Free Web NovelChapter 10: Training (2)
Three days quickly passed.
Ryven lay on the floor, exhausted. He could feel his arms going numb and his legs burning from continuously pushing his body to its limits.
Outside the door, Fred stood watching him, staring in confusion at what he was doing.
"Do you think I’ve made some progress?"
Ryven said to the skeleton with a content smile on his lips.
...
As expected, he received no response, but Ryven had grown accustomed to it. He felt quite lonely, so he talked to Fred, since he was the only one he could speak to around the house.
Though he wanted to talk to Samminah, he didn’t. Simply because she had already made it clear that, she didn’t want to be disturbed, and bothering her would likely only irritate her.
To ease his mind he decided to go outside and interact with the people around the village.
He didn’t merely spend the three days by only training.
Instead, Ryven also explore the village, making a few friends, or at least some acquaintances, along the way.
Stepping into the main part of the village, he was immediately greeted.
"Good morning, young lad." It was the old shopkeeper lady who had given him the apple a few days ago.
"Good morning, Ma’am Annabelle."
With Ryven’s respond the old shopkeeper giggles slightly, "Have you heard the rumours from you?"
"Rumors?" Ryven asked, taken aback as he looked at her in confusion.
"Indeed. The guards and the village chief have already informed the civilians about you. They said to treat you differently," She said gently.
"Why is that?" He asked in puzzlement.
"The chief had already informed us that you’re not from here, your origins are unknown, and you carry a deep secret. But he assured everyone that you’re not a threat."
"In fact, now there’s a saying that aside from Hans, you’re the person whom will also help us leave from this place."
Listening to what she said. Ryven couldn’t help but facepalmed himself.
With that rumours, surely, almost everyone in the village would come to know him.
Staying low-profile was no longer an option.
So I’m supposed to be their salvation now?
He couldn’t help but laugh at inwardly. He could barely do ten push-ups and was mostly relying on Samminah just to survive in this world.
After bidding farewell to the old shopkeeper lady, he decided to stop by a tavern.
Making acquaintances over the past three days hadn’t been difficult. One of them was Thomas, who worked at a nearby tavern.
As he stepped inside, the smell of alcohol and food filled the air.
He glanced around and spotted the bartender.
The bartender looked immature and mature at the same time. He has ordinary features, brown eyes, and short black hair.
Ryven approached him.
"Give me something sweet." freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Ryven ordered. Thomas shifted his gaze, his already energetic demeanor seeming to brighten even more as he recognized him.
"Ah, it’s you. Not a fan of alcohol, as I’ve remembered," He said with a light chuckle.
Listening to his sarcastic remarks, Ryven moods lightened a little.
"Have you been well?" Thomas asked, as he was already beginning to prepare Ryven’s drink.
"I don’t know, my situation is not good but not that bad either." He paused feeling slightly frustrated.
"You probably heard about it. Am I right?"
Thomas didn’t respond immediately. He finished the drink first, then slid the cup toward Ryven before speaking. freewebnovёl.ƈom
"Yeah, I’ve heard about it. At first, I didn’t believe that you were someone capable of helping us leave this place."
"But when the chief spoke about it, and after hearing that your companion killed a Third-Stage Night Crawler..."
"At only level ten, at that."
Ryven blinked. From Thomas’s tone, it was clear he already has some expectations towards him.
"That was due to certain circumstances. Don’t think too highly of my companion nor me." He quickly replied.
Thomas scoffed lightly on what he said.
He shrugged the topic off about him as he changed the topic.
"Ryven, you’ve only been here about four days. Surely you’re definitely short on merit points am I right?"
"I have a task that could help you with that."
Ryven raised a brow.
"What is the task about?"
Thomas smiles and began explaining.
"A group of expedition hunters found a strange cave. It’s filled with spiders, mostly First and Second-Stage, but there’s also a Third-Stage creature presence."
"The reward for clearing it is high, which is around a thousand merit points."
