The journey ends, and a new one takes its place

"You're pretty shit at cooking, Ryan."

Ryan laughed. Yeah, he wasn't the best chef. They had caught some wild rabbits and, with his minimal skills, he had cooked them over a fire. Strangely enough, he had been able to seperate the inside and entrails properly, without contaminating the rest of the meat, and that must have been [Abysswalker] doing its magic.

Navi burped, very unlady-like. "How far away do you reckon we are from Orario?"

He glanced at the clear, blue sky. "No clue. 10 kilometers. 100 kilometers. 1000 kilometers. Who knows how far away we are? I can't ask Luce, because she might get punished with another shock from her… Creator, whoever that is supposed to be." It might be the individual who reincarnated him, but Ryan couldn't know for sure. He had tried asking her about it, but she wasn't allowed to answer his questions regarding the topic. Lucy whispered the word 'sorry', but Ryan just waved her off with a smile.

Navi huffed, growing a little impatient. "I wanna dive into that dungeon and slay some creepy monsters! And then I want a harem of cute girls!"

{Eh?}

"Eh?"

Lucy and Ryan were surprised by that proclamation, and Navi just grinned like a lunatic. "Imma get all the cat girls, fox girls, wolf girls, and so on. Imma get all of them. Muhahaha!" And it seemed she was, specifically, interested in girls with animal traits.

Ryan nodded with a serious look. "How cultured of you, Navi-chan. Truly a pristine fetish." He truly respected her infatuation with demi-human girls. Navi nodded along with him. "Indeed. I think I may have gotten it from you when you used [Tame]," she supplied and returned to eating her rabbit.

He blinked. "Wait, are you saying you've received my unhealthy weeb obsessions?" he asked. She tilted her head. "Maybe. Maybe not," she said cryptically.

Ryan didn't know how to feel about that, but he decided not to dwell on it. "Anyway, demi-human harems aside, what are we going to do once we arrive in Orario? Luce explained how, usually, people have to affiliate themselves with gods or goddesses, but I don't think that would be such a good idea. Whatever god or goddess we join, they'll grow suspicious of us If I go around doing crazy shit all the time, people will figure out I have strange powers, and then they'll probably try to kidnap me, or kill me, maybe both. But then again, if we don't have the backing of a god or goddess, people will also become suspicious as we grow in strength."

Navi stopped chewing on the rabbit. "I get where you're coming from, but wouldn't you just be able to explain it all away with [Abysswalker]? It's an S-Rank skill, so gods and goddesses might not even be able to expect what it's truly capable of, and then they wouldn't bat an eye once you show off," she reasoned, and he nodded along her words.

He stroked his chin. "Still, I want to find a god or goddess we can trust."

"Goddess," said Navi, sounding very serious. "I want to work for a goddess. A cute one."

Ryan chuckled. "Right, we need to find a goddess that's trustworthy, and then we can begin exploring the dungeon."

"Are you kidding me? You would think we've just about killed every goblin in the world, but they keep on coming," Navi complained as she finished her rabbit, stood up, and then smirked at Ryan. "Be right back."

With no issues, Navi disposed of the goblins and made her way back to Ryan, smiling from ear to ear. "It's always refreshing to fight!" Despite her earlier complaint, Navi truly enjoyed fighting. Weak foes. Strong foes. It didn't really matter to her.

"Right, I've completely forgotten something essential," he said as he stood up. "I need to check if you have any cool skills. Navi's status, please."

[Navi's Status Page]

Soul Rank: 1

Basic Abilities:

•Strength: I155

•Endurance: I142

•Dexterity: I23

•Agility: I34

•Magic: I112

Skills:

•Rage: B

-An active skill. When used, Navi will be consumed by her own rage. During this state, most of her Basic Abilities will be raised, significantly, but she'll also feel compelled to do reckless actions.

•Devour: D

-A passive skill. Navi can devour living organisms and increase her regeneration factor temporarily.

(Your status page has also been updated. It now includes more information about [Abysswalker], and you can also see your current Soul Rank)

Ryan now had a wry smile. After Navi's evolution, her physical capabilities have outshone his own, so she could, in layman's terms, kick his ass, if he annoyed her too much.

Navi beamed at him. "Aren't I just awesome?" she asked, and he rewarded her with more headpats. She still enjoyed that, no matter how dangerously strong she had become.

"I'm really impressed by your skills. [Rage] might seem like a double-edged sword, but I trust you Navi. [Devour] is also great in emergencies, and I don't think we'll be short of those in the future. That's just how it is. So, yeah, you're pretty amazing," he praised.

Navi grew a little embarrassed and mumbled something, but then she flashed him a confident grin and said, "damn right! And I'll only get more outstanding from here on out, and those adorable demi-human girls won't even know what hit 'em!" She began salivating a little, and Ryan just smiled stiffly. The woman was thirsty. He knew that much.

"Hey, Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you… have a dream?"

"What brought this on?"

She shrugged. "Dunno. I guess I just want to understand what drives you as a person."

Ryan frowned. "A dream… well, I guess I just want to live an amazing life. Normally, people only get one life, but this is my second one - I want to reach my fullest potential this time, so I can die with no regrets."

Navi smiled. "I see. That's a really noble goal to have. Well, at least, I think so. Well, shall we get going?"

Ryan smirked. "Hoh? What's gotten into you? Usually you just wanna laze around."

She smirked. "Shouldn't we live life to the fullest?" A sudden gust of wind lifted her hair, and her yellow eyes seemed to glow.

His heart skipped a beat, and he smiled. "Yeah. We should."

