Chapter 5: Side story

When Frederick fled, he aimed to create a chance for a counterattack. Observing that the lady wasn't pursuing him, he seized the moment when she appeared distracted and grabbed a rock before smacking her head from behind.

It was a bold move, but his fear of death gradually lessened. He knew that he would likely return in time anyway, so he would take every opportunity to become stronger, even if it meant risking his "life. "

"Now... What's this?" wondered Frederick as he picked up the colorful marbles scattered on the ground. As he examined a green marble more closely, its "status" became visible.

<Authority> Threadweaver's Touch

Description: The possessor of this lesser rarity authority gains the ability to manipulate and shape various materials, particularly fabrics and textiles, with a touch. While not as overwhelming as higher rarities, this authority can be quite versatile when used creatively.

Abilities:

-Fabric Reshaping: The user can alter and reshape fabrics and textiles, enabling tasks like repairing torn clothes, crafting new garments, or adjusting clothing for improved fit. This includes crafting simple accessories such as scarves, gloves, and belts.

-Blend Crafting: Combining different fabrics, the user can create unique blends with enhanced qualities. For instance, they might fuse fire-resistant fibers with lightweight materials to create protective yet mobile clothing.

-Swift Stitch: With a touch, the user can swiftly sew or stitch fabrics together, facilitating quick fixes or temporary solutions. This ability proves useful for reinforcing clothing during combat.

-Fabric Insight: The user gains an instinctive understanding of diverse fabrics and textiles, including their strengths, weaknesses, and potential uses.

Curse:

-Fractured Focus: The act of manipulating materials comes with a price. The user's focus and concentration suffer after prolonged use of this authority. Extended periods of fabric manipulation can lead to scattered thoughts and temporary lapses in concentration, making it harder to perform complex tasks.

Remark: Remember, if your stitches start looking like abstract art, you might need a break!

Rarity: Lesser

Frederick was genuinely amazed to see that it was their authority. However, he was still gloomy as something was wrong. He hadn't had the chance to discuss the topic of curses and authorities before that old woman wiped them out, but now he was left wondering: why did their authorities and curses look more complete than his? His authority had no description or ability indicated at all! Heck, even their authority status windows were more elegant.

Returning to the subject, Frederick was unsure about what to do with those marbles, so he just placed them in his only pocket. He watched all the bodies on the floor, especially one that had its head turned into a paste and smirked.

Frederick decided to leave this place because it didn't seem to offer much more, but before, he needed to eat and drink as much as he could since he couldn't store it in his pockets. Soon he finished all the food in the crate and kept only a full bottle, then chose a random direction and began walking. 'Perhaps I could eat them…' thought Frederick. However, what he meant remained unclear. Was he talking about the marbles... or the corpse?

After walking for hours, Frederick started to notice that the trees were becoming less frequent, and eventually, the landscape transformed into a vast plain with only a few trees left. However, another issue arose... The day was nearing its end, and Frederick didn't prepare anything at all!

He had never read or attempted anything related to surviving in the wild... Well, the only thing close was during his time at the orphanage. Uncertain about what to do, he found himself reluctantly preparing himself to sleep in a hollow part of a tree. It appeared that there were no insects in this world, and encountering monsters or humans would be unlikely... right? In fact, he didn't have much choice either anyway.

Entering the hollow space inside one of the big trees, Frederick prepared to cover the entrance with plucked grass. But then, he spotted something strange. A distant fire's light that he hadn't noticed earlier, as it wasn't dark enough yet. He thought it might be a group of candidates, but he didn't pay it much mind. After making a comfy bed of grass and ensuring the hollow was well hidden, he quickly fell asleep.

Little did he realize that ignoring the light actually saved his life, as one of the monsters was also drawn to that light...

Frederick woke up accompanied by the sounds of leaves rustling above him. He opened his eyes to the morning light coming through the branches. Frederick then stretched and yawned, feeling the grass under him, which was surprisingly comfy even though it was just grass. Although he would still choose his bed if he had a choice, beggars can't be choosers.

He got out of the hollow and looked around the forest. The firelight he saw last night was gone with no sign of it ever even existing, and his stomach rumbled to remind him he needed to eat.

Frederick quenched his thirst by downing the entire contents of the glass bottle he had picked up earlier. He then proceeded to smash it against a nearby tree and kept the largest shard of glass he could find.

'This will serve as a weapon. ' With this crude tool in hand, he resumed his journey across the plain. As he advanced, the once-tall grass gradually gave way to shorter vegetation, and the absence of trees became more clear.

