Chapter 02 - Regret

It has been three months since I came into this world. It was very rough at the very beginning, I mean seriously you would not like to eat lizard soup, what Hyde uses in these soups is very similar to lizards but Hyde is not familiar with the term Lizard and here they are called Acertis. During these past three past three months, I was learning about various plants and their application as Hyde said. Turns out he is a guy whom I can totally believe after that goblin incident he helped me three times from dying, the first time was from Lunis which looks very similar to wolves but are very fast and agile than wolves. When they run their tails glow bluish, the second time it was again from Lunis and the third time it was from a bunch of big Acertis, by the way on that day we had a feast of Acertis soup. If you think that Acertis soup is very bad in taste then you are missing out on something good because it's like the most delicious thing I have ever tasted in this world

Anyways I kinda feel pathetic myself ... in most of the stories don't the reincarnate one get a powerup or infinite mana supply? It was confirmed by Hyde that I don't have any affinity for magic but I have a very low affinity for swordsmanship although that can be increased. That reminds me that I haven't seen magic spells even once in this world except for the time when Hyde checked my affinity. Hyde doesn't have much affinity for magic too but he can compensate for that from his high affinity for Archery. He told me that one who holds or held the rank of Warrior Chief or above can easily detect affinity and otherwise it is a very difficult process to detect it .... one needs to be highly qualified for telling the affinity of other people. I then asked how can my swordsmanship affinity can be increased then but he had no answer ... it was more like he had an answer but he was not intended to tell me ... even if I insisted a lot then he told me that you won't need that until I am here, I felt reassured, to be honest.

For the process ... he checked my affinity .... well he told me that there are three ways to check the affinity of someone but what he knew was only one and the process for that goes like this ... he took my blood on one of his daggers that he was having and chanted a spell and the silver dagger started glowing light blue. What he told me was that if someone has an affinity to magic then the dagger glows from the range of green to yellow depending upon the color the class of the affinity is decided and if the dagger glows from the range of blue to indigo that means their affinity is for archery, swordsmanship etc(looking for the correct term actually) and if someone's dagger glow in the shades of purple then they have an affinity for both. That sums up all the events that took place in the past three months.

Today Hyde went to goblin territory's town to get something important that he didn't tell me ... his black robe helps him to disguise himself in the crowd in my opinion While he was in the town I was in the cave. Studying some plants and then resting for quite a while and thinking about the time when I asked Hyde ... what is he doing in goblin territory and how much time has passed since he is here. He never told me that answer and always left that question unanswered. I wonder if he has some kind of sad feelings attached to this question.

I am grateful to Hyde to be honest because if it weren't for him I would have been alone in this world or probably I would have been dead by now and even if I have died there was a chance that I would end up eating something poisonous or starve to death ..... I am really glad that Hyde is here and I am glad that I am not alone in this world. I guess, I forgot to tell you something, I was now wearing clothes that looked similar to Hyde because the ones that I had when I came into this world are now torn apart from various places. Hyde made these clothes from plant fiber and Lunis' fur ... Hyde knows a lot ... I now slept on one of the sheets made of Lunis' fur and it was surprisingly very warm and comforting. Hyde arranged the Lunis' fur to sleep on the very next day I came.

Now since Hyde does too much for me I am planning to hunt down Acertis from poison and a trap that I created secretly from the knowledge I have gained from studying plants. So to set out our plan what we will need would be sap from the Lacuta plant which is poisonous enough to take down Acertis. Hyde himself has used it several times. Then I have to find one of the traps that Hyde has created and stored in the stone chest. It took too much time to find the trap because Hyde kept it at the very bottom of the chest. While I was searching for the trap I found a black robe too that Hyde usually wears. I wanted to keep it actually because it looks too cool you know but I will ask Hyde first regarding that because after all, it belongs to him.

Extraction of sap from the Lacuta plant took about 10 mins. Then I went out for the hunt while ensuring that bushes covers the cave's mouth perfectly so no one can breach it. By the way, the liquid that is used to open or close them is just water. These plants are strangely hydrophobic so when water is applied to them they just get out of the way and to get them back at the position we apply sap obtained from Preus which heats the surface and then the water evaporates quickly. Although I am saying quickly it takes about 3 min for the closing but I guess it's worth it because the cave is not visible at all when plants cover them.

After this, I am heading out to the place which happens to be a sweet spot to hunt Acertis. I am not sure if I should go to the place alone because I was about to get killed by the Acertis, I was thinking about that question a lot so I decided to stay out of their nest and I will hunt at a place where only a few Acertis come to gather food. That's what I decided and now after laying the trap, I am hiding in the bushes at a safe distance. I can see quite several Acertis ... I wonder what kind of feast they will prepare ... I am too excited.

I was waiting for nearly 15 minutes by now and man, Do I even have luck? because I didn't catch any Acertis, I was just waiting and waiting and then for some reason all Acertis went inside their nest and there was a sense of chaos among them and after 2 minutes it became clear from what they were running. I saw a man with little horns on his head riding a horse(here they are known as Cabeq) with a group of about 30 goblins ... the goblins were in knight outfits and holding a spear in their hand and for some reason, they seem stronger than the goblins that I was about to kill me 3 months ago. I guess Hyde said that their abilities and powers grow up as they age ... so would that mean that these goblins are older and more powerful than the goblins from 3 months ago? and if that is the case then what would be the age of the man who was sitting on the horse with his sword ... He looks more like a human but has little horns on the head. His hairs are white and wearing armor which is white and red, without a doubt he was leading this group and he was more powerful than everyone.

