The impact of metal on flesh and the noise of bones cracking resonated throughout the room. Even as I pulled my arm back, looking at the man’s mangled face, all I could feel was rage. The second blow was even heavier than the first, this time breaking his nose and cheek bone. He wasn’t going to smirk again. He was never going to be able to smirk at me again while taking everything from me. “Stop! You’re going to kill him!”

  A familiar feminine voice called out before I could land a third blow, and instead delivered it to the undeserving floor. I could hardly breathe and my head was swimming. Was she actually defending him? “So you agree with him, Tranna?” I said, dragging my eyes from the man to look back at the woman dressed in white robes.

  Her hands clenched tightly around the staff in her hands, the staff I made, and she quickly averted her gaze. “Y-you’re gonna kill him…” she mumbled.

  Slowly I got to my feet, unable to take my eyes off the woman in white. But she refused to meet my gaze. As I stepped towards her, I could see her shaking. “Seven years means nothing? We’ve… we’ve been a party for seven years. My so-called useless abilities have saved our lives hundreds of times. And now…”

  “It’s…it’s not that we’re ungrateful…” she managed to say.

  “Not ungrateful? I have done…” I could only manage to vaguely wave my hand. “So much. All so that we could all move forward. Together. D-didn’t- didn’t you say that? Together? Was- wasn’t that the word that you used when we started adventuring?” I was standing in front of her now.

  “We… you’re just…not a good fit…” she said, still not looking at me.

  I looked around at the other dozen people in the room, none of which could look at me. “Not a good fit? There isn’t a single person in this room who isn’t using items I made.”

  “And where do you think that money came from?” a man said, stepping forward. He was taller than me, and wearing the armor that I had made for him. “You spend most of your time sitting in the guild hall, doing Gods only know what, while the rest of us are risking our lives taking missions.”

  “Alder…you…you of all people.” I pointed at him. “Your armor. Your sword. Your shield. All of that was made by me.” I looked around again, but no one was speaking out for me. “So this is it, huh? Huh? Where do you all think the funds for starting the Red Feather Guild came from? Huh? This guild house? I sold off…so much… My creations. My tools. So that all of us could enjoy a better life, and this is how I’m repaid?”

  “No one asked you to do that.”

  “No one asked?” I stared incredulously at Alder. “No. You’re right. You didn’t ask. You begged. You all begged. Down on your fucking knees, you begged. I put my own progress back years…for all of you. Because I thought you were my friends. I thought we- we were in this together. But now, because I can’t immediately get back on my feet, and rise to that stage, you’re casting me out?”

  No one had a response this time.

  There was nothing to be done. I reached forward towards Tranna, who flinched. She probably expected that I would hit her, but I hadn’t sunk that low. I gripped the chain around her neck and with a quick tug, pulled her necklace free. “Who would have thought you were so unfit for love.”

  After leaving the room, I went to my lab and took everything of value, which disappointingly was not a lot. I had sold off most of it already. No one dared to try to stop me. None of them could stop me. Allen had been the second strongest member, and I had knocked him down and pulped his face before he had a chance to even defend himself.

  With a final glance at the building I had worked so hard to acquire, I walked west. Always west. This was another kingdom that I had no reason to stay within. So…west. Always west. As I walked, I placed the pendant that I had reclaimed into my mouth before crunching the stone.

  ~

  As my eyes opened, I sighed and sat up. That scene had played so vividly once again in my mind. Even after nine months it was still so detailed. The greatest downfall to having a good memory is being able to recall the scene so vividly. Maybe I had reacted poorly to the situation, but he was laughing at me. He was kicking me out of the home I paid for, and he was laughing at me. Mocking my frustration. “It’s alright. It’s okay,” I muttered softly, trying to get my breathing steady. “It’s alright. It’s okay. It’s alright. It’s okay,” I continued to repeat until I felt better.

  After I had calmed down, I took a deep breath, letting it out as a heavy sigh. It was time to start the day. Time to try and move forward. The endless struggle of trying to live. Again I sighed as I got out of bed, slowly preparing for the day. Black slacks pulled on, a gray shirt buttoned, hair brushed and tied back, coat on, boots laced, and finally affixing my gauntlets. It was a routine that was almost a ritual with how I performed it every day. Then I made my way toward the guild.

  Walking in the open door of the guild, there were not a lot of people there. Of course, there weren’t many adventurers in this town. “Oh look, the weed puller has graced us with his presence,” a man said, he was burly and had a thick head of hair, but there was something about his voice that would make you assume he was bald.

  Ignoring him, I walked over to the job board. There was another request for blue bell. No one took these requests as they found them beneath them. But it was important. Without herbs, there were no healing potions. I pulled it from the board and moved over to the counter. To my dismay, it was Groh at the counter. “Confirming this is a request for blue bell,” I said as I placed the paper down in front of him.

  Groh rolled his eyes and took the paper, checking its details with the records he had. He had made ‘mistakes’ in the past, and ever since he pulled that stunt I have requested confirmation before taking any job. “Blue bell. Fifty copper for each herb.” Groh held out the paper, but I refused to take it. He was a disgusting man, the type who thinks perfume is a good enough replacement for a bath.

  I nodded as I pulled out my guild card, making sure he logged the information properly before I turned around. Blue bell was the main ingredient in a basic healing potion, one herb could make between two to four potions, depending on the Alchemist. The town only had one Alchemist, who in my opinion, was a conceited jerk and a horrible chemist.

  The forest was fairly abundant in herbs, which at first had made me curious as to why there weren’t more people capitalizing on it. And then I actually started talking to the people in town. Bunch of insufferable ingrates who couldn’t tell a daffodil from a tulip. I had spent almost three months in this insufferable town trying to scrape up a comfortable amount of coins.

  Spending a few hours in the forest, I managed twelve blue bells. There were a couple other herbs, but none of them were being requested or of very high value. As was usually the case, it was uneventful. The creatures nearby the town had learned to avoid me, which was amusing.

