Stumbling roughly southwest, Lukas was filled with a growing sense of nervousness, excitement, anxiety, anticipation, and a whole host of other emotions he couldn't put words to. All he knew was that his stomach churned, and he wasn't sure if he was going to throw up or not.

He tried not to let all that show as he kept a straight and steady pace, but as the seconds ticked by the pressure kept mounting. Eventually it all came to a head as Lukas pushed through some brush, coming out the other side to face a road.

Lukas froze, stunned by the fact that he'd found what he was looking for. He just stared at it for a solid minute, taking it in. He'd really done it, he had found a road, a way to civilization. It was a dirt road, well-packed and hardened, closer to stone than dirt. The road was about twelve meters across, slightly wider than a two-lane road back home. Best of all, the road was clearly well traveled.

Lukas was able to make out tracks where some manner of vehicles had passed by constantly. He wasn't able to make out much more than that due to the compact nature of the road, but that didn't matter. The road was clearly in use, meaning it led somewhere populated. Even if it were only a little township or village, Lukas would be happy.

Looking both ways, Lukas wasn't able to see much of the road as it twisted and turned while making its way through the forest. The stretch of road before him was barren and empty, but that didn't mean the rest of it would be. He half expected to see a person come around a corner at any second.

Unfortunately, the only person to show up was a certain goddess.

"Huh, it's actually here," she said, startling Lukas.

Sighing in exasperation, he turned to her "You didn't think it would be?"

"The nymph heard about the road over ten thousand years ago. A lot has changed in that time, including the world's ambient magic. I was more expecting you to get all the way to the coast without finding anything."

"That wouldn't have been too bad, I could've walked along the coast until I found some seaside city."

"That's true enough."

Lukas looked around aimlessly for a moment, before looking down at the packed ground, kicking it with the toe of his boot, "What is this road made of? It looks like hardened dirt or clay."

Sera shrugged, "It was probably made with earth-shaping magic of some kind. Stuff made that way is a lot easier to maintain. Now that I think about it, I can't imagine what it must be like to build a city in your world without magic."

"Is most of the stuff here built with magic?"

"Of course, it'd be silly not to use such powerful tools. The construction process is probably a lot faster than anything in your world as a result."

"There's probably a lot more grand architecture too with reinforcing magic and abilities."

"That's true," Sera mused, "I wonder what the cities of your world look like compared to the ones of this world."

"The ones back home are pretty much just tall rectangles of stone and glass. I'm not a huge fan of cities generally, but I'm excited to see what one looks like here. The main question is which way do you think I should—?"

The sound of a scuffle breaking out interrupted Lukas, drawing both his and the goddess's attention. The noise came from around the bend in the road to the south. By the sounds of it, someone was having a bad time, if the yelling and screaming were anything to go by.

"I guess that answers your— No, don't—!" the goddess yelled.

Without listening, Lukas melded into the shadows and sped towards the commotion. Ducking back into the forest, Lukas wanted to get a look at what was happening before deciding what to do. He had no idea what he was about to find and didn't want to just jump in like an idiot.

A moment later, Lukas popped out of the shadows, crouched in the brush near the side of the road. He was trying to get a look at what was happening out on the road when Sera appeared at his side again, flicking his ear.

"Ow!" Lukas hissed, "What was that for?"

"Leaving me behind, stupid. I can't move with you through the shadows."

"So? You could just reappear like you just did."

"That doesn't mean I want to do that. I would've been fine with walking or running."

Lukas shook his head, "That's not important right now. I want to take a look at what's going on."

Lukas moved to get a better view of the road when Sera grabbed the back of his neck and dragged him back.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked sarcastically, "Activate your obfuscation ability before someone notices you, you moron."

"Oh, right," Lukas said, abashed. He would've liked to keep the ability on at all times just to be safe, but it required a certain level of mental effort to keep active right now, having to constantly keep in mind what he was doing.

Activating his Stranger in a Strange Land ability, Lukas turned to Sera, "How do I feel?"

"I hardly think now's the time, Lukas," she teased.

"Don't be gross," Lukas admonished, "you know what I mean."

She scoffed, "'Don't be gross'—what are you, five? You should've leaped on that. You really need to work on your flirting game."

"Not the time. Answer the damn question."

"Your aura feels fine." Sera huffed, "You might want to restrict it as much as possible though, unless you want them to feel its effects and notice you."

After doing as suggested, Lukas moved closer to the road and got a look at what the ruckus was all about. Peering through the bushes, he could make out half a dozen figures standing around a wagon filled with sacks and crates, pulled by some weird work animal with two sets of front legs and a single set of rear legs.

