Home Sweet Home

"Okay, maybe that was too much fighting for my body to handle…"

After starting and ending multiple Great Slime Wars, Noir was now resting near the entrance of the dungeon within the hidden wall. His entire body was hurting as exhaustion and hunger were affecting him. He had already used up all of his rations and didn't pack that much, to begin with. He wasn't expecting to stay in there for that long but instead, he's been inside for over 9 hours.

If it wasn't for his short breaks and the level ups increasing his body's constitution, he would've given up after an hour.

"I think it's about time I head back home. Damn, I haven't felt this tired since I was cramming taekwondo and football while making sure my grades were decent," The times when Noir would balance his busy schedule were nostalgic to him as the fatigue reminded him of the workaholic he used to be. There were times he used to skip classes just to get better at a football skill and would always receive a lecture afterwards for his tardiness.

'Good old days…' He took a deep breath when recalling those times. After losing his legs he wasn't able to continue his old lifestyle anymore as everything around him rapidly changed. Just like back then, the same things happened to the current him as he's put into a fantasy world with both dangers and opportunities present.

'I can't just mope around about the past. The present is still here. Plus this world's been a tonne of fun so far even with all its downsides,' Noir stretched his arms as he performed some stretches to relieve his muscles slightly. Just moving a millimetre was enough to make his untrained body feel like crying, but even then, with all his fatigue, he still carried a massive smile on his face.

'This world's too awesome!' Those were his simple thought processes as he made an expression akin to a child receiving their anticipated toy. Since he was a child he's always wanted to experience the life of fighting monsters, levelling up and learning magic.

Although he's unable to use magic, for now, just being able to use Aura is enough to make his heart pumped for the future as his abilities grow. Not only that but for the creatures and people he'd see.

'I wonder if I'd meet variant monsters too? Then again, I guess those Slimes are considered variants huh,' Noir entertained at the thought of finding and taming various variant monsters and using them to help him with his skills.

Variant monsters are known as mutations that can appear in any species that could grant the monster unique abilities uncommon to their race. It could range from a rare magic type, a unique skill, intelligence, etc. they could even have deformities or physical imperfections, but in the history of his world, it is known that variant monsters are not to be trifled with and require a group of skilled fighters to defeat a single one.

And even with all the above information, Noir seemed eager to tame the troublesome beasts.

'Whenever I play a tamer class in RPG games or any games with monsters, I always try getting every monster there is, even if it's useless. Sometimes I'd figure out how to make a 2-star monster solo a 4-star,' It was his guilty habit of playing games that led to his current thoughts. Whenever he saw the percentage bar with a bunch of yet to be claimed achievements, he couldn't stop himself from getting that 100%.

It just looked good to him. He was a completionist to the boot and he took pride in the number of games he got 100% on.

'Though I guess no one would understand what a completionist would mean in this world,' But getting back to the point, if Noir saw a variant Monster and if he doesn't die within the first 10 seconds, he'll want to tame one for himself. To do that, he needs to get himself the subordinate skill or a tamer skill.

'It's gonna take a while to get to that point but I'm making progress. I'm pretty sure I levelled up by 20 levels or something. The old Noir did that in the anime at least. Hopefully, my exp isn't getting capped cause this place is a helluva lot more tiring than what he experienced.'

If he was doing all of this work and hadn't left single-digit numbers yet, he feels like he'd be depressed in a corner. The thought of having his hard work get overshadowed by someone who had an easier option annoyed him. He disliked people that got things easily.

With one final stretch, he got up to his feet and looked at his loot for today. A colourful pile of Slime Mana Cores. Usually, Mana Cores are meant to be somewhat rare, even if it was a low-level monster like a Slime. These Slimes however don't seem to follow that rule. Although he wasn't sure how good their qualities will be as they're from slimes, he figured he could ask the Great Sage some questions about them.

'With my current tactics, I should be able to hit level 50 in a couple of weeks easily. Though I wanna get to that level before I enter the hero academy. Just to be on the safe side since I don't know how long it'll take to get Olivia's skills,' It was just some precautions to see if he'd pass or not. If he's able to increase his strength high enough, he'd be considered as a potential talent for the kingdom to nurture.

'Now that I think about it… Those Slimes were probably level 30… Or even higher…' A sudden realisation came to Noir's mind. Mana Cores are more commonly dropped when the monster is level 30 or higher. He was literally like a level 5 character fighting against monsters above his level range.

Although levels aren't the most important things in the world, it was still a reckless and stupid thing to do as a beginner. It was fortunate it was only level 30 Slimes and not anything else, otherwise, the chances for him to survive would be arguably lower.