  Heading back into town, the guard at the gate glared at me with suspicion, as if he hadn’t watched me walk out of town earlier. Or walked past him literally hundreds of times. This town really hated outsiders on a level that was truly absurd. I wondered if there was some sort of conspiracy going on in town that made them like this. Like, if the town was some sort of cult to a dark God or something.

  Back in the guild, it hadn’t changed at all in the hours that I was away. I put the blue bells on the counter in front of Groh. “Twelve blue bells. Six silver,” I said. It was not a question, it was a statement.

  Groh’s face scrunched in annoyance as he looked over the herbs as if he could even tell what they were. As far as he knew, they were just flowers. “Right. Six silver,” he said eventually, placing it on the counter as he gathered the blue bells.

  I hesitated before picking up the coins; they felt slimy. I sighed before putting them into my coat. What a disgusting man. Before leaving, I moved over to the request board. I spent a moment looking before I spotted an interesting new request and grabbed it, walking back to the counter. “Confirming this is a request for red weed,” I said as I placed the paper down in front of him.

  I saw his eye twitch before he began checking his records. “Yes, red weed. About a pound for a reward of twenty silver.”

  I nodded. “Good. I happened to come across some red weed yesterday,” I pulled a bag from my coat and put it on the counter. It was a bit more than a pound, but I was fine letting a little extra go.

  “Excellent,” Groh said with a smirk. “I will prepare five silver-”

  Immediately I snatched the bag off the counter, grabbing it before he could get his greasy hands on it. “The reward is for twenty.” This bastard was why it was so hard to make money in this town as an outside adventurer.

  “Yes, but that was taking into consideration you having to go out and get it. Since you already have it, clearly the full reward is not applicable.”

  Those words might confuse some of the other idiots in this town, but I was getting sick of going along with it to keep the peace. “This much red weed at market value is worth eighty silver. Refined it’s even more. I was only even considering the twenty because it was convenient. There’s no way in hell I’m taking five fucking silver.”

  “Well, you’ve already accepted the quest, so you-”

  “I have not. I was asking about the quest, you’re the one who made the assumption I was taking it,” I snapped.

  “If you don’t complete the quest, I’m afraid I’m going to have to penalize you.”

  “Penalize me? For not taking a quest? Do you think that sort of bull would fly?”

  “It’s your word against mine, Archanist.”

  My eye twitched. “Fuck this.” I reached into my coat and pulled out my guild card, tossing it onto the counter. “I quit. Fuck you.” I turned around.

  The slimy man actually looked surprised. “You- you can’t do that.” But I was already walking away. “Andrew, stop him.”

  The burly idiot got up, moving to block my path. “Now now, weed puller, we’ve all been real nice to-” He doubled over as I planted my fist into his stomach.

  But I wasn’t done, I slammed my fist down into the back of his head after activating the magic in my gauntlets, the force they released caused his face to buckle the floorboards. The room went completely silent, aside from the mana softly crackling from the gauntlet and the floorboards continuing to splinter. “Nice?” I looked back at the room at the adventurers that had treated me worse than dirt. “I’m being nice by not killing you all for all the blatant harassment and quest short changing.”

  Andrew twitched.

  “You think my rank was all for show? That I reached Tier Six just by gathering herbs?” I flexed my gauntlets, letting the mana crackle in a more showy fashion. They were hands down my greatest creation.

  “Archanist.” I looked up to see the guild master looking down from the second floor. “There is no need to be violent.”

  “Oh there is more than a need. Everyone in this guild, in this town, needs a thorough thrashing, especially you.” I pointed a crackling finger towards him and watched as he tensed. “But I have no justification. I have quit the Hallow Kingdoms Adventurers Guild. Andrew attempted to assault me, and so I defended myself. If you continue to block my path, I will continue defending myself, and there won't be a guild branch left in this shithole of a town when I’m done.”

  The guild master said nothing as I turned and left. I was glad that he didn’t call me on my bluff. While I was Tier Six on paper, I wasn’t sure if I’d compare to a Tier Four right now considering my lack of tools. Andrew was a Tier Four. I checked the magic silver left in my gauntlets, noting that of the twelve thin vials, I only had a quarter left in one; it took half a flask to empower my gauntlets. The guild master was a Tier Seven, and the gauntlets didn’t sustain a charge for more than a minute. I wasn’t sure I stood a chance, but he’s a coward.

  Walking back towards the inn that I had been staying in I stopped, having a thought and changed my direction. After a moment I reached Bubbling Bottles, and went inside. The heavy set man behind the counter hardly looked up before sighing. “I don’t have any magic silver, as I have said-”

  “Not here for that. You need red weed, right?”

  He looked over at me, looking me up and down. “Yes. I put in a request at the guild.”

  “I am no longer affiliated with the guild,” I said as I moved over to the counter, and pulled out the bag of red weed. “Fifty silver.”

  He scrunched his nose and narrowed his eyes at me. “The guild reward is twenty silver.”

  “Don’t care. Either give me fifty, or spend over two gold getting it delivered to you because there’s no one in this town that would take your shit requests.” I shook the bag a bit to emphasize my point.

  “I don’t bend to extortion.”

  I slammed my fist into the counter, causing it to buckle and several bottles to fall and shatter on the floor. Even without being charged with mana they were still large chunks of metal and could do a lot of damage. “Enjoy your pathetic forever existence as a low tier Alchemist,” I said before turning and leaving the shop.

  He was too stunned to even retort. That felt good.

  Entering the inn, I spotted the old man that owned the place. “Oi, you old bastard.”

  He glared at me from over a large mug. “If you’re going to beg for an extension on payment, shouldn’t you be nicer?”

  I rolled my eyes. Not once had I ever asked for an extension or been late on a payment. “I’m checking out. As soon as I get my things I won’t have to see your face ever again.”

  “Finally giving up on the adventurer life, Archanist?” he spat the name with utter disgust.

  “No.” Although, technically speaking I had, since I just quit. But it just meant I had to go join the guild in the Haven Empire. “I’m being polite and letting you know that you’ll have your dingy closet back once I gather my things.” I made my way up the stairs as I spoke.

