Wizard Of Cosmos

10 - I am About to Move

“You… Will?”

Boris really hoped he wouldn’t. 

“Yes!”

Jason looked around and found the fireplace. He walked up to the stack of wood and found a sturdy branch about one metre long. 

“Can I borrow this?”

He looked at the man behind the counter.

“You can… But why?”

“I don’t have a weapon.”

“That is your weapon?”

Boris felt a slight headache coming over him.

Jason raised his shoulders, giving a helpless look. He really had no choice. 

“Hey, do you know how to use a sword?”

Jason looked at the woman, raising his brows.

“Yes!”

He didn’t have to be humble with what he knew the best. He had practised using a sword for twenty-five years.

“Show me!”

He didn’t expect her to throw a sword at him, but he caught it by the sheath. 

He drew the longsword out of the sheath, eyeing the woman. He noticed that she had another sword by her side.

‘Not the same size and grip. She is not a duel wielder. Why does she have two swords?’

He felt the grip.

“This is a good sword, but is it yours?”

“Oh, why do you ask?”

She frowned a bit, feeling disrespected. 

“This grip is wider than the one by your side, and this one hasn’t seen much blood. But that sword is looking to take a life.”

He nodded at the sword by her side.

“You actually know your sword, eh? Right! I used that when my old sword broke, but it is not what I prefer. Can you handle it?”

Sharon felt interested in the young man.

Jason silently took out the sword completely and performed a horizontal slash and a vertical cut.

Almost everyone turned their eyes when the sword moved. 

Boris realised his hand was already on the hilt of his weapon.

‘Who the hell is this boy?’

He felt the threat from someone with equal strength. 

‘A Master? But he has no aura. How the hell did someone like this come here? I am sure this guy can deliver the message. But why does his body look so weak?’

He didn’t see the strength and control of a master behind those moves, but the technique was even better than his. 

‘He is like an old man who has used it since birth.’

“This is a fine sword.”

Jason was happy with what he felt.

“Then… Keep it.”

The woman was obviously in shock after witnessing those moves. If she fought with this guy, her only way to win was to try to overpower him with brute strength. Even with that, she felt a slight mistake would cost her life.

“Huh?”

Jason looked at the woman with serious eyes. He didn’t expect her to give it just like that.

“Keep it. I have my own.”

Her words looked sincere.

“My name is Jason Hope. I am a stranger.”

He stared into the woman’s eyes.

“I am Sharon. Adventurer from the Alexandria Adventurers Guild.”

“I will remember this favour. This is equal to a life.”

He gave her a sincere nod. The roads of Yuriel were not that friendly. Especially when they were this close to the Dark Forest.

“Hey, kid. Here! I like your attitude.”

He saw the bear-like man throwing him a waterskin.

“The name is Marco.”

“Thank you.” 

Jason nodded happily. This was another very essential thing for the road. As long as he was alive, he would remember these favours. 

…

‘Sigh.’

Jason finished filling the waterskin from the common well. He already had the sword by his side. He was ready to go out of the town toward the Light Shone. The last village bordering the Dark Forest.

“Hey, brother.”

‘Here we go.’

He knew this man was coming.

“The name is Logan Paul. Are you an American?”

Jason nodded his head.

“Great, nice to meet you, man.”

He simply shook the extended hand, wondering what this guy wanted with him.

“Can I ask you a question? Just a minute will be enough.”

“Go on.”

He looked at the woman who followed this guy all the way here. Two of them were still in the building when he left it.

“Did you get a quest notification?”

“Huh?”

It took him several seconds to realise what this guy was asking. 

‘Ah… This is a game to them.’

He touched his armband, looking at the yellow-gold hologram. There was nothing like a notification, and he didn’t expect even to have one. 

“No.”

“I see. Mind if I come with you?”

Logan was interested in this young man for several good reasons. 

The NPCs didn’t look very friendly to the players, but this guy was the difference. He triggered a quest and even got a weapon and a waterskin. That wasn’t all, he was the one who found the basic details of the world.

“I am not going to share the reward.”

Jason was already in debt, and he didn’t need backup to complete this mission. As long as he made it to the village before dark, he was safe. 

“Ah….”

Logan was speechless for a second. 

“I don’t need the reward, man. I just want to go and see what is out there. Going with you is safer.”

