Grimm: Ch. 18

---Grimm's POV---

"Welcome to this world, child."

In my hazy dreamscape, a colossal figure bathed in a divine white radiance stood before me.

Its appearance was indistinct, yet my intuition and the resonance of my soul told me that this being embodied the will of the world itself—perhaps the Creator of this realm.

"Who are you?"

I tried to speak, but my voice seemed muffled in this space.

"I? I am everything here. The wind you feel, every creature you've encountered—I am the water that sustains life. I am life itself. I am the collective soul of all that exists here..."

The divine entity shimmered, constantly shifting through countless forms.

It passed by me as the wind, transformed into water, and then into an array of animals—a rabbit, a wolf pack, and then dinosaurs from the Jurassic age. They roared and surged past me in a thunderous spectacle.

Overwhelmed by their presence, I instinctively raised my arm to shield myself. The might of these creatures made humanity's strength seem insignificant. However, as they approached me, they dissolved into golden sand and scattered into the air, reshaping into new visions as if they were real yet intangible.

"I am also power!"

The radiant figure morphed into mythological creatures—an imposing golden griffin with razor-sharp talons, a colossal dragon with immense wings, and other legendary beings.

Angels with multiple wings and massive swords clashed against incomprehensible black demons on chaotic battlefields, where magic surged and erupted.

Next came scenes of elves, dwarves, humans, and goblin-like creatures. Mounted on various robust beasts—wild boars, oxen—they waged wars for territory, resources, and dominion.

Over time, the once-dominant races were nearly eradicated, leaving only the tenacious humans to survive.

They established their empires, though still reliant on other races' remnants. Their prodigious ability to reproduce allowed them to endure through the most chaotic eras, ultimately making humanity the masters of this world through sheer ingenuity.

The age of heroes was long gone, and the human epoch had persisted for nearly a millennium. Few elves remained in this land, and remnants of the evil gods' underworld creatures still roamed.

The empires built by heroes had crumbled into fragmented warring states.

This land, mired in conflict, desperately needed a new king, one descended from a hero's bloodline.

Seeing all this left me speechless.

"Child of Prophecy, go forth and embrace your destiny!"

As the voice faded, I was engulfed in an endless glow of white light and fell unconscious.

---

After a moment of disorientation, I opened my eyes and was flat on my back in the grass.

Birds chirped in the distance, and a curious rabbit sniffed at me.

Everything felt way too perfect—like some kind of dream.

[System connecting...]
[System successfully reconnected to host.]
[Status check: Stable]

"Seriously?!" I thought, exasperated. "So that's why this system stayed silent earlier? It completely lost connection? If that deity-level being had wanted me dead, I'd have been finished in an instant!"

A staunch atheist all my life, I was now forced to confront the overwhelming evidence that so much existed beyond human understanding.

As I sat up, the rabbit scampered off, startling a flock of chattering sparrows.

Nearby, my black travel horse lazily grazed. Why was it here?

"Huh? Is that a kid?"

"Yeah, it is! What kind of unlucky brat ends up here?"

"Pfft—haha!"

There were always a few untimely voices.

Nine men burst into raucous laughter, looking every bit like escaped convicts from prison. One of them was wearing a crude leather jacket, and all had pig-slaughtering knives strapped to their waists.

Another one chuckled, eyeing my outfit. "Even if he's just a commoner, we can still sell his clothes for a few dozen coins."

[Detected: Grain-thieving bandits.]
[Enemy count: 9]
[Automatically equipping...]
[Tactical analysis underway: mount the horse and engage in combat immediately]

Feeling the sudden weight of unfamiliar equipment on my body, I realized the combat armor stored in my space had auto-equipped itself. I felt like a budget Kamen Rider.

The fitted armor clung seamlessly to my frame.

There was no time to think.

I swiftly mounted my horse, wielding an unsharpened lance and shield from my storage. I also had a set of throwing knives—99 of them remaining.