Oh, Shit... I stepped on a dry twig which made a sound and I guess they heard me... I am gonna die ... for real this time. I am scared really scared.. why I was even here? and why do they have to come at this time? I am pathetic very pathetic. I kept both in my mouth so that no sound come out. But someone still sensed me ... I am trying to move from the place quitely but it can't be helped. They got me. Two goblins spotted me and are dragging me by my shoulders while grinning and I am now on the ground in front of the man with the horn and his horse.

That man seems to be grinning.... and then he said "look who do we got here? A Human? " and then he laughed he came down from the horse and then stood in front of me and then he bent down, grabbed my mouth with his hand and then gave my head a jerk while still grinning and all the other goblins were laughing too. They were laughing at me... only if I was not here I would have survived... I am really scared of them. I will die. Only if Hyde was here he would have saved me and then that man took out his sword and was about to slash me with it.

My eyes were closed out of fear and then I heard a clang sound ... a sound which told me that the sword has been stopped and was not going to slash me anymore. What I saw in front of my eyes was a person with his fluttering black robe, holding a huge sword ... I saw that sword for the first time since I came here. It looked awesome in design and the person who was holding that sword looked strong. It was Hyde ... Hyde came again to rescue me... I felt relieved. Hyde said, "Why you get into problems all the time you fool!". I know he was kinda scolding me but I sensed relief in that. Then the man with the horns said... "well .. well .. well if isn't the Warrior Chief Of The North - Hyde or I should say ... former Warrior Chief Of The North. Who would have thought we would meet here after what we did to your whole army of 500 people? How many years it has been since then ... I don't remember."

In response, Hyde went silent for a while... and then said "It has been about 50 years and I finally found you again Kai - 4th General of the Goblin Army". "50 years, like for real? you have been wandering this goblin territory for that long? sucks to be you huh? I guess the curse still works on you.". Now I was just listening to their conversation and there were a lot of unknown things that I never knew about Hyde and this man whose name is Kai. What did he do to Hyde's army... what is the curse that they talking about? And at the next moment, Hyde moved suddenly and within a matter of seconds, all the goblins were dead with the green blood coming out of their bodies. "Tch! those good-for-nothing soldiers." - Kai said. Hyde had a smile on his face and then he said... "Shall we begin then?".Kai laughed and said why not? Then the furious battle between the sword began.

The battle between General and Warrior Chief was happening right before my eyes. I was able to hear the clang sound very often and then Hyde attacked Kai's shoulder and blood was gushing out. Kai stopped for a while and then again he started charging they were not stopping and after a while, Hyde was wounded in his arm but he was still standing strong. They were moving at a pace that my eyes were not able to perceive all I could hear is cling clang that was telling that they are still fighting and Hyde pierced the sword into Kai's stomach and blood was gushing out of course but for some reasons, it was not effecting Kai's movement. Hyde and Kai were still charging at each other at full pace ... I was really worried, to be honest, and then Kai made a slash that pierced through Hyde's chest, I am not even sure how both of them are fighting even after getting those wounds. Soon the land on which they were fighting was tainted with the green and red color of their blood. After a while, they were breathing hard and the swords were not clashing anymore. But at that moment something strange happened and Kai just snapped his fingers and all the wounds on his body were covered in purple light and they were healed in no time.

Hyde was not shocked like me but the look on his face was telling that "this is what he was waiting for" and at that moment Kai once again laughed, to be honest I am now getting annoyed by his laugh for real. Hyde removed his robe and dropped it on the ground and then they started charging at each other once again. But this time Hyde was tired and Kai was still at full potential due to the healing he did ... Hyde was only able to cut his right leg but the way Kai was charging and moving ahead, it was making me worry about Hyde. Kai first attacked his shoulder, then his left leg and then the chest and finally the arm that was holding the sword ie his right hand.

What I was seeing was unbelievable Hyde's sword dropped to the ground and Hyde was on his knees. I stood up in hurry to support him my hand was all getting covered in his blood slowly and my tears were falling on Hyde's face, there was a sense of relief. I was crying hard. Hyde then said with his words being stammered because he was badly injured "Hey you fool what are you crying for now? I am thankful to you because of you I was able to get rid of the curse I was having and I was able to take my revenge on the guy who killed all of my comrades."Curse? Revenge? Comrades? what are you even talking about look at yourself your blood is coming out and I don't know how to heal either.... while saying all this my tears were still gushing out and were dropping on his face. "Hey there don't cry for a fella who you just met 3 months ago, How will you even define our relationship", the relationship you say, you are my only friend you fool.

Let's take you to the cave so we can do something about your wounds. Hyde's face showed a sign of relief once again and said "Don't do that I am about to die and even I can sense that ... let me die here and I am happy that you consider me as your friend. You are like him after all, I guess and don't you dare die now you fool." those were the last words that he said. His head was on my lap and my head was facing the sky with a sense of emptiness... why did I come here? even if I came here why did I step on that twig that made the sound? Why I am so pathetic that I was not even able to defeat anyone? Why I was not able to help Hyde in battle? Will my second friend also die because of me? those were the questions that were roaming in my mind after a while my tears were all dried up and a sense of hatred against Kai was developing in me. I could hear his laughter in my ears and it was very annoying. very annoying.