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Half A Hero 62
The following morning was just like any other morning in the capital. The cold breeze and the chirping birds were all the ordinary things that he usually heard every morning. But nothing was ordinary that day. Today was the day of their test, the Dungeon Crawl. Ghwyr woke up early and readied his kit, checking everything was there and making sure that he didn’t leave a thing. One missing item could be a matter of life and death. After checking the bag for the third time, he donned his armor, and checked his weapons. When everything was set and done, he went down to the bar and ordered a hearty breakfast before waving his goodbye to Mama Berta. “Will yah be gone for a while?” The barkeeper asked. “It’s a dungeon crawl, Mama Berta and my first time at it. I am not certain how many days that would take us to finish.” He answered while taking a deep breath. “Why’re yah sounding like yah gon’ die?” The barkeeper sighed and shook her head. “Tip from me… make sure yah finish the crawl be
Half A Hero 63
Ghwyr was dropped off at the western point of the dungeon which was a barren hill very far from the main city. The sun was already setting at the horizon the moment they arrived there. During their long and windy trip, they had passed about five towns that he wasn’t familiar. He didn’t even think that there were towns and villages located in such a remote place as this.He looked around the barren land and saw nothing but dead trees and dry boulders lying on the ground untouched by man. From his position, he could see a small visage of the sea below. The peaceful blue sea was a great contrast to the brown and lifeless color of the hill he was standing on.He shook his head and tried to get that thought out of his head. There were some more pressing matters he needed to attend to; for one, it was already dusk, and he needed to make camp immediately.He looked at the sun setting at the horizon and without skipping a beat, he began to make camp. He made a simple tent out of dried branch
Half A Hero 1
The sunshine in the capital was far too different than what he saw in his hometown. Its bright and golden rays were regal, and its warmth felt royal than the regular sunshine, Ghwyr experienced at home. It was still the very early hours of the morning, and yet the streets were already filled with carriages and people in both grandiose and simple clothing walking on and about. It was far too different from the serene hometown of Gayaham, where he once lived. The capital never rested, not even for a blink. The people walked fast, never looking back to check whether someone might be calling them or if they left something. The people were cold, matter of fact, to the point of being heartless. It was a different place. However, he wasn’t there to cry and ask for pity, nor complain about how the citizens of this huge capital treat each other. He was there because he wanted to fulfill his dream of becoming a hero. He wanted to be recognized and become a member of a party, traveling the sco
Half A Hero 2
“Stay together!” Old man Logue commanded as the pack of gigantic rats slowly approached them. “Hold you ground and make sure you don’t step on the waterway or you’re dead!” His voice boomed as his steel sword glistened in the light while slashing the giant vermin as hard as he could.Ghwyr was able to dodge in and out of their annoying attacks despite having difficult footing. Since he was unable to pull out his sword, he used spade as his weapon. He poked and bashed the attacking rats, and even gutted a few of them as they carried on with their mission.No one was backing down. The rats, as big as it were still couldn’t outmatch them in terms of skills. Ghwyr and the rest of the men were able to kill a substantial amount of the vermin that the rest of them scattered and ran away.Ghwyr was still able to kill one more rat when he threw the spade towards it and immediately skewered the rat on the head. The monster fell to the murky water, unmoving and dead. After their skirmish, they p
Half A Hero 3
“Run!” The old man shouted. “Everyone, run! That is a monster we couldn’t handle!” He pushed away a man blocking his path and made a run for it.As they saw the old man made his escape, everyone panicked and joined into the chaos. They ran away, throwing their spades and pushing each other to make their way first into the passageway exit. A foolish and amateur move to do.Despite the panic, Ghwyr remained calm and tried his best to hustle out of the nudging crowd, but his height proved to be at a disadvantage as the bigger men pushed him away. The last man who pushed him, knocked too hard and got him off balanced. He fell into the mucky waters of the waterways just as a powerful current pushed him further away from themThe murky water was unpleasant. His clothed masked didn’t help him as he drank a few ounces of the vile liquid as he got smashed against the surprisingly powerful waves of the waterway. The dark water was slowly swallowing him. He could feel the muck and every mysterio
Half A Hero 4
Ghwyr ran as hard as he could. To get away from the monster. He wasn’t sure if it has died from his attack or if he wounded it. Maybe, his attack didn’t even scratch the monster’s hide for all he knew. But he wasn’t standing there and wait around. He ran with the other humans, but unfortunately, they didn’t even try help him despite the feat he did.They ran away without looking back and left him out there, fatigued and light-headed from the struggle he did with the vile water. His fatigue could most likely be attributed from the dirty water her accidentally ingested while he was drowning earlier. The toxins and manure were wreaking havoc on his body, and he was far away from the surface.Regardless of what he felt, he wasn’t willing to give up and die just yet. It would be very anti-climactic for him to die, just before he got known as a hero. Or if the fates would be cruel to him, at the very least make him reach the surface and have a proper burial than be eaten by the rats and oth
