Chapter 5

"Pretty good, huh? Haha!"

Hage laughed as he drove his fist into my stomach.

"Ugh..."

I crouched, scattering vomit. I quickly wrapped myself in my combat technique, but Hage continued to kick me without a care. Does it not matter to him that I am using a combat technique? Or can he not see it? Is it just that my eyes are special and can see it?

While I was thinking all this, the relentless violence continued. I recalled the moments before my death.

My eyes were not to his liking, my eating habits were not to his liking, my voice was not to his liking. There was no real reason. He just wanted to unleash unjust violence, which he did every day, and the abuse from my stepfather now kept me calm in this situation. I had been beaten for various reasons before, but never with such violence. Surely, someone must have told him to do this.

Even without a weapon, Hage is an adventurer, and his strength is considerable. For an ordinary person, losing consciousness or even dying would not be strange, but with my combat technique, the damage was reduced.

Hage grabbed me by the collar, lifted me with one hand, and whispered in my ear.

"You know, I don't want to do this either? It's just part of the job, you know?"

I thought, "Of course," while wondering who had made the request.

"Curious, huh? Who made the request? —Right?"

For a moment, my mind went blank. What did he say...

Not just Hage, but the surrounding lackeys burst into laughter.

"So... everyone! Everyone in the village requested that something be done about the creepy kid with black hair and black eyes! Hahaha!"

What did I do... Is my existence so unwelcome that it warrants this?

"Don't worry. I'm not going to take your life... Just don't ever come back to the village. You should just huddle outside the village with that old woman and live there!"

The guild master glanced at me meaningfully. Hage nodded upon noticing the look.

"The herbs you bring, you should leave them at the village entrance every day, got it? Every day, a basket full. Understand? Thank the guild master."

That old man... He wants to make me bring herbs for free from now on.

I looked at Hage.

"I don't like those eyes of yours! You don't seem to understand your position! You should just be quietly exploited by us!"

Exploited? ...Taken from?

"If you don't comply, I'll make that old woman, Stella, suffer the same fate."

S...Stella... Grandma... too? No... What did Stella do to the village? I... I... What... did I... do? Exploited... taken from? ...No... I don't want to be taken from... Why? Just an existence to be taken from? ...I... don't... want to... for my whole life... no, no, no!!

My head hurt, and I felt like I was going crazy.

I glared at this guy in front of me, filled with the desire to take everything from him. Hage, displeased with my lack of submission, continued to beat me, but I kept glaring. While looking at Hage's status, I noticed something. Some of his skills were missing.

Name: Hage Pochio

Race: Human

Job: Warrior

Level: 10

HP: 96

MP: 16

Strength: 46

Agility: 12

Stamina: 51

Intelligence: 7

Magic: 8

Luck: 6

Passive Skills:

Strength Increase LV1

Active Skills:

Sword Skills LV1

Combat Techniques LV1

Unique Skills:

None

The "Sword Skills LV1" was missing. I couldn't believe it and checked my own status.

Name: Yu Sato

Race: Human

Job: None

Level: 1

HP: 1

MP: 3

Strength: 3

Agility: 4

Stamina: 5

Intelligence: 22

Magic: 2

Luck: 1

Passive Skills:

Sword Skills LV1

Active Skills:

Combat Techniques LV1

Unique Skills:

Otherworldly Magic Eye LV2

Plunder LV1

What is this... K... Kufu... Kufufu

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