Chapter 2: Chapter 1: Drifter

In a certain dessert, the heat coming from the sun is simply magnified. Full-body clothes were to be worn whenever one crosses such place, but there are some exceptions.

 

Just like now, someone could be seen crossing this dessert with only a tattered black robe. What's more surprising is the fact that there doesn't any sand that could touch him. Under the cover of a circular transparent barrier, he could safely traverse this without any equipment.

 

"Where am I headed again?"

 

He paused as he took out a map under his white robe, which is under that tattered black robe. That's right, he's wearing two cloaks in such hot dessert!

 

"My damned memory. It even affected my sense of direction!"

 

After looking for quite some time, he determined that he should be near the Sargon Rainforest. There resides bunch of tribes that still lived in a backward manner. 

 

"I've heard from some helpful guys that they are not that sociable to modern people."

 

Well, those "helpful" guys were scattered to ashes days ago. 

 

When he first arrived in this world, his mind was blank. He couldn't remember anything else except some basic knowledge as well as some technical knowledge in regards to swords and magic. He doesn't even remember his own name.

 

"Though, I really look good."

 

For the nth time, he praised his appearance yet again as he condensed a water mirror in front of him. Black-silver hair, a cute face, and a pair of deep orange eyes would surely mesmerize anyone, right?

 

After sending the water to his mouth, he continued walking while he viewed his data.

 

[ (???) ]

Realm: 2nd Rank Rune Magician (+)/ 3rd Rank Aura Knight (+)

Soul Points: 799

Attributes: 

Physique: 8

Dexterity: 9

Wisdom: 12

 

Unlocked Special Attributes:

Aura: 13

Mana: 15

Originum: 14

Charm: 100 (MAX)

Luck: 89 

Control: 100 (MAX)

Willpower: 100 (MAX)

 

Acquired Masteries:

Arts Masteries (Beginner--58%), Gun Mastery (Proficient--77%), Apothecary (Beginner--26%), Riding (Proficient--89%)

 

Apart from some of his absurd attributes, everything else is relatively normal. As for the acquired masteries, these are the experiences that he got by killing some bandits that wanted to kill him. 

 

"Tsk, tsk. It's a pity that I blew up their vehicle too."

 

He was about to regulate the temperature around him when he heard an explosion nearby.

 

Using his mental power that could materialize due to his max-level willpower, he saw more than a dozen vehicles such as trucks and humvees exploding one after another.

 

'Vehicles!'

 

His eyes shined as he started running towards that direction. As he ran, he drew a beautiful rune in the air before it materialized into wind, allowing him to run even faster.

 

"Stop!"

 

He drew another rune in the air before the sand formed a dome, protecting one of the vehicles from the mauling of the assailant.

 

Bam!

 

The sand dome couldn't hold much more before it broke. Still, it had done its job.

 

"Wait! Wait a minute!"

 

"..."

 

The assailant silently looked at him with vigilant eyes. Strangely enough, he could feel the sea in this dessert...?

 

"I don't care about what you'll do with those guys, but please do leave a vehicle intact. Its so tiring walking here for days!"

 

He honestly spoke out his true intentions with the hope that it could reach the assailant. To prove himself further, he drew a complicated rune before the sand turned into spikes, impaling some of the bandit-looking guys in the ground.

 

[Soul Points +89]

 

[Soul Points +34]

 

[Acquired Mastery chance gained.]

 

...

 

He didn't take a look at the notices and continued looking towards the girl first.

 

"Fine."

 

She turned her back at him as she continued killing the bandits. Only, he didn't knew that it was all thanks to his max-level charm that it had turned out like this.

 

"Phew... My luck finally triggered."

 

He entered the truck and tested if its still fully functional, in which it is. The fuel isn't at the red zone yet, to boot.

 

Boom!

 

Explosions rang out again, but this time, he is fully prepared to protect this truck with a water shield. Due to the attribute difference, it counteracted against kinetic forces better, so it stood up longer than the sand dome.

 

Meanwhile, he scanned the trunk with his mental power to check for some loot.

 

"Guns.. guns... A blade? Wait, this is..."

 

He made a metal box fly over to his hand before opening it. There, he saw orange-black crystals scattered all over. He touched it with his bare hands, making him feel a strange sensation all over his body.

 

More than that...

