Chapter 20
The Request
Part 4A
Amran's point of view
"Then, let's go." Ajbadan said that and started to move: "Raco, keep the rearguard for now, and remember, our first priority is to protect our guests, we will not attack unless we are attacked first. Is that clear?" It was the same formation that we have been doing so far, and nothing changed. Heading towards danger to collect information was the best option we had at the time, although whether it was wrong or correct, I didn’t object to it and didn’t see a reason to. Maybe for a second, I thought to ask Ajbadan to go and check by himself since we don't know the level of danger we may face. Still, I didn’t worry much or feel any fear or something like that at that time, believing that with this strange system, I would be able to handle most of what we may encounter.
The distance was not that far to reach wherever we were going to maybe a few more minutes and we will be there, and I will be able to see my first fight in this world. "Waw, an alien fight. I wonder what they are going to use?” Actually, this was not my first. I remembered my first day in this world, the fight between Raco and beasts. I tend to immerse myself in thoughts without considering the situation that I am in at the moment, at least that was what I tend to do recently, because at the instant I had a feeling that suddenly woke me up from my thought, and at the same time the statues screen popped up in front of me with a few new lines of information added to the previous ones.
{Insight skill has been activated}
Name of the Skill:- Insight
Skill Level: 1
Skill Description:-
{Just like if you have an extra eye that can see what you can't see normally, insight enables you to discover whatever is going on around you. You can't see exactly, but you will know what is coming; simply no one can sneak behind you while this skill is active.}
Skill Duration: Twenty seconds
{Skill can be upgraded by continuing usage}.
I guess the skills here can activate themselves without any command from my side. Of course, it's not something that I made I was just given it, so for sure, whomever gave it to me is able to control it also. Anyway, the skill showed me what appeared to be another group of people going towards the same location that we are heading to, but the path they are walking on will make us cross paths with them in less than a minute. I can't explain the way or how it happened, but I could tell that for people coming towards us, the other thing I didn’t feel any hostility coming from them. As expected, Ajbadan was the second one to notice the change. I don’t know how or what he felt or knew, but his gaze was focused on the same location I sensed the four people coming from.
He looked at me in a way that looked like he was confirming something. I guess he noticed my action the way I noticed his. Without giving it much thought, I nodded and said, “Four people are coming; they are heading toward the same place we are going to. The only one who reacted to what I said was Raco. You could see the surprise on his face while looking at me, but he didn’t say anything back. We continued walking, but cautiously now, since we don’t know what to expect except from this new company we are going to encounter at any moment.
It didn’t take more than a few seconds for me to see them clearly, although the distance was not that far to begin with. But with this dense forest that always there is something that is hindering your sight and movement, it was strange to see the four men, or accurately, three men and a young boy, and without any doubt they were all looking towards me like they could see me the same way that I can see them. Still, they didn’t hesitate or even reduce their speed. My thought as usual was going through a lot of things, like who they are. What are they doing here? At the same time, thinking about this strange skill that enables me to see something I would normally not be able to see unless using some other means, “So is this what is called magic?” For some reason, I became obsessed with this interface and the skills and attributes that I have been given.
Wanting to rationalize every and understand it, if I will be able to do that or not I will discover very soon, now the most important thing was we will come face to face with this yet unknown group, at this point of time we could hear their footsteps, now a few seconds more and we will see each other. The two paths merged in one point for some reason we reached that point at the same time and all of use we came to stop at the same time and starting sizing each other none of us showing any hostility towards the other party or even feeling any fear or discomfort towards the others.
The group of four men was being led by a middle aged man, since I ma a kid everyone who is older than me used to appear to me like an old man, but in this world I came to understand the meaning of age when my thought reached that part I shook my head to drop whatever I was about to think of and concentrate on the situation on hand, as soon as we all stooped the gunfire started once more, but now its very loud that we could feel it not even further than a one minutes walk if it was an empty space we would have been able to see everything.
But because of this forest, the visibility is very poor; no one can see anything more than a few meters of his surroundings. Maybe three seconds passed and everyone was looking at each other. The middle-aged man who was in front of everyone else nest to him half a step behind him was a man looking like he is in his late twenties who was attired in some type of uniform. I don’t know what it is for nest to him appearing to be in his early twenties dressed in normal attire. The last one behind them all was the young boy approximately eleven years old. Based on the way he looked, I am not an expert on the ages of the alien beings in this world, but that is what I pictured in my mind.
