backstep, swing, roll, swing.
Those were the things I was good at, and for the past few days of me just walking, those skills got tested again and again.
The wolves, the occasional bear, they kept coming, and I kept count. Past five days, the number of single wolves I felled added up to twenty-three, and the singular bears amounted to only seven.
All that managed to gradually bring me up to soul level sixty-seven. The number of times I kept thanking god that leveling up was so easy early game reached triple digits.
With that many levels at my disposal, I brought my Vigor up to twenty-four, my Strength to Thirty to wield the greatsword single-handedly, and my adaptability to twenty-one.
Focusing on these three stats was more beneficial than I would have originally thought. Sure, I knew about invincibility frames, but the strength and Vigor stats were more surprising.
Thanks to strength, I had more power than I knew what to do with, anything I could slice or punch gave way as easily as butter. And with Vigor, I felt better than I ever did before coming here, even if my body was half dead thanks to the hallowing.
Another piece of good news was that the wolves dropped Human effigies, but I only managed to get two from all the ones I killed during my trek through the forest, and I was too lazy to calculate the drop rates, so I dubbed it rare.
I watched from the trees absently, looking at the buildings in the distance. It was a settlement, a small one, you'd hesitate to call it a village.
I took a deep breath. People. Finally.
I went into my inventory and pressed the Human effigy, pulling the count down from three to two. I held the Effigy in my hand for a moment before putting it to my chest and pushing.
It sank into my body after a second, and I drew a breath, an actual, needed breath. I could hear my heart beating in my ears as it worked to pump blood through my body, and I held onto the tree to stop myself from falling to my knees.
"Damn..."
I muttered, blinking rapidly. I looked down at my fingers, staring at the now normal flesh. I felt phenomenal. I could practically feel my muscles tensing with the strength I did not possess a few days ago.
I clenched and unclenched my hand for a moment before straightening up and walking forward.
The sun was high up in the air, so it wasn't like I was walking in at night, looking suspicious as hell.
Soon enough, I walked up to the makeshift fence that was around the settlement, looking at the two guards. Honestly, I didn't know if they were guards or just freshly out of high school looking teenagers holding what looked like M4 grands.
It was weird that they had M4 grands.
As soon as I got close enough to be noticed, they both raised their rifles, and in return, I raised my hands in surrender.
I didn't want to get gunned down here. Sure, I died more than a dozen times just getting here, but still.
"What's your business here, stranger?"
I stared at them from under my hood, resisting the urge to point out how cliché that line was, but I held myself back.
"I'm looking for... People?"
I asked more than answered; I couldn't exactly tell them how I got here.
The two looked at me for a moment, narrowing their eyes in suspicion.
"Why?"
One of them asked, and I rolled my eyes. Why the fuck do you think? There are monsters in the forest. I haven't slept for days.
"For safety."
I answered simply, and the two glanced at each other for a second, having a silent conversation. One of them moved their rifle up slightly, motioning at me for something.
"Take off the hood."
I reached up slowly with one hand, trying not to startle them, and took the hood off. They stared at me for a moment before lowering their rifles.
"You're just a kid... What's your name?"
I felt my eyebrow twitch in annoyance at the kid comment and opened my mouth to answer before pausing. Name... What was my name?
Why didn't I remember my name?
The two were looking at me expectantly, and it was taking me longer than it would for anyone else to say their name. Finally, I took a deep breath and coughed.
"Sorry, dry throat..."
I muttered, trying to buy myself time.
"It's Arthur, Arthur White."
I answered, it was false, of course, that wasn't my name, but it would serve its purposes well for the time being.
The two looked at me weirdly before one of them, the taller one, stepped forward, tilting his head, his eyes trailing down to the sword strapped to my side.
"You're a huntsman in training?"
I blinked, having no idea what he meant by that, like a hunter? Hunting animals for food?
In the end, I shook my head in the negative.
"No?"
I mutted, and his other eyebrow joined the first one.
"You're not? How did you get here on your own then?"
I raised my shoulders in a helpless shrug in response, trial and error, honestly.
"I was trained by my grandfather since I was young. I started traveling when he passed, looking for a place with people, for safety."
He hummed at my answer, nodding slightly in response.
"Sorry to hear that, kid."
I nodded as well and followed him when he turned and waved me over, putting my hands down. The other teen rested the butt of the rifle on the ground and leaned back against the fence, nodding at me as we passed.
"I'm Daniel, by the way, I guard the gates from the Grimm."
I hummed, Grimm, so that's what those monsters were called. I remained silent as the two of us walked before Daniel pointed to the side at one of the buildings.
"That's our blacksmith. If you want him to look over your sword, you can go there. Gramps is rather grumpy, but he doesn't back down from a challenge."
I nodded, looking at the building for a moment before turning back forward.
"The carriage is leaving for the next village over by the end of the month. I'm sure we can find somewhere for you to stay before it leaves if you want to."
I quirked an eyebrow curiously, so they did have a trade route, that was great. Maybe I could follow it to find a city.
"Where does it lead?"
I asked curiously, raising an eyebrow, my eyes glancing around, observing as young men moved along the streets of the village, some carrying logs, some carrying tools, some even carrying buckets, and a few kids ran around, playing with wooden toys.
"Well, that one leaves for the seaside, we get fish from the city there, if you're any good with that sword, you'll be paid as a protection detail, it's not much, but you can buy yourself new clothes once you get there."
I nodded at that answer. That was something to consider, a city that was good.
"By the way, where are we going?"
I asked, leaning to the side to look past him.
"To the inn, you can stay there while you find something to do to earn your keep."
Ah, great... work.