Facing nine opponents in close combat was far from ideal.

My child-sized body made it easy to be dragged off the horse, so I resorted to using my throwing knives to keep them at bay.

"Ow, my eye! Damn kid! How does he know how to ride a horse?"

"Let's see if I can't shoot you down!"

Several of the thieves fumbled with their bows, firing wildly.

Their lack of skill was apparent, as their arrows flew haphazardly. Aside from a few glancing off my shield, most missed entirely or barely scratched my horse, doing no real damage.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Three throwing knives hit their mark, each striking a thief in the head and knocking them unconscious. My small, blunt throwing knives were effective only with headshots; against clothed targets, they inflicted almost no damage.

The remaining bandits fell one by one to my strikes. One collapsed from a lance charge, knocked unconscious by the sheer force of impact.

Now only their leader remained.

Humiliated by being chased down by a child, he stubbornly fumbled with his weak little hunting bow.

"Damn brat! Why won't you stop moving?!"

I smirked.

Years of practice were finally paying off. Dealing with a few low-level bandits was well within my abilities. With a powerful charge, I finished off the leader.

He collapsed, filled with resentment.

"Not a bad haul."

I scavenged the bandits' belongings, finding an impressive loot pile. Unfortunately, my inventory space was limited. I discarded some spears that were nearly worthless and swapped them for a sharpened boar spear, which increased my speed by 10%.

Then, I stripped the bandits of their clothes—clothing was always valuable. My spoils included 113 dinars!

[9 bandits knocked unconscious.]
[First battle reward: Cheese (30/30) x4, Bread (50/50) x2.]
[Battle earned: 162 experience points, 60 bonus points.]

General goods were a great find—they held their value. I couldn't help but grin at the success of my first battle on the Pander Continent.

Looking at the nine bandits sprawled out on the ground, I chuckled mischievously.

My spacious captive-management system could hold them all, along with their loot. I was about to make a significant profit!

Clip-clop.

Clip-clop.

"..."

I was busy tying up several unconscious bandits when a man clad in black leather armor and wearing a black hood rode up on a hunting horse.

"What are you doing?"

The man looked at me as I worked.

Hearing his voice, I froze for a moment as a flood of memories implanted by the system surged into my mind.

Apparently, this man was supposed to be my father in the world of Alland.

However, he seemed to be a wanderer, seldom around. Perhaps he had just finished his own business and returned.

"Father!" I reflexively said, likely influenced by this body's instincts.

Maybe it was also because he had never told me his real name. My body, as if on autopilot, joyfully ran toward him.

"I've told you before…" He sighed. "Don't call me that."

"Look! I managed to knock out nine thieves all by myself. They were just targeting me!"

"Not bad."

The man never interfered in my battles with petty bandits, believing that victory was something one had to earn for oneself.

"Can I sell them off?"

"Of course."

---

"Do you accept bread as payment?"

"Yes, let me see the goods…"

"Not bad. 91 dinars earned for 50 per portion, decreasing proportionally."

I sold two loaves of bread and a piece of cheese, earning 242 dinars. However, if you thought the prices in Alland were cheap, you'd be wrong.

The system had already enabled currency exchange between the two worlds. Roughly speaking, one silver dinar equaled ten copper coins, though it wasn't as valuable as silver coins in the latter.

Silver dinars were quite lightweight; I had to be careful not to cut myself when handling them.

Selling a regular loaf of bread fetched a price nearly equivalent to white bread, but most townsfolk in Alland could afford it. After all, Bacarat was renowned for its mercenaries, and almost anyone in town could turn out to be a skilled warrior.

I also packed up some clothes for 574 dinars and sold a sword for 52 dinars. Not a bad haul.

All that remained was to sell off the thieves stashed in my slum hideout, but unfortunately, there was no ransom broker in town today.

With nothing else to do, I practiced swordsmanship.