A man with blonde hair and icy blue eyes, who judging by the tapered ears and slim figure was an elf, was pressed up against the wagon, looking decidedly nervous. He was surrounded by three others while two more rummaged around in the wagon.

Two of the people surrounding the elf man were what Lukas guessed were cannids. They were tall and well-built, wearing leather armor and wielding swords. Their white and gray fur flowed off their heads like a mane, and while Lukas couldn't see their faces he guessed they had wolf heads. One of the two brandished a sword at the elf man while the other's arm was encased in thick stone, looking like it could break the wagon in half.

The other person holding up the elf was a race Lukas didn't recognize, but could best be described as a lizard man. He had dark green scales and wore combat robes the same color.

The two up in the wagon were a human and an elf. The human was rather plain looking, with brown hair and eyes but rather sharp features. His armor was quite worn and faded, as though it had been passed down through the generations.

The elf, on the other hand, couldn't be more different. Like the one being held at sword point, he was blonde but had light green eyes. This elf's equipment was rather nice and new looking, or was just well cared for.

Inching closer to the confrontation, Lukas listened in to what was being said.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You're not going to find much of value," the captive elf said, "I told you already that it's just herbs and plants I found in the forest. None of it—"

"Quiet!" the wolf man with the stone fist snarled. "You've said that enough already. We're going to have a look and take what we want."

"None of it is that valuable. The magic density here is too low to grow anything with real value. All this stuff is meant for alchemy apprentices."

"Would you just kill him or knock him out already?" the lizard man insisted, "It'd be faster and easier if we were all looking, and I'm tired of hearing this guy talk about his damn plants."

"He's got a point," the wolf man with the sword said, "The longer this takes, the more likely it is that someone comes along. You know the adventure society has been cracking down on this kind of thing recently. It's best if we just kill him, take what we can carry, and get out of here. Hell, take the marel too—a work animal like that should sell for a decent amount."

Lukas did a quick round of identify on the group.

Cannid - lvl 28

Cannid - lvl 27

Scalekin - lvl 27

Elf - lvl 25

Human - lvl 23

The identify was very enlightening, revealing none were too strong, while also informing him that the scaled man was called a Scalekin.

Lukas turned to look at Sera who'd moved up beside him. Unlike him, she was just standing up nonchalantly, looking down at him crouched on the ground, "What? It's not like they can see me, and I'm not getting down in the dirt like you."

Lukas just rolled his eyes, "What do you think I should do?"

"I don't know, I'm not your conscience. You do what you want."

"Well what are the consequences of helping that guy?"

"Depends on what you do."

"What if I attack them? Are there any repercussions of that? Will the authorities get involved? What can I do to help?"

Sera just looked at him weirdly, "What kind of fucked up world do you live in? Just kill them and be done with it. Strength and power rule supreme, killing some bandits out here won't get you in trouble."

"You sure?"

"What is this? Are you afraid of killing another person or something?

"Not really? I don't think so? They're talking about killing that guy, I should stop them."

"Then quit talking to me and go out there and do something. I don't care if you scare them off, knock them all out, or melt them into puddles of rotten flesh. Again, I'm not your conscience—just do what you feel is right."

With a nod Lukas entered the shadows at his feet.

***

Maynard wasn't having a good time, he wasn't having a good month really. Ever since the crackdown on bandits started in earnest, he and his gang had had a hard go of things. Before, the bandit problem had only been given lip service because no one important was affected. It was only after some important out-of-town aristocrat was robbed that things got serious.

The southern and eastern regions were crawling with patrols and traps by now, and each day Maynard heard of one group after another getting cut down. The only way Maynard and his boys could avoid getting caught was by laying low and letting things cool down for a bit.

Times were tough though, and Maynard was running out of coin, gambling most of it away in an attempt to feed himself and the others. Getting a job was out of the question. He was a well-known criminal, and the last thing he'd be caught doing was getting an ordinary day job.

He was close to having to throw in the towel until he heard about the problems adventurers were having in the northern region. Usually, Maynard would avoid the area like the plague. The region was one of the poorer ones due to the slightly lower ambient magic, meaning nothing of value ever traveled the roads. It also didn't help that a lot of the lumber mills were in the area, usually meaning tighter security.

The only reason Maynard had bothered with the area was the temporary lack of adventurers. This would allow him and his boys to rob more people and take bigger risks to make up for the shallow pockets of the people they robbed. Even then, it took convincing to get the others on board.

So far their scores had been lackluster, not amounting to more than what few items a person was carrying on them. More often than not they came across someone like the elf, a person transporting hay or some other harvest. At least this wagon load might have some actual value, despite the annoying elf's insistence.