Half A Hero 5
Ghwyr was still fighting for his life as his body froze on the cold floor. But the more he tried to move his body, the more he realized he wasn’t able to do anything. His heart was beating violently as the sound of the razor-sharp nails came closer to him.He became more anxious when he heard the two alternating sounds of the claws from two directions. There was more than one of it and now, he might be eaten by the two monsters. Unable to do anything about it, he closed his eyes and prayed once again, in hopes that the monsters would end him quickly.He could hear the other one growling just a few feet away from him. It sounded angry, as it should be after what he did. It screeched and hissed before hearing its footsteps charging towards him. Just as he was about to be mangled by the monster, he felt someone grabbed him by the shoulders.“Light force shield!” The voice came sounded like a woman. “Your turn, guys!” She shouted enthusiastically.Ghwyr was able to slightly open his eyes
Half A Hero 6
“Kiddo?” The stern lady squinted at the brawny man. “You called him a kiddo?! I can’t… I just can’t!” She shook her head while massaging the bridge of her nose. “What did I say wrong this time?” The brawny man asked. “Bjorn… let me remind you that WE couldn’t afford another discriminatory complaint from the Guild!” She said. “This man right here is a halfling. Not a child and definitely not a dwarf! Please, get your words sorted!” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, is he a halfling?” The man approached him and leaned over as he squinted his eyes. “He does look like a child… no offense, kiddo.” He smiled and patted his shoulder. “By the gods! This is why we couldn’t have nice things!” The woman rolled her eyes. “What would you say the next time you see a halfling? A kiddo? A gal? A lad?! The last time I recalled, you call a dwarf a kid wearing a thick mustache!” She pointed at him. The brawny man laughed. “It was a good joke.” He nodded at the other men behind him. “It wasn’t Bjor
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- Half A Hero
63
Ghwyr was dropped off at the western point of the dungeon which was a barren hill very far from the main city. The sun was already setting at the horizon the moment they arrived there. During their long and windy trip, they had passed about five towns that he wasn’t familiar. He didn’t even think that there were towns and villages located in such a remote place as this.He looked around the barren land and saw nothing but dead trees and dry boulders lying on the ground untouched by man. From his position, he could see a small visage of the sea below. The peaceful blue sea was a great contrast to the brown and lifeless color of the hill he was standing on.He shook his head and tried to get that thought out of his head. There were some more pressing matters he needed to attend to; for one, it was already dusk, and he needed to make camp immediately.He looked at the sun setting at the horizon and without skipping a beat, he began to make camp. He made a simple tent out of dried branch
- Half A Hero
62
The following morning was just like any other morning in the capital. The cold breeze and the chirping birds were all the ordinary things that he usually heard every morning. But nothing was ordinary that day. Today was the day of their test, the Dungeon Crawl. Ghwyr woke up early and readied his kit, checking everything was there and making sure that he didn’t leave a thing. One missing item could be a matter of life and death. After checking the bag for the third time, he donned his armor, and checked his weapons. When everything was set and done, he went down to the bar and ordered a hearty breakfast before waving his goodbye to Mama Berta. “Will yah be gone for a while?” The barkeeper asked. “It’s a dungeon crawl, Mama Berta and my first time at it. I am not certain how many days that would take us to finish.” He answered while taking a deep breath. “Why’re yah sounding like yah gon’ die?” The barkeeper sighed and shook her head. “Tip from me… make sure yah finish the crawl be
- Half A Hero
61
Chills ran down his spine as he thought about what just happened. The sweet old lady, Baba Sheby could be one powerful opponent if you get to her bad side. Now he realized why so many adventurers called her witch.He shook his head and went around the market, trying to kill the last few hours and get himself entertained to relax himself from all the studying he did. Good thing the market wasn’t short of mouth-watering stalls for him to splurge a little bit of his budget on.There were stalls for grilled meats, of all kinds, exotic cuisines from all over the kingdom lined up on one street. He wondered around for a few minutes, checking up the stalls just to know which ones to buy from. After a couple of rounds, he set his eyes on the fried squid stall and the weird yet queued upon green noodles from the Zimazo region.He first went to the fried squid section and ate the butterflied and battered fried squid. It was skewered in a thin wooden stick to easily grip the food while he walked
- Half A Hero
60
