Otherworld Delinquent - Chapter 26 (Patreon)

Noah bent his working arm to the side pocket of his bag where the quick access health potions were located. Grabbing two, he poured one down Krall’s mouth while Noah swallowed the contents of the other.

The gaping wound around Krall’s throat was quick to heal over, but he could tell his tamed monster was weakened. He had lost too much blood. There was a limit to health potions, after all. However, it granted him enough strength to move his limbs how he wanted to, though they were still sluggish.

Noah walked with haste to a nearby tree, grit his teeth, then slammed his shoulder against the tree at a strange angle in an attempt to pop it back into its socket. As his shoulder impacted the tree, a jolt of pain shot straight into the back of his neck, and into his brain.

It didn’t work. Shit. Noah seethed in pain. But he didn’t have time to properly set it, it was too quiet, and that only meant one thing. A predator had entered the vicinity–somewhere.

Noah took a breath to calm his nerves, then cut his bloodied shirt in multiple strips. Krall clambered back onto his feet as he could sense his master's worries.

Not wanting to stay in the area for a moment longer, Noah ungracefully hoisted himself onto Krall’s lower back, and set off with haste. Noah moved into the shadows of the jungle, and with the remnants of his energy used [Shadowed Presence].

Grabbing hold of his bow and nocking an arrow, Noah tied the bloodied strips of shirt to each arrow, then fired them in the distance in an interval of a few minutes.

Next up was Krall’s footsteps. Noah glanced under his shoulder but surprisingly, his footsteps were light.

It caught Noah off guard, but it seemed like his [Shadowed Presence] Skill not only reduced the audible noise of footsteps, but lightened the load of them as well.

Rare Skills are different, after all. Noah thought.

However, although his steps were lightened, he still left marks. No longer was Krall a little malnourished scampering creature with sharpened teeth. Noah just hoped that if something was tracking him, it was more interested in his smell, rather than the boring disturbed earth that he left in his wake.

He didn’t know if it would work, or if there was even a monster hunting him, but he had to be safe. Noah had personally witnessed humans being hunted far too many times to count during the broadcast of the otherworld. Noah had no desire to be added to that pitifully long list.

Each step caused Noah to groan in pain, but he managed to hold it back somewhat. His mace was slipping from his waste. Reaching round with his working arm, he tightened the jungle vine he had used to secure it round his belt loop. When he looked up, he noticed that they had entered a different area.

Krall stopped as the jungle floor lowered down into a large pit. It was blended perfectly into the surroundings, but as he peered closer, there were two lanterns hanging from each wall.

As they walked down, Noah’s surroundings became clear. The lanterns hang from wood that was hidden by dense leaves and jungle shrubbery.

Stepping down from Krall’s back, Noah used his good arm to move away the enormous grass that had covered almost everything within this pit. A large, round, wooden door entered his sight.

“It’s a village, Krall.” Noah said while Krall bobbed his head up and down. “Before we head in, I need your help buddy.”

Without having to hear the full contents of Noah’s words, his mind transmitted the information he needed to accomplish his task. Grabbing hold of Noah’s arm with both hands, Krall gently swayed it side-to-side, pulled it this way and then, then pushed it back into place with a click.

It took a few minutes of grizzling pain, but finally, feeling returned into his hand as he opened and closed it repeatedly. Sighing in relief, he turned around, and grabbed hold of the door handle. With a push, it opened with a creaky groan.

As the door opened, it roused the dust within the room. Just like his [Shrouded Presence] Skill, the dust was like a cloud that surged toward him. Holding his breath, he waved the dust around until it settled. A spacious, quaint room met his eyes. Lanterns hung around pillars that supported the room from the earth that was above it. There was a large dark wooden table that took up most of the home, it had scattered pieces of paper laid on top–some had also fallen to the floor when the door had opened. There were also chairs to match.

A log burning fireplace lay against the back wall of the room with only a few rotten scrap pieces of wood remaining. To the right, behind an archway, was a double bed that just managed to fit by a hair's breadth.

Noah squinted his eyes as he entered. He approached a lantern just above the bedroom and turned the copper coloured dial. Somehow, it flickered to life. There was no container for oil, and the dial didn’t create a spark, either. Instead, a small rock, smaller than a marble, acted exactly like a little flame would. It also had the appearance to match.

Light stone? With [Objectify] in mind, his guess became clear.

Level ?? - Flame Stone Lantern: A lantern crafted from a Flame Stone. It is able to maintain its energy for years if not used. The Flame Stone is unstable. Caution with handling is advised.

“Same thing,” Noah said under his breath.

Krall poked at a vase that stood on top of a shelf, with a push, it smashed on the floor, scattering its pottery.

“Oi,” Noah spat. Krall raised his shoulders. “Are you a damned cat? Stop touching things, especially the lanterns. I don’t want to die from my pet's stupidity. Go guard outside.”

Krall nodded and lowered his head. He left the home with stilted steps.

Noah made his way to the shelf where Krall had just smashed the vase, laying on top were family portraits. The happy family smiling within the frame were small people. Not because they were young, but they were actually of small stature.

Halflings, hobbits, gnomes? Although they didn’t have pointed ears so the last two were out of the question.

Shaking his head, Noah lifted the lantern off its hook and placed it on the table in the centre of the building. He glanced at all the paper, and low and behold, he couldn’t read a single damned word.

