Reborn as a Reluctant Demon Lord

Chapter 7 - Trials and Tribulations

Now, at this point, you may have been wondering what happened to my party that had been teleported away. Well, fortunately, it's high time for a break from ants, so how about I tell you what Jake was up to?

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While the rest of us were making schemes or fighting ants, Jake was being teleported. How could he tell? Well, he didn't currently have a body, but he felt like he was going to hurl anyway.

Then just as suddenly as the feeling came, it stopped. He found himself with his hand on a dark blue obelisk about 20 feet tall. Huh. I guess obelisks aren't just a tutorial thing. His attention turned to the night sky that was lit by a single large moon. "Only one moon? Lame."

He then finally noticed the system notification.

System: Zone entered, Faroff Village. Faction - Vir

His gaze went out over the village that he was in. And village seemed to be the correct term. The area he was standing in appeared to be a simple central plaza that was connected to some hard-packed dirt roads going in different directions. The roads themselves meandered past simple thatch-roofed houses of varying sizes. Though most of them seemed a bit small.

Jake took a deep breath of the cool night air. So, this pretty much clinches it, right? Medieval fantasy world? He continued looking out over the village and also listened. It is really quiet. Almost eerily, but instead, it seems... Peaceful?

He was startled by a crash. He spun and saw a young kid that was staring at him wide-eyed with a lantern that was now on the ground. Before Jake could gather his wits, the kid took off. "Dad! Dad! There's a weird guy touching the upgrade stone!"

"Wait!" Jake took off after him but stopped himself. Yeah, no. Stranger chasing after a little kid in the middle of the night? Good luck explaining that. Also, I should probably wait around to see if any of the party made it to level five too. Instead, he walked over and picked up the lantern.

Out of curiosity, and since he had nothing better to do but wait, Jake activated his only spell. "[Identify]," Jake intoned. The system, as ever helpful as always, told him that it was a simple lantern. And that was it.

He didn't realize that he had an audience. Jake looked up and saw a middle-aged man in a simple, but well-made brown tunic who was holding a pitchfork. The young boy was peeking out from behind him. The man spoke to the boy, "You didn't tell me he was a [Magician]!"

"How was I sposed to know?"

The man turned his attention back to Jake and asked warily, "And what does a [Magician] want with this town's upgrade stone in the middle of the night?"

Jake set the lantern down and held up his hands to show that he was unarmed. Crud. How much do I explain here? "I don't mean you or your town any harm. Also, I'm not a [Magician]. I'm actually a [Hero]. My name's Jake."

The man's eyes narrowed even more, and he pointed the pitchfork threateningly. "Sure, you're the [Hero]!"

"It's true, though!" Think Jake. You can't help these people with whatever quests they will have if they don't trust you! An idea came to mind. "I have a way to prove it, but it will require pulling out my sword. Is that okay with you?"

"Don't make any funny moves!" The man continued threatening Jake with the pitchfork. "Jack, go and ring the emergency bell if he is a [Magician] who can use a sword, he has to be dangerous!"

As the kid ran off, Jake was starting to get peeved at the treatment, but he stopped himself. Okay. Breathing. In. He slowly inhaled. Two, three, four. Hold. He held his breath. Two, three, four. Out. He slowly exhaled. Two, three, four. Hold. He held his breath again. Two, three, four. Okay. Now, see their point of view. To them, I am a stranger doing magic, which is apparently more rare than I thought. I also claimed to be armed when it seems the most protection they have here are pitchforks. So, I need to be calm and polite until they feel safe. He repeated his introduction, "I'm Jake the [Hero]. What's your name?"