XIII

  Kaz stopped in his tracks, rooted in place in fear. He felt the blood drain from his face, his body becoming numb. He saw the outlines of men appearing around him, his eyes unable to get a clear visual of them, as his vision was blurry and shaky.

  The men around him laughed, closing in around him.

  “What do ya think yer doing walking all alone, ‘specially when it’s getting dark out, huh?” One of them jeered at him. He turned shakily to the sound of the speaker’s voice. It was a Dwarf who had long black hair, with a bushy untamed black beard. He looked extremely weathered, with his skin sunburnt and peeling in places, especially his nose. His gear was also in rough condition, with the leather bits all faded and cracked, his shirt filled with sweat stains. He grinned when Kaz met his eyes, and that grin revealed the few teeth he had left.

  “Didn’t they teach you youngins that you shouldn’t be walkin’ ‘round when the sun goes down? Bad stuff happens to little kids like you,” another voice jeered at him. He quickly spun to the left and it was the same voice that first broke the silence and announced their presence to him. It was a tall, slightly overweight Human, with a bald head and sleazy brown eyes, a face that seemed stuck grinning, which agitated him just looking at it. The Human took out his sword and pointed it at him. It was a sword that looked worn to the point it was chipped along the bladed side.

  The Human, who he assumed was the leader of this small ground of Bandits, sleazily said, “Alright kid, we don’t want to hurt ya. Just hand over your valuables, and we will be off on our way. Right gentlemen?”

  Kaz quickly analyzed the situation. There were approximately six of them, and all of them seemed to be armed. Few of them had swords, and a few of them had axes, which all looked worse for wear, but the numbers were overwhelming. He had a lot of his crystals, but he would recover those loses in a few days, maybe not the Timberfang Wolf crystal, but he thought his life was definitely worth more. He’s also dealt with these types of people before, and they were no different than the bullies he and Meisha had to deal with growing up.

  His shoulders slumped, as he was reminded of his friends. If only he wasn’t alone, maybe something like this could’ve been prevented. If only his beam was gold like everyone else, because everyone knew he’d be weaker than most, which meant that he was meant to get a one-star Path.

  With a sigh, he unslung his bag and started taking out all his crystals that he has acquired through his journey so far. Dozens of light green crystals and pale brown crystals littered the forest ground. He thought about trying to hide the crystal he looted from the wolf, but he knew they would check his bag no matter what he pulled out, as they always did that. After taking everything out, he stepped back and spoke meekly to the leader of this group of Bandits, “This is all I have.”

  “Hmm, do we trust his words, gentlemen?” He mockingly asked his group.

  A bunch of noes and laughter rang out among the men, and suddenly, he felt himself being picked up and thrown to the side, while his bag was taken from him by another one of the Bandits. This time, it was surprisingly an Elf, who was missing one ear and his hair was turning gray. He never thought an Elf would find himself in the company of Bandits, especially ones as rugged as these.

  He watched them dump all of his meager possessions onto the dirt as they sifted through everything. His heart sank as they started taking all of his crystals, but at least he would be coming out of this with his life, and all he could do was take this robbery, because he was too weak to do anything about it. He vowed to himself that if he ever ran into these types of low life scum ever again, he would rid them from this world.

  Thankfully, they left his health potion and map, but they ended up taking his crystals, rations of food, and his remaining 5 copper Tokens, which felt like a low blow to him. He wished he could protest, but from prior experience, he knew to just shut up and take it, as speaking up would only make things worse.

  The leader turned to him, his grin even wider than before, and taunting him, “What a great haul you had here, are you sure you’re alone? Maybe we should add you to our little band here. You could get these crystals for us, and maybe we won’t have to ask nicely from others for them anymore.” The other Bandits laughed at his suggestion, knowing he was only trying to rile him up, to give them an excuse to beat him up.

  Unfortunately, Kaz couldn’t help himself, and muttered to them, “I would never stoop so low to such low lives as yourselves.”

  The Dwarf who spoke up earlier was the one nearest to him, probably keeping watch to make sure he wouldn’t attack the group when they were going through him stuff.

  He simply grinned and walked over to him, standing over him menacingly. “Ya wanted to say somethin’, kid?”