Nothing noteworthy happened for the next few hours, but Ryan and Navi continued to bond, bickering and bantering like longtime friends.

"Yo, what the hell is this?" said Ryan. They had chanced upon what seemed like a small rural town. A few villagers could be seen in the distance, and when they saw Ryan and Navi coming out of the treelines, they all shied away in fear. Ryan wouldn't say he was very intimidating, but he was covered in blood from all the battles against goblins and kobolds. In her human form, Navi was a very beautiful woman - she was also beautiful as her usual self - but she also had a dangerous aura about her that repelled people.

Navi sniffed the air. "Blood. A lot of blood."

Ryan's face became cold. "Looks like they were attacked." A wagon stood close by, and a pile of bodies was on it.

One of the older villagers had the guts to confront them. He looked feeble and tired, and he walked around with a cane. "You wouldn't happen to be adventurers?" he asked in a raspy voice.

Ryan didn't answer, still inspecting the bodies. "Wolves?" he asked, and the elderly man nodded with a grim look. "Quite. We were attacked in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, our small community is not on any maps, so few know of us, and thus we receive no protection from the city of Orario," he explained to Ryan.

"Sure. We're adventurers. You want us to track down and kill the wolves, right? Also, what's your name?" Ryan asked.

The elderly man nodded. "My name is Xander, and yes, I want those filthy animals gone." His voice was quivering with rage.

Ryan didn't give a shit about any payment, so he wasn't about to ask for any. "Done. We'll get rid of those wolves. Coincidentally, my companion and I are heading towards Orario, so we'll inform the city of your plight. They might send some mercenaries your way if they feel merciful. "

"Thank you, young man," said Xander with a bow, but Ryan just shook his head. "Think nothing of it. Besides, we won't be here to protect you in the future."

The elderly man gave him a bitter smile. "I know, but I still appreciate it." Ryan nodded.

"Come on, Navi. Time to kill some dogs."

Navi grinned. "Hell yeah!" She did a little fist bump.

With Navi's sharp nose and senses, they quickly found the wolf cave. In all likelihood, the wolves were sleeping, so they could kill all of them with little struggle.

"We'll just discreetly kill them," Ryan told Navi, and she rolled her eyes. "Fine… but next time we fight for real." He shook his head. Little battle maniac.

Lo-and-behold, when they entered the cave, the feral dogs were indeed off to dreamland. Admittedly, Ryan had some trouble seeing, but his recent stat increases helped his night vision somewhat. As for Navi? She saw everything clear as day. Her evolution was bullshit, Ryan thought to himself.

Even though the puppies were pretty adorable, Ryan and Navi still killed all of them. They simply slit their throats and let them bleed out - cold but effective.

After taking care of the dirty work, Ryan and Navi returned to the village. This time around, the villagers seemed less fearful, and some of them looked hopeful.

"Thank you so much," said Xander, and Ryan just smiled. "You're very welcome." Ryan gestured for Navi to follow him because he had to show her something in private.

Ryan knew he hadn't fixed their problem. Once they left, the small village might get attacked by wild animals again, or bandits. But there wasn't much he could do about it. Well, there was one thing.

"What's that, Ryan?"

"Something I bought from the shop. It's called a [Guardian Ward]. 500 Tokens, so it was pretty cheap. As long as I'm alive, this little guy will repel enemies from the village. It emits an aura of death, so you'll instinctively want to avoid the place it's protecting, but if you're strong enough, it won't do much against you. Fortunately, this forest only seems to host goblins, wolves, and other small time wildlife, so I think they'll be plenty safe."

The [Guardian Ward] looked like a Rubik's cube. With none of the villages noticing, Ryan dug a small hole and buried the object. "Still, I'll try to convey that the town needs help when we arrive at Orario. Hopefully, they'll respond and send some people to keep these poor villagers safe." They walked back to Xander, who had a faint smile.

"I'm not gonna ask for any sort of payment, but could we stay here for the night?" Ryan asked the leader of the village.

"Sure. You can take… the hut over there. It belonged to one of our people that died in the night raid," Xander said with a sad look. Ryan gave him a sympathetic smile, but had nothing to add.

Navi and Ryan spend their night in the village, and they leave early in the morning. Some villagers had gotten over their initial fear of them and actually sent them off with waves and small smiles.

"What are you thinking about, Ryan?"

"Just thinking about how cruel life can be, I suppose."

Navi hummed. "True, but if your life was only sunshine and rainbows, happiness wouldn't hold any meaning."

Ryan snorted. "That's awfully profound of you, Navi. Perhaps you should try to become a scholar and enlighten the masses."

She lightly hit him on the shoulder, but it still felt like had been hit by a truck. "You know, I was trying to be serious." She shrugged. "But stop moping around, Ryan. You look better with a smile."

He raised an eyebrow. "So I'm good looking?" he challenged, and she laughed. "I didn't say that… no, I guess you're pretty handsome. Then again, I have little reference, so you might just be mediocre looking compared to most men."

"Ouch," he said, and then they both laughed. That little interaction lifted Ryan's spirit, and he stopped dwelling on all the sadness from before.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Navi in an excited tone.

Ryan nodded with a smile. "Yep, that definitely looks like Orario… and that giant tower is the dungeon, I assume?" Lucy corrected his assumption.

{No, the dungeon is underneath the tower. The tower is known as the Tower of Babel, and many gods and goddesses live in it}

Navi and Ryan hummed thoughtfully, and then they continued their journey towards the city, both of them wearing looks of wonder and excitement.