Chapter 5: The Capital

Volume 1

Chapter 5: The Capital

Finally, I am here. I breathe a sigh of relief as I finally reach the gate of the city. Whether this place is the capital, the priests spoke of remains to be seen, but it looks safer than that village. Tall walls that I doubt even that giant from before could scale and strong-looking guards who look like they can deal with any of those giant wolves. This place, at the very least, will keep me safe.

Stepping forward and approaching a large gate that the giant from last night should be able to walk through without even crouching. I can smell the tale-tale scent of smoke and sewerage, but I do my best to ignore it and focus on the rumblings of a large crowd beyond the walls.

Multiple guards wearing heavy-looking armour that looks like it weighs too much to move in, but they pace back and forth, carrying large swords bigger than me. They see me approaching and drawing their swords. Still, before anything can happen, several men and women covered in cuts and bruises emerge from the bushes carrying a green hominoid creature with a pig's face and muscular body.

"Hey, looks like you brought back some good stuff this time," One of the guards says as the newcomers drop the green creature in front of them. "Is that all you brought back?"

"No," A strong-looking man replies, wearing battered-looking metal armour and a sling around his arm. "We also have several cores, but this bastard just jumped us on the way back. Will it be enough to cover the entrance fee?"

"It's pretty beaten up, but the core looks undamaged," The guard says, looking over the monster. "It should be more than enough, and I will have any extra coins from the sale to your account with the guild."

"Appreciate it," The man smiles. "Have a good day."

I step forward as the injured group enters the city through the gate. The guards do not seem as friendly with me as they were with those guys. They draw their giant swords and give me a harsh stare as I reach them. I did not think I would be getting this welcome, and I hoped they would warm up to me when I explained that a priest summoned me here against my will and told me to come to the city.

At the very least, I hope that will mean they would let me in without paying the entrance fee. The priest did not give me any money, and I never checked the village for anything of value I could use to pay.

"Halt!" The guard orders in a powerful, commanding voice. "State your business here!"

I stare at the tip of his sword, glinting in the sunlight as he raises the massive thing to strike me down. This could possibly be the worse person to try and convince. His hardened face, marked by a long scar across his cheek, makes him appear to be a no-nonsense kind of guard. Well, here goes nothing. I hope he believes me, but I could always try to outrun them in the worst-case scenario. I take a deep breath.

"Hey, some priests told me to come here after summoning me against my will," I tell them, but the reaction is not what I expected.

I hoped they would lower their weapons, smile, and welcome me into the city, saying something like, "Please wait while we prepare a carriage for you." But instead, some laugh, well, a few guards glare at me. The one who speaks to me is among the glares and raises his sword higher.

"You got some nerve claiming to be a hero," The guard growls, looking like he is tempted to split me in two for claiming to be one. "The heroes already arrived and told me themselves that no one else was coming."

So, the others arrived safely. I feel relieved hearing that but also angry when I hear they told the guards no one other than themselves was summoned. They could at least make it so I could gain entry to the city. When I am found to be useless by whoever we were meant to meet here, they could find me another way to earn my keep until the demon lord's army was defeated.

"Stop joking around and tell us why you are really here!" The guard demands, and I sigh. I could tell him the truth all day, and he would never believe me. "Lie to me again, and I will cut you down where you stand."

"Fine," I give up. If this guard does not believe the truth, I have no choice but to lie, even if he will kill me. "I came to the city to make it big." That seems believable. I read plenty of stories about people moving to the big city in search of riches and fame. "So, can I enter the city now?"

"Once you paid the entrance fee of five silver coins," The guard replies, lowing his weapon.

"Will I be able to pay the same way those other guys did?"

"If you are crazy enough to hunt down an orc, then sure," He points in the direction of a nearby forest that must be the one my classmates journeyed through. "You can find them in there. Don't expect us to aid you when they prove too strong for you."

"Okay, I will see you soon," I reply, running towards the forest.

I feel nervous about hunting a monster, but I constantly remind myself orcs cannot be stronger than that giant from last night.

"Crazy kid," I hear the guard mutter before I disappear into the trees.

Everything is going to be okay. I will try to catch one orc by surprise and kill it before it can fight back. It should be easy. If everything goes well, I should be allowed in the city in a few hours tops.

