, after all, a mature woman that won"t mind Master"s bad joke." (Kiro)
"Really? Fixie is a lovely and cute young lady? Is that true Master? Hehehe~ Even if you are Fixie Master, Fixie won"t fall for you that easily! Hmph, such a sinful Master~ No, no, no... Fixie is the sinful one, because of Fixie beauty, even the Master is falling head over heels for Fixie!" (Fixie) entered her own world.
This time Kiro regretted coaxing her like that, It doesn"t help at all, It was more like adding fuel on the fire.
"Haa~ okay now wake up, I would like to hear a brief explanation about the statistics, even though I played video games in my former world, It was my first time seeing something like this." (Kiro)
The only game Kiro played in his former world was a street fighter, the reason why he played it was to keep in touch with his friends. So the knowledge he knew from that game was useless.
"Mm! Because Fixie is a good lady, Fixie will listen to, Master." (Fixie) was still having a delusion inside her head.
"Statistics is a datgathering from the growth of the person, It was divided from seven categories." (Fixie)
"The first category is Strength, It enhances the Physical Power of the body, Endurance, and Physical resistance, Self Healing. Only means, If a person has high Strength, because of Self Healing ability, the person has a high tolerance from Mortal illness.
Next category is Intelligence, It enhances the Magical Power of the body, boosting a person"s memory and Magical resistance.
Another one, Dexterity, enhances the Flexibility of the body, boosting the movement speed of a person and reaction time.
Concentration enhances the Mental Fort.i.tude of a person, Marksmanship, and Craftsmanship. It has an extra ability If the person has a high concentration, the probability of mental attack resistance being born is high.
The charm category is boosting the drop rate from killing a monster from the Labyrinth. Also, the chance that a person with a high charm to get attacked by creatures will slightly increase.
The last one is Sense, enhances the Spiritual Essences of the body, danger detection, improves self-sense for disarming traps, boosting a person"s sense for solving the riddles."
"Master might notice this but doesn"t the Master"s senses become sharper?" (Fixie)
Hearing her question, Kiro subconsciously gives a slight nod for acceptance.
After Fixie"s long explanation, Kiro stops walking and then tries to digest the information he got.
If It was before, he wouldn"t proactively try to ask this kind of question, he might even avoid it. But right now, the sign of his growth, accepting the reality of this world. Kiro was trying his best to adopt for his current self.
"Then... How on earth I nearly died because of that monster? Judging It died from my bite, It is definitely a weak monster, right? Given the high number my of strength, It shouldn"t be like that right?" (Kiro) asked in confusion.
"About that Master, the blessing of the G.o.d of Creation only activated after you successfully unlock the System Upgrade, so only means, Master base stats at that time was way much worse than an average person in this world." (Fixie)
"Then what about the weird sensation I felt and why is my brain enhances to the point, I can even use perfect memorization?" (Kiro)
"I don"t know about the weird sensation you felt Master, but probably because after descending from this world. It was for the first time your body feeling mana of this world." (Fixie)
"The reason why Master, felt his brain was enhanced was because of Master Innate Skill [Appraisal] without an enhanced brain, Master head will explode from a ma.s.sive knowledge that is flooding inside your head. So the reason why Master felt his brain wasn"t the same as before, is because the [Appraisal] skill enhances Its user brain capability." (Fixie)
"Oh, now I get it. So it was like that, no wonder I felt my brain was being enhanced after receiving that ma.s.sive knowledge and [Appraisal] skill." (Kiro)
"But... The current problem right now is, my charm, isn"t a bit too high? won"t I attract monsters because of it?" (Kiro)
"Ah! About that Master, you don"t need to worry, your charm might be slightly higher than others, but It only works at the Labyrinths, any regular creature outside the Labyrinth won"t be affected by the charm status or else the human settlements will be long gone because of multiple people with a high charm." (Fixie)
"Haa~ you should"ve told me that from the very beginning, I was worried for nothing." (Kiro) letting out a soft sigh.
Knowing the monster won"t attract him outside the labyrinth, Kiro couldn"t help but be relieved. Unfortunately, his life and death experience was still fresh from his memory, subconsciously, Kiro was terrified of the monster.
"Well, sooner or later I will be facing a lot of monsters, so it might take a while, but I must get used to it." (Kiro) mumbles
"Yes, Master is right! So Master, fighting!" (Fixie) tried to boost Kiro"s morale with her childish voice.
***
Along the way, Kiro manages to avoid monsters with his keen senses, but sometimes, there is a persistent monster that keeps tailing him, he had no choice but to battle it.
At first, he was having a difficult time, but if he wants to adopt from the lifestyle of this world. Kiro could not always run from trouble.
Even though he hated to kill a monster, It was something he needed to get used to, or else forget about living. If he only wants to avoid the monster, always hiding inside a wall, cowering with fear for being attacked. Kiro wouldn"t call It as living. He couldn"t help but picture himself living in a village wall, hiding from the monster, with a daily routine of eating and sleeping, repeating the same thing, every single day. How depressing a life could be If he lives like that. It was only rotting himself to death. He loves living Independently, having his own authority for his life.
He said to himself.
"Why would I shrink back just because I am terrified of the monster? What If, I did live in the village peacefully, who could tell that monster won"t attack the village where I am staying? It was only temporary peace. Imagine living a life hiding behind those wooden walls, having a hard time sleeping at night because of the shadows that have been hunting me…"
"I would rather charge to a group of monsters and face death than live a life like that!"
That day when Kiro clearly drew a line for himself, he already has a firm resolve not to abandon his will to live.
Standing straight up ahead, facing the unfamiliar world without knowing what awaits from the future, charging bravely as he overcomes the challenge in this new life.
After following the road trail Kiro finally reaches another village, staying for two days and one night.
He sold a single piece of greasy gra.s.s for 40 pieces of silver coins from a peddler pa.s.sing by.
The reason why he sold it for such a cheap price from the marketplace, first because of the freshness is slowly deteriorating, while the effectiveness of the medical herb is slowly dissipating.
Asking the peddler when he will reach the nearest town, the peddler said a half-day of travel he will reach a well-developed village with small inns for a traveler like him. Then after reaching the village, a day of worth travel to reach the nearest town.
Hearing the peddler Kiro gives him a slight nod, saying a word of appreciation.
"Mn, thank you." (Kiro)
"Not at all, It is me who should be thanking you, for selling me this greasy gra.s.s for such a cheap price." (Peddler)
Saying his goodbye from the peddler.
Kiro continues to head toward the west.