"Halt!"
The trio immediately stopped any action, looking towards the direction of the voice.
"Boss! Why did you stop us?"
From the foliage was an armored individual. Akiol assumed he was either a heavily armored damage dealer, or a defender.
"Silence! You brats always give me trouble." The armored person complained.
The five became silent after being scolded, Akiol then relaxed his stance. Since it seemed like the fighting was going to be put on hold.
"I apologize for my subordinates actions." The armored person said lowering his head.
Akiol replied, "Well looks like you're someone who can explain things better than these five."
The five immediately voiced their outrage but were once again silenced from the armored individual.
"I am Shield Shadow, one of the officers of Moon's Shadow."
'Shield Shadow? Does that mean if there was an archer their name would be Arrow Shadow? Or maybe Bow Shadow?' Akiol did not voice his thoughts, instead he questioned. "If you are an officer of your guild why did you stop the fight? Wouldn't officers normally join?"
Shield Shadow then replied, "It was a miscommunication, this area was not the place we claimed, so those idiots over there were fighting for nothing."
The five were shocked, and the three that faced Akiol's sword felt wronged.
"I came here to take them to their proper position, when I saw you fighting."
"Shouldn't I get some sort of reparation for the trouble I went through?" Akiol questioned.
Shield Shadow felt his eye twitch, he stopped this person from being attacked yet he wants something in return? Shouldn't it be the other way around?
"Whatever do you want?" Shield Shadow carefully asked.
"Nothing much, just some information on where I am. I got uh, lost when traveling."
Shield Shadow sighed in relief, just some small information was no big price.
"You're in the middle of the Red Forest, if you head that way you should find the beginner village."
"Thank you then, I will be off."
Without waiting for a response Akiol headed towards the direction Shadow Shield pointed into, he did not want to stay less there be more conflict. Akiol was not confident in fighting everyone and coming out victorious.
"Are we really going to let him go boss?" Asked the order giving warrior.
"You should have seen his skill, not only did he manage to fight three on equal footing, but he managed to hit Die Twice in stealth. I do not wish to get on his bad side. I also hope to invite him into our guild." Shadow Shield replied.
"You wish to invite him into our guild?" Questioned Die Twice, the thief who got caught.
Shadow shield nodded, "His skills are definitely top notch, but can not be compared to some professional players, and those who practice martial arts in real life. He would be a good addition however."
The six continued to walk through the trees, chatting.
As Akiol was walking through the forest he thought of the battle.
'This body is incredibly weak compared to my past life. My weapon is definitely not up to par as well.'
Akiol lifted his hand to tap his nose, when he realized he was still holding the sword. He did not have a sheath and holding a sword constantly could give the wrong message.
'I wonder if I could absorb this?' However when Akiol thought that his body then began to absorb the sword. Panicking Akiol tried to stop it with all his might, but it was no use for the sword had already been absorbed. Akiol, nearly cursing, then got a notification.
<User has absorbed: Steel Sword>
<User has learned new skill: Dispel>
Pulling up the description of [Dispel] he then read:
[Dispel: Allows the user to remove any object they have absorbed]
It was a vague description but Akiol used it anyway, it did nothing however. Akiol frowned at this, how was he supposed to dispel his Steel Sword? When he thought of this his hand warped and the Steel Sword was in his hand.
Baffled at what just happened, Akiol used [Absorb] at the sword and then [Dispel], but once again nothing happened.
Akiol thought of the possibilities, trying one he pictured the Steel Sword and used [Dispel]. His hand warped and the sword appeared.
'So it is similar to my [Form] huh?'
Practicing with the two skills until he was comfortable with using them, he then continued walking.
After two hours of walking he then came to Red Bush Village. It looked like any ordinary village would, with solid dirt roads, houses made of wood and stacked stone. The kind that would be burning had a dragon rampaged in it.
Akiol explored a bit, he soon found the town center, the town was built along a roundabout. With the town hall, various essential shops, and a blacksmith surrounding it.
Just as he was about to enter the town hall an announcement rang.
<System: Congratulations to player Sword Breathing on being the first to leave the beginner village!>
<System: this unlocks the traveling pack and the game will shut down and update within 20 minutes. Please log out as soon as possible.>
'Looks like the first major achievement has been made' Akiol had nothing better to do, so he logged out.
Opening his eyes he saw the underside of the visor on his helmet. Taking the helmet off and putting it away, Akiol the made himself a sandwich. A peanut butter and jelly one. Tasting the sandwich Akiol nodded, it tasted pretty good. In his previous world most of his food consisted of the meat he got from his hunts, cooked on an open fire. It was mostly bland but Akiol never complained. When he visited the Elves forest he got a taste of several fruits, berries, and nuts. A very pleasant experience he looks back on fondly.
Relaxing for a bit Akiol then visited the forums, looking at the players theorizing who Sword Breathing was.
-OrangeBiscuit: I know I saw him before, we was definitely a warrior.
-DependableWaters2213: @OrangeBiscuit anyone can guess his class by his name.
-Zyxfeels: Sword Breathing? Cringe name
-ChargedDirt: @Zyxfeels Your name is no better.
Akiol found several comments amusing. This sort of antagonizing would have gotten you in a fight in his world, perhaps this era of peace made pointless and small conflict more appealing. Akiol searched around for the patch notes but there seemed to be nothing except a few guesses. Shutting his laptop down Akiol decided to sleep. He had played the game for several hours exploring the surroundings he was given. Although the first shutdown had happened quickly, it was reasonable to understand.
It was important not to slack on his personal training too. Making a mental schedule he then fell asleep to get rest.