“Hmmm… pretty interesting my dear halfling.” The old woman smiled and sipped her tea.Ghwyr nodded enthusiastically at her. “Oh, I still have more…” He said as he picked the stories he could share in his head.He still has a lot of things he could’ve told her, like those other adventurers that were treating him differently and often shunning him. However, he didn’t want the old woman to worry more than she already was.He noticed how worried she was as he continued to speak about his adventures. He told her how he got his new armor and weapons, and how he learned a new style in combat which he was proud the most. Baba Sheby nodded and smiled at his stories, but her eyes had a hint of gloom in them. He ended his story with the current situation he was at, the Dungeon Crawl.“You fearless little one.” She shook her head. “I have always worried about you ever since you told me what you wanted to be. Not everyone could achieve their dreams in your profession, and I have always prayed to m
- Half A Hero
59
The petite old woman waddled towards her small round table at the middle of the room, near her cozy and colorful fireplace. The place hasn’t changed for years. There were still those dried herbs and flowers the old woman hung by the counter of her kitchen which he could visibly see from the living room. The furniture all over her house were still the same red lumber, elegantly carved into beautiful set pieces of chairs and tables with mystical animals in the base of each furniture.Baba Sheby pointed him to his seat. Ghwyr thanked the old lady and sat on the chair with a carved unicorn on the base. It was his favorite seat and even without him telling that to her, Baba Sheby seemed to know that it was.While the old woman was preparing her tea, Ghwyr peeped at the counter at the corner of the room. Behind the beautiful furniture carved with a serpents and ivy vines wrapping on its edges was a simple, yet huge shelf filled with items from potions, dried herbs, spices, peculiar trinkets
- Half A Hero
58
Ghwyr sighed as the one-eyed swordsman stormed out of the room. He turned to the other adventurers who looked stunned at what just happened. Their eyes were staring at the empty doorway before going back to the board with all the diagrams drawn there.“W-what now?” The adventurer with an upturned nose asked.Ghwyr stood up while shaking his head, astounded at their cluelessness to the situation. “We better get studying.” He said while glancing at them. “Or else we die inside that damned dungeon.” He walked out and left the other adventurers mumbling and throwing insults at him like little children having a fit.He wasn’t sure how did they became adventurers. They may not be seasoned like the higher ranks, but they should at least know a thing or two about being tact and insightful towards certain situations. Now, they were left with no one to teach them or explain things from the mini book. Ghwyr highly doubted that Heffer would even return tomorrow, knowing the moody nature of their
- Half A Hero
57
After a quick breakfast of toasted bread, goat butter, and soft cheese, Ghwyr went up the stairs and into his room where he donned his armor and sling his blade on his side, ready for the day ahead! He locked his room and headed for the Guild Hall with just half an hour to spare.He arrived at the bustling guildhall with adventurers lining up early in the administration desks just before they opened. In their hands were parchments from the bounties they pulled out of the board.Curious, Ghwyr went to the board and was shocked to see the board riddled with a lot of requests. Parchments upon parchments were nailed into the board and he saw a lot of adventurers claiming some of the bounty request, but the board wasn’t thinning.He looked at some of the most recent request and found out that most of them were party related. He turned to the adventurers on the queue and realized most of them were not at a party. He checked at the party bounty requests and noticed the hefty rewards in store
- Half A Hero
56
Three days had passed, and everyone already had a good hang of the ability they were taught. The armor-searing spell wasn’t as taxing as they thought it would be (until you have to incorporate it with some other spells and moving attacks). Although using it in actual combat might be a little tricky than they thought it might.Not all armors were created equal, and some had high-level enchantments more than others. In fact, not all opponents were built equally! Heffer was very keen on letting them understand about it before they could brag about the silly spells he taught them. After mastering the armor-searing spell, a few days back, Ghwyr and the remaining students of the terror swordsman were taught a few more spells in their arsenal. The firebolt spell for their additional attack, the stoneskin spell for additional defense, and lastly, the enhancement spell for well… enhancing their attributes like their speed, agility, and strength while on battle.It didn’t take them long to rea
- Half A Hero
55
Another week has passed, and their numbers dwindled even further. After Heffer showed them the dance and the steps that came along with it, five more adventurers dropped out from the program to continue adventuring. The nine students were now down to four.As Ghwyr recalled, he noted one of them arguing with Heffer that the lessons he had taught them up until that point were enough to help them survive attackers and bandits. They didn’t need to know more of it since; they were burning their coins already and they were getting broker by the day they stalled from adventuring.Heffer didn’t argue with them. In fact, he didn’t say a word. He simply allowed them to take their leave and wished them luck with their adventure. However, before they left, the swordsman made them promised something.“Don’t ever show your face in this class again, nor teach this skill to anyone, or else I will kill you.” Heffer threatened. “I have eyes and ears everywhere. If I see you brag about being taught by