Before anyone said anything, that was when suddenly Ajbadan knelt on one knee, placing his right hand on his chest, and said, "Greetings, your majesty, forgive us if we intruded in your land.” It was something unexpected, both for Ajbadan to kneel for somebody and for a royalty to be in the forest in a situation that requires gunfire to be exchanged in the distance, but that actually could be an easy deduction from my end that all this is connected, but are we also included in this equation? Why am I jumping ahead of myself? I will come to know everything very soon, isn't it? I was asking that question to myself, but I was looking at the middle-aged man all that time because he was the only one who could be that his majesty, and of course it was because he was the one who spoke and said, “I guess there is no need for any introduction now, at least not right away; we are short on time; we can discuss all the details later on, but now we need to move.”
He paused for a second and said, “Please stand up; this is not my land. I guess I know who you are from the way you are dressed. I will try and explain everything later, but before we continue, I have a request for all of you. Will you accept?”.
In my wildest dream, I never expected to be in a situation like this. Although it's not like a fantasy for me to expect to have a life full of adventure in another world, I know that I am the only one who knows the people behind the shadows who brought me my brother and Azmar here against our will and who have a plan for us. So the only question in mind now is: does this request have to do anything with why we are here? Is this man who was speaking with authority having anything to do with the people who kidnapped us?.
Chapter 21The RequestPart 4BThe moment the middle-aged man said the word “I have a request,” the interface popped up once more, but this time there were a few more details that I was not expecting.Name: Amran Age: 12 Race: Human Rank: A Level: 5 Occupation: Strategist Status: healthy Skills: six skillsObserve Skill Level: Level 1 {Nothing can skip your eyes or ears; this skill helps you to understand the hidden information of whatever or whomever you are observing at the time.} Skill Duration: one minute, two seconds Skill Cool Down: No cool down required {Skill can be upgraded by continuing usage}.Analyze Skill Level: Level 1 {Upon activation, the skill enables you to analyze any situation or condition from all aspects, presenting to you all possible inputs with positive and negative outcomes. Therefore, you will be able to make the best decision regarding your situation or the condition you need to solve.} Skill Duration: one minute, two seconds Skill
The First EncounterPart 1AI had been hearing gunshots for a while now, but finally I was facing one pointed towards me, not me in particular but in my direction. That made us hesitate and stop all of us, except the emporer, who, on the contrary, increased his speed towards them. The rest of us, we stood in our place and didn’t move. The boy with the rifle was looking at us, still pointing the gun at us.Although he saw the old man, I mean the emporer, coming towards them, his expression softened a little bit, but still he was pointing the rifle towards us like he was waiting for a signal to start shooting at us. The distance between us was about a hundred meters give or take, and he reached them within a few seconds, then immediately bent down and stared, hugging the two kids and the woman who was holding them while the other three women gave them a space by moving back while standing each in a side, like they were keeping some type of formation.After less than a minute, the empore
The First EncounterPart 1B"I have a request for all of you. I need you to assist me to keep my family safe until I get a way to take back my county." That was the emporer request. Looking around me, I was thinking, What was the reason behind asking a group of odd people gathered in a forest, among them women and children? Also, those people were totally strangers, so was it normal in this world to ask favors from strangers? I don't know why that didn't make any sense to me. At the same time, I was looking around and checking the faces of the people around me and their reactions. The faces of the ladies I was with were without any expressions, except for the surprise of the identity of the man who was talking, and the new group was strangely standing apart, which made me come to the conclusion that they are not together or else they would have stood together.The same thing I was doing, the emperor was doing it also, looking at the faces of the people around him. Although nobody reac
Chapter 23 The First Encounter Part 2A Since I made up my mind and decided to tell half of the truth, at least at the moment, the pressure left my shoulder. Still, I intended to tell the emperor the truth when the time was right. I don’t know if he would be able to help me with my situation or not, but all I can do is try, since all I can do at the moment is to go forward. There are no set goals a head of me that I am aspiring to or want to fulfill at the moment. Except that thing deep in my hearth looking for some one or something that I don't know who or what it is, at that one of the ladies started talking and introducing herself; the one with two swords started speaking and said, “Your Highness, my name is Amun; I was in a city called Andoradiya when I left an office building. I found myself in this forest suddenly, although that was not the most strange thing that happened to me but definitely the strangest.”. I thought to myself apparently that what she said was true, for som
Chapter 24 The First Encounter Part 2B I guess while I was distracted with the girl, everyone came to where we were standing. The next thing I heard was the man in a uniform saying, “The question is, where in this forest can be considered safe?” Although I have no idea what dangerous animals or beasts are roaming around this forest, or any other beings I am not aware of, regardless of the armed men that we have been fighting for a while now, the real question is: where in this forest can it be safe for us to rest and plan for our next step? Personally, I don’t have any answer for that, and I don’t think anyone has the answer to that. At that time, the Statues Panel interface appeared in front of me, like it was giving me the answer that I was looking for, but the full menu appeared this time, so I had to figure out what was new this time by myself: Name: Aden Age: 16 Race: Human Rank: A (Officer) Level: 6 Status: healthy Skills: five skills gained 1- Skill Name: Flash Skil
