“Alright, adventure time!” Kyle said as he walked into the forest at night.
He walked forward, slowly treading through the forest.
“Where are you going?” Theodor asked.
“I have no idea,” Kyle whispered. “I thought you would tell me where to go.”
Kyle could feel Theodor’s annoyance.
“Do I have to do all the thinking for you?” he asked.
“Hey, you’re the one constantly insulting my dwarf brain. Take some responsibility.”
Theodor snorted.
“You need to advance one Stage at the very least. The area outside the Cradles is filled with danger, and while you would still be too weak as a Late Human, you’re at least not helpless.”
“Sure,” Kyle answered. “So, I just find a strong beast, beat the shit out of it, and eat it, right?”
“Yes,” Theodor answered. “You are a dwarf.”
“Half-dwarf,” Kyle corrected.
“A dwarf,” Theodor added with a snort. “There are no halves. You are either a thief or not a thief. What is important is that, as a dwarf, you can grow by eating beasts. You don’t need to consume the expensive materials used for enhancing a normal human’s Ether.”
“You should be relatively close to advancing already since you ate plenty of different things within the last month. Just find something strong and kill it.”
Kyle scratched the back of his head. “Then, I should go somewhere else.”
“Why? Are these beasts here not good enough for you, ungrateful brat?” Theodor asked.
“Why must you always be a rude ass?” Kyle asked. “No, I am switching places because I don’t want to fuck up Samson’s territory. There are many powerful beasts I can’t kill because they are useful to Samson. But the same thing doesn’t apply to other places.”
Theodor snorted. “You care for Samson and his employees so much, but you’re willing to damage someone else’s territory because you don’t know them?”
“Yeah, fuck them,” Kyle said. “I keep to my words, but only when I like the guy. Call me a hypocrite or whatever. I don’t care.”
“You misinterpreted my words,” Theodor answered. “This kind of attitude is a good thing. It makes you somewhat trustworthy but also doesn’t restrict you unnecessarily.”
“This is a world of fierce competition. You have to take from others if you want to be powerful.”
“Yes, yes,” Kyle answered, waving Theodor off. “I just want to smash and eat something. It’s what I’m supposed to do anyway, right?”
“More or less,” Theodor answered.
“Maybe I’ll also stumble upon some amazing ore,” Kyle said with an excited smile. “You taught me quite a lot about forging. With some good ore, I can probably also make some armor.”
“You are wearing one of my self-created robes,” Theodor said. “Are those not good enough for you?”
“They’re not,” Kyle answered. “I want something heavy and strong.”
“Why?” Theodor asked with annoyance. “A heavy armor would only slow you down.”
“Theodor, I have a dwarf brain, remember?” Kyle asked. “You heard what Nervon said. I have to fight all tactical and shit. I’m not good with tactical shit. I just want to smash shit!”
“I’m bound to make a shit-ton of mistakes, and if I don’t have a good armor, one mistake will kill me.”
“I want to be able to withstand a counterattack. I will launch my strike first, but I won’t be able to land a hit against a fast opponent. You saw that fucking archer guy, right? What if I manage to get close to him, start an attack, eat an arrow, but then still finish my attack? I would have an arrow in my body, but he would be turned into a meat slushy.”
“Hm,” Theodor uttered. “You’re fighting like a dwarf.”
“And why are dwarves fighting like that?” Kyle asked.
“Because they’re stupid,” Theodor answered.
“Or because they are taking advantage of their strength,” Kyle said.
Theodor remained silent for a while.
“Golems fight like that,” he said. “Golems make use of their powerful defenses to launch attacks while being attacked themselves.”
“See?” Kyle asked, quickly scurrying past the road leading to Northbound. “Not such a bad idea, is it?”
“Let’s just see how things develop,” Theodor said.
“That’s the spirit!” Kyle said with a wide smile.
Theodor didn’t comment.
Kyle kept walking towards the south.
Samson’s territory was to the north of the city.
Someone else had the territory south of the city, and Kyle had no idea who owned it.
But that didn’t matter.
“Be careful that you don’t break the law too much,” Theodor suddenly commented.
Kyle stopped in shock.
“What? You, the big and evil guy who swore vengeance upon the world, say that I shouldn’t break the law?” he asked.
“I don’t care about the law, foolish inheritor,” Theodor answered. “I care about the people who are enforcing it. While you can fight one guard, you can’t win against a squad of them. They are trained. You’re not.”
“Am I not already a fugitive?” Kyle asked. “You were the one who said that I will soon be executed.”
“Yes, but nobody knows that yet,” Theodor answered. “They will be searching for you and ask you to accompany them. To them, it’s just a search for a witness. They don’t know that you will be executed.”
“Because of that, they will be careful not to injure or kill you while retrieving you.”
“But if you suddenly start killing important beasts and destabilizing the ecosystem, that will change. They will send more guards, and those won’t-”
“Wait!” Kyle suddenly whispered.
“Don’t interrupt me!” Theodor shouted.
“Shut the fuck up and look ahead,” Kyle whispered back.
Theodor looked forward with annoyance. “I don’t see anything that’s important enough to validate an interruption of my teachings.”
“Dude,” Kyle said. “Do you not see that big stone filled with holes?”
“I do. That belongs to a Narvonian Worm. So what?” Theodor asked.
“Yeah, aren’t those strong?” Kyle asked.
“They are, but how are you going to eat all of that?”
Kyle remained silent.
“You have to advance quickly,” Theodor said. “Narvonian Worms are gigantic for their Realm, which means all their Ether is dispersed across their large bodies. Its flesh is as dense in Ether as the flesh of one of the many fire wolves you fought.”
“You don’t have time to eat such a huge corpse.”
“Look for something else.”
Kyle took a deep breath.
Then, he sighed.
“Fine.”