"So…Here's how it all went down.
I wake up in a forest, the lovely sun shining on my face. I'm feeling real good, you know?
Kind of annoyed that I'm out here sitting on the grass, but the character creation clothes come with self-cleaning and self-repair enchantments, so I'm not all that annoyed.
Then, a nice surprise catches my eye. On the road, I see a nice carriage. And when I say nice, I mean real nice.
Black and gold designs, big beautiful stallions at the front. Some random old guy at the front, but it's whatever.
Anyway, I wave my hand and ask for a ride, and the carriage comes to a stop. But then—"
***
"Vrakk tol'shah, kihn! Vessar'tu drah zhun akhul'nar? Ka'reth jhaal akh'nakar!" The coachman shouted angrily, but the one his anger was aimed towards appeared absent-minded.
'Shit, I forgot to turn on auto-translation,' Giuseppe thought, pressing a finger on one of the beads of his Connector.
"—If ye don't move, boy. I'll have me horses ride ye down!" The coachman yelled.
Giuseppe blinked, instantly regretting turning on the translation.
"Who the fuck do you think your talking to, huh?!" He yelled back.
"I warned ye, boy!" The coachman growled.
The whip cracked. The horses charged forward.
Giuseppe easily dashed out of the way, the horses hadn't built up enough speed to have been a threat at all.
The carriage thundered past, the driver laughing like a maniac. He turned his head back to mock Giuseppe.
But his laughter got caught in his throat as a shocked expression took over his face. The scene he expected didn't appear before his eyes; what he saw was the boy climbing on the carriage, grinning like Kha'zul.
"Miss me already?"
Before the coachman could react, Giuseppe lunged forward, his martial arts shoes slamming into the man's chest. He flew off the carriage, crashing and tumbling across the cobblestones.
***
"However…I do not know how to drive a carriage…"
***
Giuseppe stole the driver's seat, snatching up the reins as the horses snorted and fidgeted beneath him. Loud pounding echoed from within the carriage, but he ignored it.
Up ahead, a sprawling mass of tents came into view—likely a trading camp.
He grinned and cracked the whip, trying to copy the way the coachman did it earlier.
Unfortunately, the voice from inside the carriage grew louder and more panicked with every bump in the road.
"What is the meaning of this? Drogo? Drogo!? I demand thou answer me at once, knave! Wherefore dost thou not speak? DROGO!"
Giuseppe rolled his eyes so hard it nearly hurt.
'Oh. My. Fucking. Lord.'
He finally snapped back over his shoulder without missing a beat.
"Would thou shutteth the fuck up!!"
Suddenly—
CRASH!
BOOM!
***
"It appeared I misjudged the distance between myself and those tents.
Or maybe it's because I am simply garbage with horses."
***
The horses crashed into the largest tent, the carriage toppled over as Giuseppe found himself underneath two heavy horses.
Anger bubbled up within his chest, and he gritted his teeth as he lifted the horses off of him.
Shing. Shing.
Shing.
He heard the distinct sound of swords being drawn as he looked around him.
Surrounding him was a mass of armoured men, behind them was a large table that could fit over 20 people.
It appeared to be some sort of party; the aroma of freshly cooked food immediately entered his nostrils, but Giuseppe had no time to appreciate it.
As the fierce glare of the man sitting at the head of the table bore into him.
The man simply stared coldly at Giuseppe before saying to the attendant by his side.
"Vaelen…"
The attendant nodded, and—
***
"I just tried to talk to them, you know. Diplomatically, and all that. But seriously, they acted like savages."
***
"Detain him, this instant!" The attendant ordered.
Giuseppe charged at the knights like a wild beast,
But they were prepared.
Before Giuseppe could react, a swarm of knights were already upon him.
He sent a punch to one of the knight's armoured faces. But the only damage that was done was to his own wrist.
'Holy fuck, what is that thing made of.'
Giuseppe was used to tearing through metal with his bare hands, so this random knight's helmet shouldn't have been any different.
But Giuseppe wasn't given any time to dwell on that. As another knight brought his Warhammer down upon Giuseppe from above.
The knights assumed Giuseppe had no room to move as he was being pinned from all sides by the surrounding knights.