Chapter 25The First EncounterPart 3AIt took several minutes for the two young ladies to calm down the young girl who was screaming in terror, that give a little bit more time to contemplate on the issues of how do I present the items I have in my inventory and also the gifts that I have, I had a pretty good idea about the skills and attributes but this gifts I had no idea how it works, but assuming that it works just as the skills and attributes I concentrated on the mystery map, without any difficulties a map appeared on my interface covering all the space in front of my face, previously the interface screen was like a 14” screen but now it was almost 30” screen, and the whole screen was filled with trees, it was like I was watching a life TV in front of me and not looking at a map.{You have activated the mystery map.}{You can zoom in and zoom out by either using your hand gesture or by concentrating on the location you want and giving the order verbally}{Markers are indicated
Chapter 26The First EncounterPart 3BJulian Point of ViewFor the last hour, I have been in a state that has affected me physically and emotionally. For one thing, I have never walked or run approximately all my life. The one I did today was meeting the famous emperor in this forest, then again meeting this other group of people. Some of them look suspicious to me, though I can't figure out the reason. I was trying my best to keep calm, and stay away from the sight of the people, and not to get the attention of any of them. I don’t know why?. I am here, but when I saw the emperor and heard his story later, I got a little excited. I felt like I was on an adventure, but that excitement quickly changed to anxiety, which overtook me completely when we came to the place where we were supposed to rest. I was tired and hungry at the same time, although usually I don’t mind the hunger that much since I usually eat less than anyone else that I know of, and the small meals that I have, which
Chapter 27The First EncounterPart 4AWarning Gore and bloody, readers discretion is advised.The monster that came out of the cube was over two meters tall; what makes its humanoid shape totally odd is not its height but everything else. Although he was standing at two feet, his arms were taller than anything else, and they reached blew his knees. His torso was naked, with nothing covering it, and was almost one meter wide. Each one of his arms was as thick as my full body size, bulging with thick mussels. His head was round like a ball, and huge on top of it were two silver-colored horns extending from each side of his temple and then curved towards his forehead. Below the horns were two round ears, each bigger than the palm of an adult human, and his eyes were each as big as a fist without any eyelids; their color was as crimson as the color of the blood. Below the center of the eyes, there were two holes, probably the nose, that he or it could breathe from.The mouth was the scar
Chapter 39Beginning of the Invasion Part 2B Rohonda appeared to be listening to a report from some type of recorded device when the countdown started; although her attention was directed to what she was listening to, she didn’t miss the quietness of the place with hundreds of people being silent at once. She put the device that she was listening to and collected another one from her desk drawer and started recording a message: “This recording is from Section One; the time is 17.00 hours, and today is the first day that officially Project Zero One started finally. I hope we have enough time to implement all the security measures that we have been working on." Without a second thought, she pressed the send button and returned the device to the same drawer. With a sigh, she rested her back on the chair she was sitting in and said, “I wonder if this was all a perdition or planned, I don’t know what they are thinking, fighting an alien invasion with abducted aliens.” a
Chapter 38Beginning of the Invasion Part 2A"Captain Birman, I would like to mobilize the National Guard to help with the city security if you don't mind." "And Ayuma, Please call the head of the council, Mr. Enigma, and tell him to meet me here as soon as possible." At that time she heard a sound similar to thunder, or maybe it was thunder, but usably the lightning and thunder come for the sky with a storm or rain but not in a confide or an open space near the ground; the circle was actually above the ground and was almost two and a half meters above ground. From this distance, nobody was able to guess the size of it, but since it was almost three kilometers outside of the city and was visible that much from that distance, it was obvious that it was huge; everyone was able to see it was palpitating like a heart from that distance. The movement of the muddy cloud inside the circle was so ominous that everyone who was still standing there felt the chill in their bones, and whoever di
Chapter 37Beginning of the Invasion Part 1BEmika’s point of viewThis was the worst nightmare I have been seeing, and I really wished it was just a nightmare, but it was not; it was a reality, a fact in front of my eyes. The thing I was referring to as a portal was forming in the same location I have been seeing it in my dreams, or, to say it correctly, my nightmares. And the reason I am referring to it as a portal is because I knew it was, because I saw it with my own closed eyes at that time, the monsters coming out of it, which indicates that it was a portal of some kind. I have been afraid my dreams would come true, and I didn’t wish for it, but somehow I had the feeling that whatever I saw would happen, but I hoped it would be in a different day and time; a time when I was better prepared for it and was able to take some kind of countermeasure for it.I have no idea what kind of countermeasure I could have been able to take. But anything is better than being taken by surprise
