Mushoku Tensei: A different path

{Third POV}

At the Red Dragon Upper Jaw, in a dense and dark forest, also known as the Red Dragon's Whiskers, three carriages rattled down the narrow road that went through that forest.

The forest that separated the Kingdom of Asura's northern border from the valley known as the Red Dragon's Upper Jaw.

The Upper Jaw was a natural choke-point, but unlike its counterpart the Lower Jaw far to the south, it was located several days' travel from the Asuran border.

The reason for that. And that is because the border and the valley were infested with numerous monsters, as well as the home of bandits and criminals who fled from the Asuran Kingdom.

One such merchant by the name of Bruno, was risking that anyway. Although he was confident in his skills with the sword as well as in his instincts, he wasn't risking his career that easily.

So, he hired guards for this shipment that could easily get him killed should it fail to arrive at his destination.

The guards consisted of a five member B-rank party called [Counter Arrow], who were working in the Asura Kingdom not long ago.

There were three passengers as well, who weren't hired as guards but were expected to assist should an attack arise.

Two were swordsmen in training who are heading north to hone their skills, and one young gloomy and tired-looking gray robed magician.

The magician in particular was actually infamous. In particular, having grown tones of crops in the Fittoa-region with his magic.

This gave him small fame that is already making his name be known by the people of the Asuran Kingdom.

Although the rumor about him possibly being a Demon-Dragon were equally spreading around, Bruno checked and confirmed that he is indeed from the Human-Race.

It's just his different colored eyes and white hair that makes one question his race.

He and the other passengers were seated at the back of one of the carriages.

All of them couldn't keep their eyes away from. It's not just his odd appearance or his oddly bland robe.

Rather, it was the look in his eyes. Dejected and dead like a fish with bags under the eyelids.

What everybody didn't know however was that the young magician was having a mental contemplation over his recent action while looking up to the sky.

'Why~? What the fuck is wrong with me? Could Ruijerd be right, and my curse is actually influencing my personality? I need to get a hold of myself. Otherwise, finding Zenith will take decades.'

He was contemplating over how he left off from the Fittoa-region's refugee camp. Leaving over getting annoyed at Eris's attitude.

'She just felt lonely, and I simply got angry at one small thing. Should I head back and apologize? No, I need to concentrate. Get yourself together, me. Great Goddess, please guide me. Oh my, I think I have suffered some sort of neurological damage. Am I gonna be alright? Is this curse actually killing me?'

"Hey kid, are you alright? You're looking kind of gloomy." One of the other passengers decided to talk to the boy.

She was a member of the B-ranked party Counter Arrow and was dark-skinned with dreadlocks pulled into a bun. Her chest protector and gauntlets were light armor, but a bit more than what a typical swordswoman would wear. Her professional class was likely a warrior.

Slowly, the young magician looked at the lady with the dreadlocks.

'Crap. Okay, act friendly. You already made enough people mad at you. Don't add new ones now.'

"My apology. But it's nothing you should worry about, ma'am."

'... Nice job, dumbass.'

"Are you sure? Why are you even heading to the north?"

Although the woman half-expected no answer at all from the young boy, he gave her a strained smile while looking with his tired eyes at her as he answered.

"It is really nothing you should worry about."

If it wasn't for the looks in his eyes, she would have immediately turned around. But it was clear that he must've had something on his mind while having trouble sleeping.

"Well you seem young? Are you a magician? Did you recently graduate from an academy? The Northern Territories isn't really a place to start off."

"..."

The young magician just stared at her blankly for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a card. It was his adventurer card, and he showed it to her.

Recognizing the indications, the warrior woman read his card out loud.

"Name: Rudeus Greyrat, Age: 13, Profession: Magician, Rank:..... A?!"

"""What?!""" All the other passengers exclaimed in disbelieve.

"Kid, how long have you been an adventurer for?"

"Does that even matter? He probably just got his rank thanks to leeching off from his former teammates."

The other passenger, a female, light armored, blond haired girl with a bow slung across her back, was furiously glaring at Rudeus, which made the young magician startled.

"Now hold on, Sara. Maybe he-"

"I'm going to the Northern Territories to look for my mother who has gone missing in the Metastasis-Event."

All of them went silent the moment they heard the last word.

Most of the party members saw the looks of the people from the Fittoa-region where the magic calamity happened.

The looks on their face were exactly like the one the boy had. The look of having lost their home.

"Still, that doesn't prove that you are an A-rank adventurer." The archer girl didn't relent a simply retorted him further.

