Lorin left the wooden cabin.
His equipment had been neatly arranged by the door. The backpack he had thrown aside had been retrieved, its dirt thoughtfully wiped clean.
SCRAPE, SCRAPE.
The sound of a shovel striking dirt came from not far away. Lorin turned to look; it was coming from the direction of the barn.
Shouldering his backpack once more, he picked up Rusted Throat and slowly walked over.
The scorched earth from the previous battle remained unchanged, with two corpses still lying on the ground. He took his time bypassing the charred fence. The giant rat corpses that had died here were gone, likely already cleared away.
An old peasant woman stood bent over near the barn. Gripping a long-handled shovel, she forcefully struck the dirt in front of her. The winter soil was frozen solid, making her attempts to dig incredibly strenuous. Her son stood to the side, staring blankly at Old Hunter’s corpse on the ground, lost in thought.
Hearing Lorin’s approach, the old woman turned warily. Realizing it was him, she hastily dropped the shovel, wiped her hands on her clothes, and forced a smile.
"My lord, you’re awake?"
Lorin stopped and nodded in silence, not knowing what to say.
Biting her lip, the old woman unfastened a Money Bag from her waist. With a Quick Step, she approached Lorin and offered it to him.
"My lord, this is the reward Hunter promised you. We cannot break our word, so please accept this."
Lorin felt uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure if he should take the bag of money. His mission had only been to help clear out the giant rats, which he had accomplished. But truth be told... Soron had likely come to ambush him, meaning Old Hunter’s death was at least partially his fault.
Even though taking the blame for a bandit’s atrocities was foolish, looking at the mother and son before him, Lorin simply couldn’t bring himself to reach out and take the money at a time like this.
"My lord, Hunter is gone. We don’t want him to bear the infamy of an oath-breaker. Please help us..."
The old woman cupped the Money Bag in both hands and offered it to him once more.
"Alright." Lorin’s eyes grew hot. He lowered his head to suppress his emotions, reached out to take the Money Bag, and opened it on the spot to count the contents earnestly.
"One Silver Coin, two Silver Coins, three Silver Coins..."
Inside were only three Silver Coins; the rest of the bulging bag was filled entirely with Copper Coins. He counted them one by one, taking quite a while.
"A total of one Gold Coin and fifteen Silver Coins. We are even."
Hearing this, the old woman could no longer hold back, and her tears flowed uncontrollably. She wiped at them frantically with her sleeve, not wanting to lose her composure in front of the lord, but the tears only fell harder the more she wiped.
Unable to bear the sight, Lorin picked up the shovel from the ground and said softly, "Let me help you."
Although his injuries hadn’t fully healed, his thirteen Points in Power were far beyond what the old woman could muster. After more than two hours, he managed to dig a shallow grave large enough to hold Old Hunter. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
After burying Old Hunter in the ground, Lorin looked at the still-dazed youth nearby and comforted him.
"Your father was a brave man. He told me to tell you that you will definitely become a powerful Adventurer."
The youth pursed his lips. A glimmer of life finally returned to his eyes, but he answered slowly, "My lord, I don’t want to be an Adventurer anymore."
The old woman embraced her son, weeping softly. After a long while, she suddenly remembered something and hastily explained to Lorin.
"My lord, your spoils of war are still over there. We didn’t dare touch them."
"Alright. Thank you."
Lorin nodded. Knowing that anything else he said would be meaningless, he simply turned and left.
Lorin strolled through the fields.
He summoned his system interface to review the notifications he received after killing Soron and his subordinate.
[First Enemy Kill — Human]
[Reward: 100 Exploration Experience]
[Current Balance: 177 Exploration Experience]
He had always assumed that only Demons could be considered enemies. He hadn’t expected the system’s criteria to be so broad. Perhaps it included all hostile creatures?
Fortunately, unlike exploring regions, killing enemies didn’t come with a progress bar. Otherwise, he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t turn into a homicidal maniac.
"Let’s see what I can roll this time," he muttered.
With a mere thought, the white die once again materialized in midair and began to tumble.
[Using 100 Exploration Experience, you have rolled the die: 1]
The die soon came to a halt, revealing the Points on its top face.
[Fate has smiled upon you]
[Points: Six]
[Type: Molding Faction]
[Casting Range: 15 feet]
[Establishes Lightning Chains with the target, pulling both sides toward their midpoint simultaneously. If the target fails to break free, they will also take lightning damage.]
Staring at the Points displayed on the interface, Lorin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
"I knew it. There’s no way I can roll normal Magic from this broken system," he grumbled.
He helplessly read through the Magic’s description. Lorin remembered that the original Lightning Traction only pulled the target toward the caster. Now, he had to fly toward the target as well. Wasn’t that incredibly dangerous?
Still, it was at least far more useful than Fur Perception. If he had possessed this Magic during his battle with Soron... well, he probably would have been killed outright by the Charge.
Okay, maybe it would have other uses later. At the very least, it seemed like an excellent choice against a Caster; he could pull them in close and deliver a Flaming Hand.
Wait, why did this Magic feel like an enhanced version of Charge? It even dealt lightning damage. That actually sounded pretty impressive. But why did it feel like he was straying further and further from being a Mage?
Lorin decided that once he had enough money, he would try to learn this world’s Magic on his own. He still yearned to become a true Mage.
Mages were the true masters, after all!
Without realizing it, he had walked over to the corpse of the young man he had killed via sneak attack. Just as the old woman had said, the body lay completely undisturbed on the ground. It hadn’t changed at all since yesterday, save for the exposed skin turning slightly pale and ashen.
"Let’s see what they’ve got on them," Lorin said to himself.
He crouched down and searched through the young man’s equipment.
A plain wooden Bow with absolutely no Attributes. He didn’t know how to use it anyway, so he’d take it back and sell it. A matching quiver holding a dozen or so arrows. The arrowheads looked like they were made of some kind of stone. He’d sell those together with the Bow.
Hmm... two iron daggers. They looked a bit rough, but a good sharpening would make them usable again. He would keep them.
A set of tattered Leather Armor. It was worn to the point of falling apart; the guy was clearly dead broke. The boots were decent, albeit a bit stinky. He’d sell those too.
Holy crap, how did he have 6 Gold Coins, 3 Silver Coins, and 4 Copper Coins? Was this guy saving up for a luxury coffin?
Lorin counted the coins in his hand, feeling disdain for the young man’s hoarding habits while thoroughly appreciating his loot drop.
Alright, one more to go.
Lorin turned and walked to the side. Having been severely burned, Soron’s charred corpse was decomposing much faster than the young man’s, already emitting a sickly sweet, metallic stench.
As a bandit who knew Combat Skills, he had to have some good stuff on him. Lorin rubbed his hands together in anticipation.