Chapter 5: Procuring Food
And so, for now I was walking the way into the village. Although it had been a long time, seeing the village a week ago refreshed quite a bit of knowledge so I didn't get lost.
I walked as I saw the road had some purple blood on it. It was already faded from rains, but it seems someone was quite a good fighter that passed by here.
Anyway, I didn't have much to see, so I continued to the village.
...
After an hour of walking, I noticed that the town had a barricade that reinforced the walls and the gate. Now this was new. The town was annihilated during my previous life, so I didn't such sight.
When I approached closer, a voice shouted at me.
"Stop! Who's there."
I was wearing a handmade trollskin robe that had a hood so maybe they didn't recognize me. Well, it's not like I remember who this guy was though. Well, I needed food so I answered.
"It's me! Lancell! I'm looking for food!"
I don't have money, so for now, I'll check my house, or at least the one I remember, and see if there's any.
For one thing, it's not like I didn't know how to hunt. If possible, I would have already done so, but not now. In the first year of the Great Shift, in other words, now. A mana plague is occurring all around the world. It's already infested all animals, and of eaten by anyone who has mana, the mana in their bodies would rampage, effectively killing the victim in a few days. It was one of the reasons why I still had yet to hunt an animal.
As for now, I wanted to check if there's something similar to food in my house, and check the markets too if I have time.
"Lancell?! You're alive? That's great! When all the monsters suddenly left the village in mid-siege, I heard they were all going to where you were!"
"Can I ask who told you that?"
"It's Lina. She's been absolutely downcast ever since she came back, maybe she thought you were gone. It's a great thing you're back."
He opened the gates as he finished talking.
'Still, Lina didn't tell them about my changes? Even though she seemed so scared.'
In any case, I can now at least search the mar...ket...
I see...
So this is what's left of the village, huh?
So far, all I see were ragtag houses with nothing but wood pieced together to make a makeshift roof. I guess all the carpenters must have died. It was nothing less tragic.
"Lancell!"
As I thinking of what to do, a voice suddenly called out to me from behind me. It was an old playmate of mine, and someone whose name I already forgot.
"Lancell! Is it really you?! Hey! Did you see those black monsters?! I didn't get to see them!"
He was the same age as me, with short curly flaxen hair, green eyes, and most of all, he was annoying. And I still don't remember his name.
"Hm...Who are you again?"
"It's me Rayle! Don't tell me, you forgot about me?! Is it those monsters?!"
"Well, half true."
I wasn't lying. It was because of the monsters, I wasted 20 years of my life.
"Hey Rayle, can I ask how many people survived?"
"Hmm... The last time I checked...27?"
'Hmm... not as much as I thought.'
"Then, does the village have enough food for a month?"
"We don't have any meat, but we have a lot of grains."
'I see...this might be feasible.'
It was indeed going to be a good trade. The people here doesn't even have mana yet, so at least they'll be safe.
I turned and ran towards the outside of the gate as I grabbed a bow near the outpost along with a quiver of arrows.
...
By the time I came back, I was carrying two deers, each one almost twice bigger than me. The people were shocked, but I called out to the guard as he seems to be the leader, and offered.
"Hey! I want to exchange this deers with some grains."
"L-Lancell? What are yo—"
"I said...I want to exchange this deers for some grains."
"But those, did you ste—"
"Last warning, and the last time I'm asking. Will you exchange it, or not?"
The guard panicked when he heard me, but he ignored all the questions in her mind and finally asked.
"How much?"
"Five days worth"
"That's it?"
"That's all I need."
"But you could eat more with that."
"Preserving it is annoying."
I just answered all his questions briefly, and then after a few more questions, we finally made a deal.
...
"Holy Slash!"
I slashed at a variant troll as it was then severed in half. It was two weeks since then, and another two weeks, the plague should die out on its own.
As for the food I acquired, I only ate once a week with a day's portion and replenished myself mostly through mana.
Well, I still had three days of portion left, and it should last for three weeks. All I needed to do now was endure.
I took out the magic core from the variant trolls chest, and put it in a bag I made from their fur. I had 21 magic cores with me overall, and I planned to use them all at the same time to break through Level 28. My levelling had become really slow now, and soon, stronger monsters would start emerging.
I entered the hideout, which was much more spacious than before, as I laid all the magic stones on the ground. I then started absorbing the mana in them as I felt my Levels rise.
Level 22...
Level 23...
Level 24...
Level 25...
Level 26...
And it stopped there.
"Huh?" I was confused as inspected my body. And a small while later, I found out the cause.
It was Arkenvalle.
It was lighting up brightly inside my chest as I knew...
It was Levelling up.
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