'Fuck it.' is what Rudues thought before pointing his finger outside the carriage, charging up some mana into it and shooting lightning.

Everyone had their eyes wide open and the carriages stopped moving because the horses at the front started to panic a bit.

"What the hell was that?"

Bruno, who was in the driver's seat, screamed, demanding an explanation.

Jerking his body out from the carriage's back he yelled:"False alarm! I just thought that there were some monsters."

After taking back his seat, the ride continued.

Looking to his side, Rudeus noticed Suzanne and Sara staring at him intently with wide eyes, as if begging for an explanation.

"I'm a silent spell-caster. What you all just saw was a miniature version of the King class Water spell [Lightning]. I'm calling it [Electric]."

Although it was hard for any of them to believe what he just said, they could not deny what they just saw.

Sara backed off a bit while trembling, not wanting to deal with the young magician anymore. She feared that she might have poked at a monster.

As Suzanne as well took her seat, the mood in the carriage got heavy because of the tension caused by the thirteen-year-old boy.

But Rudeus himself actually enjoyed the silence as it gave him the time to think of his plans once he gets to the city.

Wanting to ease up the mood, Suzanne pried him further.

"So do you have a plan?"

"I don't think you have to worry about it, ma'am." His tone come out more blunt than before, as an indication that he is starting to get irritated.

"A-are you sure? The Northern Territories are a huge. Do you have some sort of plan? A place to start at? Travelling alone can be hard, you know?"

"..."

He simply ignored her and looked up to the sky. So, Suzanne stood up and tried reaching his shoulder to make him look at her.

"Hey, are you liste-"

A flood of killing-intent came from the young magician. Stepping back and then taking her seat again while shutting her mouth completely with a pale face.

The killing-intent stopped and the rest of the ride remained silent. No one dared to further irritate the portentous kid.

***

{Rudeus POV}

I was clearly underestimating how much my attitude towards people in general has changed.

But that warrior lady kind of deserved it. Bombarding me with all these questions when I was clearly not in the mood to talk, like door-to-door salesman desperately trying to sell you their products until you show some violence.

She might be one of those individuals that try to help people in need whenever she sees one.

Probably should have hold off from showing my variant of [Lightning]. My senses somehow told me that all of them feared me throughout the whole ride.

All I can tell from this is that I possibly am capable of telling people's moods and feelings with my senses.

It may sound crazy, but I think I can sense their bodies unconsciously manipulate their mana inside them. But that will need further investigation to prove.

It has been already two months since I crossed the borders of Asura.

I couldn't run the whole way to here since my stamina isn't good enough. My body hurts like hell, but my manipulation over my Touki got much better.

I can more or less manipulate which part of my body gets covered in it. That way only the used body part gets the recoil damage from it.

Just like in Shirone, I use it only on my legs or my fist. Using it on multiple parts individually is still impossible for me as that needs more practice and an even more trained body.

After stepping out of the carriage, my priority for now will be finding an inn.

Thankfully, I can afford to sleep in a more comfortable inn. I heard that the cheaper inns didn't have heating, and I certainly wasn't ready to die of hypothermia just yet.

So, I booked a room on the third floor of an inn for a month and got my luggage out. And by that, I mean out, of my pocket dimension.

After a bit more time, I manage to find a solution over how I get a specific object out of it.

And it's relatively simple. I just use my [Specter Force] to 'feel' the right item.

Everything has their own mana, and I can sense the slight difference more clearly when it's inside my pocket dimension.

That way I can keep all kinds of stuff in it with ease. Stockpiling things in there will be a piece of cake.

I only took out less important stuff. The two books I had will stay in there for now as I need to restart my train of thought.

First, I started putting firewood in the stove provided by the inn and warm up my room by putting a fire on with Fire Magic.

Laying down on the bed on my back with my hands behind my head and closing my eyes, I thought about what I should do next.

The warrior lady was right on one thing. Traveling alone isn't easy. Especially since I have relied on both Eris and Ruijerd too much.

My best choice of action for now will be to make a name for myself. Not to get some sort of fame to get girls attention, but to give Zenith a signal that I'm here to rescue her from whatever is holding her up here.

And to make my name be known in these lands, I have to become someone that no one can forget. A special reputation so that everyone will be talking about me.

Sounds easier in the head, but it'll be the best I can do all alone.

People are apparently spreading my name already for flourishing the harvest at the Fittoa-region, so that's good.

These parts of the Central-continent have poor crops, so maybe using my Botanic Magic could bring me huge fame around here.

But I still have to rely on that luck of mine to find her.