Chapter 38Beginning of the Invasion Part 2A"Captain Birman, I would like to mobilize the National Guard to help with the city security if you don't mind." "And Ayuma, Please call the head of the council, Mr. Enigma, and tell him to meet me here as soon as possible." At that time she heard a sound similar to thunder, or maybe it was thunder, but usably the lightning and thunder come for the sky with a storm or rain but not in a confide or an open space near the ground; the circle was actually above the ground and was almost two and a half meters above ground. From this distance, nobody was able to guess the size of it, but since it was almost three kilometers outside of the city and was visible that much from that distance, it was obvious that it was huge; everyone was able to see it was palpitating like a heart from that distance. The movement of the muddy cloud inside the circle was so ominous that everyone who was still standing there felt the chill in their bones, and whoever di
Chapter 36Beginning of the Invasion Part 1AThe girls had a large tent and they were struggling with it, Since Ajbadan said he will help them, he decided to go to the boy Still, he was wondering why didn’t dismantle his tent? Or at least why? if he is not doing anything, why did he help the girls? Aren’t they his companions? At least they have been together more the rest of them, Regardless of their meeting in the forest, as they said, Murad shook his head like he was dropping the questions that filled it and went to the boy. Aden stood up when he saw Murad approaching him and smiled while saying, “It’s embarrassing to say that, seeing you came to help me, but I am actually leaving the tent here that way I didn’t dismantle it.” Murad was not expecting to hear that at all While the surprise was showing on his face, he asked, “Can I ask you why?” Aden didn’t expect to be asked that question either, so he hesitated for a second and said while scratching his head with a small laugh, ”ha
Chapter 35The First EncounterPart 6BGoosebumps ran down his spine when he saw what he saw when he used the skill. He was staring at a black portal that was enormous, over four meters tall and ten meters wide, with a black square shape instead of the typical gateway portals seen on this planet. It was both smokey and liquid-like at the same time, and he was unable to determine what material it was composed of. It was moving like a live entity with a pulsating heart, but it was not changing shape. In a matter of seconds, it gained shape and materialized in front of him at the location the youngster had indicated. He felt a terrible sensation throughout his body. This is what the young man was talking about. He told himself, "So it's all true then," confirming the first thing the boys had mentioned. "The time was the next thing he confirmed, and it was true too." He had the chance to glance at the clock now that it was getting to be the time of sunset, but he didn't think of it. He fe
Chapter 34The First EncounterPart 6A“If you don’t believe me, use your Predict skill, and you will see it.” That was it. I had to let him go and step back a couple steps. He knows two of my skills not just one but two. That is ridiculous. I have been shocked. In a manner I never had before, if it were anybody else in front of me telling me that, the first reaction that would accrue to me would have been to cut his head immediately, without even getting the opportunity to get questioned about where he got the information. But fortunately or unfortunately, the one who said that was a child, although the expression on my face changed and my hand was on the gun and the sword in my waist, a complete involuntary reaction from my side.It took me nearly a minute to gather myself and regain my composure. During this time, I came to the realization that someone else must have informed him about my skills. Therefore, I felt compelled to find out who that person was. At that moment, the only
Chapter 33The First EncounterPart 5B“We need to move from here; the monsters are coming; he is coming, he is coming; and we are all going to be dead." That was the only word that came out of his mouth, and then all he did was stare at the man standing beside him, although his body was shaking, like somebody who is scared or feeling cold, but his eyes were totally blank, like a blind guy who is just looking but not seeing anything. From the blank way he was looking at him, the emperor noticed that the boy was looking at something else, and most probably he also got, “The lost art.” As one of the few humans on this planet who has knowledge of “the lost art” and has learned a few of its skills, he can tell that this boy has it. This is his first encounter with not one but two unexpected individuals in an expected situation with unexpected knowledge. While Juian was talking to the emperor, the skill foresight was activated, and he was not actually looking at or talking to the emperor,
Chapter 32Intermission Jack’s side story Part 1Anther's note:This is Jack’s story recap as I told it in the first volume, but I will now add the missing parts that were not known to anyone in the first volume or the second volume until now, or what was his connection to the storey line? So far, all we knew in the first volume was that he was looking for his wife, and that was all he was looking for. Where was he imprisoned? What for? There were a lot of questions that no one asked and nobody answered, and no one will unless someone dares ask the correct question.Also, I edited the previous chapter, its not just a copy of the same chapter of the first volume to go along with the current retelling of the story without changing much from the original story as a recap because of the importance of the story line. I remember one reader asking me if I was just filling in the characters for the sake of my book, and he was specifically talking about Jack :) I hope now he got the answer.