Free Web NovelChapter 8: Rules of the village
Instructor Lawrence studied Ryven closely.
He appeared very ordinary, aside from his golden-brown eyes and slightly overweight appearance, nothing special caught his eyes.
Yet, at the same time he found it strange, how could someone with such a physique could have survived even a second outside the village.
After inspecting him, he turned his gaze to Hans. With a sigh, he accepted what had been said.
"I’ll personally explain the situation to their families." ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"Don’t blame yourself for what happened. If there’s someone to blame, It was that old man who tempted the three of you to leave the village without permission."
"You’re right... I’ll try my best to not blame myself. However, I still need to speak to my father and face the punishment." Instructor Lawrence reasurred.
Hans nodded. "Please, go ahead and introduce Ryven more about the village."
Before leaving Hans calmly explained how the conversation went, as he approached Ryven.
"Don’t worry, he’ll help you out. I’ll likely be gone for a while to face punishment for breaking the village’s rules."
"His Instructor, Lawrence—he’s about level eighty, so show him some respect."
Ryven glanced at Instructor Lawrence, feeling intimidated even from such a distance.
"Shouldn’t I come with you? The chief said he’d wait for us. That includes me, right?"
"You can, but I suggest not now. I’ll explain to my father that you’re still familiarizing yourself with the village, so it’s fine if you speak to him tomorrow."
"Unlike you, my situation is more serious than you think. Disobeying the village’s rules leads to severe punishment."
"You might be interrogated and monitored, but it should be fine as long as you don’t do anything suspicious."
"As for me, I might be held in the underground prison for about three days... Even as the chief’s son, rules are rules."
After saying that, Hans bid farewell before Ryven could respond. As he left, the instructor stepped forward and approached him.
He then spoke with sincerity.
"Ryven Calestair, am I right? Hans already introduced you to me. First, I’ll help by allowing your two companions into the village."
"After that, I’ll help you get a shelter and food."
Ryven was a little taken aback by his sincerity. He did not expect such words from someone with such an intimidating presence.
"Thanks for the help. Aside from that, can I ask a question?" He tilted his head slightly, curiosity in his tone.
Instructor Lawrence scratched the back of his head, then gave an impatient nod.
"Be quick with it."
At his response, Ryven immediately asked, "Is there any reason Hans seems to be held in such high regard?"
Listening to his question, Instructor Lawrence answered briefly.
"That’s because he awakened an S-Class rank system."
Realizing that he nodded calmly at the surface. Thankfully, they haven’t asked to check for his own system.
Hmm.... I wonder what their reaction would be if they knew I have an SSS-Class rank, while one of my companion has an SS-Class rank.
He mused to himself, but wanting to stay low-profile, he remained silent.
Afterward, they began walking toward the village entrance where Samminah and Fred were waiting.
On the way, the instructor introduced the basic rules.
"Leaving the village without permission is the first and most important rule to follow."
"As you see, that rule was broken by Hans, and now he has to face the consequences in his actions."
"And second, never violate anyone inside the village, no matter what, causing harm to someone will bring far greater consequences than leaving the village without permission."
"Third, you must report to the village guards anything you notice that seems wrong, even if it’s small or vague. Even if it turns out to be a false alarm, you won’t be punished."
"For example, the temperature in a certain area is higher than usual, or you see something that isn’t actually there."
After explaining the three basic rules, they eventually arrived at the huge fortress with a massive wooden gate at the entrance.
Slowly, the gate opened, revealing Samminah and Fred.
Ryven approached the guard once more.
Seeing an instructor beside him, they were slightly surprised.
"Instructor Lawrence, why are you here?"
The instructor did not answer immediately.
Instead, he inspected Ryven’s two companions. He gave little thought to the skeleton, as it seemed harmless.
Gazing at Samminah, he asked, "What level is she?"
The instructor, already around level eighty. But, he could still feel how formidable her strength was.
Samminah remained indifferent beneath her thick purple veil mask and did not respond.
Ryven let out a sigh and answered on her behalf.
"She’s level eleven, and that skeleton, Fred, is level five."
At his answer, the instructor fell silent. His brows furrowed, as if he heard something ridiculous. Even the guards stared at Samminah with wide eyes and deep astonishment.
"You mean to tell me... She was able to slay a Third-Stage Night Crawler being only level ten?"
The first guard asked, unable to believe what he had just heard.
"Y-yes?"
