Chapter 38. Peaceful Days in the Village. The End of Peace

Chapter 38. Peaceful Days in the Village. The End of Peace

Day 28.

Alright… focus. Jump!

I pushed off and leapt from one tree to another. The distance was more than ten meters, but I grabbed a thick branch without any trouble and stabilized my body. Height—about fifteen meters above the ground. If I slipped, I would probably get a couple of scrapes, nothing serious… but still unpleasant.

Phew… I think I am now better at moving through trees than any monkey. At least, any monkey from Earth. I have not seen the local ones yet. Spending so many days just resting—lying around doing nothing—had become boring. Sure, I worked in the fields, but that barely tired me out, and I finished everything very quickly—about an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. The rest of the time, I was basically just relaxing, and that had started to feel dull. So I decided to take a walk through the forest.

But just walking around was boring too, so I tried moving through the trees—like in those movies where ancient warriors or vampires leap between branches. Damn, it is cool.

I have been walking like this for several days now, but last night I got another idea. Something I had never tried before. And today, I finally decided to give it a shot—to experiment. How strong have I become? What can I do? What are my physical limits? That is what I want to learn today.

Another hour of this tree-to-tree travel and I reached the place I wanted. It was a lake. An open clearing around it. Huge… well, not as huge as I once imagined lakes to be. This is the first lake I have seen in person, but on television I remember seeing lakes dozens of kilometers long. This one is… maybe five hundred meters across at most.

Still, there were many open areas around it with no trees—exactly what I needed. This is where I decided to test my physical capabilities.

Let us start with a simple vertical jump. I pushed off the ground with all my strength—up and back down. Looks like about four meters… maybe five. Hard to tell precisely. Alright, one more try. Almost the same result. Whether it changed or not, I can roughly say that I can jump about four and a half meters straight up. That is probably far above any Guinness World Record on Earth.

Now a standing long jump. Okay… jump. Oh, quite far. By eye—around fifteen meters. I counted by steps afterward; not perfect, but roughly accurate.

Now a running long jump. This area should work. I ran, almost at full speed, and jumped. Whooo… for a moment it felt like flying. No, not flying—I landed. Miscalculated slightly: fell, rolled on the ground a couple of times, and stopped. Not even a scratch. Perfect.

I stood up, brushed off the dust, and measured the distance roughly. Fifty meters. Damn… even with rough estimates, a fifty-meter jump is several times beyond what the best Earth athletes could ever do.

I found a stone—about half a meter tall. I stepped back, braced myself, ran at full speed, and in the final step planted my foot on the stone to push off with all my strength.

And… wow…!

Oh no. No-no-no-no—

SPLASH!

---

Soaked from head to toe, I climbed out of the water. Yes, things did not go exactly as I expected. Actually… even better than expected. Based on my rough calculations, I jumped at least a hundred meters—far farther than I planned. And yes, I ended up falling into the lake. Whatever. It was worth it.

Now… the main test. I really hope it will work. I have seen this so many times in Chinese films, where warriors or ninja run across water. Yes, water running. Maybe… just maybe… I can do it too.

I walked back from the lake a little, took a deep breath, focused, and sprinted. First step on the water—made it. Second step—also made it. And on the third step, I went straight through and sank underwater.

Well… yes, I failed to run across the water, but I managed a couple of steps. That is already something. I just need to try harder.

Second attempt—failure.

Third attempt—failure.

Fourth attempt—still failure…

---

I must have tried more than a hundred times. And every time, I failed. Damn it… why could I not manage it? It almost worked! The maximum I managed was five steps on the water. And on the sixth, I always fell through.

Maybe I simply lack speed?

Alright. That is enough for today. I will try again later.

---

I returned to the village, and someone was already waiting by my house. It was Gilbert. As always, he came to practice swordsmanship with me. But today, he was not alone—his younger brother Finn stood beside him. He looked about thirteen or fourteen. He joined the training a couple of days ago.

For me, nothing had really changed: instead of practicing with one boy, I now practiced with two—swinging a wooden stick at both of them for an hour each day.

---

Day 61.

