『Explosion!』

A day later, Jack returned to the Guild Hall covered in dirt, mostly from rolling around in his sleep, rather than actually fighting the creatures which had slain the Adventurers. His horns were no longer visible, having retracted them back into his head.

The smell of death was clear as day, though muted by the scent of mint leaves found in the forest.

It was the first evening he had spent sleeping outside under the stars, and dare he say, it reasonably wouldn't be the last. Back in his past two lifetimes, he enjoyed camping.

The innards, meat, tendons, bones and body parts of the wolves were wrapped in their pelts, like makeshift bags. The first thing people laid eyes on was the two makeshift sleds made from fallen branches and logs dragging simultaneously, by what appeared to be a couple of leather belts, behind him.

One the second sled there were a set of four corpses, the adventurers he was supposed to bring home. They were dead and many of the people who knew they had gone out, figured out who it was pretty quick. Belongings that symbolized who they were, rested on top of each corpse that was covered by a brown blanket of moss and ivy vines. It was clear their scents were also covered by the same scent as the smelly meat of the wolves.

The Guild inspectors immediately came out to see his claim. Their uniforms were dark blue with a gold trim, most of them wore long coats and a lace jabot. Similar to that of their regional prosecutors. In total, there were three of them in all.

Immediately what caught their eye, was the three demonic collars Jack had in his hand.

"Young man," the elder inspection officer said as he reached out to touch the collars, feeling their metallic exterior and observing the milky sheen. Their design was grotesque, vinal and sharp, not something they were used to seeing every day. "The wolves were wearing these?"

Jack could see the older man who appeared to be a veteran of battle, seemed worried. "Yes, they also seemed trained. One of the wolves would close in on a target, while the others would await at a distance to see if it were safe."

Hearing this, the inspector nodded and looked over the pelts. They looked burnt as if concentrated heat had been used to cook them alive. At first inspection, the team of three inspectors could see that these wolves were killed roughly all at the same time, if not a few seconds apart.

"These collars belong to a beastmaster who served the Demon King, it is likely he fell in battle and his wild beasts went on a rampage." There was an even graver concern as he had felt the pelts, before looking to the boy who had massacred the creatures.

"They also toyed and played with their prey," Jack gestured for them to follow him over to the second sled, and they did. He pulled the blanket of moss and ivy off of the corpses.

Three men, one female. It seemed the female had slit her own throat, but she was missing a leg and several fingers. Otherwise, most of her body was left intact. He was sure they would find more like her, should they have died.

The other men were less recognizable, chunks of their faces were torn away, none of their limbs remained. Even their groin and abdomen areas were ripped asunder. It was a disturbing sight.

Without looking to the side, Jack knew one of the inspectors was covering their mouth, trying not to give in to the urge to puke up their lunch. "Is my claim valid?" Turning to look at them, he raised a brow, it wasn't a question.

"Y-yes..." The one who looked nauseous dropped their hand from their mouth.

Nodding lightly, he held out a hand for them to place a single mithril coin in his hand. His eyes rested on the bluish coin for a few moments before slipping it away into his kimono.

"As for the corpses, we'll have you compensated a the front counter for bringing them back... Their families will be notified." This veteran seemed to be an honest individual, he didn't even suspect that he had actually let the man die in order to lure the wolves out.

It didn't really matter though, there was no one around to tell, seeing resurrection being very unlikely for them unless a God or Goddess did something. Not like someone being resurrected would cause him any harm. Ultimately the man had died because of his arrogance, and inability to leave on his own. Jack had warned him justly that if he didn't leave at a given time, he would die. In his mind, he didn't even bother justifying what he had done or didn't do to save the man.

A thin smile formed over his lips as he made his way over to the counter, after separating the two slides and hauling the one with the pelts and meat along behind him.

The Blonde behind the counter as he approached, rather happy he returned, smiled. There was no other reason for her to worry, for he had come back safe, while the others hadn't at all.

"Welcome back, Graham-san."

Nodding to her, Jack just looked her over for a few seconds before looking at the hundred or so gold coins being shuffled into a small hand sack that acted as a cheap coin purse. She then held it out for him to take, resting it in an open hand.

"I've deducted two gold coins from your reward, you are completely free of debt. Thank you... For bringing them home." The woman let out a sigh, looking passed him towards the sled.

Placing the coins into his kimono he smiled lightly and bowed his head. Taking out his registration card as he was walking away, dragging the last sled with one hand, he looked over the updated stats.

The fact that he had killed supposedly high-level monsters compared to being level one in the first place, it was clear he'd get more experience coverage. Jack wasn't wrong in that regard.