<0>

I walk a bit into the forest before I try looking for signs of orcs. I am sure this is because of my tracking since I have never hunted anything in my life, but I can quickly tell where the tracks are and what caused them. I find multiple rabbit tracks, a few goblin tracks and even some bear tracks, but I have not found any wolf or giant tracks, so maybe they live in a different part of the forest. This is harder than I thought. Heading deeper into the forest, I pray I will return before nightfall.

An hour later, I still have not found any orc tracks, and I am starting to think that guard gave me bad information about where the orcs are. But then, what would he gain from lying? I don't think he was misleading me, so maybe the orcs live deeper in the forest.

Take things one step at a time. I keep looking a find some tracks I don't recognise. I guess even using a skill has its limit. But since this unknown track looks like it was left by a snake-like creature, I ignore it for now and keep walking forward, hoping to find something soon.

Another hour passes, then another by. I still have not found a single orc. Maybe that guard really was lying when he said orcs live in this forest. They are probably laughing at me right now for falling for that trick. But I can't give up now. I need to get into that city. Even if I cannot find a bed to sleep in, I can at least sleep safely within those walls.

My stomach rumbles, but I have nothing to eat, so maybe I should just follow one of the rabbit tracks and try to find something to eat for now. I couldn't kill one with my knife, so I picked up some rocks. I didn't expect to kill one by throwing them, but I could knock one out and finish it with my knife.

It doesn't take long for me to find a rabbit. Sneaking through the forest, I find it amazing that the cute little creature hasn't noticed me. I watch it munch on grass for a minute before taking a rock from my pocket. Slowly and carefully, I raise my hands and ready the stone.

The rabbit still doesn't notice me, so I throw the stone in my hand and… I miss the cutey. Damn it! I curse myself as I watch the rabbit disappear into the forest. Back to square one. I look around and quickly find another rabbit track to follow. I hope I have better luck with this one.

Notification

Skill Learned: Stealth Level 1 (The ability to go unnoticed).

At least I earned a new skill to help me next time I find a rabbit. Holding onto my rumbling stomach, I follow the rabbit, not knowing what to do if I mess up again and deny myself something to eat.

Fifteen minutes later, I found what I was looking for. Like before, the rabbit is unaware I am watching it eat a patch of grass. This guy looks so cute. I almost feel bad for what I am about to do, but the pain in my empty stomach hardens my resolve. I take out a rock, pull back my hand and let the rock fly.

The rabbit barely has enough time to raise its head before my rock strikes it. Blood flies from the gash on its forehead, and the rabbit falls limp. I approach the rabbit, draw my knife, and quickly slit its throat, hoping to end its suffering if the little guy is still alive. I feel bad watching the blood pool around the rabbits, but as my stomach rumbles, I push the feeling aside and go about starting a fire.

It doesn't take me long to get a fire going, and it feels like a dream compared to the nightmare I experienced during my first attempt to light a fire. Next, I set about preparing the rabbit. It still is not a pleasant task to gut and skin the creature, but thanks to my Butcher skill, at least I can get the job over with quickly. I find some branches to make a makeshift rack and cook the rabbit, but in reality, I can only wait.

I might as well walk around and see if I can find some orc tracks as I wait. Feeling better with the smell of meat cooking, I smile as I get up and walk growing circles around my cooking rabbit. I still cannot find any tracks, but maybe I could hunt a couple of goblins and hand them over as payment. I am unsure how much a goblin is worth, but three or four should be the same price as an orc. There are plenty of goblin tracks around, so it should not take long to find one, and they are probably easier to fight than an orc.

"Meat! I smell meat!"

"Me too, smelly the meaty!"

I instinctively drop to the ground as I hear strong-sounding voices and stomping feet rushing towards me. Drawing my knife, I fear for what horror I am about to cross paths with, but then two orcs appear, bursting from the bushes and trying to climb over each other. I should feel scared. Those orcs look strong and carry mean-looking clubs, but how they are trying to beat each other in their foot race makes me laugh.

"That meat is mine!"

"I smelly the meaty first!"

They look like they are about to start fighting, and I was tempted to let them kill each other and pick up their bodies afterwards, but there is only one problem. That is my meat! I am hungry, I caught that rabbit with my own two hands, and I will not let them steal it from me. My angry stomach would not let me if I even think about letting them have it.