  I moved into the small room that had been my home for the last few months, and began slowly stuffing things into my coat. I needed so much more supplies, but I was being suffocated on all sides in this kingdom. I needed money, but the guild was stiffing me on rewards. And when I did have the money, all the business overcharged me. Especially around here. That’s why these small insular towns never made a name for themselves.

  It was a good thing I didn’t have many things, as my coat could only hold so much. Its spacial enchantment was a small one, as it wasn’t meant to be used for bulk carrying. It was just supposed to contain things for adventuring and dungeon delving. I didn’t even acknowledge the old man as I left.

  “West,” I muttered as I made my way out of the town. “Always to the west…” Because there’s nothing pleasant to the east. Traitors, betrayers, ungratefuls… people who cast out their own child because they get an inconvenient profession.

  Even though it was so long ago, it still hurt. I knew it was horrible from the reactions of the adults around. Especially the reaction from my mother. She looked like she had completely broken. Granted, her reaction was completely warranted since in the end they blamed her and she was banished to the side manor. If only I had been so lucky.

  ~

  “He’s…” the old man in robes hesitated, staring at the glowing sphere and reading the symbols within.

  At the age of sixteen, everyone in this world awakens a profession. Things of this nature seem to be a common thing for people who transmigrate, or reincarnate. That’s what happened to me, apparently. After remembering my previous life when I was ten, I found it hilarious that all those stories actually had basis in some kind of reality.

  “What? What is he? Surely, he is a Swordmaster like myself, or a Mystic, like his mother,” my father declared confidently. “Or maybe a Martial Artist, like his grandfather?”

  As it turns out, professions aren’t completely random. They are influenced by your parents and training. I had been trained in swordsmanship and martial arts of sorts since I could walk. But I figure that the experience and memories of my past life heavily influenced what I got. Honestly I expected to be a boxer. But boxing apparently isn’t a thing in this world.

  “He’s…an Archanist.” There was silence for a moment, until there was a thud as my mother hit the floor, having fainted.

  Archanist is considered one of the worst professions. Not because it’s weak, far from it. It’s a combination of some of the strongest professions: Alchemist, Artificer, and Sorcerer. While they are usually slightly weaker in one category in comparison to a pure profession, they could outclass all of them with the synergy.

  “That’s…that’s impossible!” my father shouted. “You must have read it wrong! Check it again!”

  They are almost as good at synthesizing potions as an Alchemist. Almost as good at creating magical items as an Artificer. They almost outclass pure Sorcerers for casting spells and mana manipulation.

  “I’m sorry. But…it’s the truth. Your son… Your son Ezent, is an Archanist,” the Priest said.

  The problem is the synergizing. They can’t wield spells in the same way a Sorcerer can, and in fact require magical items with intricate mana circuits and runes to use as conduits to wield their magic. They need to consume large amounts of magical materials to increase in strength and to use their full potential. Magical silver is the most expensive of the things they can use, but it’s also the best. If push came to shove, they could cast spells like a Sorcerer, but at ten times the mana cost. And while they can make enchanted items like an Artificer, and use magic crystals, they’re never as good.

  Inefficient.

  “Worthless.”

  The word made me focus on the figure that I knew as my father. “Father?”

  “No. I am not your father. There is no way that I am the father to something so worthless!” he exclaimed, pounding his fist down onto the table, causing it to break apart under the strength.

  “I know it is difficult, Lord Barral, but your son is-”

  “No!” He exclaimed again. “That…that whore must have cheated!” He pointed towards my mother who was starting to come around now with the assistance of the maids.

  I looked over at my mother in confusion, but I could see nothing in her eyes. It was as if she was gone. No light. She was a lovely person, though a bit harsh, but that’s just how mothers are. My other mother had also been a bit harsh. “How dare you say such things!” one of the older maids exclaimed. “The Lady has been nothing but dutiful and loyal, as you well know!”

  “Silence!” he shouted as he struck the maid, a blow which had probably killed her. “All of you, get out!”

  It was honestly sad watching him come unhinged. It’s not like I was his only son, or even the first. I had two older brothers, an older sister, and two younger sisters. But I listened to him, leaving the room and immediately heading towards my own room.

  I was not sure what was going to happen with the profession ceremony, but this was concerning. I knew what my father would do next, so I started to quickly pack things. Anything and everything valuable. I had quite a lot of things, and honestly I wished I could take it all. But a few bags would have to do.

  On my way out, I was stopped by a butler, who upon seeing my bags nodded gravely. “The Lord would like to see you.”

  I hesitated, glancing at the bags. “I will…go and see him…”

  “You may leave the bags here, and take them on your way out,” the butler reassured. He knew what was going to happen as well as I did.

  I put down the bags, and headed back upstairs towards my fathers study. The butler outside looked at me sadly before allowing me to enter. “You’re here,” the man said. “Good. Prompt. A good show.” I could see the bottle on the floor by the desk.

  “I have come as called f- Lord Barral.” It was the first time I had ever called him something aside from father.

  He gave me a scrutinizing look, as if trying to figure out who I was. “Ezent,” He held up a piece of paper with an odd symbol on it and a lot of writing. “I hereby strip your name, your rank as a Marquise son, and your noble title. You are no longer my son. You will leave and never return.” The piece of paper burst into flames.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Understood, Lord Barral,” I said, staring at him. I raised my hand. “In the name of the Gods that watch over us, the mana in my veins, the stars, and moons in the sky, I hereby renounce my name. Ezent Barral is no more.” I turned and hurried out before he had a chance to stop me.

  The butler was stunned, and stared at me as I left. “You…you just…”

  As I looked back at the old butler, I smiled. “Goodbye, Laurence.” There were quite a lot of servants at the bottom of the stairs. I said nothing to them and simply grabbed my bags, and made my way out of the manor.

  Of course anyone who heard that would be shocked. He had just invoked magic to strip me of my name, and I had agreed. It meant that everything connected to me was severed. Nothing could ever tie me to that name. Be it a magic spell, a contract, or an assassin. I was not sure my father would be so ruthless as to send an assassin, but it was an option. While he had been kind to me while growing up, I had also seen how ruthless he could be.

