The encounter with Darkness had not been what Theodore expected. At least, not that night. The crusader had remained in her role as an impeccable noble. Furthermore, the conversation didn't go beyond trivialities, but it was to be expected, as he was just meeting her; so, he made no comment and simply conversed normally.
At least until, finally, the alcohol defeated Chris. The "thief" ended up babbling incoherencies, forcing Darkness to carry her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"I am sorry our meeting ends like this, Theo. But I have to take Chris to her room" - Darkness said simply, as if she weren't carrying her drunk friend on her shoulders. - "Chris tends to overdo it when she's celebrating something."
Theo could only nod and watch them leave, left alone with his plate of meat and his thoughts. The following days were of a strange calm. Chris, after recovering from her hangover, informed him that she would be busy with some pending matters, so he wouldn't be able to see her for a while. Besides, it was a good time for him to fly solo.
"You're quite the adventurer now, Theo. A real one" - she had told him with a pat on the back. - "Just don't go looking for dragons yet and you'll be fine."
Theo took advantage of that time. He didn't return to the hills to hunt, but he didn't sit idly by. He dedicated himself to polishing his skills, especially Flee. For a thief, it was the way to escape, but Theo, with his analytical mind, saw it differently. If he could increase his speed explosively, it wouldn't just serve to run from someone, but toward someone. A tactical sprint. A closing of distance that no enemy would expect from a rookie.
Then, the counter hit zero.
Theo was sitting on the edge of his bed when the blue screen of the System flickered with a new intensity. It was no longer just a static interface; now it vibrated with a dimensional power that made the air in the room feel charged with static electricity.
[System Notice: Training Phase Concluded]
[Dimensional Displacement Rules:]
There is a time dilation between worlds: 1 day in the mission world equals 1 hour in the origin world (Axel). This ratio is constant. Upon completing the objective, you will have 24 hours of free time in the visited world. You may withdraw earlier by remaining immobile and out of combat for 5 minutes.
The transfer of living beings is not permitted. Objects and flora can be transported if they are in the inventory or in direct physical contact (subject to plot importance).
After completing 15 missions, "Dimensional Return" will be unlocked, allowing you to revisit previous worlds.
Theo read every word with a mixture of excitement and caution. The time dilation was a blessing; he could spend weeks away and only a few hours would have passed in Axel. And he was quite happy to know that he could return to worlds already visited. He knew he might grow fond of someone, or see treasures he couldn't collect immediately—so the ability to return certainly caught his attention.
"Fifteen missions... Eh?" - he murmured, adjusting his gloves. - "I have a lot of missions to complete then..."
He opened the Missions tab and the first assignment appeared in golden letters:
[Mission:
Objective: Save Little Red Riding Hood and eliminate the Big Bad Wolf.
Context: The Big Bad Wolf has decided to ignore the rules of the tale and will devour the girl upon their first encounter.
Reward: x1 Gacha Ticket.]
Theo let out a dry laugh. A wolf. Again. It seemed his destiny was tied to large, hungry canines. He stood up, checking his iron sword at his waist and his dual pistols in his inventory. He was ready.
He didn't think he would need to use the dual pistols against the wolf, but who knows; even if it's a fairy tale, it's still a wolf—or a werewolf in this case.
'Accept mission' - he thought.
Then the world distorted. There was no pain, only a sensation of suction in his stomach, as if he were falling upward. The wooden room in Axel dissolved into a whirlwind of silver lights and, in a blink, the smell of pine and dust was replaced by the damp, earthy aroma of an ancestral forest.
Theo landed softly. The landscape was overwhelming. Trees whose crowns were lost in the mist, twisted roots that looked like claws, and a gloom that even the midday sun couldn't fully penetrate. It was a forest much denser and darker than the outskirts of Axel.
He activated Foresight instinctively. His vision adjusted, allowing him to see through the brush and shadows, but the problem wasn't his sight—it was the scale of the place.
"Great..." - Theo said, looking around with a grimace. - "A giant forest, a killer wolf, and a lost girl. And I don't even have a map."
He stood still, trying to listen for any noise, any scream, or the cracking of a branch that would indicate where to start his first dimensional adventure.
Theo sank his boots into the thick carpet of dry leaves, feeling the deathly silence of the forest. It wasn't like the surroundings of Axel, where you could always hear the screech of a hawk or the movement of some monster lying in wait. Here, the air was thick and static, but curiously, he didn't perceive that aura of constant danger that the world of Konosuba had burned into his instincts. For a moment, he allowed himself to be fascinated by the environment: the trees were ancient oaks with trunks so wide a man couldn't wrap his arms around them, and the moss grew with a green so vibrant it seemed unreal.
"It feels... strangely peaceful" - Theo thought, although he didn't lower his guard. - "But I can't get overconfident. It's still a forest in a fantasy world; who knows what's hiding here."
Finding no immediate tracks on the ground, Theo decided to apply the reconnaissance tactics Chris had taught him. He approached a tree with rough bark and, with surprising agility, climbed to one of the highest branches. Once there, he stabilized his breathing and activated Foresight.
The world before his eyes expanded. The blur of the distance became sharp. Far off to the east, he glimpsed smoke from the chimneys of a small European medieval-style village. Turning his head to the north, he saw what he was looking for: a wooden house, isolated in a clearing of the forest.
"There it is" - he whispered to himself. - "I guess that must be the grandmother's house."
He jumped down from the tree in a controlled leap and began running toward the cabin. He maintained a constant pace, a cruising speed that his new stats allowed him to sustain without his lungs burning. As he ran, his mind kept racing. - "I can't let the wolf find Little Red Riding Hood before I do."
The weight of responsibility pressed on his chest more than the physical effort. It was his first mission, and if he couldn't find the wolf before it found Little Red Riding Hood, he would fail the mission; but above all, he didn't want to carry the weight of Red Riding Hood's death on his conscience.
Upon reaching the vicinity of the cabin, he didn't approach. He only used it as a reference point and began searching for tracks in the surrounding area. In the process, he saw deer tracks and rabbit burrows, delighting for a second in the normalcy of the local fauna. There were no giant toads or hideous goblins here.
However, his luck did its job. Between two berry bushes, he found a footprint.
He knelt to examine it. It wasn't the footprint of an ordinary wolf. It was too large, deep, and most disturbingly, the pressure indicated that the creature walked upright, putting more weight on the hind part. Theo used Foresight again, this time to analyze the freshness of the trail. The moisture in the disturbed earth told him the trail was recent.
He followed the footprints cautiously, moving through the shadows of the trees. After a few hundred meters, the forest opened up slightly and then he saw it.
About twenty meters away, silhouetted against the light filtering through the canopy, was the Big Bad Wolf. It wasn't the cartoonish animal from the books. It was a mass of dark, bristling fur, nearly two meters tall, with broad shoulders and claws that looked like butcher knives. It wore no clothes; it was pure wild beast in a vaguely human form.
But what made Theo's blood freeze was what stood next to the monster.
A little girl, who couldn't be more than ten years old, dressed in a red wool hood. She was paralyzed, with a small wicker basket trembling in her hands. The wolf leaned toward her, baring yellowish fangs in what seemed a parody of a smile, while a thread of saliva fell to the ground. The expression of pure terror on the girl's face was something no description could prepare Theo for.
"Shit, I arrived right at the moment of the encounter" - Theo thought, his heart hammering in his ears.
There was no time to devise a plan or ambush the wolf. With a fluid movement, Theo brought his hand to the hilt of his iron sword and activated Flee—not to run away, but to turn his body into a projectile of pure speed.
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I hope you enjoyed the chapter.