blacksmithoftheapocalypse
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1248.Somewhere else(x)
🕑 Added 2025-01-13 18:15:14 +0000 UTCThe dim light of a setting sun was falling in through the crown glass windows, illuminating the taproom of a rundown tavern at the side of the road. The rowdy hubbub of farmers and workers, drinking their diluted beer from massive tankards, indicated that it was a good day on the surrounding farm.
Sitting in the corner, the stranger observed the happening of daily rural life, with a solemn smile, as he slowly sipped from his own tankard. After a few days of walking on foot, he had escaped from the burning rays of the sun, into the shadows of this tavern.
The room he rented upstairs was dirty and not maintained. It showed that there were not many travelers in this region. At least it was cheap. He had not much system gold on him when he began this unfortunate journey, and it didn’t become more as he traveled.
Listening to the ramblings of daily lives, like they were a white noise background to his thoughts, something suddenly picked his interest, and his attention focused on a conversation. It was a storyteller and bard, probably the only other traveler in this place, apart from him. He was telling a story.
“…and they managed to win, big time at that,” he heard the bard say clearly, once his senses focused on the conversation he had with a few farmers at the opposite corner.
“Bullshit. You are talking about Spatia. Don’t take us for idiots, just because we are country bumpkins.” One of them said disparaging.
“Yeah, they are just as strong as Chrona. But way crueler,“ another chimed in.
“Only a child would believe that a new world could defend against them, much less defeat a legend,” a third added coldly.
“Wasn’t Minas Amr the place that held the great tournament? Didn’t the merchants mention something like that last time?” Someone else who was listening spoke up and poked their friend for affirmation.
“10 legends.” The storyteller corrected the first. “Yes, the Minas Mar, that organized the great tournament, managed to beat back 10 legends of Spatia, I tell you. I swear on my life. I personally saw pictures of the great skeleton dragon of Durnham, reduced to a pile of bones in a valley in the middle of nowhere! They showed it on screens in the capital.” The old man insisted on the truth of his story.
“As if there would be ten heroes in one place, do you think they grow on trees or something?”
Although the three kept on harping, the storyteller kept talking about a great battle to anyone who wanted to listen. He described the pictures of a massive guardian tree that grew out of thin air and easily defeated not just the skeleton dragon, but also a flying sea snake and the heroes of the Byron Kingdom.
His talk about Minas Mar’s mighty forces made up of golems and high-level players decked out in legendary items sounded fantastic and they cast a reminiscent smile on Paolo’s tired face. He was glad that there would be a home to return to.
~Is that a smile? Hyaa, you look so good when you smile coldly, but this nostalgic smile is also great!~ a voice sounded in his mind. Paolo frowned when the voice of the perverted “angel” suddenly spoke up again, ruining his moment of reminiscence.
Although he was sucked into a random pathway and was captured as a slave, his suffering began actually when he followed a system quest to save a young girl. As a consequence, he had to face off against this creature who called itself an angel.
Well, maybe it was his rotten temperament or the bad mood of being suppressed and treated like a slave, but he had actually picked a fight with this higher being. At the time, he talked himself up, after all, he was a high-level player and had even gotten Marble Monk as his secondary class, which helped him blend in in the Cloud Continent.
But he was actually convinced that it was his last flare-up, a last act of defiance against cruel fate. So he ended up in a duel with the greater being, worshipped by his captors and as requested they had removed the shackles that suppressed his skills and stats.
The beautiful, yet cruel being, with a divine, yet terrifying aura felt overwhelming to him, but he had made up his mind to either win or die fighting for his freedom, for the chance to find his way back home.
What he didn’t expect was… that everything he said to boost his morals was true. The moment her summoned beasts made of shadows charged at him, he struck out and wiped them off the face of the earth. Her beloved shadow creatures died like trash mobs at the hands of the healer.
It was here that the priest realized that the world he had fallen to may have magic, but it was not a system world. People here couldn’t systematically progress through fighting; they had to hone their powers themselves.
This resulted in the power scaling being completely skewed in his favor (as long he wasn’t affected by the weird shackles). Even the great divine being, the radiant, cruel angel, cried and whined and Paolo beat the living daylights out of her, venting his frustration. This was his greatest mistake. Ever.
~Oh, come on, Paolo~ I know you like me, too. Don’t act like that again.~
This beast was an absolute masochist, and she fell in love with his fist. She had actually forced the divine contract all these nobles had clamored about onto him, right after she lost the fight. That’s how he became the saint of her god, unwillingly, and ended up with her glued to him as some kind of pet.
Even if he wanted to resist, there was nothing he could do about it after the fact. Although he suffered from her presence, he also couldn’t deny that the effects were quite good. His original class of priest had turned into Angel Summoner, which gave all his healing skills a power up and allowed him to summon this angel, as well as use her skills.
With the system converting these powers, he was not only able to summon low angels, but he was also able to strengthen them The shadow beasts she had summoned paled in comparison to the creatures he was able to create now.
His standing in the place he had fallen and suffered, had also skyrocketed. The arrogant nobles were trampling each other to woo him. Still, once he had regained his freedom, he immediately began his journey, looking for a way to return to Urth.
Paolo had found out that he had been stranded on one of the many worlds of the Pathworks, which were not part of the System God’s influence or any of the major empires. With his advantages as an ori-huma and “system dweller”, there was no great danger lurking for him. At least not from humans. The drawback was that there were also no system churches and only a few routes to other worlds were mapped out.
Even when he used his newly attained status as a chosen, he was unable to find any proper routes that could lead him back home. Worlds not part of the System Worlds, did their best to stay away from them, because of their dangers and power scaling.
They were not mapped and only shared orally. Paolo was only left with one option, to seek out the little knowledge there was about winding paths that led to system worlds and try his luck to find a way home.
This was his 5th world. After tracking and jumping through several wild gates he had ended up here, in this dirty old tavern. And right here, right now, it was the first time in months that he heard something about Minas Mar, Chrona, and Spatia.
~ You never push me away at night, so why are you so cold in the day…~ she pouted. Paolo lowered his eyes and blushed. He was not proud of it, but he couldn’t deny that he embraced her after spending weeks alone in the wild. She was beautiful and he was just a weak man…
He shook his head to get those thoughts out of his mind. It wasn’t the time for this.
He slowly rose from his seat at the corner, where nobody had noticed him. When the stranger suddenly moved, many eyes were glued to his tall figure as he wandered over to the storyteller. Paolo grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat opposite the old man.
“Old man, you said you saw the pictures at the capital?” he asked, his voice rough after weeks of barely speaking a single word. The storyteller nodded proudly.
“Can you show me where that is on the <Map>? Is there a System church in the capital?” Paolo asked, his hope growing. However, the storyteller shook his head.
“I can show you, but there is no church. Actually, there is no System Church in this world, but there are merchants from Chrona regularly visiting the capital. If you want to go to a System Church, maybe they can take you along?”
Finally, Paolo saw a chance to return home.