Seeing their reaction, Ryven noticed something amiss.
To be cautious, he chose not to reveal too much information during their travels, such as the inheritance of an evil god.
Or the fact that, just a day ago, Samminah had been merely level one.
The guards exchanged glances with the instructor.
Still in disbelief, he took another look at Samminah. After noticing that she was without a threat he gave the two permissions to get inside.
"Let them in. I’ll take care of them. And don’t worry, the chief should have already granted permission."
With that, Ryven, Fred, and Samminah were finally allowed inside the village.
Upon entering, she remained aloof under the few people that saw them.
Strangely, they received no criticism. Only Fred, the skeleton, seemed to be treated as an outcast.
Eventually, they arrived at an isolated wooden house. It had two floors and looked like something out of a haunted movie.
"This place should be alright for the three of you, right?" He paused, then added thoughtfully, "Food isn’t exactly scarce here, but it’s still difficult to obtain."
"I can only provide you with a month’s worth of supplies. If you want a steady source of food, you’ll need merit points."
"You can earn them by completing tasks assigned in the Merit Hall, which is around the main part of the village, or by trading something for merit points."
As he spoke, he conjured a box of food supplies and a transparent tablet.
The tablet had his name embedded on it, and at its center was his merit point count, zero.
He took both the food and the strange item.
"This is called a Mana Tablet. If you want to transfer or trade merit points, just have the other person’s tablet and use Mana to activate it."
"You only need to think of how many merit points you want to transfer while holding both tablets."
Ryven nodded.
Just as Instructor Lawrence was about to leave, he scratched his head and turned back.
"I forgot to mention, you should try to wake up as early as possible, since I’ll assign some workouts to train you."
Ryven waved a hand.
"Mm, I’ll make sure to wake up early."
With that, he stepped inside the house.
Turning on the light, he saw three paths ahead, the bathroom straight ahead, the living room to the left, and the kitchen to the right.
Ryven blinked, the place are messy and filled with dust and spider webs. Moving to the second floor, he found a few abandoned-looking rooms.
There were three bedrooms, which is enough for each of them.
"Let’s clean this place first."
However, Samminah, who didn’t want to do such troublesome task, simply used Moon Luminesce and entered one of the rooms.
In an instant, a moonlight mist swept through, purging all impurities and dirt.
She glanced back and said flatly, "Don’t bother me."
Ryven’s eye twitched slightly. Can’t she at least help with the rest of the house if she has that ability?
He muttered in complaint but kept it to himself.
...
At the Blue Azure Civilization.
Inside a luxurious hotel, Lukas lay on a soft bed, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he studied his system panel.
[Mystical Archery System]
[Name: Lukas Archidale] [Level: 1] [EXP: 0/10]
[Strength: 12] [Agility: 11] [Durability: 10]
[Reflex: 13] [Speed: 11] [Endurance: 10]
[Stamina: 16] [Mana: 0]
[Class: Mystical Archery] [Rank:S]
[Race Human]
[Bloodline: None]
[Skills: None]
[Ability: Divine Perception, ???]
[Inventory]
His smile widened. Out of billions who awakened systems, only a few tens of thousands obtained S-Class.
Lukas was one of the lucky few. Most people only awakened F or E-Class systems or was without a system.
Turning on the television, he saw someone around his age. A beautiful girl appeared on screen, long black hair, with a slender figure, swan like neck, and striking hazel eyes.
"Andrea?"
He frowned slightly, his mood turning a little gloomy.
The news in the television had reported she was the first to awaken an SS-Class system.
He wasn’t surprised that others were still undergoing awakening tests, since there were billions of people after all.
What actually shocked him was that he knew the first person to awaken an SS-Class, was his classmate.
At the same time, it was precisely because he knew her that his expression turned gloomy.
Their relationship was not good, in fact it could be considered bad, and if she sought revenge, it would undoubtedly be severe.
On the television, she spoke with firm resolve.
"If anyone can give me a clue about this person’s whereabouts, I promise a generous reward and full support of my status."
He wasn’t surprised by her bold claim. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
By now, the strongest guilds of the Blue Azure Civilization had likely already offered her the best possible contracts.
Hence, he couldn’t help but be curious about the person she was trying to find, and why she was willing to give her full support to whoever found him.
Lukas then looked at the image she displayed, a boy with ordinary dark hair, with average features, and slightly charming golden-brown eyes.
He blinked.
"...Ryven Calestair?"