  I spent the rest of the day selling everything but the clothes I was wearing. The biggest weakness of an Archanist is how much it costs. Artificers could compensate for the cost by selling the things they make, but nothing I made would be cost effective, it would cost me more to make something than I could sell it. Every spell has a cost, in more than just mana. Of course even after selling all the stuff I had taken from the manor I didn’t have enough, so I decided to become an adventurer. The knowledge I had on plants would make herb gathering easy.

  The problem was getting distance. I had to leave the kingdom, and head to the next one. The closest place was to the west, a much larger kingdom than the one I had lived in. I just couldn’t risk the Marquise from deciding it would be better off if I was dead. Plus, the guild was much better in that kingdom than around here, and would be easier to get into.

  After much travel and signing up at a guild, I was approached. “Hey, you’re new, right?” a girl had asked. “We are, too.” She gestured to the young man beside her who smiled. “How about we team up?”

  ~

  Everything was a bad memory.

  Tainted.

  All the good feelings were gone. Again.

  I couldn’t even draw on many good memories from my past life. Just a lot of struggling. I had glory days, but those all just tasted bitter.

  I had walked pretty far now, lost in those memories. We had gone so far together. The Rising Red Feather Guild, the newspaper had written. Now the paper was selling a different story. Even after going so far I still had heard that Red Feather wasn’t doing well. Three members had quit after I was tossed out, and they were struggling to find an Artificer who could work with them to maintain the gear I had made. Some of those pieces were great works, combining alchemy with the spell runes. But even powerful magical items need maintenance.

  There was a shriek from the side as a small green figure leapt out from a bush. However, it was easy to snatch out of the air, gripping it by its neck. I didn’t need magic to deal with a simple Tier Zero rabid Goblin, and with a flex of my fingers I felt the neck snap. I was about to toss it when I had a thought. “Am I that desperate?” I mumbled as I looked at the Goblin in my hand, and then sighed. I took out a knife, carving into its chest and retrieving the magic stone.

  Magic stones were something every living thing that had mana had, even people. It was what allowed someone to use magic. I had been quite disturbed at first when I was young and found out I had a rock inside my chest. Now that I could use magic, it was actually comforting. They don’t ever change in size, but they become denser as the owner becomes stronger. In most things it was inside of the heart. Impossible to remove without killing whatever it was attached to.

  I tossed the corpse to the side as I cleaned off the stone. Desperation. I had done this so much when I was more focused on doing quests, but it still did not appeal to me. With a sigh, I popped the magic stone into my mouth and bit down. There was an immediate rush into my body, and I focused the strange power towards my gauntlet. Magic silver wasn’t the only thing that an Archanist could use; magic stones worked, too. Though the return was bad.

  This was a technique that I had come up with to get a bit more out of a stone. By consuming the magic stone I can capture more of the magical essence in it to fuel my tools. The return wasn’t good, a rabid Goblin was barely worth a hundredth of a tank. But…hunting was something to do while I traveled, and magic stones tasted pretty good. Like a jolly rancher.

  ~

  After a few days, I checked my gauntlets. After consuming hundreds of magic stones, the left gauntlet was empty, but there were two filled vials on the right, and a bit of a third. “Still not enough…” I had refrained from using the last of my magic silver, but I had had to use the magic essence a few times to deal with some Tier Two Hobgoblins. As long as I didn’t use too much, their stones would make up for it. But it was still inefficient to do anything meaningful.

  If I wanted to charge the gauntlets, it would require two vials of magic essence. At least I could use a few low tier spells. I knelt down beside some odd markings on the ground. “Observation,” I muttered, activating a bit of magic to cast. A figment of a massive beasts paw flickered into view for a moment. I guess Hobgoblins weren’t the worst thing to run into.

  Looking in the direction the figment had gone, I saw a few more tiny flickers as it brushed branches, or moved through bushes. “Troll? No, it looks like it has fur and paws…a fur cloak?” I murmured, trying to guess the figure from the brief glimpses. “Dire wolf maybe?” I had tried to conserve magic essence by using the minimum to cast Observation, but it was too little to get anything substantial.

  A Dire Wolf was Tier Five. A Troll was the same, but without a proper way to burn it it was useless to even try and fight it. Either one would be a difficult battle, but of the two I would prefer a Troll. I could at least outrun a Troll if it got bad.

  Either way, it didn’t matter. We weren’t heading in the same direction. I started to move forward again. It was still concerning to see something that big in this area. While it wasn’t an official route, it was still a direct path from the Hallow Kingdom to the Haven Empire. The direction it was heading…was the official road? That was a week of travel south. I was more confident in my ability to travel through the wilds than to travel the road. I had learned a long time ago that a solo traveler on the road was nothing but a target.

  This world was so full of hostility. Everything wanted to fight me. Was it because I had memories from another world that was far more peaceful, or was that just my luck? I felt it was just my luck. In both lives I had never been lucky. To think that I would be continually abandoned in this life, too.

  It suddenly occurred to me that it was quiet. Forests should be noisy, but all the background sound had stopped. My pace slowed as I tried to get a better feel for the flow of mana in the air. This was something that didn’t require me to spend magical essence, thankfully. However, the presence that I felt made me feel anything but thankful.

  As I moved slowly towards a tree, the intense feeling pressed towards me from my left. Looking over I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise. It was a Gnoll. I would have preferred a Dire Wolf. Gnolls were huge dog-like hyena things that were smart and could use weapons, ranging from Tier Two all the way up to above Tier Ten. And judging from the pressure and the fact it was alone, it was most likely a higher tier.

  This Gnoll was staring right at me, and I subconsciously stopped walking. It was massive. I wasn’t particularly short, but this thing towered several feet over me. It was wearing an extremely oversized cloak, even for it, which appeared to be that of a Dire Bear, a Tier Six. It was also filthy and completely caked in blood and mud. At its side was an axe with a battered blade probably larger than half my body. Probably shouldn’t be thinking about halves, judging from the blood on that blade.