  Kaz simply clenched his firsts, his fingernails digging into his palms. He chose to ignore the taunt from the Dwarf, turning his head to side, avoiding his gaze. The Dwarf then huffed, and punched him straight on the side of the head. Kaz tried to get his mana to form around his head to take most of the impact, and a small pulse came from his mana core. Although, Kaz was still laid out on the ground, his ears ringing, and pain erupted from the side of his head. He tasted blood in his mouth, and spit out a small glob of it. The protective mana again did not form, or maybe this Dwarf was too strong.

  “That’ll teach ya not to run yer mouth, kid,” the Dwarf smugly said, crossing his arms and enjoying the amount of pain he inflicted to the small Gnome.

  After a while, the group of Bandits left, and they didn’t inflict any addition harm to him. He quickly crawled over to his bag, and all the other items spread out among it. The only thing that remained was his kit he got from the guild, the map of the area, some clothes and his one health potion. He sighed and quickly put everything back into his bag, already starting to regret his journey, even though he has made good progress with his Calling.

  He walked another 30 minutes away from the spot, not wanting to be in the same area of the place he got his stuff taken from him, just in case they decided they actually wanted to roughen him up a bit. He found a nice tree, and climbed up it, doing everything automatically as he was numb from his previous exchange. He found a relatively comfortable spot and tried to fall asleep.

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  Tears leaked from his eyes, as everything he has gone through in the past week has been filled with stuff out of his control, his helplessness to his own situations. Why did his life have to take such a drastic sharp turn, sure he was an orphan, but Miss Astreta made sure to treat everyone the best she could. In some ways, she was way better than some parents were to their own kids. Everything went wrong with his cursed Awakening, he wished he never had to do it. He eventually fell asleep, tears pouring out his eyes.

  The next morning, he reluctantly climbed down his tree and began his walk. He trudged along the road, killing whatever monster he ran across. He came across more Grass Slimes and Woodspike Hedgehogs, but he simply executed them, not trying anything to improve his Abilities. He would get into his sitting form and channel his Passive Ability, [ Mana Regeneration ], but he wouldn’t push it too much, as soon as he was decently full of Mana Points, he would simply cut off the Ability and continue on his journey, trying to make up for his setback.

  A few travelers and other adventurers avoided him, probably noticing the mechanical killing and no emotions coming from his face or body. His robe had many holes and quite a few tears, but what managed to stay intact was the hood, and he was at least grateful for that, so that he wouldn’t have to meet anybody’s eyes.

  After two days, he managed to recoup a lot of crystals, but he was still upset by his journey so far. It has been eventful, but his encounter with the Bandits really messed with his mental state. He managed to rank up his [ Mana Regeneration ] to Rank 8, but nothing changed with his Resonance or his Skill Ability, [ Mana Burst ], which was slightly disappointing, but he couldn’t be surprised.

  Near the end of his second day, he came upon a building that seemed slightly off the road. From the short distance away, the building seemed almost blended into the forest, as part of the roof had moss growing on top of it. The wooden cabin looking building had wood that seemed aged and worn down from nature’s elements, but still sturdy and very inviting to someone who slept in the trees for the past few days. He didn’t remember a building being on the map, and he quickly double checked, and there was nothing there.

  He shrugged and decided to walk to the building, and when he got closer, the building had a sign that had almost faded out the lettering, with only the carving remaining. It read: Bartly’s Inn. He took a deep breath, and walked in, ready to be kicked out or roughed up by some of the people in there.

  When he walked in, the main room was warm and cozy, the smell of wood and smoke permeating through the room. There were circular wooden tables randomly spaced out, with mismatching chairs that looked well worn. There were a few people inside, but they glanced his way, assessing who walked in. Since it was a small Gnome sized individual with a torn up robe, they stopped their assessment of him, not viewing him as a threat or anyone interesting. He then heard a voice come from the bar area, and it looked like it was an aging Human male behind the counter who was wiping some metal tankards.

  “Howdy there stranger! How can I help ya?” Came the deep voice from the Human, slightly raspy from age and what he assumed smoking as well.

  Kaz walked up timidly to the bar in front of him, and hopped on the bar stool, as he could barely see over it standing up. He then slightly whispered to who he was assuming was the Innkeeper, hoping the other patrons wouldn’t hear him, “I was wondering if I could maybe rent a room here for the night. I unfortunately don’t have any Tokens, as I was robbed by Bandits a couple days ago. I was hoping maybe I could pay in crystals I’ve collected.” His voice faltering, unsure why he even came into the inn knowing he couldn’t pay anything.