[Quest No. 5 Completed.]
[Reward: +50,000,000 EXP]

[Status]
[Name: Alisar
Level: 87
Experience: 18,553,339 / 46,000,000
Rank: 4

HP: 188,450 / 188,450 (+480)
MP: 27,800 / 27,800 (+480)
Strength: 3,837 (+16)
Defense: 1,881 (+16)
Speed: 13,127 (+16)
Intelligence: 662 (+16)
Magic Power: 657 (+16)
Magic Defense: 1,101 (+16)
Free Attribute Points: 2378 (+1024) (+253)

Skills: Swordsman (Rank 1), Berserk (Rank 2)
Special Skills:
• Training Room (Rank 3)
• Alchemy (Rank 2)]

---

In our village, the first wheat harvest had already been collected. But mine was still green. I think my crop will be ready in about a month. Or… maybe not a month—maybe two.

Meanwhile, my neighbors had almost finished their second planting. By autumn, they would gather their second harvest of the year. And I… would probably get my first harvest at the beginning of autumn—only one.

I know that my harvest is not as important for me as it is for them, and as I said before, it does not matter much. Still, it feels a little disappointing: everyone around me gets two harvests per season, and I get only one.

But next year, I will get two as well. Yes… definitely.

“Alisar, are you here?”

Oh, Emilia came.

“Yes, I am here.”

“So, are you ready?” Emilia asked.

“Yes. Completely,” I answered.

For the past month, Emilia and I had been going to the forest almost every day: collecting mushrooms, various plants. Emilia set traps for small game, and near the river she set fish traps. She checked the fish traps once a week, sometimes once every ten days, but the rest almost daily.

I had also learned to distinguish edible mushrooms from poisonous ones, as well as several edible plants. Honestly, I never would have thought you could eat the leaves of certain trees. And they were actually quite tasty.

And there is something else. I do not know when it started. But… I think I like Emilia. I really do not understand the exact moment it happened, but whenever she starts talking or even just stands near me—my heart starts pounding like it is trying to break out of my chest.

And in the evenings, when I finally rest, her face and her voice keep appearing in my thoughts.

And walking in the forest with her… has become my favorite part of the day. I do not know… should I confess? Would she accept it? Does she even like me? Or, if I confess, will I ruin everything—and she will stop going to the forest with me?

No… for now, I want things to stay as they are. I will wait for the right moment.

---

Day 93.

Six days ago, Gilbert and ten other villagers went to the city with two large wagons loaded with wheat. In the city, they would pay the tax—about a quarter of the harvest in the wagons. The rest they would sell and buy necessary supplies for the village.

The road to the city was considered very safe. Of course, traveling alone would be dangerous, but a group of eleven would handle anything easily. Three of them were hunters who regularly worked in the forests. The most dangerous monsters near the road were wolves, and even they were considered low-level. A group like that would not have any trouble.

As for bandits—no one had heard of any in these lands for decades. It seemed the local lord really did take care of the safety of his roads and villages.

The round trip with heavy wagons took about nine to ten days. If they stayed in the city for two days, the entire journey would take about twelve. Which meant they were expected to return in six more days.

Well, another beautiful day. I had just finished working in the fields: clearing weeds and anything that might hinder my future harvest. That was enough for today. I lay down on the soft grass near my house and relaxed. Yes… another wonderful day.

Maybe I should have gone along with the group escorting the wheat wagons?

Ah, no, nothing will happen to them—the road is considered safe.

---

Suddenly, I heard a noise that interrupted my drowsiness. I opened my eyes and listened. It was crying. Someone was sobbing loudly, without stopping.

The sound grew clearer: it came from Emilia’s house.

My chest tightened. I quickly headed toward her home. The closer I got, the louder and sharper the crying became.

When I reached the house, I saw Emilia’s mother sitting on the porch. She was crying hysterically, barely able to breathe. Emilia stood beside her, trying to comfort her.

What happened? Why was she crying like this? I did not understand, but I could feel—something terrible had happened.

“Emilia…” I called softly.

She lifted her gaze to me. Her face was wet with tears, her eyes red. She was crying too—quietly, but no less painfully.

“What happened?” I asked, feeling something inside me collapse.

Emilia struggled to speak. Her voice trembled.

“Gilbert… He was killed.”