Tiff
“A meteor shower signifies the fall of a powerful being...” Tiff’s eyes glinted, “Though it represents something ominous, I don’t really care. Such a great opportunity is hard to come by! In no time at all, this area will be crowded with adventurers. I have to be the first to get the good stuff... who knows, I might walk the path of an adventurer and become a respected noble!”
From the perspective of a young child, those adventurers who passed by the village once in a while wearing their armour were amazing and powerful. The knights nearby were even more more of a big deal.
“If there’s another legendary item...” Tiff’s eyes were shining, and some saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth.
“Don’t those wandering bards always talk about these in their stories? While the heroes are young, they’ll pick up some deity device by chance and thus walk the path of destiny. That’s so cool...” With his reverence towards heroes, Tiff gathered his courage and entered the dense forest.
At this moment, Leylin’s soul seed was in huge trouble.
“Damn it! With this rate of consumption as well as the restrictions on otherworldly power!”
Leylin found himself completely immobile, and his remaining soul force was quickly being depleted by the pressure from the enormous pressure of the world.
“No! A naked soul seed completely bared is just too weak. I need to find a body to rest on!”
Leylin’s soul force was constantly being depleted, and all the items within ten metres entered his sight, but were all denied.
“No living beings! These plants won’t work because they’re too weak. The rocks are alright, but if I can’t find a substitute item...”
Near the end, Leylin’s soul seed finally found an item that he was somewhat satisfied with.
This was a rusty and mottled broken sword that had been buried here for years. It was concealed by the rotten soil, and Leylin’s appearance would allow it to see the light of day once more.
“Soul attachment!”
A thread of dark red luster flashed on the blade of the sword, and Leylin’s soul seed disappeared.
After entering the broken sword, Leylin was delighted to find that the consumption on his end had lessned, though it was still terrifying.
Meanwhile, a feeling of weakness was transmitted from within Leylin’s soul seed.
“Just the movement of my soul used up most of my reserves. At this rate, even with support from my main body, I won’t last even a few days. I need to find a way to replenish it or gather some data...”
With the World of Gods’ powerful wall as an obstruction, the support from Leylin’s body would have to go through the barrier, which meant the consumption was tremendous. Even Leylin’s main body could not last so long.
Once the main body recalled the energy he was providing, the soul seed would automatically be destroyed.
[Beep! Gathering data on air and elemental particles. Attempting to analyse world law. Recalculating physical constants.]
At this moment, the A.I. Chip was constantly scanning the surroundings, sending over the most precious firsthand information back.
“Even the rules are different. With the malicious intent and suppression from worlds like these, I’d be unable to display too exceptional strength even if my main body were to go over. All spell models must be modified.”
Leylin looked solemn. Immediately after, external soul strength immediately sensed the approach of another life form.
“Hm?!”
In the senses of his soul force, the area around him in the forest was rustling. Following which, a boy with a head of fiery-red hair made his way in from the grass.
He wore linen clothing that looked tattered and had traces of being mended, showing that his family situation was not very good.
In his eyes, Leylin saw fear and anticipation.
“Is this an intellectual lifeform of this world? It’s the same as in Beezlebub’s memories and no different from ordinary humans!”
With Beezlebub’s memory database, Leylin was not completely clueless about the World of Gods.
“From his appearance, he should be a child from a village nearby, or... I could make use of him. It’s not bad to gather intel on the lowest level of the social hierarchy and the format of their organisations.”
At this thought, Leylin immediately decided o his actions.
“This should be where the meteor landed... Hic...”
It was already night. The cool moonlight fell through the treetops, and the dark forest was whistling with cold winds. The temperature had evidently fallen quite a bit, and Tiff could not help but wrap his arms around himself.
The fear of the future as well as the dark surroundings in the forest left him fearful.
*Bugu!* *Bugu!*
Two bird calls were heard from the treetops, immediately causing Tiff to jump like a cat that had its tail stepped on. “Who is it! Who’s there!”
