4: First Murder
There was one bit of information that Aidan had completely forgotten about when he went back to traversing the forest. That was making footwear for his poor feet.
It had been about maybe an hour since he started walking towards a random direction of the forest, still having no idea where he was and where to go. What he failed to think about was making shoes for himself as his feet kept getting punctured by the random bits of the forest, where even the blades of grass were becoming a nuisance to deal with.
Thankfully, however, he grew used to using Sense Vibration well enough to figure out that he was completely alone with no other creatures aiming for his neck. His Perception also grew higher, his vision getting better like it kept increasing the quality control on a player. At this point, he might even surpass 20/20 vision and see well in the dark.
Thankfully the night is almost over, seeing the scattered bits of light surfacing from the horizon in the distance between the trees. Even his foot that was injured earlier was starting to recover, all of which he noticed that his health pool had been regenerating back to full health.
But in truth, he kept thinking about the crazy situation that he had somehow been thrown into. His world was destroyed, and he found himself in some other world with powers he can barely understand. He was starting to see how they worked, little by little, but he was still in the dark about everything. What was his purpose for coming here?
Are there others in my position, just somewhere far away? Or was I the only one that got chosen? It doesn’t seem right, considering I was just making deliveries and didn’t really stand out.
Then there was that Spirit Variant in his race that got him to question his sanity even further. Was he dead? Or just half dead? He definitely felt alive, if the shooting pain that sent through his foot was anything to go with. There was also that rush of power that filled him, along with the consequences of using so much mana in one go.
He was definitely alive, but he still had so many questions.
“...I gotta find somebody. Anybody. Shit, what if I can’t speak the same language as them? What then?”
For now, he decided to make up a cover story as to how he ended up in this situation. Thankfully he wasn’t naked so he wouldn’t be a total threat to anybody who managed to spot him. But then concern rose when the idea that he was in the middle of nowhere and no human civilization was around for hundreds of kilometers. That sounded worse than being stuck in the middle of a forest.
But something keened in front of his awareness, grabbing his attention. It was like a nagging feeling kept pulling at him from one direction, forcing him to look onward where he sensed this strange keening. He felt beings over there, alive with vibrations that kept oscillating in rhythm.
The rhythmic beats that the vibrations scattered felt similar to how he walked, with each foot stepping one after another to move forward. He sensed two, or maybe four. Then realized that two feet kept at it at a single pacing, with another two doing their own. There were two people.
He kept closing in on the rhythmic beats of his awareness, becoming louder in his mind the further he approached. He hid behind one of the large trees, large enough to barely hug around, and peered over it to find two people, just as he predicted.
Holy shit, I feel like I’m Goku!
It sounded silly, but who the hell wouldn’t like the idea to sense other’s presences like this? Though it was more like hearing a rhythm, like a simple beat of a drum, but he had a feeling that it could expand further into something more if he practiced more with his newfound skill.
The two people were walking along a beaten path, probably a road made through the use of traveling vehicles, carrying what looked like metal spears in their hands. They wore leather armor with metal covering their shoulders and torsos while wearing helmets that covered everything but their faces.
If he hazarded a guess, they looked like two guards patrolling for their work. Each looked like they wore bored expressions, with one of them even yawning with his hand hovering his mouth, tears bidding in the corner of his eyes.
Guards… maybe they can help me?
First, he went and scanned them to see if he could peer through anything. To his surprise, two notifications dropped when he did so, revealing their identity.
Human, Level 4.
Human, Level 3.
It wasn’t exactly the best way to identify them, but he can at least see their general level. They were higher level than him, which he supposed they must have gained by attacking the monsters here.
He tried to look down at himself to see if anything was amiss, and seeing that he didn’t look like a naked pervert any longer, he quickly made up a plan in his head and forced himself into the open, his arms stretched high into the air with open palms to display no danger.
“Hey! Excuse me!?”
The guards instantly got riled up, grabbing their weapons and pitching them directly at him. Aidan panicked at the sight of those sharp blades aiming for him, but he remained calm and stayed completely still, his hands fully open and out.
“I’m sorry, I’m just lost. Can you please help me? I was attacked by some monsters and I lost all of my things!”
He provided this cover story that was simple to deduce if they looked at his apparel. With nothing to his name except the clothes on his back, they can figure out that he was some dude that had really shitty luck and ended up in a bad situation.
At least, that’s what he hoped they would see him as. However, they still carried their spears threateningly at him, but this time they had a look of confusion in their eyes as they spoke to each other.
It was a mish-mash of sounds and syllables that Aidan had no idea, proving his greatest fear that he was in a place where nobody understood his language, and worse, he can’t understand what they were saying either.
Shit, out of everything, why didn’t I get a skill that helps me learn their language!?