“Are you sure? I am going to the last village on this entire continent. You will have more chances going the other way.”

He already felt this guy had other ideas, but it wasn’t the reason for his answer. It was the truth. He knew this guy was stronger than him, but he held the advantage. 

“It is alright.”

“Alright!”

Jason had no reason to reject Logan Paul.

“Mind if I join the two of you?”

‘As expected….’

The woman had the same idea.

Jason saw the guy named Logan looking at the woman with suspicious eyes. Honestly, he didn’t care at all.

“My name is Dawn.”

Jason shook her hand in the same manner as Logan. Whatever the country they were from, they would learn the harsh reality of this world in the future. There were no exceptions. He could already tell that this woman could keep up with them when they moved, so he didn’t mind. 

“Give me a couple of minutes. Then we move.”

He decided to ignore the hostile look these two had for each other and focused on the Armband to see the details.

…

The first holographic screen he checked was the yellow-gold-coloured one. Which he hadn’t seen in his previous life. 

However, it had the most important function for the time being. The Log out button. 

There were other functions like anti-harassment, recording, forum and other functions. All of them had an introduction on the developer’s website.

He realised why Logan asked him about recording the conversation with Boris, yet he had no idea of testing it for the time being. On the other hand, there was a notification on the forum. He saw a user named Poseidon inviting him to the Steel Guild group. He simply accepted it but didn’t waste his time on that. He knew the forum would explode very soon, maybe it already was, but he had time after he logged out. 

The next screen was the translucent-black coloured one. He knew this one very well. This would be available even after The Endless became reality.

He looked at his stats.

Jason Hope

Strength

- 11

Agility

- 12

Physical Defence - 0%

Magical Defence - 0%

Body condition - 100.0%

Magic Affinity

- 0%

No abnormal conditions.

Strength was related to physical strength, while agility was related to movement and attack speed.

Physical and Magical defence based on the enchantments and pieces of equipment, and he had none. 

The Magic affinity was the only stat that wouldn’t be developed on its own. Even if one learned the Apprentice level magic, this would be 0%. It would only be unlocked if a person became a Novice and gained an affinity to one of the six spheres of magic. Which he failed to do in his last life. 

The body condition was the most annoying one. As long as there was a slight scratch on the body, this would always be less than a hundred. 

Also, any abnormal conditions like, poisoned, bleeding, or wounded would always be shown on this screen.

‘Sigh. I will try this time.’

It was all he could do.

Jason focused his eyes on the pale-green coloured screen next. It was also something he knew.

It was much bigger and already had a scrollbar. This was the one with skill trees.

He already saw one skill tree completely revealed. It was for the sword. As long as a person used a weapon for the first time, the skill tree would be unlocked.

He saw the sword skills arranged like a branch of a tree, beginning with the most basic skill, the stab. However, none of the skills was lit up. Instead, they all were in a dull grey colour. A sword-holding man inside a circle marked each skill, with the man moving based on the skill. 

He saw a little portion of the circles relevant to the Horizontal slash and vertical cut being lit up. 

‘So. it is the same.’

This was the same as his previous life when he came to Yuriel five years later. No skill would be unlocked automatically. The person should have appropriate attributes, along with practice, to execute the skill perfectly. Only then the entire circle would be lit up, showing that the person mastered the skill. 

As for why these skills were arranged vertically as a tree, with some being above others and some parallel to other skills was a simple reason. They were based on the requirement to execute skills. There was no requirement to learn them in order. In fact, his skill tree for the sword didn’t have the stab lit up while two advanced movements were barely lit up.

‘I can simply swing the other weapons and unlock the skill trees, but what is the use?’

He took a deep breath, changing the rhythm, and a wave of mana passed through, touching the first magic node. 

He wanted to unlock the magic skill tree, and the way to do it was to unlock the magic nodes in the body. 

‘I can do it while I am moving.’

He finally looked at the two people who were having a staring contest with each other.

“I am about to move.”

…

“Uncle Boris, who is he?”

Sharon was looking at the boy named Jason from the window with her uncle. He was walking toward the city gate with the two others that came to see her uncle.

“I have no idea. But are all the strangers as strong as this one?”

Boris was also equally confused. That skill didn’t match the kid’s age.

“I will report this to His Majesty.”

He could only hope these people who appear out of thin air wouldn’t bring trouble to them.