  A Gnoll shouldn’t even be around here so I hadn’t even considered it as an option. They never came this far north, as far as I knew, living in the plains as nomads. It would take a month or two just to walk to the fringe territory to maybe see one. But here was one, so far from home. That was bad.

  To make things worse, it was glaring at me. And to make worse matters worse, it hefted the axe and began to charge. Turning my body slightly, I had to burn all the magic essence I had to charge my gauntlets. As the blade came down, I shot a right hook, causing it to be knocked off course and bury into the ground beside me. I followed up with a left straight jab to its forearm, trying to get it to release the axe.

  It mostly worked, as it let go of the weapon, though it responded with a strike of its own that sent me tumbling backwards. As I struggled to get up, my head spinning, I did my best to keep my focus on the Gnoll, who seemed rather unfazed as it rubbed its wrist. “Fuck…” I muttered as I brushed myself off a bit.

  The Gnoll glared at me some more before pulling its axe free, only to see that my blow had completely warped and cracked the blade. It stood there a moment, staring at it. Then it looked over at me, and at my gauntlets, which were still crackling with mana for the time being. It growled.

  I think that one of my ribs cracked from that blow. They tossed the axe away in frustration and began to approach. As they moved forward, their size began to become more apparent to me. I raised my fists up, gauntlets sparking in their powered form. With a massive swing of its arm, I felt the whole world slow down as the pressure of an entire mountain was about to strike me. And even though I moved my gauntlets to block, I still slid several feet to the side from impact.

  It looked surprised that I was still standing. And to be honest, so was I. I had to thank past me for the thousands of gold that I wasted on my making and upgrading these gauntlets. Truly they were a masterpiece that could rival the most powerful items in the world. Maybe I was gloating too much. Even though I had blocked it, I could feel my arms going numb.

  But I wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste. Even a slight distraction like this could be leveraged. I struck forward and upwards, about where its stomach should be, and was met with what felt like I struck a city wall with my bare hands. However I got the reaction that I wanted, which was it doubling over slightly and lowering its head.

  Right hook to the jaw. Two jabs to the stomach. The other side of the jaw with a left hook. Every time it tried to defend a new area, I struck a different one. It tried to throw out its own attacks, and I barely managed to deflect them. I felt my arm fracture just from blocking a particularly hard blow and it followed up with a kick to my chest that sent me reeling backwards.

  My vision went white for a moment as I staggered. When my vision returned, I saw it rubbing its jaw, but it showed no other sign of discomfort. “Oh…guess that hardly did anything…” I muttered. There was a burning feeling in my arm and chest that was difficult to ignore, but I couldn’t focus on it. The sparks of mana from my gauntlets faded as the enhancement came to an end.

  It continued to rub its jaw as it eyed me, now a bit more wary. With my arms up, the sleeves of my coat dropped, both showing off the full view of my gauntlets and armored forearms to my opponent, and giving me a view of the vials. I had a third of a vial of magical essence, and a quarter of magic silver. The density of the magical essence had been a bit higher than I expected, or maybe the last tinkering of the gauntlets last year had increased their efficiency. I would need to test that later.

  The Gnoll rubbed its stomach, and I saw its eye twitch at the touch. A wince was a good sign, however small. I had injured it, even if only a little. The question now was how do I beat it. I had enough mana that I could activate my gauntlets once, but that would burn almost my entire mana reserves. That would be really bad and have some nasty consequences, it could even cause me to pass out.

  But I knew I would have to gamble.

  Setting my feet, I ran at it. The Gnoll was a bit caught off guard, not being used to being charged, it got into a low stance and prepared for another engagement. It swiped at me, but rather than blocking, I ducked down and dove between its legs. My hand shot up, and I grabbed hold of its tail. I heard it yipe, and when it spun around to confront me I held on.

  I activated my gauntlets as I was whipped round by its tail and struck it in the back of the knee. I was now in its cloak, which smelled even worse than I could imagine, causing my stomach to churn. “Do you not know what a bath is?” I managed to say, doing my best not to empty my stomach. But now that I was in the cloak I could properly see its body. I placed my foot on the back of its knee to make it difficult for it to stand up and delivered a harsh blow to its back, right in the lower ribs.

  The noise of air escaping its lungs caused me to smile a bit as I delivered another strike, followed by another, not giving it a chance to inhale. With my fourth blow, I heard the crack. At that point it swung its arm around and its elbow connected with my side, winding me as well and shot me out from its cloak at surprising speed.

  I bounced. I actually bounced as I was knocked away. I didn’t think I could bounce like that, but I ended up bouncing three times before hitting a tree. Again my vision went white and I had to try extremely hard to keep from passing out. My head was throbbing and I could feel my body burning. Part of that was from the blow, but most of it was from the mana burn.

  But I managed to struggle to my feet before my vision had even completely returned. Looking over at the Gnoll, it was trying desperately to breathe, coughing up blood from what I guessed was a punctured lung. I wasn’t going to give it a chance. I moved over to it as quickly as I could and got on top of it, striking at its face. Repeatedly. It put up its arms, trying to cover its face, but I just struck them as well. I only had a few more seconds left of empowered gauntlets and I needed to make the most of it. Eventually, the sparking went out and I was simply punching with my own strength.

  The Gnoll rolled, flinging me off to the side. I scrambled to get up, ready to start again, but I stopped. It was curled up, desperately trying to breathe, and whimpering in pain. I looked at my gauntlet again. I had enough magic silver for a Tier Two spell that could kill it. Staggering a bit, I made my way to it.

  “An ice spike should do it,” I rasped, trying to get stable on my footing and breath. It whimpered in response to the sound of my voice, curling up more and covering its head with one arm, the other arm appeared to be too broken to move properly.

  My breathing was heavy from the exertion of the fight. I had not fought that hard in years. And as I stood over the Gnoll, I knew the only reason I won was because I was trained how to punch above my tier, and the sorry state it had been in.