As they kept speaking in low tones to one another, Aidan thought about what to say next, or rather, what to do next as he can’t speak their language. Then an idea occurred in his head.
Wait, words are basically just vibrations of the mouth, right? Maybe I can…
It was a long shot, but there was really nothing else to do other than wait for the guards to finish their speaking. He focused inward, boosting his Sense Vibration to the maximum and expanded his hearing.
He definitely heard vibrations coming from them, and strangely he could somehow pinpoint how those vibrations were shaped, if that was the right word. Each breath they took while they made noises with their mouths became another shape for Aidan to learn, and he had a feeling that his high Intelligence was helping in that matter.
His Intellect was at 6, while his Perception was at 7 thanks to the latest title upgrade. He could pick up each word slowly, then his mind instantly changed it into something else. He felt mana stirring from within him, but they didn’t get expelled like casting a spell. Instead, it was like the mana was helping him figure out each wording with ease.
Finally, after a few moments of careful listening and memorization, he could pinpoint the words they’re saying to each other.
“...Weird. He’s… foreigner?”
“Not much… looks poor…”
He could understand that they were talking about him. Aidan was practically elated as he could understand the words slowly and better than before. Notifications showed in front of him of his efforts.
You have gained a new skill!
Humanoid Tongue (Copper)
You learned how to interpret words spoken by Humanoids. The common tongue is a language spoken by most humans, but Humanoid Tongue is a skill that allows you to understand the languages spoken by different humanoids. The more languages you understand, the better your interpretation of each one becomes.
…..
You have gained a title!
“Translator”
You have learned another language other than your own! The path carries forward not through violence, but with words.
Intellect +1
Wisdom +1
Charisma +2
Fucking. Yes!
Aidan wanted to dance right there and then, excited to have such an incredible skill all because of his broken talent. The "Translator" title was decent as well, putting in points into something that seemed very good to have. Would this make him more good looking now?
However, his hopes dashed when the words that came to his ears weren’t what we expected.
“Hey, why don’t we just kill him there? We can just report that we found an foreign invader. Nobody needs to know.”
“True… and those clothes look mighty fine. We can just strip him and take them for ourselves, then just hide the body somewhere else. But what if he fights back?”
“What is he gonna do? Look at him, he’s unarmed. Plus, we can just pretend we’re helping him or something, then we stab him in the back. It would be easy!”
“Mmh… still…”
Aidan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Did he actually tried to talk to bandits instead of guards? But they even had markings on the metal plates at their left breast, signifying that they came from a force in some city or something.
Then a horrible thought came into his head. He hated this to no end, but it might be possible that these guards aren’t exactly clean.
Fuck me… you gotta be kidding!
The guards stopped speaking, then they approached him, lowering their spears. But now that he knew what they talked about, there was that gleam in one guard’s eyes while the other seemed extremely cautious, his hands tensed on the spear in his hand. The fact that they didn’t put them away when approaching him was also proof that they meant to carry out their plan.
“S-Stay away from me!”
He didn’t know what else to do. Before they could approach any further, Aidan screamed and placed his hands down on the ground, casting Craft and letting his mana flow.
Small spikes of earth jutted out of the ground below, surprising the other guards. However, they managed to side-step in time, dodging the flying spikes that landed on the ground after, the trails of the soil disappearing into tiny clumps behind it.
“He’s onto us!”
“Just fucking stab him, you moron!”
The guard did as his buddy told, picking up his spear and ramming at Aidan, aiming for his torso. Aidan avoided it like the plague, taking back steps away from him, but the other guard followed along by aiming for his leg.
The sharp blade grazed him before he managed to get away, his pants ripped up for more than aesthetics and blood seeping down his leg. The burning wound before turning into an awful ache sent the message to his brain–he was about to die if they continued on like this.
He was about to die, so he had no other choice.
He backed away from the two guards readying for another joint attack, their spears long and capable of reaching the distance. He managed to hit a tree, getting cornered by the two. He put his mana onto the tree, casting Craft and altered the shape.
Branches grew out from the tree behind him, tapering into needle-like points before flying straight towards one of them. The guard looked up with wide eyes before his head became pin-cushioned by the branches, his hands letting go of the spear and letting it fall to the ground with a thud.
“Barryl!” The other guard shouted in dismay, turning to Aidan with a wicked look in his eyes. “You bastard! I’ll kill you!”
Without hesitation, the livid guard rammed the spear through to the tree, with Aidan taking a sidestep away just in time. The guard tried to pull the spear away, but he struggled to get the spear back out as it sunk pretty deeply into the tree’s trunk.
Aidan put his hands onto the spear, directing his attention to the struggling guard and casted Craft. The spear’s butt end sharpened to a point and extended deep into the guard’s stomach, piercing through.
