‘What the hell happened here?’

  Waking up from his long sleep, Riot saw seven sliced up bodies of some huge animals. He slowly went to them to inspect who could have done it. All he saw are precise cuts to the vital parts. Clean and efficient like his way of doing.

  ~well you see, you were in a deep sleep that you didn’t notice those creatures. I had to do something right?~

  ‘...how did you beat them?’

  ~well I slice them up! Pierce their heart and head! The efficient way like you always do.~

  Even though it was only a ring, Riot can feel it had emotions; as it was proud that he defeated the monsters. And aside from that, the way it spoke is like of a child right now, unlike yesterday.

  ‘No, no... what I mean is, how did you manage to do all those things when you are just a ring? And from what I remembered, I had no weapon that can slice this long.’

  ~ah that. Well I used your body of course. While you were out of commission, I somehow took control of your body and it was amazing! Who knew that your body could react to my fast thinking, you have quite the inhuman reflex there.~

  ‘?!. You controlled my body? How come I have never felt it?’

  Riot was surprised as he wasn’t aware that his body was controlled. During his hero days, he had experienced being controlled by someone many times, but he can somehow escape it one way or another. That was why he was unnerved as how he didn’t sense the body control.

  ~as I have said my master, I too have no idea how I did it. But let us just say that we are lucky that I can control your body, or you would have died. And by the way for the weapon, have you forgotten that you stole the knight’s weapon?~

  ‘huh? I thought it was lost as it was devoured by your light.’

  ~non non silly, did Creator never explained to you on how to use me?~

  ‘I thought you already knew everything about me? And just to satisfy your question, the answer is no. I quickly went out and killed some demons. Now, could you answer my question?’

  ~*sigh* well, I did say that all your memories are shared with me, but I haven’t watched all of it yet. I only knew the basics about you, ex-assassin, ex-hero killer, etc. The other memories are not yet viewed as of yet. As for your other question, I can absorb weapons and upgrade it so you can use it. I’m like your personal armoury!~

  ‘If that’s the case, then why didn’t you absorb the spear? Or the flintlock or the lance? What’s the difference between that sword and the other weapons?’

  ~oh yeah, forgot about that! Well you see, I somehow can’t take just any weapon, it has to be special or some sort. I just found out about that when I took out the sword and the shield. And they were so awesome!~

  Riot was now certain that the mentality of Glendell was that of a teenager to a young adult as he was reminded of a certain cyborg, Akira. He tried to picture about the weapons he ‘stole’ yesterday and light suddenly went to his arms.

  *whistle*

  After the light vanished, he was now holding a sword on his dominant arm and a shield was equipped in his left. It was a long bastard sword that was supposed to be heavy but it was easily lifted with one hand. The sword had rune letters engraved at both edges and there were faint lights coming out of it.

  ~when master stole that sword, I gained knowledge of its history. It is called the ‘Armour Biter’ as it ignores metal objects when used. So shields, metal armour, or something related to that will be ignored and it will directly hit the flesh of the enemy. I made some adjustments to it so you can perfectly wield it with ease. How is it?~

  ‘This is a great weapon; it can decimate countless opponents while ignoring their defence. It can really disrupt a shield formation when used.’

  That weapon was a national treasure of the Solnaria Kingdom; It was labelled as one of the strongest offensive weapons they had created. With the use of that weapon, it helped the foundation of the great kingdom.

  ~fufu, but what’s most surprising is that shield.~

  Riot immediately gaze at the shield, it was round and had a diameter of one and a half meter. It can cover the head and upper body with ease. It had no design as it was mostly looked like an old copper shield, like the one Spartans used in the Persian war. What was appealing to it that it had perfect curves, no chips or dents could be seen from it.

  ‘It is also light, but it is a little big for my taste. It is good for big opponents, but it would hard to move if surrounded by nimble enemies. And what is so special about this shield?’

  ~well, I can reduce it size of you want to. But before that, try throwing the shield on that giant rock over there as fast and strong as you can. Come on!~

  Being compelled by Glendell, Riot threw it like a baseball superstar threw a ball; fast and dangerous. It went straight to the rock. He thought it would bounced back or best it would wedged there, but when it came contact with the rock, of his shock it went through. Like a knife cuts through a butter.

