"Haa..."
Hein finally let out an exhausted breath, sitting on top of a large bed.
'These couple of months sure have been, though.'
Going from a regular teen who went to the academy each day and during the night supported his father's shop to suddenly leaving the human domain to constantly fight against beasts each day.
—Hiiing!
Taking out his shield, Hein slowly started cleaning it.
Compared to before, his shield was now riddled with scars and cracks.
It was an <E> ranked artifact that had accompanied him for many years.
Yet, it was now reduced in such a sorry state that it could no longer be called a shield.
Perhaps calling it a piece of scrap metal was more accurate at this point.
Still, Hein wasn't disheartened.
They were in the dwarven domain where artifacts lay everywhere.
It was also about time he switched it for a better one. His shield was no longer as useful as it was back in the past.
Opening his mouth, Hein softly muttered.
"Status."
Then, a translucent table appeared before his vision.
===Status===
Name : Hein Kraaijenschot
Rank : D -
Strength : D
Agility : E +
Stamina : D +
Intelligence : D
Mana capacity : D -
Luck : E
Charm : D -
--> Profession :
[Tanker lvl.3]
--> Martial Manual :
[★★★ Iron Body] - Greater realm of mastery.
A martial manual that focuses on reinforcing the bones and muscles of the user. There is nothing exceptional about this art, except that it trains the body to the utmost limit. The user will have the hardest and most durable muscles upon mastering this technique.
--> Skills :
Upon activating, the user will not experience any pain for a set period of time.
Checking his stats, Hein had to admit he was on a whole different level compared to before.
Not only did his stats improve drastically, but so did his martial art proficiency.
This level of progression was not something he had initially anticipated when joining the group.
Instead, he had expected to only reach <D> rank in a couple of more months.
Honestly, this rate of progression was shocking to him.
"Haaa.."
Putting his shield down and taking out his phone, Hein scrolled through his photo album and clicked on the image of his father with his siblings.
"Dad, little ones, how are you doing? I hope you're doing well without me."
Looking at a picture of his father and his siblings, a look of nostalgia appeared on Heins's face.
Never had he been so far away from his family throughout his whole life.
This was the first time in so long that he had been apart from them, and even after four months had passed, he still missed them dearly.
<script>ChapterMid();</script>
Every day, he would look at the picture and remind himself why he was on this trip.
He would also record a small message to share his thoughts if he did not make it.
It was a way for him to cope with the sudden change in his life. Was it perhaps silly? Maybe, but Hein didn't care as this time was sort of therapeutic to him.
Opening his mouth, Hein once again spoke.
"In all honesty, I thought that I was going to pair up with a bunch of weirdos in the trip."
A wry smile appeared on Hein's lips as he thought about his other group members.
"When I first met Smallsnake and Ryan, I thought that they were going to be baggage, but it turns out that the two of them are way smarter than I could ever wish to be. I was too arrogant."
Ryan was a child, and Smallsnake was fairly skinny with a low rank, and although he wasn't entirely wrong about needing to protect them, he only realized further into the journey how useful they were.
Ryan was extremely competent at handling technology, whilst Smallsnake was highly knowledgeable about most beasts and vegetation.
Without them, the trip would've been a lot harder.
"There's also Leopold, heh. That guy, I don't know what to say about him. I took him for a deadbeat drunkard when I first saw him...yet, I couldn't be any more wrong about him. He's sort of becoming a master to me."
It was all thanks to Leopold that he and the others could adapt to the new world riddled with dangers.
Not only that, but he was also the guy who taught him how to hold the shield properly and what to do and not do when fighting a beast.
Without him, he would've probably have died many times over.
"There's also Ava, man; what should I say about her..."
Recalling the first time he met Ava, Hein couldn't say that his first impression of her was that great.
"The first time I tried to speak to her, she could barely formulate any words. I had a hard time talking to her. However, man did she change during these couple of months."
Lowering the phone slightly, an envious and bitter look appeared on Heins's face.
"Not only can she now speak properly, but man, she's strong; her ability to tame multiple beasts at the same time is genuinely overpowered."
Genuine bitterness could be felt in Hein's voice as he spoke.
Ava's ability to tame multiple beasts simultaneously was truly overpowered, and he had witnessed it first-hand when he worked together with her.
"Well, on a good note, she at least works together well with me. "
It was also thanks to that ability, that they found out that they worked well together.
With her beast taming ability and his tanking ability, the two of them could now solo <D> ranked beasts without breaking too much of a sweat.
In fact, they could also probably deal with a <C> ranked beast for a short period of time.
"Ha, Ava aside. You won't believe who the next member is. Her name is Angelica, and she's a demon."
Shaking his head, Hein still couldn't believe it.
A silly smile appeared on his face.
"You won't believe what face I made when I first discovered we were working with a demon. Honestly scared the crap out of me. Ava wasn't any better as she turned white as paper. If not for Ren, we probably would've passed out."
Holding onto his forehead as though he had a headache, Hein let out a bitter laugh.
"Man, I swear. I'd say it took me more than a month to get used to her. She's one scary woman. But, still, I have to admit, she's really strong. Like crazy strong."
Even now, the image of her defeating an <A> ranked individual as though he was nothing was deeply engraved into his mind.
After that day, Hein found a whole new level of respect for her.
"Lastly, there's Ren. Our leader..."
Hein scratched the side of his face.
"How should I start? He's really an enigma to me."
Ren was truly someone who was shrouded with mystery to Hein.
Even after spending four months with him, he couldn't understand him.