The guard coughed up blood, as more of it stained his leather armor and clothes beneath. It created a puddle under him as Aidan forced the spear to retract itself from the guard, letting him drop to the ground as well.
Aidan stayed there as the second guard struggled to keep the wound closed. He groaned in pain and tried to speak, but words never followed. Eventually he turned limp, his hands falling to the ground with his head lying backwards, his eyes turning distant and pale.
Just like that, the danger passed. Just like that, he killed two people.
It happened so quickly, he had no idea that it just occurred. It all felt like a bad dream, then the realization of what he did dawned on him as the blood continued to flow from the bodies underneath.
He stared at the guard whose head was pierced by the broken branches, and the other laying on the ground in the pool of his own blood.
Aidan breathed frantically before becoming hyperventilated, sweat pouring down his face. His heart hammered viciously against his chest, his hand clutching at the jacket as he heaved for air. He just killed two people.
And to make matters worse, the system decided to reward him for it.
You have slain ‘Human’.
You have slain ‘Human’.
You have gained a decent amount of experience points.
…..
Level Up! From Level 2, you became Level 3!
You have gained 1 Attribute and 3 Stat points!
…..
You have gained a title!
“Kinslayer”
You have taken the life of your fellow kin. Outrageously ruthless! But know that some choices are inevitable…
+2 Might
+1 Toughness
+2 Lifeforce
+1 Vigor
“No, no, no… this can’t be happening.”
Aidan didn’t want this. Who would? All he wanted was to talk to them, to get them to help him find a place to relax and figure stuff out. Now he found himself killing two people who were trying to kill and rob him as his first time experience in this new world.
He knelt down to the ground, his stomach churning like mad before letting loose the contents from within. His eyes watered, his nose burned, and his mouth spat out everything he already barely had.
His mind whirled, the memories of what happened moments ago repeating themselves in his head. He killed two people.
He was a murderer.
“No!”
Aidan pounded the ground, ignoring the pain of his knuckles. He kept pounding the vomit-filled ground, as though punishing the weakness that was holding him still.
Damn it, I had to do it! They were going to kill me! Yeah, maybe I could’ve avoided it or something, but what else could I do? It’s not my fault!
Even still, the way the guard shouted his friend’s name burned itself into his mind. He kept shaking his head, as though doing that would rid himself of the plaguing thoughts that haunted him.
“Hey, you.”
Aidan flinched before standing straight back up, his hands hovering in the air and ready to let loose another Craft. What appeared before him was a figure draped in a black hood and coat, covering their body from view. However, he could peer into the hood to find a female face looking at him in a disturbed manner.
She wore what looked like leather armor underneath the coat, and a blade could be seen attached to her hip. Aidan was about ready to attack again and get the hell out of there, but the lady in front of him raised both her hands in a calming gesture.
“Calm down. I don’t want to fight you. I saw what happened–you had to defend yourself. I also heard what they planned on doing to you. Can you understand me?”
She spoke calmingly, all the while stepping one step at a time behind herself. She was keeping her distance despite knowing what he could do with his magic. His heart was beating so hard that it traveled to his ears, the situation becoming more unsettling as another person joined in the fray of this.
But for once it looked like he didn’t have to fight his way out of this. He wanted to trust her, but his experiences so far proved that it might just lead to another fight.
“Yes, I can,” Aidan said raspily, his throat still burning from the earlier vomit. He cleared his throat. “Can you?”
“I-I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying…”
She spoke carefully, shaking her head. Aidan wondered whether the guards knew what he was talking about, but he supposed they wouldn’t care about a foreigner they planned to kill.
He focused inward, using his understanding of vibrations to affect his body once more. He didn’t need to use Craft or anything like that. All he needed to do was follow the skill ‘Humanoid Tongue’. It felt like an instinct in the back of his mind, a keening like his Sense Vibrations.
All he needed to do was follow the vibrations by using his lips and sounds to re-create the noise the others are speaking. Once he did that, his words flowed through as though someone was guiding him to speak the words.
“Yes, I understand you. Can you understand me?”
He said, feeling weird as though he thought one thing, but he spoke in another way. The woman’s eyes widened, showing bright amber eyes that seem to radiate outward.
“Impressive… do you have Humanoid Tongue? But how did you pick it up so fast?”
Considering that she was asking that question, it was proof that she was there when Aidan grabbed the attention of the guards. If so, why was she so far away? and would she have helped if Aidan asked for it?
There were too many things that didn’t make sense, hence why he still had his hands up ready to cast his spell. He glared at the woman, not willing to divulge information on how he learned another language.
“What do you want?”
The woman seemed to realize his intention, lowering her hands as she glanced over at the two bodies on the ground. She pointed at them.
“I suggest you bury the bodies with your fancy magic. But first, take whatever valuables you can get from them. Trust me, they won’t be missed.”