  ‘ Oi oi... that was humanly impossible. The best that it would do to that giant rock was to be wedge there, it wasn’t supposed to went through to it.’

  ~I know right?! But when I viewed its history, it was made by a special metal. A dwarf found the piece of metal and tried to make equipment out of it. But when he struck his hammer, to his surprised, it did not bend the metal. He tried striking it again and again, but it didn’t take shape, much less bent it from its original shape. From there, he tried alchemy and, with the help of some elves, magic to try to make a shield out of it. From there, it was used countless of battle without being damaged even once. It was passed to countless of users until it came to the hands of that knight.~

  ‘Hoo... but why would I need a shield when I’ve got you? You can deflect almost every weapon we had encountered and my suit is practically a shield.’

  ~fufu... that‘s were master is wrong. I analyzed as to how the shield could have never suffered damage. That was when I tried blocking the monster with that shield. It practically threw its body to me and I had to guard your body. When its body came contact with the shield, the monster’s force was mostly absorbed by the shield, making it as it had just done a light push. It can practically absorbed vibrations! It is much stronger than me when in terms of defending. ~

  ‘That... that is awesome...’

  Riot touched his aching side, where the giant hammer struck him. His armour did a pretty good job in keeping him alive, but the force from the hammer penetrated and did damage to his body. He looked at his body and it was completely purple. His armour can defend him, but it can never cancel out the force and vibration of an attack. If there was someone that can strike him like the demon god, he knew that his armour would be useless.

  ~oh yeah, place your left hand out and concentrate on the shield and it will come.~

  Riot followed what Glendell said and concentrated on the shield. Immediately a shield was coming to him as fast as he threw it, he wanted to dodge it but thought that would be a bad idea as it would just follow him. So when the shield was almost within his field, he readied his arm for the incoming pain. But his expectation was destroyed as the shield when back to his arm without any force to his body.

  ‘Yep, definitely awesome... hey could you try to shrink the size of this about six feet in diameter and... ??!!’

  “What the actual fuck?!”

  ~?! What’s wrong master! Are you hurt?!~

  As he was observing the shield while making some suggestion to it, he suddenly saw his reflection on the shield. He if course had the same face, no horns or any other abnormalities that can have him labelled as a demon. But what surprised him was that how young he looked. He wasn’t a seventy year old man, no far from it; he looked like his time when he was still out on the streets hiding from both heroes and villains. A cocky looking man that had sharp eyes that when he gaze at you, you would think your his prey.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  ‘Glendell, did you do something to my body?’

  ~ah, so that’s what you were shouting about... nah, didn’t do anything to it. When I woke up, you were already in that state.~

  ‘That so? No wonder I can move faster, and I felt stronger. Well, enough of this... I’m really hungry with; I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.’

  There were corpses of those monsters that Glendell dealt with, but with their blood not being drained it would taste and smell horribly. Riot thought that maybe eating fruits or nuts would be his best option as of now.

  He looked at the trees and found out most of them were bearing fruits. He wasn’t sure if they were edible or not; being as this would be his first encounter with it. He looked at one peculiar fruit; a red elongated one that looks like a banana. He was curious of its shape and reached for the fruit, it had a delicious smell and was hard like an apple.

  ~hmmm... from what I’ve analyzed, it is safe to eat that master. There’s no poison nor any pacticular bacteria with this one.~

  ‘You're pretty useful when it comes with this one.’

  ~fufu... praise me more!~

  ....

  *Chomp*

  Riot just ignored Glendell and proceeded to taste the fruit. It was really delicious and its aroma was really good. It taste was mild sweet but it was very addicting. But what surprised Riot was that, after just eating one fruit, he was so full like his hunger was just a joke.

  “This is... unbelievable...”

  That was the only thing he could say as he couldn’t explain his experience with this fantasy fruit. He looked at the corpses and thought that with their smell, they would attract unwanted monsters in this area.

  ‘hmmm... let’s bury their bodies, but leave their pelt as it can be very useful in the future. After this, let’s explore this forest thoroughly.’

  ~roger that!~

  ..........

