The room was small and empty. The air inside was heavy, filled with a faint musty smell. A single candle flickered, casting a yellow glow through the room.
A single bed occupied part of the room. A straw mattress lay on the wooden frame, and it faintly reeked like wet wool.
Mayank sat on the bed, gazing outside the window. The town had grown silent with the night; only faint howls could be heard from beyond the city walls.
Mayank was confused, yet relaxed.
Fragments of memories flowed through his mind.
They weren't his, yet they felt familiar—the memories of the original Edrik.
He had begun to understand them better and had been trying to gather information from those memories for hours now.
'This guy really had a hard life, huh?'
He looked at his hands which were filled with scars here and there, some even as big as his thumb.
There were many things he had learned.
This world was like a classic fantasy realm where humans could use magic and live alongside many different races. People became adventurers and hunted monsters.
And he was no different—he was part of an adventurer party. The town he was in was the westernmost town of the empire—Windshire, a city from which many great adventurers had made their names.
He had also gained information about himself and the other party members, and the reason he felt a strange familiarity toward them was because of these memories.
He was now Edrik Stoneborne, a half-orc, half-human, abandoned by both races. He had later been found by the hero at a slave auction.
"What was the name of that guy again?" He thought about the hero for a few seconds.
"Ah, yes—Arthur Wolfheart!"
Their party consisted of five members:
Arthur, the soon-to-be hero of the world;
Edrik, the brute;
Vesta, the mage;
Cecily, the healer;
and Alden, the archer.
'But why am I the only one getting a separate room when three people can sleep in one?'
He looked around the room seeing how empty it felt.
And he was right—Arthur and Alden shared a room meant for three people.
'Why waste more money… Is it because of this?'
He opened the status window to look through the details properly this time.
[ Status Window ]
[ Tribulation: Rejected by Blood ]
Description: You are a being born of two races, yet rejected and abandoned by your own parents. Both orcs and humans hate you.
"But they didn't seem so bad at first glance… Still, I can't trust them completely."
He scrolled through the blue screen.
[ Unique Ability: Dual Instinct (A-rank) ]
Description: Due to possessing the blood of both races, you can access the abilities of either side—but only one at a time. You can be as strong as an orc or as perceptive and intelligent as a human.
Warning: Please refrain from relying entirely on one side.
"This ability looks pretty good, but what is this god? Is it some kind of religion he follows?"
Mayank tried clicking on the god section to see some details, but nothing happened.
"It doesn't seem like the ones in those system manga or manhwas… It hasn't said or done anything."
He closed the status window and looked out the window for a few seconds, then stood up and shut it.
"Now then, let's rest a bit for tomorrow," he mumbled as he fell onto the straw mattress.
---
The night didn't pass like it usually did—in a blink. Instead, it felt far too long for Mayank.
The straw mattress was too uncomfortable to sleep on, and even when he did fall asleep, he found himself waking up in less than ten minutes.
The lack of sleep left faint dark circles under his eyes, and his steps felt heavy and uneven.
The party ate some food at the inn and then departed.
"Where are we going?" Mayank asked as he yawned.
Vesta, the mage, looked at him in disbelief.
"Didn't you sleep last night?"
She was a woman around twenty-five, with long blonde hair and sharp eyes.
"More like he walked again in his sleep," Alden said with a keen look.
He was a man with bold features and the fiancé of Vesta.
"Hey, don't say mean things to him," Cecily jumped in with a protective look.
She was an elf girl with hair black like silk and eyes as deep as the ocean.
"Now, now—we're here," Arthur said as the party stopped outside a large building.
The board at the entrance read:
'Adventurers Guild'
The building wasn't much different from the others.
Inside, the floor was covered in polished wood. There was a counter in the center where a lady stood talking to a few adventurers.
The place felt lively, filled with different types of people. Some were looking at the notice board for quests, while others sat and chatted.
"You guys can sit there. I'll get us a quest to do today," Arthur said, glancing at everyone once.
The four of them sat around a table, waiting for him.
They chatted about the kinds of quests they wanted to take, but something caught Mayank's interest—two adventurers talking nearby.
"Believe me, I've seen it with my own eyes," one of them whispered.
"You want me to believe something like that was in a low-rank dungeon? And how are you even alive after seeing it?" the other retorted.
"It's because I was using my ability and only scouting. If you help me, we can split the profit in half," he pleaded.
"Bu—"
But before Mayank could hear more, the hero returned.
"Alright, we'll be clearing goblins that are causing a rampage in a nearby village," Arthur said with a serious look.
"What? Goblins again?" Vesta said with disdain.
"Why do we always have to deal with goblins?" Cecily groaned.
"Well, they're easy to handle," Alden joked.
"And we can't leave the villagers like that, can we? Right, Edrik?" Arthur said with a grin.
Mayank didn't respond for a few moments before realizing he was being addressed.
"Ah—oh, yes. Let's clean them up quickly," Mayank replied.
"You okay? You seem a bit… lost today," Alden commented worriedly.
"No, I'm fine," Mayank replied.
"Alright then, let's get going. It'll take us a few hours to reach there," Arthur said with a confident smile.
The party departed for the village.
They took a small carriage driven by Alden.
As the carriage passed through the town's massive gate, the earlier conversation echoed in Mayank's mind.
'No. Right now, I have to focus on protecting this guy.'
He shook his head slightly, trying to clear his thoughts.
To be continued...