First Kill

Money? Yinsen had none. Not only did he have no money, but all his possessions were currently on him. Aside from the clothes he wore, he only carried Basic Mental Power Cultivation and the Island Pointer for Stat Island, along with some dried rations and fresh water.

"Robbery is out of the question. I don't have the strength for it."

After thinking it over, the only reliable option was to work for the Rogue Encampment and trade his labor for what he needed. That was also the least likely route to lead to any accidents.

After resting well through the night, Yinsen went to find Akara early the next morning. Only Akara could communicate with him, and he needed her to convey his intentions to the others.

Akara's tent was easy enough to find. As one of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye's few remaining High Priestesses, Akara held a lofty position within the camp. A separate area in the camp's northeastern corner had been set aside for the sisters, and its largest tent belonged to Akara alone.

Naturally, Akara also ensured the Rogues' fighting strength through her superb healing and potion-making abilities. By any measure, she was one of the camp's most important figures.

When Yinsen found her, Akara was standing outside her tent, staring blankly at several plants as though pondering something. Only when Yinsen approached and blocked what little light there was did she turn toward him.

"Young Sorcerer's Apprentice, have you come to me because you need help with something?"

"Hello, Priestess Akara. I do need your help with a few things." Yinsen organized his words before continuing through Mental Power. "As you can see, I have no money, nor do I have anything that could be traded for travel expenses. So I would like to do whatever work I can in exchange for payment, so that I can buy weapons for protection and enough food."

Akara nodded, understanding what Yinsen meant. "So you want me to convey your intentions for you?" Yinsen could not communicate directly with the people in the camp, so he could only rely on her to translate. There was nothing strange about that. "I'll write you a few notes later and teach you some simple words. That should be enough to solve your troubles."

True to her word, Akara was a woman of action. Once she agreed, she immediately wrote several simple notes, such as, 'Do you need help?' 'I can do some work!' and 'I need to earn money to return home!' She then told Yinsen to write symbols he recognized on the different notes so that he could tell them apart.

At the same time, she taught Yinsen simple expressions like 'hello' in front of the tent. The entire process took less than three hours, and even Yinsen was surprised by how quickly he learned.

I never learned English this quickly in my previous life.

Not only did he learn quickly, but he remembered everything with exceptional clarity. Even after learning more than a dozen words, Yinsen found himself without the slightest confusion.

The Ancient One was right. As Mental Power increases, learning languages won't be troublesome.

Powerful Mental Power directly enhanced a person's memory. It could not drastically raise someone's intelligence, but it did make memorizing vast amounts of information much easier. The photographic memory that countless ordinary people envied was actually a basic skill for high-level mages.

After nearly half a day of lessons, Akara realized that while Yinsen had not truly entered the path of a mage, his control over Mental Power and his memory were already on the level of a qualified Sorcerer's Apprentice. Remembering the trouble before her, she began to consider whether this young man might be a suitable choice.

After only a moment's thought, she made her decision. The Rogues were already at their limit just defending the camp. Beyond that, they had to patrol the surrounding area regularly, clear out the growing number of Dark Creatures, and gather every useful resource they could find. The Rogues truly had no energy left for anything else.

"If you truly want to do something, there is something I need your help with right now."

Hearing that, Yinsen suddenly recalled that when he had played the game, Akara had been the person who gave out the first quest in Act One. Now that she suddenly said she needed his help, could it be that quest from the game?

That's a combat mission that requires one person to kill who knows how many Dark Creatures. Can I really do it?

Just as he was debating whether to politely refuse, Akara's next words made him realize he had overthought things.

He was thin and weak, with neither armor nor weapons. Though he was a mage, he had clearly not yet begun his training. Akara was not so unreliable that she would ask Yinsen to do something as difficult as clearing the Den of Evil. She merely hoped that he would gather some medicinal herbs near the camp for her.

"Darkness is drawing ever closer, and the Rogues are under increasing pressure. They are now forced to withdraw into the camp for defense, and cannot even spare people to gather supplies. As a result, the herbs used to make potions are becoming scarcer. I need a large supply of herbs to make more potions."

Akara herself could not leave the camp. Not only her, but even the lower-ranking sisters were kept under strict protection within the camp and could not go out casually. Thus, she could only ask someone else to handle these matters.

"Gathering herbs?"

It did not sound too difficult. He could accept this mission.

Seeing that Yinsen was interested in helping, Akara carefully described the appearance and characteristics of the herbs she needed. She even took out several drawings to help him identify them.