Ryven didn’t respond immediately, pondering the offer. At the mention of a cave, his thoughts instinctively drifted to the inheritance of the Evil God—or perhaps an Evil Goddess, that he had encountered before.
However, after a brief moment of consideration, he dismissed the idea.
There had been no spiders in that place.
Then he next considered the reward. A thousand merit points could provide food for a three months, along with decent weapons and armor.
"I’ll take it. But not right now, I’m currently training my body."
Thomas simply shrugged. There was no immediate urgency.
The real concern was that, the spiders might be multiplying, but it was not yet a threat.
"Here, take this map. The X marks the cave. It also shows the entire area we’re in."
Ryven calmly accepted it.
Looking over the map, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
To the north, west, and east, the land ended in a massive pit. To the south lay Reinett Village.
The marked cave was to the west. Ryven nodded, confirming it wasn’t the one he had encountered, after all he had surely came from the north.
After storing the map, he continued chatting with Thomas while sipping his drink.
"Ah, right. Have you heard of Instructor Arianna?" Thomas asked after a pause.
"Rumor has it she’ll return next week..."
Ryven tilted his head, a little intrigued.
"I don’t think I know her."
Thomas nodded and gave a smirk.
"Then let me explain who she is."
"She’s the second strongest in the village."
"But she’s almost always out of the village, exploring each regions. Even now, she’s in the eastern part of the map."
"In fact, she gathered most of the information used to create that map."
Ryven nodded, after listening for a few more minutes about Arianna he eventually stood up.
"I’ll keep an eye out for her. Building a good relationship with her might be useful." Ryven stretched his body, preparing himself to leave.
"Take care. I still have things to do."
Thomas blinked, slightly surprised, then waved as Ryven left the tavern.
Outside, Ryven returned home and resumed training.
Four more days passed.
He checked his stats, a satisfied smile forming on his lips.
[Gacha System] [Arcane Points:0]
[Name: Ryven Calestair] [Level: 1] [EXP: 0/10]
[Strength: 9] [Agility: 10] [Durability: 7]
[Reflex: 3] [Speed: 11] [Endurance: 3]
[Stamina: 7] [Mana: 0]
[Class:Gacha Summoning] [Rank:SSS]
[Tickets: 0 Bronze Ticket, 0 Iron Ticket, 0 Silver Ticket, 0 Golden Ticket, 0 Diamond Ticket, 0 Ruby Ticket, 0 Platinum Ticket, 0 Primordial Ticket]
[Race: Human]
[Bloodline: None]
[Skills: Night perception, ]
[Ability: Gacha wheel, ???]
[Inventory]
My stats really increased... Even without leveling up?
Although his stats is still weak, with some even in the negatives. But now, after training, his stats had improved significantly.
While training, he also realized that repeating the same routine wouldn’t yield further improvement.
Only by pushing his limits could he continue to grow.
At that moment, he heard footsteps from upstairs.
Samminah descended gracefully from the second floor.
She stretched lazily, her perfect figure outlined beneath the dim light. Her lower face was still covered with thick purple veil mask.
Looking at her eyes, she looked both tired and satisfied.
Ryven sensed a stronger aura emanating from her.
He instinctively looked away. The scent around her was strangely alluring, leaving him momentarily confused.
"What food do we have?" She asked casually after isolating herself for so long.
He then felt her gaze sweep over him. He was shirtless from training.
Although it had only been a week, the changes in his physique were noticeable—his shoulders had become broader, and he no longer looked overweight.
"Oh? You’ve been working out."
"I’ve already said I’ll fix my body once I got the opportunity, why are you so surprised?"
Ryven retorted quitely, as he put on a white shirt. She observed the changes in his physique slightly amused.
"Hmm... You know what, I wouldn’t mind helping you out, just this time."
As she spoke, a moonlit mist formed in her palm and drifted toward him, it swirled around him and eventually, it started enveloping his body.
The effect was immediate, his fatigue vanished, and his body felt completely refreshed.