'I should be careful with the level differences from now on huh. Anyway, getting to the next floor is gonna be problematic. There are too many Slimes to deal with and I barely explored much in that entire room. I might have to farm more levels before I could try looking for it or figure out how to learn the concealment skill.'

His current strength might be able to help him reach one end of the floor, but it would be taxing on his mind and body to fight that many monsters without any support skills to help. He needs to think of an efficient plan to reach that point. To figure that out, he requires his cheat, the Great Sage skill, to answer his questions.

"The air's a lot clearer here compared to back home. I wonder how far this world goes," Once he exited the hidden door and got outside, he took a deep breath as he took in the scenery in front of him. The land was in a shade of orange as the sun was beginning to set.

Noir estimates he was inside the dungeon for 10 hours or so. If he wants to get stronger, he needs to work smarter, not just harder.

'I still have about a week left till canon starts. I wonder how long it'd take me to clear the levels to Olivia's floor,' With that in mind, he started thinking of questions he could ask the Great Sage skill once he got the chance to ask. His success in this world now depends on the answers he gains and what he does next.

>\/<

"Oh, good evening there. Are you from this kingdom, lad?" Once Noir got back from the hidden dungeon, he was greeted by a guard at the south entrance. Unlike earlier that day, it seemed like the two annoying guards' shift was over as an older guard replaced them. He had a head full of grey hair, blue eyes and a cleaned shaved face with a few wrinkles.

People don't come around this time of day, so when he saw Noir he immediately began asking him the usual security questions and for id.

"Yes, I am. My name is Noir Stargazia."

Noir handed the guard a badge that represented his identity as a noble. Every member of a noble household possesses one of these as simple proof of identification. The higher ranked household you belong to, the more features it would have such as magic that would not allow it to be forged or have anti-theft properties.

Noir's badge was a simple bronze badge that didn't have any of that. It was only used to identify that he is of baronet class and would make dealing with the guards slightly easier.

"Ah, a baronet. One second please," Unlike his last encounter with the guards, this old man was much easier to deal with as he looked at the records for Noir's identity. It was standard procedure and he would've had to deal with this with the previous guards too if it wasn't for their condescending attitude. They didn't even bother fact-checking his identity before he left.

After a few more seconds, the old man spoke.

'Did you go out for some business?" Unlike the previous guards, he wasn't speaking in a condescending tone, nor did his old man's eyes didn't reflect any disgust or annoyance towards him, which is something he's sensitive to.

"Something like that. I went out to do some training and hunting," Seeing as the old man didn't look like a bad person, Noir thought he could talk to him for a bit. It would be of some help if he was able to deal with checking in easier by having a better relationship with the guards after all.

"Oh, I see. My son would do the same back when he was your age. Now he's married and has a few youngins himself…" The kind guard soon began talking about his child to Noir and the troubles he used to cause him when he was younger, which he didn't mind listening to as he made small comments here and there to keep the conversation going.

He was deprived of his social activities after being outside for over 12 hours in the wild and found this as a relaxing break. He preferred listening to people and their stories as opposed to starting and leading a conversation, so he was enjoying it.

After some time, the guard finished talking about his son as he waved Noir goodbye.

"Anyway, just be careful now, you hear me? These parts might be dealt with by adventurers but you never know what happens, you get me?"

"I will. Thank you, Sir. have a good day," After the small biography of his son's life, from his marriage to his current job as a blacksmith, the guard gave a small warning. Noir simply smiled at the concerned old man as he felt happy. His first impression of non-canon characters was slightly ruined thanks to the two annoying guards but the kind old man restored part of his faith in humanity again.

"Just call me Gramps. I feel embarrassed getting called Sir by a noble," Even though he's aware of the social differences between him and Noir, and the fact the Baronetts are usually classified as fake nobles, he didn't seem to treat them the same way as everyone else does.

"I'll take you up on that offer, Gramps," Noir accepted the offer as he thought fondly of the old man as he waved back. He felt like his fatigue was fading away after talking to him and he was feeling relaxed now.

'I wonder if the reason for that is because he has some kind of skill? I guess I shouldn't worry about that for now. It's almost night now,' While Noir had his questions about why he suddenly felt relieved, he put them behind him as he had more important things to do. That being he needs to get back home to avoid hearing his parents' complaints about staying out so late.

Well, mainly his mothers complaining since she's the only one who does the lecturing and whose words have any weight to them.

'Mother's gonna get worried if I'm not back soon. Hopefully, it's not too late?'

Shaking his head to distract him from his thoughts, Noir only sighed. He's still not used to a lot of stuff in this world and that includes his new family.

