Edward had stayed in Agripin for just over two weeks. Caspian had arranged a room within a dormitory right next to the guards` station for him to stay. The room was designed to be shared by four people. There were two bunk beds, one on each side of the room and two cupboards against the walls at the back. One cupboard was allocated for two people as there wasn`t enough space to place four cupboards. This didn`t bother Edward since he didn`t have much belongings, he didn`t have anything other than the clothes he was wearing when he came into this world. He wasn`t the one who would complain about not having enough space to stow his clothes.

　　One guard outfit had been given to him including a leather vest as protection. However, he would be responsible for its maintenance. If this outfit got damaged or became inappropriate to wear, he would have to buy a new one with his own money. The guards were also given a lance and a dagger, this wasn`t much, but after having to fight with a stick and a stone Edward would gladly take it. All in all, the accommodations were simple, nothing more than what was strictly needed.

　　There was a small river East of the village. It wasn`t far, and villagers usually went over there to wash their clothes. You could pay someone else to do it for you, however, Edward wasn`t swimming in money right now and had to do it himself. Even while not being rich he hadn`t realized until now the level of comfort modern life offered. Not having running water was a real bummer.

　　As a guard, the pay was fifteen silvers per month. Caspian had already given him his pay for this month since Edward didn`t have any money and was in an awkward position. The economic system in this world wasn`t hard to understand. One gold coin was worth one hundred silver coins and one silver coin was worth one hundred copper coins. However, Edward had been surprised to learn that in this world they also had platinum coin, one platinum coins was worth one hundred gold coins.

　　Given that most people had never seen a gold coin in their life it spoke a lot about the wealth disparity in this world. To this village, platinum coins were almost a myth, getting one was as likely as winning the lottery back on Earth. Caspian who had been in a real town before settling in Agripin assured him those coins really existed, although he never saw one himself.

　　It meant that some rich lords somewhere were playing with money worth more than what hundreds of villagers could earn in a lifetime. Just the thought of it made Edward angry.

　　On a brighter note, it turned out that there really was some kind of magic in this world. Most beasts were ferocious and more or less magical. Several of them even had special abilities. From this point onward, it was better to describe them as monsters rather than some wild animals.

　　The black wolf Edward had encountered was one of the common and weaker monsters. They usually traveled in packs and were active mostly during the night when their black fur was giving them an advantage by merging them with the darkness. Even a single black wolf could easily kill a grown man. Those wolves were stronger, faster, and more resilient than common wolves which only boosted their aggressivity. Their fur was also very dense and could protect them from hits to some extent as Edward had experienced when he tried to kill the one that attacked him. He was actually lucky that the wolf he fought was heavily wounded otherwise he would have probably lost the fight and his life.

　　Balin explained that by killing those beasts one could become stronger. The blood of magical beasts and monsters were keeping some of their magic. By being in contact with this blood you could gain some of it. However, its magical properties degraded very quickly so said blood couldn`t be stored, it had to be used as soon as the monster was slain. Additionally, it was more difficult to absorb the blood of a beast that was still alive as its blood was also carrying some of its intent. That`s the reason why the black wolf`s blood was hurting Edward when he was fighting it, but it wasn`t hurting him anymore after the beast was dead.

　　The stronger the beast, the more potent was their blood. Those kinds of monsters usually had some magical abilities and weren`t easy to kill. Parts of strong monsters were also used as materials to fabricate different kinds of equipment. After all, when the monsters you fought were so tough it was only logical to loot their corpse to craft defensive gears from their body.

　　According to the strength someone obtained from killing monsters one could be classified into several categories.

　　First came the common people who had never been in contact with the blood of a monster. They were normal people, although they were usually fitter than the average people on earth who didn`t need to make daily efforts in their life.

　　Then came the quiescent level. At this point, one had absorbed some blood but the disparity with other people wasn`t too shocking yet. As this name indicated the changes weren`t very visible at this stage, one became a little stronger, more resilient, and faster. This wasn`t at a superhuman level but more than enough to make a difference in a fight. A normal person with a knife could kill someone at the quiescent level but he would be in a disadvantageous fight. Most of the guards were at this level as well as some of the villagers. This was also the case of Edward who had unknowingly been exposed to the blood of the dark wolf he had killed.

　　Then came the awaken stage, at this point, one was already starting to turn into a superhuman. Be it strength, speed, or even agility and reflexes, no normal human could begin to compare. Someone at the awaken stage could beat a world champion back on earth in his own specialty. Someone at this stage could also see auras and had some weak magical abilities.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

　　Auras were related to the total power of someone. When you started to absorb monsters` blood you started to develop an aura. At the quiescent stage, it was faint but still visible to someone at the awaken stage. However, while being in the quiescent stage you couldn`t see auras yourself and only sense them if they were strong enough.

　　That`s why the guards were so surprised when they saw Edward coming out from the forest alive without an aura. It was pure madness for someone without powers to roam alone into the wilds. There were probably other stages after the awaken level but most of the villagers didn`t know what come after. When Edward asked Caspian about it, the captain begrudged him telling to focus on what was in front of him instead of daydreaming.

