Traveling Through The Series

Ryan was extremely bored riding his way to Persis. The distance from Culbert to Persis was at least 2 times longer than the distance to his house and although he was on the main road, there was not a soul in sight. All he could do is past the time was reread the small number of books he had and experiment with his magical powers.

With days of seeing nothing but grass and dirt on the path in front of him, it surprised Ryan when he noticed a sign at a fork in the road. Apparently, following the left path would lead into a place called Luria and the right path was the way straight to Persis.

Ryan: "Luria? I don't remember the name of a city like that on the map."

It was not strange for Ryan to not know of this place since it was not actually mentioned in the game, the map only showed the location of every capital city and of the other cities which are ruled by Dukes. There were no landmarks for the smaller towns and villages that were ruled by Counts, Viscounts, Marquises, etc.

Ryan: "I might as well check it out. Hopefully, I won't be so bored anymore."

As he was riding down this new path, the road to Luria led into a forest. The forest was not that thick, but the road forward was now more narrow and tight.

Ryan road forward slowly, staying vigilant and on the look-out for traps and ambushes. It was places like these in which bandits liked to wait for their victims. However, he did not mind meeting some along the way, he was running really low on any social interaction.

Slowly advancing along his journey, he suddenly halted his pace after he had heard something from inside the forest. Dismounting his horse, Ryan walked beside the two with his sword at his waist, preparing for the worse.

The more he walked forward, the louder the sound became. It seemed that somebody was fighting, and from the sound of it, the battle was coming closer to him as he also was walking closer it.

A few seconds later, he was finally able to see what was going on.

Ryan: "Huh… It looks like a group of mercenaries are trying to fight off some wild beasts."

Wild beasts are this world's 'monster faction'. They usually lived in isolated areas, but if they ever spot signs of people, they would lose what little rationality they have and go on a murderous rampage. They are the bane of every race and seek to eliminate every living being.

Much is not known why they have such dangerous traits, but they are manageable to an extent. Taking care of these beasts was one of the primary jobs for mercenary groups, alongside taking care of bandits.

About a hundred yards away from him, there was a group of Beorc men trying to defend themselves against a pack of demon wolves. It looked like they were on the defensive and being pushed back. The number of wolves were overwhelming them.

The mercenary group consisted of people with basic titles/classes: 2 knights to absorb most of the damage, 3 infantry and a mage for damage, and a cleric to heal any major damages. Ryan was particularly interested in one of their swordsmen who looked like he was having a hard time.

Ryan: 'They're being pushed back because their healer can't keep up with the amount of damage the tanks are taking, which leads to them being slowly pushed back. Also, it's no help that the infantry can't do enough damage nor properly fill the gaps in their formation. If the current situation continues, they'll most likely all die before all the wolves are slain.'

Ryan sighed.

Ryan: "It can't be helped."

With his sword at his waist, Ryan started dashing towards the fight.

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Lanceman Mercenary: "Dammit! Why can't you guys block them properly!? You guys are making this job harder when the two of you are letting too much of them get through you!"

Knight Mercenary: "Shut your trap! We can't handle so much without any proper healing! Oi! I need some support!"

The cleric of the group panted in response.

Cleric Mercenary: "Huff… you guys, puff… are taking, huff… too much, puff… damage."

Knight Mercenary: "Stop trying to talk and just keep healing us!"

The whole group was actually blaming each other of their shortcomings in the midst of a battle. Everyone was yelling at each other except for one person. The only swordsman of this group was the only one not speaking and just looked dispirited.

Sword Mercenary: 'All this yelling is just bringing me down. Maybe I should just run for it, although I won't be able to get far.'

In the middle of his self-depressing episode, the man did not notice a wolf that slipped through and came charging at him. He was too late to react and panic took over. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

???: "You know, you shouldn't lose hope until the very end."

Hearing this unknown voice, the swordsman opened his eyes to see that the wolf was now gone from his sight. The monster was now on the floor with his head completely severed from its body. His eyes shifted to the man that suddenly appeared in front of him.

???: "As long as you still draw breath, there is always hope."

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After saying that, Ryan quickly got to getting rid of the rest of the monster wolves. Dashing around the entire battlefield, every time he swung his blade, one wolf would fall as its victim. This was very different from how the mercenaries stood still and just endured the wolves' attacks.

Very soon all of the beasts were drawn in by Ryan, no longer caring about the others.

Ryan: 'Good, this'll make things much more easier.'

No longer having to worry about chasing them, Ryan changed his tactic and stood still away from the mercenaries. He held up his blade and waited for his enemies to attack.

Soon, the first of the many remaining wolves lunged at him. Ryan quickly took one step to the side and used the momentum of the wolf's lunge against it and sliced it from the mouth. This charge the wolves did to their own death continued to happen without stopping. Sometimes more than one wolf would attack him, but his blade would still reap all who attacked. The current situation looked very similar to how he was attacked by bandits near his home.

While Ryan was quickly cutting them down, the mercenaries on the side were all in awe at what they were witnessing. They all were stunned by how he was overwhelming the beasts so easily without breaking a sweat.

Finally, when the wolves were all finished did Ryan wipe his blade and sheath his blade. There was not even a spot of blood on him. It was at this point did he finally turn to the mercenary group and they all flinched when they saw his gaze.

For a moment, they all thought that they would be next on his kill list, but all snapped out of it when they heard him speak.

Ryan: "Are you all okay?"

Lanceman Mercenary: "Um… We're alright. Thank you for saving us."

The mercenary bowed. It looked like he was the leader of this group, obviously not a good one considering how sloppy the group's coordination.

Ryan nodded.

Ryan: "No problem. So why are you guys out here anyway? You guys clearly look like mercenaries. Were you all out on a job?"

Mercenary Leader: "Uhh… Yes, sir. We were actually commissioned to take care of these wolves, but considering what you did, there is no way we could take the whole bounty for ourselves. Please take the reward in our thanks."

The mercenary group all were shocked by what their leader did without their say.

Knight Mercenary: "Hold up! Although he did help us, that doesn't mean that he should take everything for himself."

Mage Mercenary: "That's right! It's not like we didn't do anything at all. We deserve some sort of compensation for our efforts."

Their leader was infuriated.

Mercenary Leader: "Shut your traps! Without him, we would've died here! I'm the leader, so it's my decision!"

Knight Mercenary: "You shut up! What kind of stupid leader are you?!"

And thus, a huge argument ensued. Everyone was continuously bickering about how they should properly split the rewards. The only ones that did not join this discussion were the cleric who was too tired to say anything and the swordsman that was initially saved by Ryan.

Seeing that he had to intervene or else this argument would last till nightfall, Ryan finally stepped in.

Ryan: "Can we continue this discussion somewhere else. Night is coming soon and I don't wish to camp out in a place like this."

Ryan pointed towards the cleric.

Ryan: "And it looks like that man is dead tired. We should quickly head to Luria and stabilize his health."

Ryan whistled and soon two horses approached him, both carrying a large supply of things. Ryan pointed to the swordsman that he had saved.

Ryan: "You. Put him on the horse and help ride him back."

From the start, Ryan had been paying more attention to the swordsman of this group. He had seen this man before. Although he looked five years younger, his pink hair and nonchalant attitude practically confirmed who he was.

Ryan smiled at the thought that, of all the important characters this world had, this man would be the fifth one he would meet. Makalov the lazy, broke horseman.