The black-clad man instructed me in sword techniques that were exceptionally unorthodox. He refused to teach two-handed swordsmanship, instead focusing on single-handed swords, daggers, and the art of throwing knives to take lives from a hundred meters away.

He didn't seem like a warrior but more like a professional assassin.

I had once seen him kill a rabbit from a hundred meters away with a small stone, hitting it squarely on the head.

We often relied on such methods to procure meat, which was far cheaper than paying for it out of pocket.

---

As night fell, I allocated my attribute points, spending one on intelligence, one on healing, and one on weapon proficiency.

This way, I could recover quickly the next time I got injured. I laid down on the shabby floor of the slum house, closed my eyes, and prepared to sleep.

It was my first night in Alland.

---

[Cumulative time spent in Alland: 6 hours]
[Mental energy consumed: 60 points]
[Limited-time shop system now available. Refreshes monthly.]
[Reconnecting to...]

---

It felt like traveling through a time tunnel, leaping from one multiverse to another.

When I came to, still woozy, I was back in that underground prison. The good news was that this time, I wasn't hanging from the ceiling.

"You're awake?"

A familiar and clear male voice rang in my ears, no longer as angry as yesterday, though it carried a slightly hoarse tone, likely reflecting a sour mood.

"Mm..." I responded hoarsely as well. After all, my body here wasn't fully recovered yet, and I hadn't had a drop of water all day.

One of Kadi's subordinates handed me a bowl of water at the right moment.

Grimacing, I pushed myself off the stone slab bed and gulped it down. Only then did I notice that my body had been carefully bandaged and treated with some medicinal ointment—clearly, the wounds had been freshly tended to.

"Tch, aren't you afraid I poisoned the water?" Kadi sneered, watching me drink with interest.

"You're not that petty. If you wanted to kill me, you could do it anytime." I was blunt, knowing this world didn't have any drugs that could force someone to obey. Even if such a thing existed, I doubted I was worth using something so precious on.

"This mission went smoothly. You're lucky this time; well done. But don't act on your own again," he said as he finished his mug of wheat beer and stood up to leave.

"Get back to the camp early and rest. Training resumes in a couple of days." He climbed the steps and left the underground prison, leaving me behind.

"Mm..." I groaned.

My body still ached terribly, but it was far better than the day before. The healing treatment was already taking effect.

"Come with me. Your clothes are here."

I followed a stranger to a chamber filled with an assortment of torture devices. The sheer variety was enough to make my skin crawl.

Damn, hope they never toss me in here.

Cursing inwardly, I dressed quickly and left as fast as I could. It seemed like completing Kadi's missions promptly would be the wisest course.

The man was meticulous, to say the least.

---

"You're finally back, Boss! What happened to you? How did you get so banged up?"

Upon sneaking back to my tent under the cover of night, Bernhardt hurried over. He hadn't been going to bed early these past few days, keeping an eye on me instead.

Judging by his expression, my injuries looked serious.

"Shh, keep your voice down. It's nothing major. With the medicine, I should be fine by tomorrow." I winced as the pain from my clothes rubbing against my skin became unbearable.

Once inside the tent, I stripped off the garments quickly.

"Get some rest then. Earlier, a guy came by saying he wanted to spar with you. I told him you weren't here, so he left. Maybe he'll come back tomorrow."

"Got it." I wasn't worried about sparring the next day.

Thanks to my 3 points in healing ability, plus the restorative effects of resting in the tent, I would likely recover almost completely by then.

"Anything happen while I was gone? I heard things haven't been too peaceful in Weimar lately."

"Don't overthink it. Just a routine mission. All you need to do is cover well. Knowing too much isn't good for you, Bernhardt."

After all the back and forth, it had been over an hour, and I felt it was finally time to rest. I couldn't help but wonder, though—what would happen if my mental energy were completely depleted?

Hopefully, sleeping would restore some of it.

"Understood, Boss."