　　There was another method to become stronger in this world without having to fight a monster. Monsters` blood could be considered an ingredient. Some rare people were able to concoct potions using the blood of the monsters and some other ingredients. Those people were called alchemists and were sought after by all the major powers.

　　One alchemist could enhance a stream of soldiers without any risks. They were mostly coveted by nobles who didn`t have to care about the cost and who valued their life as the most important. They were the kind of people who had no regrets about risking the lives of others to get stronger. It was perfectly normal for them to hire mercenaries with a bit of money to slay beasts and gather ingredients for alchemist potions. The risk of dying was deferred to the mercenaries, it was just a monetary loss for them which they didn`t care much given how much money they had. More importantly, this way their money could directly be transformed into strength which equaled to a raise in status as well.

　　Still, the potency of the beasts` blood was hard to preserve, it was like the blood had a life of its own, and it didn`t last long. Even though the blood potency could be enhanced with other ingredients it was still more effective to absorb the blood of a monster just after a kill. This confined the use of alchemist to nobles.

　　To maximize the effect of the blood, the best solution would be to send an alchemist into the wild so that he could make a potion immediately after the death of the beast. But that never happened for two main reasons. The first one is that an alchemist was too precious to send into the wild where survival was never guaranteed. An alchemist had to spend a lot of time on studies and didn`t have that time to invest in fighting. The second reason is that alchemists already had everything they wanted, why would they risk their lives when they could just stay in a comfy and safe place?

　　For the last two weeks, Edward had stayed within Agripin. He was actually sharing his room with Adrien and Bertrand, the two guards who were guarding the main entrance when he first came into the village. There were nice guys, Bertrand was more reserved and Adrien did most of the talking. They both had been born in this village and hadn`t traveled much. Travel was a risky endeavor in this world.

　　The guards were having different schedules so that everybody wasn`t resting at the same time. For now, Edward`s trio was having training and exercises in the morning. Edward was appreciating it. It was a nice breath of air compared to his life on earth and it made him remember his boxing sparring session. He always appreciated a good sweat. He was fit and wasn`t having much trouble with running and mock barehanded fights. However, he was having more trouble with spear mock fights. He had never used a spear before and he wasn`t very familiar with this weapon yet.

　　Nonetheless, he was starting to become a bit restless, this place was nice but nothing much had happened until now. He was glad for the safety this place offered but he didn`t want to end up stuck here when he was in a brand-new world.

　　After the training they were on guard duty during the afternoon. There wasn`t much happening at this time of the day, it was just villagers going in and out of the hamlet. Most of the dangerous beasts were only active during the night. It wasn`t that there was no beast active during the day, but the ones that were awake weren`t seeking a fight with the village and were satisfied by staying in the forest.

　　It was Caspian who decided to assign him this period of guard duty. Guard duty during the night was too dangerous for a newcomer. It would put both him and the village in danger. If he got killed and allowed a beast to come inside the village, it would be able to kill several villagers before being slain.

　　Adrien and Bertrand had also been guards for several years, especially Bertrand who was starting to get old. He wasn`t the fittest but he had valuable experiences. And Edward could learn from them before being put in a dangerous situation where he could commit a rookie mistake.

　　Edward discovered that in this world the sun was rising from West to East. When he had headed out of the forest, he had actually been going West and then North toward Agripin. Apart from the huge forest at the South of the village, which he had learned was called the Vipin Forest, there was a small river to the East and cultivated fields to the north. The village was between the fields and the forest and acted as a shield. The dangerous beasts nearby were living in the forest, so it was safe for the villagers during the day as long as you didn`t go too far away from Agripin.

　　The road Edward used to go to the village wasn`t used that much. Until now Edward had seen only a few people using it, and they always came back long before the night. The few who dared entered the forest stayed in its periphery, it could sometimes be dangerous but it was necessary to harvest wood.

　　One day while he was on guard duty on the palisade Edward asked Adrien. "Where is this road leading?"

　　It was actually Bertrand who answered "It`s crossing through a part of the Vipin Forest and going to Gob閘iard, a coastal city. It`s a three days walk from Agripin, we are pretty much isolated over here, if you ever want to travel, the best way is to go to Gob閘iard and take a boat to another city."

　　"Thanks," Edward answered, I will need a world map at one point he thought.

　　"You say we are isolated, I understand Vipin Forest in the south is dangerous but what about the North?" Edward continued to ask.

　　"There is nothing much North of here, nothing that`s really worth the risk at least," Adrien answered this time. "It`s already tedious to come all the way over here. So, no one saw the interest to go even further when there wasn`t really anything worth the price. The climate goes colder too and it would be harder to cultivate fields, so it`s not worth building a colony over here." He added.

　　While they were talking, they suddenly saw some people coming out of the Vipin Forest, those weren`t villagers.

　　"Youhouu!!" Edward exclaimed, "Travelers are coming, finally something interesting is happening while on guard duty!"

　　Adrien and Bertrand burst out laughing.