  The Innkeeper stopped wiping the tankard in his hands, and then leaned over to him, speaking softly to him, “Hmm, I usually don’t take in crystals, but in yer situation, I think I could make the exception for ya. My name is Bartly, and I currently run this beautiful inn. Let me see what kind of crystals ya managed to collect, and I’ll make sure to give ya a fair deal.” After hearing this, he felt relief as the tension left his shoulders, a wave of calm flowing through him. He quickly brought his bag up to the counter and placed it. He winced as the bag was dirty, but the Innkeeper didn’t seem to mind as he didn’t mention anything.

  Kaz started bringing out the crystals he had, all his Grass Slime crystals and Woodspike Hedgehog crystals. When he probably brought out around a fourth of his total, the Innkeeper suddenly gripped his hand, his grip was firm, but it didn’t hurt him. His soft voice again spoke to him, a polar opposite to the firmness of his grip, “That’s more than enough there. I will give ya a key, it will be the first room on the right, and I will get the bath ready for ya in a bit when ya settle in.” Bartly put some of the crystals back into his bag, and then pocketed the rest of them, it was honestly a few of them that he could make back in an hour. Were these crystals that valuable, or were the rooms that cheap?

  He was grateful for the generosity of the Innkeeper, and as he took his key, he started heading towards the stairs, then he was reminded that he hadn’t eaten anything except for some berries he took a risk on eating. His stomach violently gurgled, and he shamefully asked the Innkeeper again, “Could I also trade some of my crystals for one of your cheaper meals?”

  Bartly laughed heartily, and replied to him, “Don’t ya worry about it, just drop off yer stuff and come back down, I’ll have a stew fer ya.” Kaz almost wanted to cry from the kindness the Innkeeper was showing him, so he decided to simply nod and hurry up the stairs, not trusting his voice. He hurriedly walked up the creaky stairs, each one creaked a different way, which amused him a little bit. He got the door, and it seemed unnaturally sturdy, but as soon as he put in the key, it became light as he pushed it open.

  It was a small room, but it looked cozy. It had a straw mattress bed, a small closet, a desk that barely seemed to be standing, a wooden stool, a slightly blurry mirror, and a large (for him) wooden bath tub. He put his meager bag on the floor by the bed, and tightened his robe, and walked back down, making sure to lock his room as he exited. He reentered the main room, and sat at the bar, a bowl of stew already waiting for him, with large chunks of meat and plenty of potatoes. Bartly pointed to the stew, which Kaz couldn’t tear his eyes away from, and began eating it, scarfing it all down without waiting to take a breath. He finished it all, and it was one of the best meals he has had in a long time. Bartly simply smiled at him and walked off. He came back with a round grey stone and a bucket of water, and he told Kaz, “Alright, let’s get yer bath going. I’ll set it up and then I’ll be on my way. Ya can leave it in the bath, I got a few of these and I’m not expecting a lot of customers tonight.”

  Kaz confusedly just nodded, getting up and following him up the stairs. They walked into his room, which for some reason, the Innkeeper could just open his door with a touch, which should’ve worried him, but after what he has seen and been done for him, he just waved it off. Bartly set the stone in the bath tub, and a carving, almost like a rune, appeared on it, glowing red. He then started pouring the bucket of water in, but the water never stopped flowing until the bath was full. Kaz watched with amazement as these were magical items, and he wondered how he managed to get his hands on that. He was going to ask, but then held his tongue, as the Innkeeper didn’t ask him any questions, so he would respect his privacy as Bartly respected his.

  “Enjoy buddy, I’ll see ya tomorrow morn’.” With a pleasant smile and small wave, Bartly walked out of the room, and locked it for him. Kaz took off his clothes and got into the bath, scrubbing the filthy grime and dried blood that was covering his body. After that was done, he realized the water still remained clean and warm, so he decided to relax until he almost fell asleep. He got out and grabbed the towel, which he wondered where it came from, as he didn’t remember being given one. He walked over to the mirror and took in his body, checking for his injuries. There were a few whitish scars, but they seemed pretty much healed, and again he was amazed at the natural healing his body was going through. He then took out another set of clean clothes, and went to bed, falling asleep as soon as his eyes closed.