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In the room where Arlan first awakened, he stood by his bed five inches taller and admired the afternoon sunny weather. It was the day he’d turned fourteen.

Two peaceful years had flown by fast. Arlan spent that time reading books, playing with the other kids, and secretly training his body in the nearby forest. Arlan had reached his growth spurt as well. His body could withstand using ten percent of his essence now.

Arlan gained quite a bit of knowledge about Althean society, geography and history. Although nothing mentioned anything about his previous life, it confirmed his theory of a separate universe. Arlan learned that the world was inhabited by elves, dwarves, demi-human, and many other races alongside humans. The most intriguing discovery is magic. Magic can be performed by anyone born with mana manipulation. Unfortunately, Arlan had no such ability.

All the other beds were empty. The other older kids had left for Galdo City in the past year. JD was the first to leave, followed by Noah and Chrysta. The day JD left, he made everyone promise to meet back at the orphanage in two years. JD would become a full-fledged squire and they were to show Miss Petrah. So for Arlan, that only gave him a year out in the world.

A familiar lovely lady entered the room the same way she did two years ago. “Arlan, it’s time.” Miss Petrah said with bittersweetness. Arlan grabs a leather backpack filled with some clothes. Miss Petrah escorts the young teen to the front of the Manor. A young soldier with a short spear and iron cuirass was standing with an older gentleman who sported a blue silk tunic. The older gentleman was the first to speak, “You must be Arlan. I’m Ser Trent.” Arlan responds with a bow. It was customary for commoners to greet a noble with a bow.

“Ser Trent, I ask for your guidance to join the Midland Army.”

“I see, you wish to serve in the Midland Army. Say your goodbyes to Miss Petrah and take a seat on the wagon. You have a minute.” commanded Ser Trent to Arlan.

Miss Petrah embraces the young child she helped nurture to this age. Tears begin to slowly descend from her eyes. “Arlan, do be safe out there. I know you’re meant for a greater life. Please pass on my love to the others in Galdo.” said Miss Petrah as she leaned in to kiss Arlan on the head.

“I will. Thank you for everything, Miss Petrah.” replied Arlan as he let go of his motherly caretaker. The young teen climbs the wagon where two others like him were seated. They were from another orphanage. The soldier and Ser Trent had already seated themselves in the front of the wagon.

Arlan already formulated what he was going to do once he had turned fourteen. The first step was to reach Galdo City.

Two horses pulled the wagon forward. This was both heartfelt and exciting for Arlan. He had spent the last two years in this small area. It was time for him to embark on his journey.

Arlan watched as the Manor was slowly getting smaller. He'd miss the orphanage but the former life dictated he had to return to Terra. His memories of his previous life would often visit him in his dreams. Arlan felt he was brought here for a reason.

Nearing a fork in the road, this was as far as Arlan had gone during his last two years. A sign pointing south read Galdo City. The opposite north sign said Tudora. Tudora was a border town to the Swora Oligarchy. The Swora posed the biggest threat to the Midlanders and a war would likely break out soon between the two.

The wagon turned south towards Galdo and began its journey. It would take almost the entire day of riding to reach the city. They’d likely reach Galdo City as the sun was setting. For the first few hours of the ride, it was quiet but the other two orphans started talking and laughing. This didn’t bother the noble and his guard.

The dirt road was flanked by grassy hills. Trees and bushes dotted the mounds. Upon reaching a small river and cobblestone bridge, the wagon came to an abrupt stop. This shook the three orphans. A faint but familiar iron-like aroma hit the wagon. Arlan knew this smell too well.

Blood. Someone was killed nearby.

The hint revealed three mangled human corpses on the bridge. What was worse is that the perpetrators were nowhere to be found. This put Ser Trent and the guard on edge. Ser Trent stated, “Safety of the orphans is our utmost priority. Soldier, check out the bridge.”

Arlan deduced that Ser Trent had no combat experience or abilities. The soldier also seemed young and inexperienced. They were being watched for sure because of Arlan's instincts.

The dark hazel boy jumped off the wagon with his leather pack. As his feet landed, a shabby arrow penetrated and hit Ser Trent in the left shoulder. The other two orphans began to panic. The guard who was nearing the bridge saw this and readied his spear.

“We’re going back!” yelled Ser Trent as he gasped in pain. Arrows from across the river showered the area near the wagon. Although none of the arrows were accurate enough, they still created a danger zone.

A green humanoid creature who stood about four feet tall emerged from the side of the bridge and charged the soldier with a dagger. “Goblins!” screamed the young soldier as he thrust his spear through the goblin’s torso.

Arlan read about goblins but hasn’t seen one until now. There weren’t any of these monsters or creatures on Terra. It was all still strange and alien for Arlan.

Four more goblins emerged from the bushes behind the wagon. They were armed with daggers, hatchets and makeshift spears. “Ser Trent, there are more behind us!” yelled one of the orphans but there was no response. The nobleman had fainted due to blood loss. Arlan reached in his bag and pulled out a small knife he had stolen from the kitchen back at the orphanage.

I’m very familiar with this. This is my natural habitat.

Arlan knew that there were three main threats: the goblins guarding the bridge, the goblin archers across the river and the goblins moving in from the rear. “We need to get out of this ambush!” Arlan shouted to the orphans, “One of you, grab the reins and get the wagon moving! We’ll die here if you don’t!” The shorter of the two orphans grabbed the reins and the wagon started moving forward as the horses started to finally obey.