 

[Originum +1]

 

[Originum +1]

 

[Originum +1]

 

His 'Originum' attribute grew just by touching these stuff. Not only that, he could feel both his mana and aura becoming stronger. After the prompts stopped showing up, the crystal turned into ashes.

 

===

Unlocked Special Attributes:

Aura: 13 + 3= 16

Mana: 15 + 3= 18

===

 

He smiled as he felt himself becoming stronger just by touching these crystals. Moreover, he didn't feel any negative aftereffects. Well, there is one, which is that some black crystals grew on his left hand, though it didn't matter much as he could quickly make it disappear by absorbing the leftovers for a second time.

 

[Originum +1]

 

"It took more than half a minute before it got absorbed. How about I just eat it orally?"

 

Praising himself for this genius idea, he picked up the 3 remaining crystals before stuffing them inside his mouth.

 

[Originum +1]

 

[Originum +1]

 

[Originum +1]

 

In less than 10 seconds, he already gained 3 more points. This had proven his conjuncture even more.

 

"Its been less than 3 days since I woke up, but I am already comparable to 5th Rank Rune Magicians and 5th Rank Aura Knights? This world is something else!"

 

[Ding!]

 

[Hidden Quest Completed--Reach 20 Originum Attributes orally. Reward settlement...]

 

[Top-Grade Originum Fluid +1]

 

A small vial filled with glowing orange fluid appeared in his hands. He looked at it closer, wanting to see it more detailed. 

 

"Meh, its just a fluid filled with high density energy. 

 

He didn't dilly-dally any longer and unscrewed the metallic fork. He drank it as if he is drinking normal water.

 

"This..!"

 

He felt a completely different kind of power entering his body. It is something destructive, but it calms down after a few seconds.

 

[Originum +1, +1, +1, +1...]

 

'What a lucky day...'

 

Just as he finished drinking it, he found out that the girl from before is staring at him dumbfoundedly. She asked, "Do you want to die?"

 

"Well, excuse me?"

 

"You know what you did just now, don't you?"

 

Him: ???

 

Hearing his confused voice, she came to a realization.

 

"Wait... You really don't know what you just drank?!"

 

"Uhh, yes?"

 

He replied as black crystals grew rapidly at his face. It is mostly hidden under the two robes, but she could still see his face partially.

 

"You're beyond sav-"

 

Just as she's speaking with a helpless tone, she saw the crystals slowly shrink until it was no longer visible.

 

"What did you say?"

 

"..."

 

The girl was completely dumbfounded with the turn of events that occurred within 10 seconds.

 

*****

 

He slowly listened to her explanation as she explained the things that he consumed right now.

"Originum is a mineral that could serve as a power source comparable to nuclear reactors."

"Yep, I know that it is full of energy."

"But... Once someone has directly contacts it, it's guaranteed that they'll have oripathy."

"Oripathy?"

Oripathy, a disease unique to this world. In this world filled with advanced technology, this is the only disease that everyone is afraid of contacting. As to why they're so afraid of it? It's simple.

Once they contact it, they'll die slowly. The only way to live with it is to inhibit the originum in the infected's body using some drugs.

Hearing this, he became very interested towards it. He saw that the guns in this world is very complex, but he doesn't know how complex it is. That's why he felt that this world is advanced enough.

To him, the more convenient it is to live, the more advanced a civilization would be. 

"Will my life magic be able to contend against it?"

"Excuse me?"

The girl didn't understand his murmurs and thought that he's saying something to her.

"Nothing. Oh yeah, your name? Maybe we'll meet again."

The girl fell silent for a while. She thought of just staying away from him due to her circumstances, but she felt that giving her name is fine.

"Skadi. You can call me Skadi."

"Hello, Skadi. I'm..."

He thought of a name that would serve as his identity in this world. He didn't mind it days before, but not now. Suddenly, an unfamiliar word popped up inside his mind, causing him to blurt it out.

"Shiro."

*****

While driving, Shiro looked back at what happened hours ago.

"This name, it surely did pop up inside my head. does it have something to do with the me in the past?"

His mulling was cut short after he saw a backlog of a prompt hours ago.

[Hidden Quest Completed. Remember your true name and introduce it to a person. Reward settlement...]

[Acquired Mastery Upgrader +1]

The reward that he got is very simple, it can level up an acquired mastery to an entire level, without any limitations. That means, if he wanted to, he could upgrade his [Riding(Proficient--89%)] to Expert-level.