After killing the three wolves, he was already level four. Each level gave him plus five skill points(SP) and three ability points(AP), ultimately ending him with fifteen SP and nine AP in total.

Due to his current job class, there were a number of skills he could choose from. However, he first decided to modify his health points. Each ability point increased the health attribute by five. Tapping it nine times, gave him one hundred and sixty-five health.

Then he focused more on the active skills area where there were new ones as well as upgrades for pre-existing skills. Absently he stared at the choices as he pressed through the outer doors of the Guild Hall and moved out into the street.

For five points each three new ones available at Rank 4 appeared to be: Arcane Eye, a spell that allowed one to create an invisible floating eye that can move 100 meters per minute in order to surveil an area or a person with near-360º vision. Cone of freezing, a spell that when cast will send a cone of super cold air capable of instantly freezing its target. Mastery of Elements, this sub-spell allows Archmages to change the element type within a given spell, for instance, an icebolt turning to fire damage.

"The last one seems to be the best..." His eyes drifted towards the upgrades for his current existing skills after tapping 'Mastery of Elements' like the one he intended to get. Now with ten more points, he chose Arcane Eye, believing surveillance magic would be something good to have. Only five points remaining, it dumped it into Arcane Reach, an active skill that originally allowed touch-ranged spells to reach a target ten meters, increasing its range by ten more meters.

Now having used all his points up, he tapped the portrait in the corner of the card. Within a few seconds, he felt an unfamiliar sensation that flooded throughout his body. It was like the skills were being attached to his very DNA, something he now knew the existence of in extreme detail due to his previous life on earth. It was strange having his mind filled with science and magic knowledge all at once, and yet none of it got gargled up, but complemented one another.

He tucked his card into his kimono and made for an Inn where he could work on his wares. It didn't take him long to find the old stone building, with a tanner out front and along with an open grill.

After taking a trip inside the Inn, he came across a young man who appeared to be the Inn Keeper. He had short brown hair and strong facial features, on top of a very sharp chin.

"Hello, my name is Nendo, Welcome to Begger's Inn, cheap bedding and early morning breakfast, fit for any traveler's basic needs for just fifty copper a night." The brown-haired man seemed to speak in a jingle, it didn't necessarily bother Jack, but it definitely reminded him of Earth when they sang in commercials.

"My name is Jack, that was warm welcoming, Nendo, it's a pleasure to meet a good man," he snickered aloud as he looked over the human male. There were very few people staying here, he could smell the mildew in the straw beds on the second floor over the odor of wolf meat. "I was wondering if I were able to use the tools out in front of your establishment... Of course, I'll rent room as well."

Blinking at the stranger, he never really figured anyone would use the old crafting materials. They were things left behind by his father, the previous owner, who died fighting the Demon King.

"That will be twenty-five, additional copper if you don't mind. Otherwise, welcome to the Inn. It's good to have you, will you be having breakfast in the morning?"

"Mmm, probably not. I'll think about it though," Jack gave a slight nod as not only did the beds have mildew, but the grain he had in the pantry had mold. He wasn't even trying to cover it up.

Handing the man a single silver coin from a pouch of his own, he grinned, before turning on his heel and heading out the door.

With that, he easily gained permission to use the establishment's faculties. For the next several hours he cleaned and refined the pelts while drying the various edible parts of the wolf. However, parts of it that were declared inedible, were stuffed into an empty burlap sack.

By the time he finished working on the pelts and the wolf, night had already fallen, but he didn't stop just because the stars were looking down on him. These pelts would have more value to them if they were worked into something more useful rather than left as raw material.

With Yin and Yang respectively he could enchant these items or imbue them with debuffs or buffs, and other effects related to dualities similar to positive and negative energies. For instance, an invisibility cloak was at the forefront of his mind which manipulated darkness and light around a target to shield them from the sight of others.

For him, it was a simple matter, but truthfully he needed to find out where to sell it.

Following the next couple of hours after this, he continued working on the second part of his plan after storing the meats and inedibles away in his room of the Inn. He began imbuing the cloaks with positive energy and the effect to turn invisible for up to an hour every six hours until needing time to recharge.

When he was finally done it was midnight, just about no one else was awake. There was no one to talk to, Jack didn't have a party. He sat there on the straw-stuffed mattress, it wasn't a high-end place, but it wasn't the stables either.

There were places he would sleep, and then there wasn't. He was actually tempted to go to one of the establishments in Axel that were friendly to prostitutes though they were strangely lacking.