Maynard was seriously considering killing the man and taking the marel. That was the only thing with actual value, and even if he took the plants how would he even sell them? He didn't know what some flowers and a few rocks were worth. He could take them to an evaluator, but the cost would probably outweigh the profit. At least with the work animal he could sell it to a farmer or stable under the table and make a few hundred coins.

Looking at his stone-covered fist then to the elf, he came to a decision. The elf must've come to the same realization as his eyes went wide. Raising his fist to strike down the elf, Maynard stopped upon hearing a thud and shattering glass.

Whirling around, Maynard found Oknid dead on the ground, blood pouring out of a stab wound in the back of his scaled head, and Basil rolling around on the ground. The fur on his head turned black, and his flesh began rotting as he thrashed about in pain.

Standing above the two was what Maynard guessed was a human, though the bloody rags and the mask hid it well. Two orange orbs were lit up behind the mask, staring Maynard down. Just feeling that gaze on him made his hackles rise, giving him the impression the newcomer was dissecting him in his mind, finding the most painful way to kill him.

Basil continued rolling on the ground, screaming out in agonizing pain as his flesh rotted away. A once hidden aura came out to play, as the bloody man let it loose. At once, Maynard felt ill, his fur feeling waxy and heavy with disease. It felt like staring down a cloud of rot as it rushed towards him, and he wanted nothing more than to be far away.

Basil's cries grew louder as the necrosis spread even faster than before with the help of the aura. The sounds only lasted a few seconds before they became a nightmarish gurgle that quickly fell silent.

Everyone stood frozen and unmoving, unsure of what to do about the newcomer who had just taken out two of their members in a second.

"Well that was horrifying," the masked man said, looking down at the now-dead Cannid before turning his gaze back to the others, "Who's next?"

***

Lukas watched as the wolfman, human, and elf ran off into the woods, leaving him with two dead bodies and a very nervous-looking elf. He could've easily chased down the three, them being around his level and having fewer stats due to Lukas' titles, but Lukas saw no point in putting in the effort when he'd already accomplished his goal.

That goal was naturally to help the elf before him, but Lukas couldn't tell if the elf was all that thrilled about his presence. He looked rather pale and grim, at least Lukas assumed that was the case—he didn't imagine elves actually looked like that all the time. Other than that, the elf man looked like one would expect: thin, with beautiful features and a matching slim, athletic figure. He was wearing some rather basic clothing that was obviously made for a day out rummaging through the forest, at least one that wasn't crawling with bloodthirsty beasts.

It was then that Lukas realized the elf's reaction might be because of his aura, but that shouldn't be it. It should feel good to allies, and while the elf wasn't exactly an ally, Lukas had helped him. Then he remembered the two dead men at his feet, one with a stab wound to the back of the head and the other's head rotted to the bone.

Coughing awkwardly, Lukas stepped away from the bodies and restrained his aura before identifying the elf man.

Elf - lvl 24

'He's close to gaining an ability,' Lukas noted to himself, 'Might've helped him out here.'

"Are you alright?" Lukas eventually asked the elf.

The elf seemed taken aback by his words, as though surprised Lukas didn't just attack. "I—I'm fine. Are you? You look like you've been sent through a sawmill."

"Ah?" Lukas said, looking down at himself, forgetting that he looked like a nightmare come to life, "Oh, that. I'm fine. Just been lost in the forest for a while."

"O-okay. Well, thanks for the help. I'd probably be dead by now if it weren't for you. Are you an assassin or something, waiting for bandits?"

"No? I'm an alchemist and a rogue. Like I said, I was lost in the forest for a while. I had just found the road when I heard a scuffle and came to investigate."

"Well, thanks again. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Is a ride into town on the table?" Lukas asked hopefully.

"Of course! The name's Lyric, by the way."

"Lukas."

The elf man, Lyric, looked down either side of the road then at the bodies. "I don't think we should leave them out like that. Should we move them or something?"

Lukas looked down at the two corpses, thinking over what to do with them. He was half tempted just to loot them and leave them behind like any other beast, but he also wanted to search them for anything they might have. Having only arrived in this world two months ago, Lukas was more than willing to rummage around a dead person's pockets for anything that could help him out. The only problem was time and not wanting to show off too much.

"I have an ability," Lukas said slowly, "It allows me to store things. I can put their bodies away, just don't tell anyone about it. Alright?"

"Sure," Lyric shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, "Abilities like that are pretty rare, I can see why you'd want to keep it a secret. You must have teams trying to recruit you all the time."

Having absolutely no idea what he was talking about, Lukas just nodded and noted the useful information, "Thanks. I'll make it quick and we'll go."

Going over to the bodies, Lukas stored them in his inventory. Turning back towards Lyric, he found Sera beside the elf.

"You're practically begging to get found out," she said.

"Shut up and get in the wagon."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.