  After hanging and smoking the pelts, they went further ahead deep in the forest. They saw strange creatures, new types of animal and even a whole pack of those giant cats that attacked them last night. But they didn’t kill any of them as they were just observing the ecosystem of the area. He estimated that the forest was as big as the area Manhattan. They explored it until reaching the foot of a volcano. Curious of the volcano’s state, he thought of climbing it to the top.

  ~you don’t have to climb it master. I can tell it’s already inactive but its magma are still moving inside.~

  ‘... well you’re no fun...’

  ~geh!? W-well how about exploring inside of it? I felt that there’s a cave inside of it and felt some unknown presence too.~

  As Glendell told him about a cave, he tried to look for it, curious as what he could find living in there. He slowly circled the base of the volcano and saw the cave and there were something moving inside of it. He hid behind some bushes and investigated what it would be that was living there.

  There at the cave, some ugly looking creature went outside and did its business just at the side entrance of its home. They had these greyish-green looking skins that were mostly covered with black tars and boils. The eyes of it were pure black and had long nose. Looking at its mouth, their teeth were sharpened to the point it looked like mini daggers were installed in its mouth.

  Riot could see that if he ever encountered one of it, it would attack him with no questions asked. It was holding a spiked club that can really kill someone with just one strike. And from the looks of it, it was eager to hit something.

  ~Are they by chance...?~

  ‘Goblins? I think so too. But they are much fiercer than what Akira told me about... maybe this is its true nature.’

  ~what are you going to do about it?~

  ‘... as of now, just observe them. They’re not harming anyone; they might be the owners of the forest. Let us just observe them daily as they would be our new neighbours.’

  ~neighbours? Ohhh... so you do plan to live here... well, it’s a nice place and from what I can see, no humans would trek deep into this woods.~

  ‘Yup... so for now, let’s go back to the stream and make a base of operations there.’

  ~you mean you’ll make the house... I’m just a ring you know...~

  ‘...right.’

  They went straight back to the stream saw that no animals or strange creatures were there. It was a perfect place to build a home. There were a lot of trees that can be used for a house and a stream for the usage of water. There were also a lot of fruits that can be eaten or hunt some animals in the forest.

  ‘It’s already noon, I’ll start cutting some trees so do you have any axe there by some chance?’

  ~none, you can use the sword of you like...~

  ‘It ignores the metal and can slice its way through a man’s flesh. But it would be very ineffective against a tree you know...’

  ~hmm... Master’s right! Then how about going back there?~

  ‘... To the battlefield? I guess from how I killed both respective commanders of the armies, they would have retreated right now huh...’

  ~yup! And that’s not all! There are plenty of weapons and armours there to be taken away! Fufufu...~

  ‘... ... right, we might get an axe there and some other useful materials that can be used here...’

  They immediately went back to where the war happened. Even though he only went there once, he remembered the way easily as it was trained from his younger days. As he slowly went out of the forest, he saw the field. Barren from any life and was filled with death. The stench coming from the place could make any normal being puke from its rancid smell; not even scavengers went near the awful place.

  ‘Fuck, that’s some strong smell. Hey by chance, could you think you can make my mask?’

  ~that’s a no biggie! Aside from the mask, you can imagine almost any weapon from your world and I’ll try my best to conjure it.~

  ‘oh... you really are a cheat.’

  ~more! Praise me more! Fufufu!!!~

  As Glendell was strangely elated by Riot’s compliment, a mask quickly envelopes his face. The stench that was going in to his nose was filtered in his mask. It can null poisonous gas attack so he was safe if it is just a putrid smell of death. But what was strange was that he can’t really smell anything but clean air. He also realized that the lenses from his mask had some weird digital patterns and some kind of a guage.

  ‘By some chance, is this a map?’

  ~so you noticed it?! Yup yup!! I copied it from one of your memories when Master played with Akira. Man, you sucked at first person shooting. The map can detect movements fifty meters wide within your field. ~

  ‘...aside from the insult, it is useful for combat. What about the gauge?’

  ~ah that, it is like a danger warning; the bar will fill up depending on how dangerous one can be when you’ve encountered them. Even if they hide it, they won’t hide from me! Fufufu...~

  ‘If people knew your capabilities, they would wage war just to obtain you.’