"I want that meat!"

"The smelly meaty is mine!"

"No, it's mine!"

I'm surprised to see the orcs jump when I rush forward. I planned to catch any orc I found by surprise, so I guess everything is still going according to plan. The orcs jump and pull apart but are slow to ready their clubs. With my knife in hand, I run through the middle of the orcs, cutting clean through one of the orc's necks. I turn around just as the orc's body hits the ground finding the remaining orc growling at me.

"I want that smelly meaty!" The orc yells before charging straight towards me.

I am not going to let him have it. That is my meat. I found and killed that rabbit, and I gutted and cooked it. As my stomach rumbles, I know there is no way I can let this orc have my meat. I will kill this orc and then turn in the orc's body. I will enjoy eating that meat. The orc swings its club, but I duck under the attack before cutting open the orc's leg. It swings again as the orc falls to its knees, but I jump back before rushing forward to stab its shoulder.

"My! Smelly! Meaty!" The orc screams before knocking me back into a tree with such force the wind is knocked from my lungs. My back hurts, headaches, and I feel like I am bleeding, but I am still alive. As I pick myself up, I see my health bar has dropped slightly. "That smelly meaty is mine!"

I watch as the orc takes my knife from its shoulder before pointing it at me. Blood pours from the cut on its leg as the orc stands while more blood drips out of the orc's shoulder. I am surprised it can even stand. The orc stumbles towards me, but I am not entirely defenceless.

Reaching into my pocket, I find my last rock and throw it towards the orc, striking it between the eye, causing it to stumble and a new cut to form where it struck him. Before he can recover, I rush forward and tackle the orc to the ground causing it to drop its knife. Quickly grabbing the knife, I drive it through the orc's heart, at least what I think is his heart, but whether it is or not does not matter. The orc stops moving, and I can finally catch my breath.

Notification

Battle Ended In Victory

Giant Killed: 1

Level 9 Reached

+200 HP

+200 MP

+20 Strength

+20 Speed

+80 Stamina

+20 Dexterity

+20 Intelligence

+20 Skill Points

Items Dropped: Orc War Club x2

Getting up and put my knife away, smiling when I learned I had reached another level. Looking around, I know I will not be able to carry everything back, so I leave the orc I just killed and decide only to take the war clubs and the body of the first orc I killed.

But first, my rabbit meat should be cooked by now so I can finally fill my empty belly. I cut a piece of the orc off before I go to eat later on, so I will not find myself going hungry again before I return to my fire. I hope no one else thought trying and stealing my meat would be clever.

<0>

The guards looked shocked when they saw me return, even more so when I dropped the orc's body at their feet. They cannot seem to decide where to look. The guard's eyes move between me and the orc while occasionally glancing at each other. I hear them whisper, but I can't tell what any of them are saying. Finally, the scared-faced guard who sent me to fetch an orc corpse steps forward.

"You really killed one," He muttered before regaining his composure. "I am surprised you managed to kill an orc by yourself instead of bringing us a couple of goblins like most adventurers do."

"So, can I come in now?" I ask, wanting to get in soon. Hunting those orcs took longer than expected, and if I didn't hurry, I might not find a place to stay tonight.

"One moment, please," Great, now I must jump through more hoops to get in. The guard turns back to his fellow soldiers. "Fetch the captain. He would want to see this." The guard orders, and soon a tall man appears who must be at least twice the size of his subordinates. "Sir, this kid brought us back a perfect body apart from the cut on its neck. Since he is new here and most likely not registered with the guild, I need your permission to pay him for the body minus the entry fee."

"This certainly is a rare sight," The captain replies, bending down and examining the body. "Organs are intact, most of its skin is undamaged, and you did not appear to have used any poison." Standing up, the captain looks at me before turning to his captain. "You have my permission to pay him what he is owned."

"Yes, sir," The guard replies as the captain disappears. "Someone fetch the money bag." The guard orders before turning to me. "Please wait one moment while we prepare your payment. Typically, we would only pay one gold for an orc, but we can give you three in this condition. Minus the entry fee, that comes to a total of two gold and five silver."

