Boring was an interesting way to define a sprint through an otherworldly forest filled with overgrown wild beasts that were getting exceedingly hostile to human life, with some kind of corrupting fire still spreading behind me.But, as the night started to fall down, that was the best description of my mood.The run was hard to describe as comfortable, even with all the advantages given by the stats, but monotone was a good way to describe it. Even the constant attacks of the monsters — with the beasts getting more and more dangerous the farther I had moved from the fire that was still ongoing.Regardless of the healthiness of such a mood, it meant that I had some time to consider my position. First, my assets: a five-denica piece of silver that managed to stay in my pocket despite all the chaos — the bigger piece unfortunately lost — a magical sword that I barely used, and a steel dagger that was at the end of its life due to constant usage.I didn't know exactly ho

I managed to stay in the river for the whole day, continuing with my unusual method of fishing, even as the beasts got stronger and stronger, though not as much to prevent me from handling them from a strike from my sword.《+54 Experience》 《+130 Experience》 … 《+71 Experience》 《+30 Experience》"At least, it was not all bad," I murmured as I pushed to the surface once more. More confident, now that the darkness had fallen once more, not afraid that I would be noticed by the occasional flying Court or fortress that was in the sky.The number of Flying Courts alone had reached a dozen, while the smaller Courts had reached almost three digits, further highlighting the capabilities of the world I had found myself in.Hiding was turning out to be better and better.At least, until I felt a sudden sense of presence underneath me! One that I recognized as the weight of the Charisma, though it hit me differently than Toross' aura of trust — later replaced with some kind of

I sighed as I strolled into the camp, taking note of the chaos that was going on. I expected a level of discord, but the camp was even more disorganized than I had expected, with at least five shouting matches going on around me.The general structure of the camp was simple. Each close-knit group had established their tents close enough to touch each other, at least four people standing guard, ready against any attack. The camp was crowded enough that no land beast reached that point, and the flying ones were almost exclusively attracted to the butcher station and the huge bonfire.I didn't know whether the intention was to defend the camp or just a welcome side-effect; but either way, I wondered it was a perfect solution if the tense attitude the people were showing as they walked around, some alone,, some in groups.But all alert.However, even in that tense chaos, there were small islands of calm. A large pot of boiling food, guarded by eight people, with a line in front, people ex

We didn't talk much for the rest of the way. After finished bragging about his martial potential, he fell silent, mulling on my offer. And, I was lost in my thoughts, wondering whether the mention of a familiar divine name meant anything.My conclusion, it probably did, but nothing that would actually matter in the short term. Instead, I turned my attention to his mention of the Promotion.His offhand mention of gods and being chosen implied that they believed that it was some kind of divine process, where people needed to prove themselves to gods, and in return, they received some abilities.And, since I didn't actually believe gods to be some mysterious altruistic beings — even as I started to realize they existed, even in a different concept than what I defined it — I immediately assumed that they were getting some kind of benefit from the process.Probably some kind of cost for them as well, if they were as selective as the explanation of my young friend implied.

Fighting as a part of the group was different than fighting alone. It had some challenges, like more monsters targeting the larger group. That was a disadvantage, but not a huge one — especially since the bonfire was still burning bright, holding the attention of most of the flying monsters, leaving us to contend with the land-based variety.But I had to admit, the advantages were impressive. The biggest one, I didn't need to deal with all monsters myself. I walked behind the group, not contributing much at the beginning, to get a sense of their fighting prowess. My first impression … not bad.Jertann and Silas stood at the center, fighting against the monsters with a smooth coordination that I hadn't seen displayed by most of the other groups I had watched earlier. They took turns dealing the first blow, sometimes Jertann, delivering a huge blow with his hammer, sometimes it was Silas delivering a deadly swing from her axe.Their weapons might not be as well-made as my