  Raising my hand, I looked at the thing on the ground. It was in a pathetic state, barely breathing. I sighed, closing my eyes a moment before opening them again. But still I just stood there, watching it shiver on the ground and listening to it whimper. I could see nothing of the beast that I had just fought.

  “Fuck.” I sighed again, and looked off to the west. “Stabilize,” I muttered, and saw out of the corner of my eye as its breathing became a bit more steady. I turned away and began walking. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tried not to think about what I had just done as the whimpering faded into the distance. Why had my sympathy chosen that time to rear its head? “That thing’s stone probably could have filled an entire vial…”

  But just…hearing it whimper and look so unfortunate, I just felt bad for it. I took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. It just looked like a big sad dog. I always liked dogs. Though having dogs as pets was pretty rare in this world, usually only reserved for the middle class or certain professions. Honestly I wish I was a tamer, that way I could have some fluffy companions.

  I threw up after covering some distance. The mixture of intense exertion, the massive mana drain and being so low on mana, mixed with that awful stench that clung to me was too much. The migraine from having no mana hurt almost as much as some of the blows I took from that Gnoll. “Gods…why…why me? What did I do to deserve this, huh?”

  Before I continued walking, I looked down at the knuckles of my gauntlets, noticing how they had deformed slightly. That was going to take a lot of money to fix. Reaching into my coat, I pulled out a healing potion and drank it slowly. I wish that it was more like the ones in stories, where it would immediately heal all wounds. But these just helped speed up natural healing. Rather than weeks, it was only going to take a day or two to heal.

  “Fuck my arms hurt…”

  ~

  The next day I happened across a river. That was some good luck at least. As I stripped and began to wash I checked to see how the healing process was going. My forearms and knuckles were still bruised. That Gnoll must have had some sort of defensive magic that caused damage to attackers. A rebound? Or a heavy body skill? There were so many possibilities.

  I hadn’t checked over myself after the fight because I just wanted to get away from the Gnoll and didn’t want to spend the time. I was covered in bruises. I couldn’t remember when I was in such rough shape. Maybe when I was hit by a car in my last life… But not this life. Even with my near eight years of adventuring… “I wonder what tier it was… definitely at least Tier Six. If it had been what killed the Dire Bear it was wearing.”

  As I washed up and cleaned my clothes, I kept thinking about the fight. I felt really proud of myself. I had boasted about being a Tier Six adventurer, and how it wasn’t just for show, but to actually be able to follow through with it running on fumes… Maybe my earlier estimation of myself was off? Maybe I qualify as a Tier Seven or Eight now? Well, I could not do that again. At least right now. Hopefully, whatever location I went to next actually has some supplies.

  Magical silver would be the best, but at this point I would make due with magic stones. I still had over a week of travel just to get into the Empire, let alone find a town. I sighed, pulling out a bit of rations and began enjoying a bit of breakfast while I continued to think about the fight.

  Using a bit of magic, I dried myself and my clothes. I had fought Gnolls before, but that one was different. First of all, it was solo. While I had heard of that happening, that was only for exceptionally powerful ones. Maybe it was a stray? A Gnoll that was kicked out of its pack.

  Abandoned.

  I quickly shook my head, a heavy sigh left me as I dressed again, pulling my gauntlets back on last. “Well, not like I can do anything. It’s gone.” I left the river, smoothing out my clothes before beginning to walk again. “With how tough it is, it should have survived easily.” Shaking my head, I tried to clear my mind of that Gnoll.

  I had a lot more walking to do through some apparently really dangerous territory. No time to worry about some weird solo Gnoll.

  ~

  Several days passed rather uneventfully, aside from the dozens of Tier Zero’s and Tier One’s. Nothing higher appeared. It was nice to slowly build back essence, even if it wasn’t much, anything was better than nothing. A full vial at least lets me have some room to cast some spells. And I was almost back to full mana.

  Mana was an interesting thing. It was like an internal energy source, a battery that slowly recharged. Meditation and sleep helped you regain it faster, but it could still take a few days to regain it all. It was also comforting to just let it flow through the body, but that burned it. Though if the balance was right you could regain it just as fast as you used it.

  Walking had gotten so boring, and the occasional encounter did nothing to alleviate that. So I was mentally going through design plans. The massive influx of knowledge when I got the Archanist profession still overwhelmed me after so long. I had to parse it into pieces in order to not have my head explode. And every time I advanced my profession, there was more knowledge shoved into my head. It’s a weird experience.

  Advancing a profession is thankfully pretty easy, you just have to use the skills and abilities you were granted. Unlike many of the stories, you don’t have to fight and kill monsters to, for lack of a better term, level up your profession. It actually makes it really convenient for professions that aren’t fit for combat.

  The problem comes from not being able to quantify an overall level. Using the things that your profession gives you makes you better at them, but the argument could be made that that’s the case with anything. Of course you’re going to get better at something if you do it enough. The difference comes in the fact that things from your profession aren’t learned. It is knowledge that you simply gain and things you are suddenly able to do.

  For example, someone who has never touched a sword before gaining a Swordsman profession suddenly makes them pretty proficient with a blade. Sure, there are people who can reach that level with training, but a profession makes it intuitive, as if it is part of your very being. But it’s all guess work when it comes to details, and you can never be sure of what level something is, or how advanced a skill or ability is.

  There is no status screen of information. No magic cards that show stats, though guild cards are close. No orbs filled with information, but there are some that could show a person's profession. In the end it was just me and all the nonsense in my head. That mythical system never appeared, even though I had hoped. Expecting one of those magical screens to appear was too much to ask for, I guess. I’m a bit bitter about that.

  The world is quite realistic about things, but the professions were a convenient curiosity. They allowed you to do things that defy logic. From what information I had gathered, they are gifts from the Gods. Of course, if this is true, I don’t like them. A good profession can make your life easy, or force you through hell.

  Suddenly I was shaken from my thoughts as I felt a presence. Turning around, much to my dismay, there was that Gnoll. It was staring at me, breathing hard. Had it run all the way here? Was it that upset that I beat it? I should have killed it.

