Another Stupid Isekai

I got up alongside the sun. Tired, because it was hard to go past my worries concerning Blue, and just drift away to the realm of dreams. There was something reassuring in my comeback to the routine of getting up early and heading out for hunting. I felt like I'm in the driver's seat of my life.

I headed outside, packed up everything I needed on the cart, and started pulling, heading to the city center. More or less halfway I passed some hunters, mainly newcomers, heading to the rats' territory.

Everybody was busy getting crystals. Soon the journey to the Uhm's should take place. Part of me couldn't wait, because it meant Blue would be away. I felt like a kid whose parents are gonna leave the house for several days.

Will awaited for me sitting on his cart, next to the device. He was not alone. A giant man with ashy hair and a big smile was standing next to him. This time though, he wasn't naked but had a metal breastplate with some leather peeking from under it. Bare arms with only a pair of bracers on both forearms. Heavy cargo pants, and combat boots.

A morgenstern made fully out of iron was resting on his shoulder. It was a huge weapon, with a head just as big as mine, and spikes pointing in every direction. Even for a man as big as him, and probably upgraded, it was a heavy, two-handed weapon.

- Morning sunshine - said Will as soon as I got closer. - I believe you two know each other.

- Morning. We do. Hi Martin.

- Hi - he said almost blinding me with his perfect white teeth. - I'm surprised you remember my name.

- Yeah. I kinda got burned inside my head, unfortunately, alongside your naked ass. Hard to forget. I need a moment to buy some provisions, and we can head out - I said while leaving the cart to put my hand on the device.

Marting laughed at my words. I went shopping, and after a bit of time, we were on our way, heading to the nest.

- Do you know what you are here for?- I asked the big guy.

- Yes. Crystals, a lot of crystals. You take the class point though. I'm coming to make sure the boss will appear, and for that, I'm getting my share.

- Exactly. Did you have a chance to hunt rats?

- Yes. I did have two opportunities. I got a good amount both times, but William told me there is way more in the nest.

- There is, but I suggest you not try and join us in the frontlines. You will get your share regardless of how much you kill. Especially on the lower floors. You might get yourself killed, so stay at the back, ok?

- Fine by me - he said with a big smile.

He showed this strange happiness the whole way up to rats territory. We had to wait until the others will finish their hunt, so there would be a clear way to the nest. Our waiting spot was pretty far away, but occasionally somebody did spot us.

- They will be very angry tomorrow - stated Martin.

- Why? - I asked.

- I heard that each time after you guys go underground there is no horde coming out the next day. Some declared even they are gonna beat you up for this one day.

- Fuck them - was Will's response.

- Yeah. It's not like I'm stealing from them. The spot doesn't belong to anyone. First come first served. Besides if they come, we can beat them up anytime.

- Yeah, but he can't. Maybe we should at least consider stopping pissing off everybody. Can we sprint fast enough to the whole thing, to avoid the respawn?

- I doubt it, but we can head out now, and ignore their whinings so they will have their spot tomorrow, and everybody will be happy? What do you think William?

- Good idea actually. Let's go.

And we headed out yet again. Few guys tried to stop us, but a brief explanation and a few threats made them back off. Obviously, they were pretty damn angry about it, but I didn't really care. If we would switch places, they probably wouldn't give a shit about us, so I didn't feel bad at all.

To be honest, with each encounter involving groups, I felt less and less sympathy towards them. They were stubborn, uncooperative, and very often plainly dumb. I guess the fact of my 'public enemy' status had a major role in those unpleasant encounters.

I also got this feeling that people didn't really want to work for their own food, and just waited for every opportunity to get easy crystals. Maybe the harsh beginnings here were part of it, but I felt that it's a natural occurrence about anything in life.

You start as a pathetic weakling who knows nothing, and thru struggle, you build yourself up. You get stronger, wiser, more efficient. Why did they think they can skip that part? Did they seriously believe people who went through all of this, are gonna just let them step over their heads? It felt unreasonable to me.

Anyway...

We made it to the nest eventually, and the hunt started. At first, Martin participated at the backline, but the deeper we went, the harder it became for him, especially with our tempo. We really were sprinting thru those tunnels. Slaughtering everything on our way.

Will's ability to summon the sword was amazing. Actually, he could summon any kind of weapon, and it was way more durable than the stuff bought in the device. He could do it once a day, and it lasted until unsummoned. Obviously, for purpose of fighting with the rat boss, he summoned the greatsword.

At the lowest level, I went ahead as a meatshield. I took off my hoodie, strengthened my body with ki, and just lured all the stealthy rats on myself. They barely could do anything to me, which actually impressed Martin a lot. Finally, we made it to the dor with a strange tree symbol.

- Do you think it's the tree Ole was talking about? - Will asked while pointing at it with his weapon.

- Maybe. It looks kinda like a tree, and I also see some resemblance to the device. This could be it.

- That's the thing aliens talked about? - Martin asked, peeking over our heads. - It does vaguely looks like the thing in the city center, but is it important right now? Shouldn't we be pressing forward? You guys have been sprinting so hard until now. Kinda pointless if we don't finish, and keep staring at the door.

I just went inside after his little lecture. The room looked just as before. Throne in the center, and flames burning in the bowls, giving us much-needed light.

Will passed me, as I stopped after few steps. This time it was his fight. I went to the side, and Martin followed. From the shadow emerged the enemy. Rat boss with his curved broadsword.

They clashed almost immediately after, striking sparks with their swords. Enemy emerged as usual from in midswing, but William managed to parry. He tried to counter but was too late. His opponent again vanished, aiming for the blindspot. My hunting partner dodged by jumping and rolling on the ground.

With this, he made some distance, but the boss also lost interest in him and emerged next to me. I parried the strike somehow, and tried to kick him, but missed.

This was enough for Will to come back to the offense. The next time the rat shadow walker emerged, trying to hit me again, he was slashed thru his back by the holy sword. Still, such a wound wasn't enough to kill him.

Although his focus switched to the person that managed to wound him. Another jump to the void, and comeback midswing, aiming for Will's blind spot, but this tactic became too obvious now, and the boss movements got slower.

Crusader turned on his heel, bringing the sword down at an angle just a bit faster, and jammed it deep into the rat's neck. The curved broad sword also reached its destination in the side of my friend. But that was nothing a bunch of healing spells couldn't fix.

- Wow. You guys are really something - said Martin, the moment we finished healing - I never saw anybody move this fast.

He has a big smile on his face.

- You are like robots, just snaping in split seconds. It's really amazing.

- Thanks - was Will's response.

I didn't say anything. We picked up the crystal and finally headed back. Our new recruit kept prising us all the way out. You might think he was fake and tried to secure his spot, to gain more crystals, but for me, it felt genuine. There was something about this guy. He was simple, honest, real.

We've been comrades only for a day, but I just couldn't dislike him. Always smiling, always with a kind word to cheer you up. Something completely different from what I was used to experience.

Upon returning we shared the score evenly. Everybody got 884 stones, and Martin earned also the additional boss crystal. Then we went for a drink to the one and only Velvet Lotus. Since we were going to spend some time together from now on, we needed to get to know each other a bit better.

Will shared his life story, again. Fortunately, he was interrupted by Aisha. She informed us that there will be a meeting next morning to determine the date of departure to Uhm's settlement. With such news, we decided to call it a day and decide what to do next after the talks were done.

Day ended with 472 301 points remaining on my account.

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