Arlan shouted to the soldier who was now battling with three goblins, “Soldier! Do what you can to protect the wagon from the front, I’ll defend the rear!” The soldier was taken aback that he was receiving orders from a fourteen-year-old orphan. This was short-lived as two more goblins from over the bridge appeared.

The arrows fired from across the river were too inaccurate to hit a moving target. They were completely ineffective and it was a matter of time before the goblin archers would run out of arrows.

Armed with a knife, Arlan positioned himself at the rear of the wagon. He faced down four goblins with an assortment of melee weapons. Arlan enhanced his body with essence. This increased his speed, strength and stamina tenfold. Arlan released his killing intent and lowered his stance. The four goblins felt death emanating from the young orphan. Hesitation and fear overtook their greed for an easy kill.

Arlan picked up a cherry sized rock and threw it with enhanced strength at his first victim. The pebble knocked the leftmost goblin off balance. The disruption allowed Arlan to close the ten meter gap before the goblin could react. Arlan’s knife then struck downward into the goblin's cranial skull. The goblin turned stiff and fell. The stiff goblin let go of this dagger as he died. Arlan claimed the new weapon before it hit the ground. It was a heftier blade to kill with.

His next move was to lunge to the next goblin with a strike to the center torso. Arlan was cutting into goblin flesh like a hot knife on butter. The momentum encouraged Arlan to strike the two remaining goblins who couldn’t react in time. As the third victim’s body hit the dirt road, the fourth goblin’s head flew. Arlan finished the four in a matter of seconds.

Arlan reached down and grabbed a second weapon, a dull short sword. He now held a short sword in his right hand, and the flat dagger in his left hand. In Arlan’s previous life, he had trained to use multiple different weapons and was extremely proficient in both firearms and bladed weaponry. Although there weren’t any firearms, there was plenty of sharp iron around. Familiar  feelings overtook Arlan’s heart.

Out of nowhere, a robotic female voice announced in Arlan’s mind, “You are now level 2. [Battle Trance] acquired.” Arlan strangely felt familiar with this voice. The new skill gave increased combat awareness and essence vision. His combat awareness not only acted as radar but provided improved fighting instincts. Essence vision allowed him to see and feel essence in everything nearby. Activating [Battle Trance] consumed an extremely minuscule amount of essence.

Level… 2? Like a video game? I feel stronger overall and have access to more of my essence. So in this world, there are two ways to gain essence. Physical training and leveling up by defeating other monsters. With my combat training and massive essence capacity, I could feel it multiplying my fighting capabilities with [Battle Trance].

Arlan was only able to defeat twenty goblins at most before losing his stamina and essence. Now, he could easily take on hundreds. He started turning his attention back on the battle at hand. The wagon neared the soldier who was barely holding his own against three goblins. Ten more goblins appeared from bushes further behind. Arlan knew they had to keep moving forward. Arlan could survive but protecting the wagon would not be possible in its current position. He had to focus on limiting any more casualties on his side.

The soldier was only able to kill two goblins and has started losing stamina against the other three. Arlan sprinted to the front and used his momentum to strike shock and awe from the flank of the three goblins.

This flank allowed the dagger to connect to the first head, then swung his short sword up against the second goblin. This double strike instantly killed both goblins. The last goblin reacted by swinging a hatchet at Arlan.

So you chose death.

The goblin’s hatchet was brought down with such a weak force that it was easily riposted by Arlan’s left hand dagger. This opening left the goblin’s stomach wide open. Arlan used his right hand to swiftly cut the goblin in half horizontally. Purple blood enveloped the short sword. The top half of the goblin was still barely alive and tried to crawl away. Arlan delivered his foot into the crawling goblin’s head. It was smashed into purple bits with expunged eyes.

The wagon started moving forward and as predicted, the goblin archers ran out of arrows. They readyed their dull blades for melee. Four goblin archers began their charge across the bridge.

“Soldier, get on the wagon and start using the height to keep any goblins from taking the rear! I’ll clear the front and we can escape.”

The soldier also felt Arlan’s massive killing intent so he didn’t question or hesitate to follow orders. The wagon was now moving forward while the ten goblins in the rear were still a good twenty seconds away.

Arlan knew that he had to cut a path for the wagon. He could easily fight the rest of the goblins if it was just him. The young brown haired warrior dashed to the goblin archer’s left flank and shoulder smashed into the first goblin archer with such force that the goblin’s spine broke against its skin.

Shock, speed and pure brutality gave Arlan the adrenaline to thrust his sword under the mouth of the next goblin and the sword tip emerged from its skull. Arlan pulled the sword back, vertically cutting the face in half. The third and fourth goblin were simultaneously killed with one strike from both hands like scissors cutting in.

The soldier was still dumbfounded at Arlan’s fighting prowess. By now, the wagon had made it across the bridge and started heading towards Galdo City. “Arlan, get on the wagon!” yelled the Soldier. “No, I can’t let these goblins exist near the orphanage! Don’t wait for me!” commanded Arlan.

If it weren’t for Arlan striking down goblins with ease, the soldier would’ve tried to grab Arlan and drag him on the wagon. The soldier even questioned if he would even be able to drag Arlan. “Don’t get yourself killed.” murmured the soldier.

Arlan grinned as a hundred more goblins joined the ones on the bridge running towards Arlan. He could now indiscriminately kill without having to protect the wagon.

Monsters or soldiers, it makes no difference. I can kill them all just as easily.