While traversing the landscape, Frederick's mind was preoccupied with the marbles he had collected. Observing their colorful aura, he began to classify their potential significance based on their descriptions. The green marble was of "lesser" rarity. For instance, Hiro Suzuki's Threadweaver's Touch was considered of lesser rarity. This category appeared to be the most common considering both Ethan and Amely possessed "lesser" rarity "authority orbs" as well. Authority orb being a name Frederick had found for them.

Next in line was the blue marble, showing a medium rarity. This rarity seemed scarcer, as only Alexei had yielded one. His Pyroclasmic Punch authority leaned more towards combat prowess, making Frederick a bit envious.

The purple authority orb, on the other hand, represented the "high rarity" level and likely the most valuable of them all.

'Compared to medium rarity, High rarity is so overwhelming that it seems almost arrogant. ' Thought Frederick as he compared the Pyroclasmic Punch authority and Blood Dominion that he got from the old lady.

Leaving that aside, Frederick wondered if all humans without exception were in this world... Because if so, then doesn't that mean that all children are alone against those creatures? 'How sad. ' thought Frederick with a smile before quickly discarding these considerations from his mind.

After a considerable amount of walking, Frederick spotted something out of the ordinary in the distance. Out of choice as he was starving, he decided to make his way toward it. As he approached step by step, he eventually uncovered the truth: it was a large town of candidates!

The town being built by the candidates was quite impressive for just one day's work. They were putting up houses made of wood, simple but with care. Some already had windows and doors, showing how much effort they were putting into them. Warehouses were also going up, made of strong wood. These were for storing tools and things they'd need. Around the town, they were building walls from stone. Even though they weren't finished, you could see they'd be strong once they were done. It looked like they were placing each stone carefully. It was surprising that they had managed to make something like that in just a day.

Frederick was speechless for an instant. He had so many questions right now but decided to discard them for now. Frederick thought for a moment before ultimately deciding to risk it and try to go inside.

Approaching slowly, he was soon discovered by the guards who were using some handmade weapons or even construction tools as weapons. As they raised their weapons and started to surround Frederick, one of them that looked like the leader of the guards started to yell, "Who are you?! Drop your weapon!"

Frederick obediently dropped his shard of glass and raised his hands with a fearful expression.

"I… I'm Frederick! Frederick Field! Please don't hurt me!" responded Frederick.

One of the guards started to approach Frederick to search him, and just as he started, he immediately found a green authority orb! With a big smirk, the guard silently took it and didn't even bother checking the rest.

"We'll have to confiscate this for... safety purposes. Now, come with us," said the guard as he pushed Frederick toward the town.

"Sir, you can't take this! This is the only thing my—" Before Frederick could complete his sentence, two guards struck him forcefully. After enduring a brutal beating, the guards dragged Frederick inside the town and attached him to a wooden post positioned at the town's center.

Surprisingly, Frederick wasn't upset by the situation; in fact, he was pretty satisfied. Prior to entering the town, he had taken precautions by discreetly tying up the remaining orb in a rather unconventional location on his body.

'Foolproof. By making them believe they've struck gold, they'll naturally let their guard down. It is just a bit of pity to lose Threadweaver's Touch… But it is a necessary sacrifice. After all, I need to join them for now to survive, keeping this on me seems to be pretty useless right now. ' Frederick mused inwardly as he feigned some crocodile tears and repeated his remorseful refrain, "I'm sorry, Chloe… I couldn't even protect my last memento of you. I'm so sorry. "

After approximately ten minutes, a gathering of people with women and children formed around Frederick. Despite his tears, Frederick's mind was working hard, planning his next steps. Suddenly, the crowd parted to make room for a towering man who stood before them.

The man stood tall, his blond hair falling like a shadow over his forehead. An arrogant grin played on his lips, exuding an unsettling air of malevolence. His deep blue eyes were staring at Frederick. His muscular frame seemed more imposing, hinting at the power he held.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" asked the tall blond.

"I… I am Frederick Field… I… I fled the forest and found the town, and… I was hungry and came here to see if there's any food here…"

"So you came to steal food? How dare you try to steal our hard work! Did you all hear that? He came here to steal food!" said shamelessly. As he finished his sentence, the glare of the crowd became hostile to Frederick.

"What? No! I wanted to see if I could join you! Please! I can do anything!" responded Frederick.

Ignoring Frederick, the man took out the green authority orb and showed it to the crowd. "This is an authority of Threadweaver's Touch, this authority can craft clothes easily, it is probably from his 'Chloe. ' The same one that took care of him by making the clothes he's wearing right now, but look at how she ended up… She's dead! While this coward is alive! He probably sacrificed her to survive like the trash he is!" The crowd started to shout and cursed at Frederick.