"But you must be careful. According to reports from the patrolling Rogues, Dark Creatures near the camp are slowly increasing. Even some local creatures have begun to suffer the corruption of Dark Energy. So even the area near the camp is no longer absolutely safe."

Yinsen nodded. That was why he did not plan to go too far from the camp. If something happened, he might not even be able to escape.

"I'll write you a note. Take it to Kashya, and she'll help prepare some weapons for your protection."

"Then I'll trouble you."

Taking the note, Yinsen left Akara's tent and headed toward where Kashya was stationed—the tall, muscular woman stood in the very center of the camp, more conspicuous than anything else there.

Walking up to Kashya, he handed her the note. With a casual glance, she recognized Akara's handwriting. "You're going to gather herbs for Akara?"

Yinsen did not answer, because he could not understand her at all. However, he took out one of the notes Akara had written for him and handed it over. It was one of the phrases she had prepared earlier.

Sure enough, Kashya understood when she saw the words, 'I need to earn the payment required to return home.' She did not bother saying anything about how dangerous it was outside. After turning to give a few instructions to a Rogue beside her, she stood there and scrutinized the young man before her.

At that moment, Yinsen could not understand what the tall woman was muttering. Otherwise, he would have been deeply annoyed.

"Too skinny!"

"Looks seriously lacking in strength!"

"With a build like that, even lightweight Leather Armor would be a burden. Give him a light weapon instead. Forget the protective gear."

"He really should train properly. Any one of the Rogues under my command could take on ten people like him."

Though Yinsen could not understand a word, Kashya's gaze seemed rather unfriendly. Still, after receiving a short sword and a Small Shield, he thanked her.

"May you return safely, young man!"

Yinsen understood that sentence. Akara had specifically taught it to him before he set out, and had even said it to him herself once.

"Thank you again."

Heathed at his side, the short sword rested in its scabbard, while he casually carried the small shield in one hand. Yinsen walked slowly yet resolutely out of the camp.

How could he not be afraid?

Even counting both his previous life and this one, he had never faced a situation that required him to fight for his life. And the enemies he faced were monsters mutated by the corruption of Dark Energy.

I'll have to face all this sooner or later. I absolutely can't chicken out!

Taking a deep breath, Yinsen finally left the camp. Amid the Rogues' cries of "May you return safely!", he headed toward the nearby woods.

The Blood Moor. That was the region where the Rogue Encampment currently stood.

Though it was called a moor, there were still many plants and animals here. Their colors, however, did not look quite normal. Perhaps this was the visible manifestation of the darkness's increasingly severe corruption of this world.

What Yinsen did not know was that even the herbs Akara needed were being corrupted by Dark Energy. Whenever she made potions now, she first had to use Purification Magic to remove the Dark Energy contained within them before she could continue brewing. The resulting potions were far less effective, which was one reason they were becoming increasingly scarce.

As long as I don't go too far, I probably won't run into any monsters, right?

The Rogues went out to patrol every day, clearing the area around the camp to prevent monsters from gathering in greater numbers and attacking it. So long as he did not venture too far, it would be normal not to encounter any monsters.

Unfortunately, the Goddess of Luck did not favor Yinsen. Just as he reached a point where the camp was barely out of sight, he found the first herb he needed—and also spotted two zombies wandering in front of it, still wearing scraps of tattered clothing and moving stiffly.

"Zombies... only two of them, and no other monsters."

This was an excellent chance to train. Zombies were slow and clumsy. Though they were strong, avoiding them would not be difficult with his agility. Besides, there were only two of them. As long as he could use a surprise attack to eliminate one at the start, he would only need to deal with the other one-on-one.

After carefully confirming that there were no other monsters nearby, Yinsen made up his mind, drew his short sword, and charged forward.

To take down one zombie as quickly as possible, Yinsen pushed his speed to the limit. When he reached it, he leaped hard to increase his momentum, then slammed the shield in his left hand viciously into its head.

"To kill zombies, you have to hit the head!"

The shield knocked the zombie to the ground. Yinsen immediately swung the short sword in his right hand and drove it straight at the fallen zombie's head!

He had read countless novels and watched countless movies, giving him more than enough understanding of monsters like zombies. He also had the cautionary lessons of countless 'predecessors' who had failed due to carelessness.

Therefore, Yinsen did not hesitate. Once he acted, he did not look back or overthink things! Fast, ruthless, precise! In a single instant, he claimed the First Kill of his life!