It does not take long for my payment to arrive, and after I receive it, I waste little time entering the city. I am unsure how much my money is worth in this world, but hopefully, it is enough to put a roof over my head tonight if I cannot find my classmates. I wonder where they are now.

This city is a prominent place. Even though I only passed through the gate, I could see buildings spread out as far as I could see. Then there are the people. I have been to city centres before, but even those places seem spacious when I look out into the sea of people before me.

"Maybe he really is one of the heroes," I hear one of the guards mutter behind me.

"Don't be stupid," Another guard scolds him. "The heroes are already at the palace."

I guess I am going to the palace then. Looking out, I believe it is the fort-looking place in the distance, and as long as I don't get lost in the sea of people, I should reach the place in an hour at the latest. Hopefully, they will believe me and let me in. If I can convince the people guarding the palace to let someone from my class verify my identity, I am sure things will work out. I am unsure if I will still be holding them back, but now that I am here, I am sure I can find some way of being helpful to the group.

<0>

The palace is really something, surrounded by high walls and painted pure white. It is a remarkable sight. I could not help but stare as I approached, and from what little I could see of the inside, the place was breathtaking. Unfortunately, I face a similar problem when approaching the gate leading into the palace.

"We told you to leave, so please go away, or we will use force,"

Once again, I find myself with a sword pointed at me, but this time the guards are covered in golden armour and are even more strict. They did not believe me when I told them I was one of the summoned kids. I tried to tell them how I came to this world and explain why I was not with the main group, but they did not believe a word I even said. They won't even listen to my request to speak with one of my classmates. I don't know how to convince them when a voice suddenly calls out.

"Hey, you!" I turn, hoping for something to save me here, but instead, I see only the guy who pushed me from the cliffs. "What are you doing here?"

"Do you know him?" One of the guards asks, but I don't get my hopes up when I see someone who tried to kill me smirk.

"No," He coldly tells them. "He is just some guy who started following us through the forest pretending to be a hero but ran off when we encountered our first monster."

Liar! I want to scream, but I can tell from the look on the guard's faces they believe that liar. After everything I have been through, I cannot believe I am still not good enough for the group after this newfound strength. I grit my teeth to stop myself from screaming at him as he walks away. The guards close in with their weapons aimed at me.

"Leave and don't come back," The guard warns. "Leave now, or we will use force."

I do not resist and leave without a word, feeling truly alone. Everyone else has left me behind and will never accept me, no matter how much stronger I get. I keep walking until I find a park, where I collapse on one of the benches, wondering what I will do now.

I have some money, but I am unsure how far that will get me, and I have nowhere to stay tonight. Maybe this park will do. This bench feels more comfortable than where I spent the last few nights. Unfortunately, my thoughts are interrupted by my growling stomach. I guess it is time to eat again. Good thing I still have that orc meat.

I find a place hidden from sight, so I won't get in trouble for starting a fire and cooking the meat. It looks like steak, but I still hesitate to try it as I have been with everything else. I hope it doesn't taste as bad as the giant meat I ate. Well, here goes nothing. I bite into the meat, finding it tastes surprisingly good. The meat is juicy and has a taste similar to bacon. I really should have cut more of this stuff from that orc.

Notification

Orc Absorbed

+180 HP

+180 MP

+80 Strength

+80 Speed

+80 Stamina

+50 Dexterity

+10 Intelligence

Skills Learned: Intimidate Level 1 (The ability to scare opponents or make them back down) and Pain Resistance Level 1 (Feel less pain).

Unfortunately, my joy is short-lived as I return to my bench with a full belly but a future empty of hope. I still have no place to go or any way to earn money. I could look into this guild I heard about. I could hunt orcs for a living. They were hard to find, but maybe I could make a living from killing them. Plus, this way, I could eat tasty orc meat every day. I don't see anything wrong with that plan, so I aim to find this guild before it closes for the day, and… or I could earn some quick cash that way.

I stop when I see a poster advertising a tournament with a one hundred gold coin reward. That is it! I will enter that tournament and hopefully do well enough to earn some cash before joining this guild. It might not be the best idea, but someone with little money like me needs to take a chance. It says to register at the arena, so I head out to look for it. Even if I cannot find it, plenty of people are around to ask.