"Like, I always wondered, just how did he manage to recruit and bring together so many talented people?"
Wasn't he the same age as him? How in the world was he that resourceful?
"At times he's like this really nice guy that you can get along with just fine, but in other times he can truly be scary."
Hein had witnessed Ren's dark side multiple times these past few months, and whenever he saw it, he couldn't help but want to run away.
Chills would run down his spine.
"Yeah, and I still can't believe that he's the same age as me. Just how did he get so strong?"
Although he rarely moved, Hein was always left speechless by his strength whenever Ren acted.
He was simply way too strong.
His attacks were also scary, and in all honesty, he had no confidence in stopping his attacks.
They were just too fast.
"Will I one day be like that as well?"
Hein wondered out loud to himself.
Though he didn't outright admit it, a tiny part of him wanted to be strong like Ren.
But he knew that this wasn't something that could've been achieved in just a few months.
It probably took Ren a lot of time and dedication to get to where he was.
Ren was a role model for him.
Someone who he should follow closely and learn from.
"Huaam"
As he sat back, Hein suddenly yawned.
Tapping on the screen recording, he once again yawned before muttering.
"I think this is enough for today. I'm too tired. Guess I should get myself some sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Closing the recording and tutting the phone away, Hein's eyelids started to become heavier.
"Au..."
Leaning back on the comfortable bed, Hein slowly closed his eyes.
For the first time in four months, he finally slept peacefully.
***
"One pint of ale, please."
Sitting on a stool, inside of a busy and lively tavern, I looked at the clerk and ordered myself a drink.
This being one of the most generic novels, dwarves acted as generic dwarves did.
In short, they loved alcohol.
Holding onto a white towel, and cleaning a large wooden cup, the clerk eyed me.
Then, smacking the cup below a large wooden barrel, he turned the valve and a brown liquid slowly poured into the cup.
Once the cap was filled, he smacked it on the table.
"'ere yer go"
"Thanks."
Taking the huge pint of ale, I took a small sip.
"Ugh."
Taking a sip of the ale, my face grimaced.
It was a lot more bitter than I had expected.
According to what the clerk lady back at lodging said, the current tavern I was in, was the most popular tavern in Henolur.
Almost everyone in Henolur knew this place.
Furthermore, it was also peak hour at the moment, meaning that it was the busiest time of the day.
This was the perfect place to get as much information as possible.
After all, you speak the most when you were drunk.
"Ugh, I really can't."
Putting the ale down, I forced myself to not make a face.
The ale was way too bitter for me.
"How was your day at work?"
"Ugh, tell me aboot it. All I've been doing today be hit tha hammer until me hands turned numb."
Silently listening to the conversations happening in the tavern, I tried my best to filter out the useless ones.
This was a much harder task than I thought.
The dwarves were just way too loud.
"Good thing we showed those bastards their place."
Suddenly, a certain conversation caught my attention.
Boisterously laughing out loud, and putting his little bulky leg on the table, a drunken dwarf raised his half-finished pint in the air.
"Har,Har,Har, them bloody demons. We sure showed them a good time a week ago. I bet they be still pissing their pants at what we did ta them."
Besides him, another dwarf tugged his clothes and forced him down from the table.
"Shhh, yer nae supposed ta talk aboot it here."
"What be there nae ta talk aboot? everyone here knows that tha demons be planning on attacking us! let them know that we've already won tha first exchange. "
The dwarf disdainfully replied.
"We shou' nae shy away from our achievements."
'Demons?'
My brows furrowed tightly.
Did he just say demons? What was going on?
"Elveal! we're nae supposed ta talk aboot it. It's military order. "
"Pah! fuck that order, i'm—argh!"
Smacking the pint on the table, the dwarf named Elveal once again tried to stand up on the table, however, he, unfortunately, missed a step and crashed against a hooded figure sitting behind him.
—Crash!
Dazed, the dwarf looked at the ceiling of the room.
Getting out of their seats, the two other dwarfs tried to help him up.
"Oy Elveal, be ye okay?"
"ye be too drunk."
"Go away."
Shoving the two other dwarfs away, Elvael, glared at the black figure behind him and gave him a light shove.
"Tha fuck be ye doing?"
"..."
Without looking back, the black hooded figure silently drank his drink.
Completely disregarding the dwarf's presence.
This obviously did not sit well with the dwarf who stomped his foot on the black hooded figure's table and brought his face close to the hooded figure.
"Did ye do that on purpose? did ye nae see that I was here?
"..."
It had to be noted that the hodded figure was definitely not a dwarf.
The figure was twice the dwarf's size.
The scene of the dwarf pushing the hooded figure was just too comical.
"Oy, be ye deaf? did ye nae hear what I said?"
Once again the dwarf pushed the hooded figure.
By now, the whole tavern had quieted down a little bit, and the two companions had long given up on stopping their friend.
It wasn't because they couldn't, but it was because they no longer wanted to be involved with him.
They were currently off duty, therefore they had nothing to defend themselves with.
"Ye still nae listening?"
Elvael once again pushed the hooded figure.
—Plack!
This time, the hooded figure did not standstill.
Smacking his drink down, he turned around and lowered his hood.
"I'm sorry, but can you leave me alone?"
His cold voice caused everyone to feel a chill run down their spines.
"I would like to drink in peace."
For a brief moment, a terrifying pressure bore down on the tavern making it hard for people to breathe.
However, contrary to the other's reactions, mine was the complete opposite.
Opening my eyes wide open, my mouth opened widely.
"Wait, isn't that..."