Level 5 - Paper: Paper for writing things on. It is filled with the ancient writings of Ursah. Bring to an [Appraiser] for further examination.

It seemed his Multiversal Polyglot Skill only extended to speech.

Noah pinched his chin in thought. He wondered if any of the survivors had the appraiser Skill. No doubt some of them studied until their hands cramped, and their heads threatened to explode. Ever since he decided to volunteer himself to this world, he lost interest in anything academic. Hence why he had failed a couple years. Unless it had something to do with the otherworld, or multiverse, he had no interest.

Regardless, he didn’t have many opportunities to study, even if he wanted to. No, he was forced to stalk the streets for his next meal, or visit underfunded food shelters. Thinking about the food there, he trembled. He’d rather eat raw monster meat than suffer through that again.

Well, the papers were a second reason to pop his head into Declan’s camp. The first being trade, or thievery. Smirking at the thought, Noah began stuffing the papers into his bag–all of them. There was nothing more annoying than missing a piece of the puzzle, something he had also figured out from the orphanage.

As Noah approached the end of the papers, a picture poked out from under the sea of white. Pulling it free, it was a map.

Green filled up most of the map on the bottom right, but further than that to the left, lay a wide expanse of desert. Near the top of the map, where it was cut off, there were two towers that presumably linked another landmass. Then, fractured off the mainland to the east, close to the green area were three small islands, one of them being the largest. A strange mist-like air surrounded them, along with it being circled.

Treasure, or a warning? Noah thought.

Although a thought did come to his mind. What happened to the inhabitants? Noah wondered if they had just got up and left in a rush. Maybe they headed toward that circled island, he thought. But that didn’t make sense.

Noah had heard that loving families would never leave their family pictures behind, not that he had any personal experience with that, anyway.

Perhaps the tutorial–the System, made way for the Otherworlders? Noah mused but in the end, it wasn’t important to him. All that he cared about was that the circled place must have some good loot.

Over the land masses were strange, alien words.

Level ?? -  Map of Narexis: A map of the southern land-mass of Ruaturn. Bring to a [Cartographer] for further examination.

Noah trailed his fingers along the map. The green obviously signified a jungle, which with an educated guess, was where he was currently located. There was absolutely no way that it was all the tutorial, right? Noah shook his head in wonder.

The last world on the broadcast, Ubos, was tiny compared to just this one map alone. Although it was impossible to tell by how much exactly since it was only on paper, and scale existed.

Noah finished by folding it up and placing it in his bag, he would have to get it inspected later on. Whether he could find someone, or get it done at the Hub, he wasn’t sure.

Next up was ransacking the entire building for anything worthy of putting in his bag. He made sure to be quick, this village wasn’t exactly the safest place to be. Although it was camouflaged quite well with its natural surroundings, there was nowhere to defend–or run.

Not able to find anything noteworthy, he finished his search at the bed. He removed the mattress, but all that was under it was a thick layer of dust. Placing it back, it didn’t sit right. One corner was raised.

Frowning, Noah kicked the mattress into place, but the entire frame slammed into the wall behind it. With a crack, a plank in the wall popped loose.

Oh, precious? Noah smirked as he crawled onto the bed. It was quite soft, he noted, before peeling back the wooden plank further. A shiny object reflected the flickering light from behind him, but it was too dark to make out what it was.

Noah reached his hand in the darkness and grabbed hold of the item. it was quite clearly a chain of some sort, but it was smooth, and cold to the touch. Bringing it out, he held the chain to the light.

It was silver, but it held a white tint, however, when it moved, it lost all its colour, and turned almost black. Peering closer at the metallic chain, there were a few cracks within that led to a dubious lifespan.

Level 10 - The Shadowed Chain [Uncommon]: A fractured, unknown chain worn by a deathly shadow of Anchorage. This item is damaged beyond repair. It will break at any time.
| Dex +3, Con +2
| Detection rate is decreased by 5%

Broken? That means it would have been rare quality, and the Stats higher. Noah tutted. It was just his luck. And the fact that it reminded him of when he was dumpster diving just pissed him off even further.

One time Noah had spotted a full, un-opened burger bun wrapper. Only for him to open it and the damned thing didn’t even have a meat patty. Seriously, who ordered a no patty burger? At that point it was just bread and sauce.

He was about to fling the chain to the ground before begrudgingly placed it around his neck. At least the bonus would last for… well, it could break just moving over to the door, so he had no idea.

Noah felt Krall’s feeling of worry as he scampered back into the building, swiftly knocking off more vases as he stared at Noah.

Noah looked into his tamed monster’s eyes as a sinking feeling balled up within his stomach.

“What the hell now?” He groaned.

Level 15 Area Mission added - Restricted Departure: The Garemig has managed to follow your trail into the evacuated Idunean village. Survive for 10 minutes, or defeat the Garemig for a bonus reward. Leaving the mission area will result in mission loss, but no other penalty.
| Reward: Uncommon Class Skill Essence.
| Bonus Reward: Skill Level Upgrade Stone.

The myriad races of the multiverse are closely watching the results of this mission.

To fight–or run? Noah gazed at the incredible bonus reward, before turning his vision to the lanterns. He had a chance, especially against a Garemig he already had knowledge of. A chance was all that he needed.

“Fuck it, why not.” Noah grinned. “Ain’t that right, buddy?”

Krall nodded with a wide smile and slammed his fist into his palm.