Being smart, he chose to keep it for now.

[Acquired Mastery Selection: Please select 3 masteries from the following...]

A short list appeared in his side vision. There, he was surprised to see an Expert-level mastery.

"Cooking? Interesting. That, and these two."

[Gained Acquired Masteries: Cooking (Expert--45%), Blade Mastery (Proficient--9%), Tech Master (Beginner--98%)]

Shiro felt new knowledge suddenly appearing in his mind. After sorting them out in a while, he completely integrated these knowledge as well as experiences.

"My originum attribute should be of higher level now, let me check."

[ Shiro ]

Realm: 2nd Rank Rune Magician (+)/ 3rd Rank Aura Knight (+)

Soul Points: 1499

Attributes: 

Physique: 8

Dexterity: 9

Wisdom: 12

Unlocked Special Attributes:

Aura: 16+12=28

Mana: 18+12=30

Originum: 18+12=30

Charm: 100 (MAX)

Luck: 89 

Control: 100 (MAX)

Willpower: 100 (MAX)

Acquired Masteries:

Arts Masteries (Beginner--58%), Gun Mastery (Proficient--77%), Apothecary (Beginner--26%), Riding (Proficient--89%), Cooking (Expert--45%), Blade Mastery (Proficient--9%), Tech Master (Beginner--98%)

Shiro was surprised that his Originum attribute managed to nag the first place in his attribute panel. Moreover, his panel became very strange as only by reaching 9th Rank Rune Magician could his mana be at 30. 

He wondered if his level ups would increase his mana even more. To that, he decided to level up Rune Magician to the 3th Rank.

[Mana: 30 + 1= 31]

"Sigh... The higher the attribute, the difficult the increase? Oh well, I'm not complaining."

 

Supposedly, each rank upgrade would give him 2~3 points each, but now, it's only one.

Just as he was about to hum, he saw yet another bunch of strange guys wearing tribal outfits.

"For the calamity god! Die!"

Sandstorms suddenly appeared after a strange guy said that.

"What the hell? Am I this unlucky?"

He was about to go out of the truck when he saw black crystals started to appear on the surroundings due to the sandstorm.

"Hm?"

He exposed his arm into it, and no longer than 10 seconds, he saw the prompt that he expected to appear.

[Originum +1]

"So I'm this lucky. Heh, thank you guys!"

The strange men stood there, confused. Though, it didn't last long when they decided to summon hailstorms and tornadoes in a mix.

Seeing this, Shiro felt even more happy thank before. He protected his truck before exposing himself to it. 

"This temperature is just right. Thank you!"

"W-what is he saying?"

"Uhm, you can't understand me? This shouldn't be it..."

He stood there as stable as a mountain. After 5 minutes, these natural disasters disappeared.

"As thanks, I'll let y'all die peacefully."

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Shiro drew 3 runes consecutively, summoning dozens of wind blades. Before they knew it, they died.

He ignored the prompts that popped up and focused on his originum attribute instead.

[Originum: 30+4= 34]

He was disappointed that it only increased by four points even by absorbing the leftovers for a second time.

With that, he got into the truck and left.

Meanwhile, in a not so far away mountain, someone is looking at his direction through a highly advanced drone. It has many useful functions such as camouflage, high speed, and being able to be manipulated at long distances.

Originally, this researcher brought this thing out to explore some nearby areas, but he didn't expect to see something unbelievable. He thought that he was still dreaming.

"Oh? Driving a drone?"

 

"Uhm... What time is it now?"

 

"4:30 PM. Why ask?"

 

"No.. It's just, I saw something unbelievable. I thought I'm still dreaming, but that's not the case either."

 

He started telling the things that he saw to the feline woman wearing a white lab coat.

 

"Standing still on a Level1 catastrophe without any protective gear? I'll let the director know."

 

*****

 

At this time, Shiro was headed to the Country of Colombia, that is, until he received his first official quest in this world.

[Official Quest: Save a little girl]

Details: Loken Williams, one of the influencial figure in Loken Watertank, is scheduled to receive an important "product" from the Church of the Deep. Eager to uncover the secrets of the Aegir, he sent out an escort team to deliver it to Loken Watertank.

Objective: Save the poor girl who got kidnapped.

Reward: 5,000 Soul Points, 3 Weapon Enhancement Card, 1 Random Character Card

 

"Weapon enhancement cards? Character Cards?"