Jack had never had sex before in any of the lifetimes he had prior. Be it a moral issue with his last one, and a personal issue with the one before. At the same time, he was never given the chance to grow up, his mind never changed and felt in a constant state of teenhood.

Laying his back on the bed, his gaze matched the ceiling. His mind hazy, his eyes heavy. It had been a long day, and although he hadn't reached his physical endurance, he was mentally fatigued.

In a few minutes, he was out like a light, asleep and dreaming soundly alone in the room.

The next morning he opened his eyes. His Jingasa was over her face and he was covered in his multitude of Dire Wolf Cloaks. He was pretty sure these things would probably sell better in the winter unless someone really wanted a wolf-themed set of armor or something.

After folding the pelt cloaks and stuffing them into a bag, along with the meats in another, he headed out to sell the perishable nonedibles. Going from one stand to another, he sold them to hunters and shops that could make something out of them. Apparently it made good bait for monsters and other creatures.

When he was finished, Jack eventually came across a magic item shop on the way back to the Inn. He narrowed on the storefront. There was a large opaque window in the front, a green door and what appeared to be walls of white brick with ichor colored corners.

His eyes narrowed on the steps by his feet, there were three of them, leading up to the door he had observed. "This is an interesting place..." He had no idea who owned it, but there were a few banners and signs... None of which had words, but only designs.

Walking up the steps, he pushed his way in through the front door. A bell over his head rang and he froze for a few seconds as if alarmed before taking a few more steps inside.

Jack centered his gaze on a pleasant-looking woman behind the counter on the other side of the room. The interior of the shop was rather clean, but the items on display appeared... Useless?

When his eyes went back to the female behind the counter, he narrowed on her bosom which was apparent even though she was dressed extremely conservatively. Her melons were huge, longer than his hands.

Though he didn't get flustered, she wasn't undressed and he didn't really feel excited. His eyes moved up to her face as he then stepped towards the counter itself. Yet when he went to take a deep breath, he paused a few seconds in and exhaled. For some strange reason, the woman in front of him didn't smell like any human he encountered before. She wasn't human, no, more importantly, she wasn't alive in the sense of himself or anyone else in the settlement.

"Welcome to my Shop," She said cheerfully dressed in purple and gold robes of a wizard. It was clear she was a powerful individual, assuming she was capable of magic simply by looking at her attire. "My name is Wiz. Is there something I can..."

Jack noticed that her voice trailed off, but it was probably due to his emerald eyes glaring right through her inquisitively. Removing his jingasa by letting it hang behind his back, his emerald eyes looking her over for a brief few instances before taking note of the chestnut-colored counters and cabinets behind her.

This place didn't seem at all like that of a dark arts users, or a forbidden arts user. No sign of necromancy based on what he had read from dungeons and dragons manuals and other media back on Earth. "Pardon for the rude stare, Wiz-san."

"N-no need, really..." She waved as to dismiss any hard feelings that she surely lacked. Wiz seemed to be a kind mature woman, but of course timid and shy as told by her posture.

"You smell rather strange," he started off which confused and nearly offended her, "Different from other humans within the settlement... You don't smell... Alive."

Wiz stared at him with a blank look in her eyes, a subtle smile keeping her lips company, and a sweat drop forming over her brow. "You're right, I'm... I'm a-a lich," She said as if it was something normal.

She was an undead capable of holding the appearance she once had in life, but she didn't fit the profile of a lich. She wasn't evil and she didn't seem chaotic, let alone neutral. It was as if she was just living her eternal life in the slap dab middle of town.

"I see..." Jack let out a light sigh. The young man didn't have any divine spells or cleric abilities. Exorcisms weren't his thing and it didn't really matter since magic could harm the undead anyways. Purify was a simple spell he could learn, though he would have to consult a cleric or a priest that dabble in spellcasting. "And you run the item shop... Well," his eyes wandered about until he rested his gaze upon a number of empty vials. "Guess I'll come back another time."

Out of where the ground trembled as an explosion off in the distance could be heard... It wasn't exactly something that you heard every day. He had only heard an explosion once before, and it wasn't a pleasant event.

"What in seven hells was that..." Jack uttered as he marched out the front door with the bag of pelts over his back. He stared off in the direction of the eastern wall, smoke hardly visible.

It was as if someone set off forty tons of TNT in one place!

That was when a massive frog-leg landed directly beside him, inches away from hitting, with a heavy SPLAT. Without much of a reaction, he went on sniffing at the air. An aroma drawing his nose, forcing him to glance down at the leg that laid there, practically flash-fried by the explosion.

"...Is that a frog-leg...?"