'This is getting out of hand… All I wanted was to play on their sympathy, given that they've just arrived and might feel some compassion for a man who lost his wife. I was planning to join them to find a way to stab them in the back, but this guy is ruining everything! But at least I can pretty much guess his plans… Just to be safe, I'll try to manipulate my words to make sure not to tell a direct lie, since there might be someone in the crowd with the ability to sense lies. ' thought Frederick as he began his defense.

"No! I did not sacrifice Chloe! She died because of a monster! The one that had made my clothes died too fast! I couldn't save them if I wanted to!" retorted Frederick.

Just as the tall man was about to say something, Frederick said again, "Don't listen to him! He's a madman that blames me without any proof! It's clear that his goal is to kiII me to get experience points while posing as a hero! I'm sure I'm not the only one that was blamed, right? If it is me, a totally random refugee who just wants to work for some food, it could be anyone next! Just imagine your loved one dying without being able to do anything.

Know that when his level will be too high, even all of you combined will not be able to oppose him! Just imagine a tyrant that forces your wife into his bed, just imagine a tyrant that forces your children to labor! Just imagine a tyrant that only sees you as experience points!"

This time it was the tall man's turn to frown. Both of them understood a fundamental principle of manipulating a mass. Offer them benefits or tell them that there's a threat to what they own. As Frederick finished, some people in the crowd started to whisper among themselves. Some males among the crowd even embraced their children or partners lightly.

It quickly turned into a verbal clash between them. You might be curious about how Frederick managed to counter so effectively each time. The reason lay in his peculiar perspective on others due to his childhood experiences. While he didn't read any books concerning survival as he deemed it unimportant, he had extensively studied politics.

Although this was his first time arguing for the support of the crowd, explaining why he was still making some mistakes, it was clear he was holding his own quite well.

Just as they were fighting, the tall blond man suddenly said, "You said that you came to work here and will do anything. Very well, you won't reject doing a side story for us, right? We lost a lot of heroes because of side stories, but that's also why we are doing so well right now. In fact, I can even promise you that you can join our town, and you can keep the rewards you will get. "

The man was smirking inside. He previously wanted to get rid of Frederick by killing him himself to get experience but changed his mind when he saw that he retorted so well every time. He had to get rid of him. In fact, the man was betting on the fact that in a side quest, everything was random, including difficulty or even rewards.

Frederick, hearing this, was ecstatic. 'So they have a way to get a side story!' Although it was clear that it was dangerous since his enemy had baited him to go, Frederick didn't care. 'I can't stay this weak forever, and the risk is worth it. '

" I'll go and I'll claim the rewards," Frederick stated firmly and directly. At this point, he wasn't concerned with the crowd's perspective anymore. He knew that as he grew stronger, they would eventually become his experience points anyway.

"Very well. " said the man with a smirk, as he already won. "Follow me"

Upon his words, the guards eventually let Frederick go and escorted him as the crowd followed behind but kept maintaining a safe distance. They didn't had to walk a lot and stopped in front of a floating cube that was hidden inside the biggest building in the middle of the town. The building wasn't really sophisticated at all. In fact, it was already very nice to call it such because it was more like a giant wooden box.

The cube had a mystical, vivid green aura and was adorned with intricate mystic inscriptions. Suspended in the air without any movement, the ethereal cube emanates an otherworldly energy.

Internally, Frederick couldn't help but smirk. He deduced that this cube was likely the entry point for a side story, a chance to gain valuable experience and rewards. However he was still a bit unsure of the exact rewards, he still had his own theories.

'It must be how they got all those resources to build the town... It is impossible to collect all of this in a single day'. Frederick also pondered why were some people allowed to start together while he was alone. However he wasn't overly concerned about it anymore. Frederick was more interested to know that certain families had entered the main hub world together.. 'Perhaps I can abuse familial bonds to get more experience…'

His dark thoughts were interrupted when the tall man's voice resonated, "Touch the cube to go into a random side story. Don't you dare fail. " In a decisive motion, the guards shoved Frederick into the massive wooden container before closing the door, leaving Frederick alone with the glowing cube.

Inhaling deeply, Frederick approached the cube. Without a trace of hesitation, he delicately reached out and touched the enigmatic structure.

The instant his fingertips made contact with the cube, Frederick found himself engulfed in a familiar darkness. The only difference is that this time, he had a body. After a short instant, multiple blue screen reappeared.

<Randomly selecting a difficulty… Randomly selecting a realm… >

<Detection of the Curse of "One Against the Worlds. " As you exit the Chronicles' zone of influence, the curse begins to take hold once more>

<Difficulty adjusted to its utmost level possible for the candidate due to the world's influence... >

<Mission adjusted to the most utmost difficulty level due to the world's influence... >

<Invading the Realm of Ascendia … >

Before Frederick could fully comprehend the full meaning of those notifications, he was teleported once again.