The youngster’s sharp voice pierced through the skies, alarming a few black birds.
The sound of flapping wings was heard, followed by dark figures that disappeared into the skies.
“Hah...” Tiff found that his heart was beating as hard as it ever could, to the point that it might even jump out from his throat.
“Mighty goddess of the spring waters, please bless me! Let me complete this expedition and find those hidden treasures! Tiff swears that he will go to your church and make contributions later...”
Tiff’s hands were now clasped together as he prayed. He believed in the goddess of the spring waters, which was the main religion of the village. Though she was a new god and lacked much strength, it was for this reason that she was very generous to her followers, and therefore the prime selection for the peasants in poverty-stricken areas.
After praying, nothing happened, but Tiff was now more courageous.
His hands were shaking slightly as he pushed the grass aside, but his footsteps were firm as he headed to the empty land.
“Nothing... there’s nothing at all other than a huge charred pit!”
After noticing this, Tiff obviously looked disappointed. Unwilling to admit failure, he rummaged through the area, still mumbling, “How can there be nothing? Where’s the legendary weapon? Magic item? Oh gods, even a few golds are enough...”
“Yet another fool ruled by greed!” Leylin’s soul seed watched on and judged disdainfully.
“But I can make use of that!”
With this thought, threads of light shone from the sides of the broken sword, exceptionally obvious in the pitch-black night.
“Damn it! The amount of energy here is enough to use a Morning Star spell in the Magus World, yet it only produces dim rays of light here...”
As he compared the rules of the two worlds as well as the consumption from using spells, Leylin’s heart sunk.
With this consumption, the soul seed would not be able to cause any fatal damage to this lifeform even with Leylin’s main body supporting energy.
“With the reserves of my soul force, I can’t even use the most fundamental Intellectual Lifeform Bewitchment! However, metallic items are still quite valuable here. Especially for a boy full of fantasies, a broken blade can still attract his attention...”
Leylin judged.
As expected, after noticing the light, Tiff’s eyes brightened as he arrived before the broken blade from before.
He expended much effort, pushing aside the soil and rocks and used his filthy hands to run his hands over the blade, allowing it to see the light of day again.
“The rays seemed to have been produced from this sword...” Tiff was rather confident of this, but as he observed the rusted sword as well as the signs of corrosion on the hilt, he was less sure now.
However, even if this broken sword wasn’t any magic arTiffct, it was still very attractive to Tiff.
After all, boys had a passion for weapons from the depths of their heart, especially for boys like Tiff who had many fantasies.
“Mm! Blacksmith Uncle Glan could buy it. This is worth at least three coppers! No, five!”
Tiff held this broken sword in satisfaction, the heaviness making him feel extremely pleased.
The sword with only half its original length was much lighter, but Tiff’s attempts at a few moves still failed.
“Mm! I’ve made my decision. Even if Uncle Glan gives me five coppers, I won’t sell this!”
Tiff nodded surely and kept his spoils well, humming nursery rhymes as he returned near the village.
Of course, the price of exploring on his own was being taught a lesson by his father, and he was also given a stern warning not enter the forest again.
Tiff did not care about this at all. While his ass was smarting with pain, he cleverly kept the spoils from his adventure amongst some firewood. If not, he knew very well that his father would definitely sell off this sword and turn it into a few cups of cheap rum mixed with water, pouring into his stomach and completely disappearing.
This was the key to Tiff’s life as an adventurer! How could it be squandered away so easily? This couldn’t be allowed, even if it was for his father’s sake! The boy made his decision.
With this thought in mind, the boy contentedly entered dreamland while daydreaming about being an adventurer and hero, while the surging darkness in the outside world never once stopped.
“With orders by the mighty oracle, purge this place of heresy!”
At some point, a group of knights had already encircled the village.
Their metallic armour as well as the runes unique to a church was intimidating.
This was the church of a god, and was also the army of the church! It represented a god’s will and was not to be disobeyed!