This was starting to get tedious...
All the sights had been pretty much the same right throughout, it was nothing but rocks, caves, slopes, crevices...I did recognize some of the spots we'd set up camp in, but this was still starting to feel like a never-ending loop.
My clothes were pretty worn out too, my trousers were a couple of inches shorter than they were before, and my hoodie had a few holes in it. I had sort of lost track of exactly how many days it had been at some point, I think it was somewhere between twenty-one and twenty-three days, but I couldn't be sure.
The monsters I was facing at the moment consisted of mostly Devilbats and Ogres, along with an occasional stray Hobgoblin.
Well, on the bright side, at least my abilities were slowly improving as I pushed their limits while fighting monsters.
I had increased my control over Lightning Boost upto x2.7, I could use five percent Karma for ninety seconds before the internal damage begins, and twenty-five seconds with ten percent Karma. I tried going up to fifteen percent, but it barely lasts five seconds before it starts destroying my body and I have to force it back into the Mana Orb.
"Ugh, give me a break...I can't go half an hour without running into more of you ugly bastards," I sighed, drawing out my dagger as a group of snarling Ogres surrounded me.
I don't need any boosts for these things, I could take them out pretty easily in my normal state. Besides, I can't rely too heavily on my boosts, I need to keep my natural combat skills sharp.
When up against opponents with similar or greater speed, technique and natural instinct become the only remaining variables I can rely on. If my opponent was superior in those factors as well, my chances of winning would be slim to none.
Magic power was great and all, but I can't become too dependent on it, I can't let my technical skills rust or get sloppy.
Anyway, I took down the monsters in a handful of seconds. Even in my normal state, they appeared to be moving in slow motion. Maybe constantly boosting my body had improved my natural strength and speed as well...not to mention that this body is just around seventeen years old at the moment, it was still not done growing and developing.
I kept going, using Lightning Boost to run and move faster. Why hadn't I been doing this from the start?
Sure, it drains my stamina faster than walking, but I'm covering a lot more ground in a lot less time. I guess I hadn't really been thinking too clearly lately.
Well, there's no denying it...the events of that day in Goldway had really shaken me, every now and then I would have flashes of being buried under the pile of Zombies, running out of air as they continuously bit into me, as well as the pools of blood and lifeless, blown apart bodies of the Goldway citizens who died in the explosions...
After everything I'd been through in my previous life, I didn't think anything else could ever rattle me again...guess I was wrong.
I had faced death countless times before, but not like that...that had been a vicious, one-sided bloodbath, an entire nations' worth of people brutally wiped out in a matter of hours, and then the nation itself blown off the map, only for the very people who destroyed it to build their own nation in its place.
It's easy to be indifferent when you simply hear about a large disaster or massacre, but it's not so easy when you were one of the ones who actually went through it.
"Heh, trauma still keeps following me around huh, even in another world. Once I get back, I'm taking a break, for at least...a couple of weeks, maybe a month. Aaand I'm still talking to myself. Great."
...
...
Three days later, I was back to walking.
I had covered plenty of ground over the last three days, but I had also worn myself out a lot more, I was finding myself way too tired at night, and these areas weren't safe enough to let myself fall into a deep sleep, I had to stay half-alert even while resting to avoid being taken out by monsters while I'm asleep.
And it was a lot easier to sleep lightly if I still had some energy left at the end of the day.
Besides...how much further could it be?
At least that's what I had been repeatedly telling myself ever since I passed the halfway mark, but it didn't make the seemingly neverending journey any easier though.
I wonder...have I become a more impatient person lately?
First of all, I've never liked doing boring or tedious things, and I think that goes for everyone, but...these days, I feel like I'm starting to run out of patience a lot faster than I used to.
In the past, I could always power through boring or repetitive situations, thanks to a bunch of stakeout and long-term infiltration missions in my old life.
Then again, I had never gone on a solo month-long journey by foot in the past, so who knows, even my old 'long-term' missions never lasted more than a few weeks, the longest had been a month and a half, after which I began avoiding missions that took longer than a week to complete.
Speaking of amounts of time...how many days have I been walking again?
Was it less than twenty-five? Or more than twenty-five? I really wasn't sure.
Nothing to do but sigh and keep going.
...
...
A few hours later, around mid-evening, I came across a sight that filled me with some seriously extreme joy.
It felt like it had been forever since I'd seen this sight...I never thought it'd ever be something I missed, but seeing it right now was making me hella emotional.
...did I just say hella? Jesus Christ, I'm losing my mind.