  I was filled with an immense amount of regret, especially as it ran at me. Worse, it looked to be in much better shape than it was last time. No longer covered in dirt and grime, and as I raised my arms up to try and defend myself, I wondered if it had used the same river as I had. Thinking of shapes, just before it barreled into me, I realized that it no longer had its cloak. And that it was female.

  As I hit the ground, it pinned my arms down, apparently having learned quite a harsh lesson from the first encounter. “Oofgh-” was all I managed as air escaped my lungs. As I gasped for breath, I tried not to panic. I wracked my brain to think of what to do.

  But it was on top of me, twice my size, pinning my arms down, and staring down at me. I tensed, closing my eyes. I expected teeth. I expected pain. I expected a crushing force. Expected that embrace of death again. But nothing came. There was the weight of its body, but it was not crushing me. Tentatively, I opened my eyes.

  The Gnoll hovered over me, staring down and breathing heavily. But there was… a lack of bloodlust. I realized that’s why I hadn’t noticed it sooner. Their presence was completely different, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Their aura had been almost suffocating last time, full of hate and anger. Now there was none of that. It mumbled something that I couldn’t hear before its face lowered, its teeth coming towards me.

  Again I expected the feeling of teeth. However, that was not what I got. Instead, what I got was an unfamiliar feeling of a muzzle pressed against my mouth. It took a moment before I realized what was happening. It was a sloppy, exploratory attempt at making out. Its eyes were closed, as it lost itself in its own enjoyment.

  I would have expected a Gnoll to taste like a dog, which was an experience I was familiar with due certain excitable dogs. Anyone with experience with dogs knows that some of them just desperately want to lick the inside of your mouth. But this was far different. She tasted of oddly spiced burnt meat, a metaly tinge of blood, and dirt.

  Needless to say, I was at a complete loss at what to do. In a few moments she had already bitten my lips twice now, but it was really hard to notice the pain considering everything else that was going on. As the adrenaline and fear subsided from the panic of thinking I was about to be torn to shreds, I actually realized as my eyes closed that I was…enjoying it.

  It was clear that this Gnoll knew nothing about kissing, and had only heard or read about it and how to do it. And it was becoming apparent, as I felt teeth for the third time, if I wanted to stop getting bit I was going to have to do something aside from lay there. Again I was thankful for my previous life, as I had not had much experience in this body.

  As I slipped one of my hands free, I placed it lightly on the back of her head and tried to begin guiding her. I didn’t stand a chance to fight it, and I was realizing that I didn’t really want to. “Don’t bite…” I managed to say before I felt the force of her pin increase as she put more of her weight on me.

  “Bite…” she responded with a growl, and I could feel as she purposefully bit my lip, but in a more gentle way. I dug my fingers into her fur in response, which caused her to slowly pull away.

  She was still panting, her breath hot and muggy, smelling the same as her mouth had tasted. I struggled for a moment to free my other hand, watching her gaze go up to my hands. I don’t know what she was expecting me to do, but I slowly removed one of my gauntlets. There was this need in my head to know what her fur felt like. As my fingers plunged into her coarse fur, she leaned into my touch.

  “Want…” she panted before abruptly shoving her mouth against mine once again. However, this time I was on board from the start, and began to work to guide her. There was this feeling of desperation in the way she did it, as if it was more of a need than a want.

  "Yeah..." I mumbled when she briefly broke away again, looking up at her. I was a bit surprised to find myself starting to get into this whole situation rather easily. "Alright." Again I was taken by surprise by her actions as her tongue forced its way into my mouth. I really wondered who had explained all this to her, because they had apparently missed numerous things. She filled my mouth with her tongue, practically trying to shove it down my throat. It took quite a bit of effort to fight her off to a more reasonable level of entry.

  Just as I had managed that, she again caught me off guard as she grabbed the front of my pants and tore them down. I wanted to protest, as they were my only pair, but I was currently trying to fend off the most aggressive invader I had ever had in my mouth.

  It was a rather rough encounter. Ten minutes passed. Twenty minutes. Thirty minutes. Forty minutes. It occurred to me that she was an extremely selfish lover. But after so long she was starting to slow and tire. Her breathing was heavier than ever, but it seemed like she was starting to be unable to catch her breath. I had been enjoying it, but at this rate she was going to tire before I finished, so I had to take the lead a bit.

  When it was all over, she was simply on top of me, holding me down with her body as if she was expecting me to try and get away from her. The leather of her top was uncomfortable against my face, and she completely blocked my vision. I was pinned for several moments, struggling to move anything. I couldn’t even move my fingers since they were pinned in the cords and ropes I had just been using. Eventually, I managed a, “Can’t breathe.”

  In a quick motion she rolled us over. It was a bit too fast for me and I was immediately dizzy from the sudden rush. But now I was laying on top of her. The leather covering her chest was extremely uncomfortable to lay against, like a rough rock. Putting my hands on her I tried to push up a bit only for her to grab my arms. “No.”

  “Easy now. I’m not going anywhere,” I said, looking at her as I took deep breaths, my head was still reeling from what just happened. “This isn’t comfortable,” I explained, giving her leather top a few knocks with my knuckles. It made a noise similar to a metal door. From the noise I wondered if it was actually leather.

  Her grip loosened slightly, but she did not let me go. I did manage to shift into a sitting position on top of her stomach, her sudden roll having untwined our intimacy. I looked around a moment, trying to get a bearing for what was around and what time it was. It was sometime around noon. “Don’t go.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I sighed. Not like I could with the grip she had on me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her tail thumping against the ground. I looked down at the large Gnoll beneath me, who had an extremely pleased expression on her face. I was trying to figure out how to ask the question of ‘why’ but I couldn’t figure out how to phrase it.

  “Strong,” she said as if knowing the question I wanted to ask, and rubbed my arm. “You’ll give me strong pups.” Listening to her voice, it was a bit deep and slightly husky…pleasant.