 

He was wondering what are those, but it had to wait until he receives them after this quest completion.

 

An orange arrow appeared in his sight, telling him of the mission objective's location. To his surprise, it'll only take a ten minute driving before he could reach the objective.

 

"Maximum speed it is, then."

 

He stepped on the gas and turned on the nitrogen booster before the truck became as fast as a sports car. In this dessert, there's no border guards. He can do anything as long as he has the power to protect himself.

 

Minutes later, he saw a caravan that consisted of 10 vehicles ranging from small vehicles to big trucks that has a bunch of firearms that Shiro couldn't recognize. He kept a distance at them and used light rune magic to hide his vehicle.

 

"Firearms and vehicles. There should be a fuel tank somewhere, right?"

 

Since his power can barely reach 9th Rank, he's very cautious on doing his first mission. When he used up his mana earlier to block Skadi's single attack, he realized that there really are some monsters in this world. Heck, she should have her Physique and Agility at 100 (MAX) if he's not mistaken.

 

Though his Mana became a 9th Rank's, he doesn't have the necessary computation speed to finish 9th Rank runes easily.

 

"A Rain of Fire should work? No, there are some casters. Wait a second..."

 

Shiro realized that his willpower is unmatched. That means, even if they're stronger than him, he can stun them for a few seconds! He could also use his mental power to find out the location of the fuel tanks.

 

He did as he thought. Sooner, he found out the location of these originum fuels. They are unstable as well, making him laugh in anticipation.

 

" Let's go!"

 

Stepping up on the pedal, he went as if his original intention is to crash towards them. At the same time, he started drawing runes out of thin air. These runes were used to invoke the 7th Rank Rune Magic, Rain of Fire.

 

"Do you hear something?"

 

"Wait.. The sound of an engine? Isn't that ours?"

 

"No, it seems that its coming from that direction?"

 

As the gunners talked, they heard the screams of the Casters who are with them. Unbeknownst to them, an invisible mental power swept across them.

 

"Argh! My head!"

 

"No! It hurts!"

 

Just as they were about to come back to reality, they saw fire raining down from the above. Some penetrated the vehicles and reached the fuel tanks, which made it explode.

 

Boom! Boom!

 

"Intruders!"

 

"Enemies? Where?"

 

Bam! Bam!

 

Two gunners were shot in the head. With no hesitation, they shot at the direction of the gunshots.

 

With the help of originum-based technology, the guns in this world are very durable. They could fire dozens of bullets consecutively just using their handguns alone, given their perfect control over it!

 

Invisible wind blades appeared on the necks of these guys. Some were able to dodge, but some turned into headless corpses.

 

Seeing this chaos, the non-combatants panicked, which added more chaos to this place.

 

Meanwhile, Shiro approached a truck that couldn't be penetrated by his 5th Rank Rune Magic. He saw a lock, but he decided to not care about it. He casted a rune magic called Blazing Hands, and the metal door slowly turned into liquid one by one.

 

Though, the price to be paid is Shiro's 1/3 of total Mana. 

 

"Who are you..."

 

In the operation table blocked by a cage, a girl with purple hair and blue eyes spoke. The tentacles on her back swayed as it showed her nervousness.

 

"Hello."

 

As his mana was bottomed out by this attack, he changed his staff into a sword. He utilized aura and cut through the steel bars easily.

 

"W-what will you do?"

 

'Sigh. Do I look that creepy with this oversized black robe?'

 

With no choice left, he took off both of his hoods, revealing a stunning appearance underneath it.

 

"Big sister..."

 

The girl subconsciously murmured. He quickly refuted her stated, as if he's already used to it.

 

"No, I'm a big brother. Do you wanna go home?"

 

"Home..."

 

[Quest Complete. Reward Settlement...]

 

[+5000 Soul Points]

 

[+3 Weapon Enhancement Card]

 

[+1 Character Card (William)]

 

[Official Quest: Save a little girl (2)]

Details: The girl's parents hired a mercenary group with a huge sum of wealth. They're on their way after ascertaining that this caravan is the one who kidnapped the child.

Objective: Give the little girl to Gavial, the mercenary group's leader.

Rewards: 5,000 Soul Points, 1 High Grade AR 3070, 1 Quasi-Mechanical Blade (Replica)

 

'Gavial? Quite a strange name...'

 

 "Ahem. Do you want to?"