Anyway, in case you were wondering, the welcome sight before my eyes was...a group of Goblins.
"No way, I've finally run into Goblins...this means that...I'm almost there! Goblins, you beautiful, gross, adorable, disgusting little bastards...I've missed you!"
I dashed towards them with a grin, slashing all of them in half with a single swing. Yup, just as weak as I remember!
...
...
...
...I should probably get my sanity back in check before I reach the Rustlands.
As nightfall arrived, I decided to sleep outside. For one thing, the caves here were crawling with Goblins, so getting any sleep in there would be impossible, even more so than the caves in the Devilbats' territory.
Plus, my makeshift stone water bottle still had plenty of water in it, so I didn't need to find a water source tonight. It was kinda warm out tonight, with the moon glowing brightly in the sky with a multitude of stars all around it.
I took a swig of water and lay down, staring up the twinkling night sky.
There had been a few days where I'd been unable to find any water...those times had been pretty annoying, and unfortunately my Healing Factor didn't work on a dry throat since it isn't exactly an injury.
...I've probably gotten a bit overly reliant and dependant on my Healing Factor, haven't I?
On another note, I was having pretty much no trouble when it came to food.
Yes, my diet consisted of nothing but a dozen or so fried lizards per day, but they honestly tasted really good. This is a slightly clichéd line, but they kinda tasted like chicken...the texture was different, and it wasn't the exact same taste, but if someone made me eat one of these while blindfolded, I'd probably guess that it was chicken.
I don't easily get sick of food even when eating the same thing over and over for some reason, and while I definitely enjoy eating food that tastes good, I'm perfectly fine with eating something bland so long as it's filling.
Of course, if you hand me a piece of cake and a slice of bread and ask me to choose, I'll choose the cake everytime. I could resist the temptation if I had to, but if not...then heck yeah, I'd give in to the temptation!
I sunk my teeth into the last of the lizards I'd fried and tossed away the bones, before letting out a yawn.
Alright, time to go to sleep.
I shut my eyes and relaxed my body, while keeping my senses alert in case any monsters tried to ambush me.
...
...
The next morning, I continued my long trek back home, my spirits significantly lifted compared to a few days ago.
Now that I was almost there, I began to wonder what everyone else was upto. I had deliberately avoided thinking too much about them so far since I didn't want the events of that day to occupy my thoughts for too long, I needed to keep my mind clear and focus on moving forward.
Most of our group had managed to escape the Zombies, as had a few carts carrying Goldway citizens. They must have all reached the Rustlands about three weeks ago, assuming the Goldway escapees were taken in as refugees.
I had passed by signs of Elemental Magic use every now and then, including claw-like marks that looked like Persia's wind slashes, which filled me with a sense of relief.
I wonder if she, Azyl and Fuo managed to catch up with the carts, or if they went all the way back by foot too. Either way, they had definitely been way ahead of me, all the damage and evidence left behind by their Elemental Magic appeared to be several days old by the time I passed by them.
I wonder how Persia was doing...I really missed her, it had been more or less a month since I...knocked her out with tranquilizer- yeah, she's probably gonna be mad about that.
Heh, but you know what...I was looking forward to it.
As the day went by and nightfall arrived, I decided to call it a night and look for a place to rest.
I had no idea how much distance I had left to cover, and the anticipation was killing me. I was tempted to keep going for a little while longer, but I resisted the urge and- actually, that's a lie...I didn't resist it.
I gave in to the temptation and decided to walk on for a little further.
"Too bad I can't do something about my clothes," I muttered to myself, as I made my way forward.
Yeah...my clothes had really taken a beating over this journey.
My hoodie had gotten more and more ripped up with each passing day, and I had to stop using it about a couple of days ago after it became too torn up to wear. My trousers had practically been reduced to shorts, the lengths of both pant legs stopping around my knees.
There was barely anything left for me to strap my pouches and blades onto, so I used the leftover scraps of my hoodie to fasten them onto my arms and legs.
My hair was starting to get kinda long too, the front had grown about a centimeter past my eyes, so I had been pushing it back to prevent it from getting in the way, as a result of which it was all tangled up and messy.
I mean, it's not like I had a comb or hairbrush on me, after all.
...I probably look really suspicious and creepy, don't I?
I hadn't made much further progress with using Karma, but I didn't really care much about that right now...most of my focus was solely on getting back home.
While occupied by my thoughts, I suddenly realized that I'd been walking for a while...
It was strange that I hadn't run into any Goblins at all, where were they-.