  ~One Ring to rule them all!!! Bwahahaha!!~

  ‘...’

  Ignoring the ring, he quickly looked for valuable items from the field; Axes, arrow, swords, pistols and books. There were a variety of stuffs there that some of it was absorbed by Glendell, which made him giddier. By the time his hands were full, he saw the prince’s corpse. It was still stuck within the lance but the orc was not there.

  ‘Maybe he did survive after all... should’ve pushed the lance deeper to their bodies... hmm?’

  He saw a small pouch hanging from the side of the prince. It was white in colour and had a gryphon emblem on the front. He grabbed it, thinking there might be something useful in it. But the light quickly enveloped it and was gone.

  ~OOhhh!! Bwahaha we got the jackpot master! Fufufu!~

  ‘... what did we get now?’

  Tired by the ring’s unusual behaviour, he asked it with a bored voice.

  ~Quick! Take out the pouch and you’d be amazed! ~

  He conjures up the item and it was in his hand. He looked at it was light and tried opening it up. There was also nothing inside of it. He tried inverting it, with the mouth facing the ground, and shook it.

  “W-what the?!”

  Countless of stuff flooded out from its mouth. From small things like colourful jewels and large things like some tents. He never had imagine that all those stuffs would fit right inside a small pouch.

  ~fufu, did that surprised you master? From its original conception, it can carry a limited number of stuffs while ignoring the weights. You only had to imagine the stuff that you want to pull out and you would apparently get it. It can store food but would rot if not taken out if forgotten. But with a few twinks I made with it, it would stop time inside and had the storage capacity three times bigger! fufufu~

  ‘So it’s like you, but can fit all these stuffs without any fuss and can store storage. It’s more convenient with all the stuff I’ll have to carry...’

  ~M-master, I’m much more useful than that bag right? ~

  ‘... of course you are. Well with this, we can take almost all of the stuffs here. I’ll get all of the items here, it maybe can help use in the future.’

  ~Hai!~

  With that, he quickly pulled everything that can be used. From broken shields to bloodied gold and even to the feather and claws of the dead gryphon and the useful teeth and scales of the drakes.

  It took a while as there were a lot of useful items to extract from their dead bodies. As the sun was almost setting down, he went to a familiar place, were a dead body that was holding a flintlock pistol, it also had a spear embedded to his stomach. Near that corpse was the first life that Riot took. It was the orc that attacked him out of the blue. He went near them and took out all their useful stuffs.

  ‘There are still a lot of bodies here to salvage but the sun is almost down. We should get back and... huh?’

  ~what’s wrong master?~

  As he was standing up from retrieving the loots from the orc, he saw some strange belongings that were out of the picture in this battlefield. It was some small objects, the size of a palm of a man, and had a very bright colour. They also shine when light would hit it but for him, it wasn’t strange because he knew what it was.

  ‘Why are these stuffs here?’

  It was some bits and pieces of some parts of a grocery counter. Metals from a cash register and some chips were there. There was also a broken trolley filled with gardening tools and some seeds with it.

  ~I didn’t notice that earlier, but with this, we can now assume that you were transported here along with these stuffs.~

  ‘Yeah, and that might also be a clue as to why I was chosen...’

  ~hmm? What is it? O-oh?!~

  Riot pointed out a dead body that was near the scene. It was a person who had a very gruesome death; its body was almost cut in half from his left shoulder down to his stomach with a very crude weapon. He was still young, about mid twenties just like him. He had an ash blonde hair and a scar from his cheek which looked good on him. Aside from that he looked like a captain of a division which died from the battle, but there was nothing else special with his equipment.

  ~I’m looking through your memories and this; this is the first time that this happened! Even Alpheus could not explain this one...~

  ‘Yeah, but really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.’

  He looked at the body dejectedly as he was looking at its face. Because no matter how people would look at the corpse and his face, it was one and the same. It wasn’t like the situation with how the twins had the same face, because if you look at them closely, you would see some difference about them. But with this one, aside from the scar and hair, their bone structure, height, and their facial expression is one and the same.

  ‘Yep, now this is a first, having seen my parallel self. Even Alpheus hasn’t seen his parallel self on Earth.’