 

"Yes!"

 

"Leave the rest to me."

 

Shiro carried the girl with his left hand and his white sword with his right hand. He put on his hood before he went out.

 

As he exited the truck, he saw some personnel scream at him.

 

"Intruder! THE INTRUDER IS HERE!"

 

"Alright, Little girl. What's your name?"

 

"Andreana."

 

"Okay, Andreana. Can you close your eyes for a while?"

 

"Mn!"

 

Andreana followed him and closed her eyes. She also snuggled closer to his shoulder, giving her a sense of security. The tentacles behind her back stopped moving erratically as well.

 

Seeing that she closed her eyes, Shiro shifted his sight towards the personnel who screamed at him. Right now, they are hastily running away from him.

 

"You guys must be the one responsible for that."

 

He swung his sword towards them, sending aura blades that split their bodies into two.

 

Shiro doesn't know why, but he felt a kind of aversion when he saw the operation table. He also felt anger to the perpetrators of this.

 

"Do good in your next life."

 

Shiro chased after another group of personnel and slashed his sword around them. Then, a tornado made of aura blades cut apart their bodies. It caused a rain of blood, but he made sure that not a drop of blood would touch both him and Andreana.

 

He didn't chase the remaining bastards further and went back to his truck that was hidden before. Shiro placed her to the seat next to her before he started driving away from this place.

 

"You can open your eyes now."

 

"Oh."

 

He took off his hood yet again and smiled at her.

 

"You're safe now."

 

She almost teared up upon hearing this, but she held back. The strong mentality that she cultivated all throughout this time prevented her from doing so.

 

"Thank you, big brother."

 

Silence pervaded as Shiro continued driving towards what the quest navigation is pointing to. Before long, he started asking Andreana a question.

 

"Little girl, do you know something that only you and your parents know?"

 

"Mn."

 

"Then, do you know someone outside your family? Someone that might look for you if given the money."

 

"Mercenaries?"

 

"Yes, it's like that."

 

She started thinking for a while before she recalled a certain someone.

 

"If my parents would entrust a task to someone, it would be Sister Gavial."

 

"Sister Gavial?"

 

She started telling stories about her. Due to her mercenary team always bringing her father's trade caravan to safety, she was most trusted mercenary by him. 

 

She hails from the Sargon Rainforest, and she's a medic. Though, Andreana stated that it is doubtful whether she's a medic or a fighter.

 

Shiro continued driving as he listened. It didn't take long before he came across a mercenary group with more than a dozen vehicles. Each vehicles has a strange tribal decal at them.

 

"Big Brother, that's them!"

 

"Alright."

 

He stopped his truck in front of them, causing these mercenaries to be wary of his intentions. Some straight up pointed their guns toward him.

 

Shiro walked out of the truck and asked directly. Seeing his appearance, the mercenaries immediately got into a trance. Though, they woke up after he asked a question.

 

"Is there someone named 'Gavial' in this group?"

 

After he spoke he saw one of them go out of a van. She has long green hair and golden eyes, making a sharp contrast to the dessert.

 

"Who are you?"

 

"Sister Gavial!"

 

Andreana opened the window and poked her her outside. 

 

"Andreana!"

 

Shiro opened the door to his truck, allowing her to run towards Gavial.

 

"Sister Gavial, he's the one who saved me from the bad guys!"

 

"He?"

 

It was unknown whether it was a rhetoric or a question towards his gender as his face was exposed, but she thanked him first.

 

"Thank you."

 

"No problem. I just sensed something unusual and headed to their caravan."

 

To be honest, he sensed something similar to Skadi when he sensed Andreana. With her octopus-like tentacles and the feeling of the sea before, he deduced that both of them might be related to the sea.

 

Though, he felt that Andreana is quite different from Skadi in a way that the feeling that she gives isn't complete.

 

[Quest Complete! Reward settlement...]

 

[+5000 Soul Points]

 

[+1 High Grade AR 3070]

 

[+1 Quasi-Mechanical Blade (Replica)]

 

"Then, I'll be on my way."

 

He was about to enter the truck when Andreana asked him a question.

 

"Big Brother! What's your name?"

 

"Me? You can call me Shiro."

 

"Big Brother Shiro! Thank you for saving me!"

 

He smiled at her before he entered the driver's seat. Slowly, he went towards Colombia, just like a drifter that found his set destination.