>\/<

Once he arrived in front of the manor the sun had already gone down and Noir could hear noises coming from inside. It was a feminine voice that was most likely from Alice worrying about where her big brother had gone for the last half-day. Likewise from his parents, but he didn't feel much when his father was worried for him.

He took a deep breath before sighing then opened the front door. Because of how old the door is, it made a loud squeaking noise when he opened it and a loud thud whenever someone closed it, which alerted the people inside. It immediately got silent before the sound of running footsteps followed after as his family ran out of the living room door.

"""Noir!/Big brother!"""

His father and sister were the ones that came out as they dashed to give Noir a hug. Noir had a split second to decide whether he wanted to dodge or not, but decided it would be best to take the hit as he endured his spine cracking from his father's bear strength.

He might not be the warrior he used to be, but if the man was forced to hug someone to death, he could easily do it.

As for Alice, she was also hugging him dearly, but with much less strength than their father. He smiled wryly at the two of them until he felt a chill run down his spine.

"Uh, good afternoon?" While resisting the urge to complain while grappled by the two family members, he greeted his mother who was staring at him with an icy glint in her eyes. She was annoyed. So annoyed in fact that the other two had a chill run through their spine as well.

"Don't 'good afternoon' me. You were out for over 15 hours and didn't even bother telling either of us where you went," Although her face didn't seem to change, Noir had some kind of fear when seeing her like this. It was a weird feeling to him after facing multiple life and death situations while he was in the hidden dungeon.

'Yup, I'm almost certain she has some kind of skill that invokes fear. Now I wanna see her skill list and even her level,' He found her character amusing. She didn't have much screen time in the original but he wondered if that was her original skill or if that was something else that was altered? If so, then it would come in handy for him.

"You didn't try to communicate it verbally. Do you understand how worried we were?"

"Oh… I'm sorry… I'll make sure to do it next time," Noir said while feeling a little remorseful of his actions. It reminded him of his father in his past life in a way. Although he wasn't strict compared to most fathers, he didn't allow him to pass his curfew time and would lecture him the same. It reminded him of the good old days when he was carefree, which reflected on his face.

"Alright, just remember to tell us next time," Seeing Noir's face drop, his mother stopped the lecture early as she thought her message successfully went through to him. When Alice noticed the lecture was about to end, she asked Noir a question that's been burning within everyone.

"Where did you go to train, big brother? You were gone for the whole day," She was grabbing onto his arm this time as opposed to his waist as she looked at him with upturned eyes.

"I went outside the kingdom into one of the forests. I trained in the outer forests for some time before heading back. I think I've gotten better at my swordsmanship too."

Noir used the excuse he came up with beforehand as he didn't mention anything about his experience in the dungeon. He didn't want them to worry about him, plus if they knew they wouldn't allow Noir to step outside the kingdom unsupervised. Or knowing his father, the secret of the hidden dungeon could be exposed to the kingdom.

At that point, it would become a race to see who could go to Olivia's floor first where he doesn't have any confidence in fighting that many veteran adventures.

"Ooh, that's me boy!"

"Congrats brother!"

While Noir was worrying about the truth getting exposed, he felt his body get crushed again by the father-daughter duo. If it wasn't for his body levelling and gaining some strength, he would've been screaming from the pain instead of enduring it right now.

"That reminds me, I made you a special dinner to help you with your training. Your body must be hungry for nutrients since you've been out for so long," Hearing Noir's words, his mother reverted back to her usual smile as she informed the family of the special dinner she was making, which caused the people hugging Noir to suddenly lose their strength.

"I-isn't that g-great, Noir?"

"R-right, big brother?"

They both looked at him with a bit of fear as their voices became shaky. The reason why was thanks to their PTSD kicking in. When the topic of 'nutritional' takes place in the house, it usually means Noir's mother would make something unusual once again that's apparently really good for you.

The last time was a meal with a specific type of demon insect that smells horrible but has a lot of protein. When they tried it, the three of them were throwing up all night and even the next day whenever they saw a bug.

It was fortunate that the current Noir doesn't have any memory of that, otherwise he would be joining them in shivering.

"Yup, I'm starving," Seeing how funny it was to see them scared like that, Noir made a little smile. He didn't have a fear of insects, but eating one would be difficult for even him.

"Perfect," Upon hearing his words, his mother merrily clapped her palms together as she made a bright smile. She was under the impression that maybe she had finally convinced one of the family to enjoy one of her favourite meals, but the truth was different…

'I better gain an iron stomach skill or something after this…'

…Noir was simply ambitious enough to hope that eating her meals would give him some kind of benefits later down the line. Even if he wasn't able to learn a skill, eating bugs would come in handy whenever you're low on rations, so in a way, it would be a useful survival skill if he knew how to prepare them.

'This is gonna be a long dinner…'

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