I slowed down and stopped walking as I recognized the area I was in, my eyes widening.
Am I...am I really where I think I am right now?
Is this really...?
Without a second thought, I began sprinting forward, running past several rocks and crevices, and as I turned the corner...
...
...YES!
I was facing a very, very familiar cave entrance...I slowly turned my head across, scanning the area to make sure...yes, that's the clearing where Persia and I usually train and spar with each other!
I felt a wave of emotions welling up inside me...
I-I...I'm really...I'm really back.
"Heh, I-I really seem to be crying a lot, lately, huh? What is with me these days?" I grinned with a slight sniffle, holding back the tears.
I couldn't put into words the exact feelings in me right now...I had been anticipating this moment for the entirety of the past month, or however long it had been, and now that it was finally here...it didn't feel real.
Days upon days of nothing but rocks, caves, monsters, more rocks...seeing a different, familiar sight felt almost wrong.
I began to run, dashing with almost child-like excitement, heading straight for the walls of the Rustlands. It's been too long since I've run along this path...I felt so ecstatic right now!
"Yes...yes...YES!" I howled energetically, jumping in the air as I ran, unable to contain myself.
I didn't care whether anyone saw me, or how embarrassing it was...I was absolutely over the moon. It felt like pure ecstasy was filling my body, overflowing rapidly.
I soon reached the walls, and began to scale them, when I realized what I was doing and stopped.
I shouldn't sneak back in, everyone who knows me, knows that I'm not in the Rustlands right now, heck they might even be assuming that I'm dead.
If I sneak back in, it could lead to problems, the guards keep a record of who enters and exits after all, and my last record would show that I had last exited. It might look suspicious if I show up inside while my record indicates that I was still outside.
In which case...I'll just go through the front gates. It's a good thing I had managed to take my cards before escaping Goldway.
It was pretty late, probably close to or maybe even past midnight, so the gates were already shut. However, the guards were atop the wall, so...
"Hey, down here! Could you please open the gate!" I yelled up, stopping by a section of the wall with the light from an oil lamp glowing atop it.
I saw a head glance down from above and say something, before disappearing again.
A few minutes later, the gates creaked open slightly, and a guard stepped out, eyeing me suspiciously.
Well, I couldn't blame him...I was half-naked, my hair looked crazy, and I probably smelt pretty bad too.
Okay, now that I'm actually seeing another human being after a month of nothing but monsters...I was starting to feel pretty self-conscious.
"Uh, here," I said awkwardly, handing him my cards.
He scanned the Identification Card, and then the Student Adventurer Card, before nodding and letting me in, after opening a notebook and making an entry.
Whew, for a moment I was afraid he wouldn't let me in.
Well, I suppose it isn't that strange for an Adventurer to return with their clothes in tatters.
The streets were pretty empty as usual at this time of night, though I could see lights coming from deeper in the area, around where the bars and stuff were.
I started making my way towards the inn, eager to flop down onto a real bed after days of sleeping on rocks and in caves.
I did want to see Persia, but I'd rather she didn't see, or smell, me in my current state. Besides, it was pretty late already, and I'll have all the time in the world tomorrow.
I reached the inn and took a deep breath before I entered it.
Hope my room hadn't been occupied by someone else, I had only paid a month's worth of rent in advance, and it had definitely been at least a few days longer than that since I left.
As I walked in through the lobby, I saw the manager sitting by the desk, reading a book. He looked up when he heard me come in, his eyes filled with alarm for a moment as he quickly stood up and did a double-take, before he recognized me and calmed down.
"Hey, it's been a while, old man," I said with a grin, stroking the sleeping inn cat's brown fur as it yawned, "I don't suppose the room I was staying in is still available?"
"Oh, Mr Kuro, you're back! This is a pleasant surprise, it has indeed been a while," He smiled in reply, "And yes, no one has stayed in that room since you left...it's all yours."
I caught the key as he tossed it to me.
"Sweet, thanks! Oh, uh...about the rent, I'll take care of it tomorrow-."
"Oh, don't worry about that for the moment. Go get some rest, you look like death, boy! Nearly gave me a heart attack when you walked in."
I thanked him, before excusing myself and heading up the stairs, stopping in front of the door to my room.
...I was really here.
I pushed the key in and twisted it, before pulling down on the handle, slowly opening the door.
It was exactly as I had left it...well, not that I had left anything in it besides a few clothes.
I entered it and shut the door behind me, looking around the small room with a sigh of relief.
"Finally...I'm home."
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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