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I realized what she had just said. I coughed a bit, not having expected that. Was that even possible? Were humans and Gnolls compatible? There were a few creatures that could crossbreed, but that was not a subject I was knowledgeable in. “I see…”

  Her tongue ran over her mouth, licking up her own drool. “No one has ever beaten me.” I was a bit caught off guard at how fluent she was in the common language. “You fight amazingly.” She ran a hand up under my shirt and over my chest. I could feel the odd texture of the pads on her hands, and her claws.

  Honestly I had to admit, “I guess I did… I don’t think anyone has ever complimented me on the way I fight.” Usually I just get criticism for how brutal I can be. Her hand moved around my ribs, exploring my body a bit while her other hand continued to grip my arm.

  She seemed confused at something as she continued to touch. “I would have expected such a strong fighter to be more…”

  “I’m a magic user.” That seemed to cause her even more confusion, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m much stronger compared to other magic users, but that’s because when I was younger they expected me to be a melee combatant, so I was trained like that. It just made my fighting technique a bit strange.”

  Her hands moved to my gauntlet, examining it. Immediately I was worried that she might be annoyed that it wasn’t by my own strength I beat her. “You made this?” I nodded. “Maker?”

  It caught me a bit off guard that she would know the profession category, but it did make sense since monsters got professions, too. This Gnoll was becoming stranger and stranger. I nodded a bit, technically my profession did fall into the Maker category, rather than Magic. “Yes. I’m an Archanist.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Maker’s are weak?”

  A cold laugh escaped me before I managed to stop it. Even monsters thought they were weak. “Some are weak. Others it’s just difficult to be strong. Most people don’t put in the effort.”

  She seemed to think about something for a few moments before she nodded. “Smart, and strong.”

  I shifted a bit to try and get into a more comfortable position. Her hands clamped down on my gauntlet. “Must I say again that I am not going anywhere?” Her grip loosened and eventually she let go. After struggling a moment I managed to remove my pants to examine the mess they were in, as well as myself. They weren’t too badly damaged, but my underwear was in tatters, and I was covered in new bruises. Thankfully I at least had spare undergarments. “These were enchanted, you know? And you tore right through them.”

  “Sorry…” she mumbled as she watched me pull a healing potion out, drink it, and then get material from my coat. I crossed my legs and used her as a table as I began fixing my pants. While they had been enchanted to be stronger, it was not to the degree they could survive any significant force. The basic enchantments were simply to keep them from being torn by branches and thorns as I traveled.

  After a moment she asked, “What is your name?”

  Thankfully it was a really basic enchantment and I could fix it without much difficulty. It was mostly just annoying, and used up some of my very limited supplies. Her eyes never left me as she watched me work. I had been watched plenty of times, but the way she was watching made me feel a bit weird.

  And that was a difficult question. “I don’t have one. People call me Archanist, or-” I hesitated, thinking about the name that the people I thought cared about me called me. “Or Arc.”

  “Arc…” she said softly.

  “What about you? What should I call you?” I asked after a moment.

  It took her a bit to respond, but eventually she said, “I am Shuzshu.” I simply nodded.

  After a few more minutes I checked my work, examining the pants. “Done,” I said with a nod. Putting them on after a new pair of underwear made me feel a bit more comfortable now that I wasn’t half nude.

  I watched as she ran a hand over the repaired pants, a curious expression on her face. “Magic?”

  “A bit. It has a basic enchantment,” I explained. The most basic of enchantments could use the magic in the air to keep them active. The problem was materials.

  Her brow furrowed again, apparently that was her thinking face. As I was looking at her I found myself thinking that she was quite adorable when she wasn’t caked in filth and trying to murder me. I shivered at the thought.

  “So, now what?” I asked, looked over at my other gauntlet, the one I had taken off. It was out of reach, but I was concerned that attempting to get down from her would cause some sort of reaction.

  “Pups,” was her only response.

  Now it was my turn to furrow my brow. “No, I don’t mean that. I know how that part works. I meant what are you going to do now? Are you going to drag me off somewhere?”

  She stared at me, blinking. Clearly she had not thought about that part.

  A sigh escaped me and I shook my head. “Alright, well… I guess we have a few options.” I turned a bit to face her. “First option is we just…go our separate ways.”

  “No.”

  “Right, didn’t think you’d want that option either. And I… uh… yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Second option is you come with me, or I go with you. I’m a bit hesitant about either of those.”

  Again her brow furrowed and she thought about it for a few minutes. I let her think about it. “Where…are you going?”

  “I’m heading to the Haven Empire.” It was interesting to watch her expressions. “I need materials, and money to buy said materials. Unfortunately the best way to do that is doing jobs for an Adventurers guild.”

  She frowned. “Adventurers are dangerous.”

  I nodded. “Yes, which would make it difficult for you to follow me, but there are ways to get around that. The other is I go with you, which I have no idea what that would even look like.”

  The frown on her face deepened and she looked away from me for the first time in a while. “I have nowhere to go.”

  So my thought had been correct. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. “Then you’ll just have to come with me,” I said as I stood up, stepping down off of her. She didn’t try to stop me this time. I picked up my gauntlet, putting it back on and flexing my fingers a few times.

  She didn’t move.

  I looked at her a moment before taking a few steps. Still she didn’t move. I stopped and looked back at her. “Well? Are you coming?”

  “You would take me?” she asked softly.

  Now it was my turn to frown. “What sort of question is that? It’s not my decision anymore if you follow me, I already said that you could.”

  She looked at me for a moment before rolling over and getting up.

  “Sheesh.” I shook my head, chuckling a bit. “You try to kill me, chase after me for days, get extremely intimate with me, and now you’re suddenly shy? What a silly Gnoll.” She came over to me as I spoke, her head down. I looked at her for a moment before sighing and reaching up, rubbing the side of her face. She leaned into my touch and I saw her tail begin to wag. “Big silly Gnoll.”

  “I am not silly,” she protested.

  “No?” I smirked a bit and began scratching under her chin, and she pressed down into my hand. I kept slowly pulling back until her head was low enough to be level with mine. Her eyes were closed, lost in the feeling of my fingers. I gave her a soft tap on the nose before I turned away.

  She made a “Hauw?” noise at me, but I was already walking away.