But Giuseppe bent his body to an unnatural degree and sent a kick to the Warhammer Knight's chest, but like the other knight, he didn't move an inch as the kick seemed to only harm Giuseppe's ankle.
But he didn't seem to register the pain as he dashed toward another knight holding a shield and morning star.
This time, Giuseppe didn't try and directly attack the knight. He had a theory he wanted to test.
He grabbed the knight's wrist and twisted it, shockingly easily.
'Looks like I was right...'
The knight dropped his morning star in pain, and Giuseppe grabbed it as he dashed back to the Warhammer knight.
And then—
***
"Aaaand, then I woke up here." Giuseppe finally concluded his story as the rest of the prisoners in his cell clapped. Even a few of the prisoners in the surrounding cells joined in.
Thought most seemed unimpressed. Clearly thinking he was blatantly lying.
"Hahahahaha! Yer' tellin' me you just charged into the royal's camp, and you want me to believe you weren't executed on the spot!?" A haggard looking man said, he stank of alcohol and piss.
"Maybe some of the nobles were just star-struck by my rizz," Giuseppe responded to his cellmate, as if he were genuinely considering the possibility.
Another cellmate turned to Giuseppe with a strange face, "Ye talk weird, lad. And yer even dressed weird. Where ye from?"
"Very far, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." He responded, the other cellmates didn't bother divulging further, they understood the desire to forget about where one came from.
"Well, since we're talkin' 'bout our crimes. I might as well share, too," The alcoholic prisoner announced.
"So, I was at the Tavern, as ye do. Then I realised, I had nothin' to pay me bill. Lucky me, though', because I saw a fancy-dressed man walk in, so I clobbered him! HAHAHA! His guards banged me up pretty good, but I got out of me bill, though, so it's fine by me. Hahahaa!"
The other prisoners laughed. Then, another prisoner spoke up—clearly interested in sharing as well.
"I needed some food for me kiddos, so I sneaked into the room of a noble son and stole his treasures. I'll probably get me hands cut off, but I stole more than enough to live the rest of me days just fine. So I'm not all that bothered." The prisoner said, before continuing with a laugh. "For the rest of me nights with arms, I'll make the most of these lovely fellas." He added with a gesture to his groin.
That got a laugh out of the other prisoners. Even Giuseppe found himself chuckling.
Then, another prisoner spoke up, this one was dressed nicer than the others. In grey robes like those of a priest, he appeared more reserved than the other prisoners.
"W-well, since we are all sharing. I hope you all wouldn't mind if I do as well." He said, rather meekly.
"Not in the slightest, mate." The alcoholic prisoner responded.
"Well, I was a priest at the monastery not far from Veyndral Keep, heh. Every now and then, some of the little boys and girls would catch my eye during my sermons. So, I handpicked a few of them and brought them to my private chambers and… hehe~, Melissa and Darvil were my favourites, you see…" The priest stopped his story midway as he became aware of the silence surrounding him.
The prisoners all looked at him with cold eyes, previously disinterested prisoners in the surrounding cells all walked to the bars.
Slowly—
Thud!... Thud!... Thud!
They banged on the bars of their cells, slowly, like the rhythm of a drum.
The alcoholic prisoner stared at the priest as if he were already dead, "Well, who's taking this one, lads? New kid, how 'bout you?" He asked Giuseppe.
"Gla—" As Giuseppe was about to agree, another voice interjected.
"I will do it," the voice was deep and gravelly, like the growl of a beast.
Giuseppe turned his head and saw a giant mountain of a man, draped in a dark mantle that covered all of his skin.
'How did I not notice him earlier?' Giuseppe thought, slightly alarmed that his senses hadn't picked up on the man.
"My daughter was good friends with Melissa before her disappearance." The man said, his voice turned grave, "Now I know why."
"He's mine."
Without a single sound of protest from the other prisoners. The man stepped toward the cowering priest, who finally appeared to understand what was going to happen.
"P-please. I will do any-" The priest's voice was cut short by the massive hand that carved into his face.
With a single slap from the cloaked man, the priest's brain had stained the walls.
End of Volume 1: Glory Academy
________________________________
Author Note: ;)