Considering how much my plans helped Ruijerd make his reputation somewhat better at the Demon-continent, I should be able to do it.

The money I have consists of what Alphonse gave me for helping at the refugee camp, and the money for adventuring that me Eris and Ruijerd made.

My mind was so clouded by my rage that I kind of forgot to leave them their share.

I don't know what Eris and Ruijerd are up to now, but I can already imagine that they are severely pissed at my action.

Next time, I won't just get a punch to the face from Ruijerd, or get kicked between the legs from Eris.

Actually, I could really not handle a second one of the latter. Really don't wanna end up blowing the whole continent out of sheer anger.

"... shit." I exclaimed with my brows furrowed.

Great. Now I'm angry again. And I need to do something about this.

Getting off from my bed and sitting on the floor, with my legs crossed and my hands laying on my kneecaps, I closed my eyes again and started meditating.

Currently, it was the only method I knew of that could somewhat ease my temper.

It also helps me understand my own mana a little bit better.

It's hard to explain since it's nothing visual like the feeling of other's emotions that shows on their face, but I can feel the depth of my curse lingering inside me.

When trying to feel my own mana, there is always something small in there that has stopped growing recently. My gut feeling told me that it's my curse.

But whatever it may do, I won't try to remove it from me. Since it is my retribution for all my sins. A punishment bestowed to me by the goddess.

"Okay. Maybe I am going crazy."

I'm starting to see what Ruijerd meant with me going through drastic changes ever since Millishion.

But I like to believe that the major change happened when we abruptly arrived at the refugee camp. Although not a bad change in my eyes.

'Nope. I am fine. This is fine. Everything's fine.'

Finishing my medication, I switched into a seiza and pulled out the pendant on my neck that master Roxy gave me.

Pushing it against my forehead and closing my eyes, I prayed.

Although I would have preferred it to use the Holy Relic, this will have to do.

'Master Roxy, please let your teachings to me help me on this tough journey. Great Goddess, please let your divinity shine over me so that I may reunite the family I was reincarnated into.'

My respect for master Roxy is still unchanged, but I could never deny the being that bestowed me with what I wished for.

Back when I was on earth, I doubted that someone would listen to my prayers to start over again.

And since I saw the person who made it true, I will devote myself to her until she messages me again.

When I put back the pendant, I took out the other pendant around my neck.

It was the one Sylphy intended to give me as a tenth birthday present.

I clutched it with both hands and prayed for her safety as well.

With that said, my first day in the cold Northern Territories ended.

***

The next day, I decided to take a look at the quests in the adventurer guild in Rosenburg.

And as always, I had a terrible night of sleep. These haunting memories of mine are getting on my nerves. Robbing me from the energy that I need to locate Zenith.

Once I stepped through the door, all the heads of the other adventurers turned to me.

However, this time I had my hair covered with my robe's hood, so it wasn't that. But doing that just makes me look even more suspicious.

"Look at that. A Kid?"

"Is he a newbie?"

"Probably just a brat, playing around."

None of them had anything creative to say about me, other than me being rather young and all alone.

"He is wearing rather weird clothes."

"Trying to look strong or what?"

Okay, I have nothing to say about that last part.

I know I have no sense of fashion, but I requested this robe to not look fancy like the last one I bought at Millishion.

Besides, this robe is just for cover and doesn't need any special craftsmen effect.

Ignoring all the stares directed at me, I proceeded to walk my way to the reception counter.

The lady behind the counter wasn't particularly pretty, but had a decent bust size with a revealing outfit.

Having seen the receptionist since the Demon-continent, I came to the conclusion that the job applications are decided by perverts.

That or they intended to motivate the lustful eyes of every adventurer in the world.

In which case this guild has fully succeeded in doing so, as I had to take a second before taking my eyes away from her cleavage.

"I would like to disband my party."

With Ruijerd and Eris, no longer on my side, I decided to disband our party for which we worked very hard for.

Something inside of me crumbled once the name was gone.

But instead of sadness, there was only the feeling of lifting some weight.

Not because I thought they dragged me down, but because I left unwanted influence.

I'm not saying that Ruijerd shouldn't have stopped killing people so easily. That change definitely became a benefit of his.

The person I meant is actually Eris. She needs this break up just as much as I do.

She shouldn't have to use her body just to make me stay by her side.

That and I don't want my partner to get kicked again. I still need him. Probably.

After getting done with my party's disbandment, I trudged over to the bulletin board.

There were a lot of jobs ranked B and C and few of the rankless ones.

That just shows how much more dangerous these lands are compared to the other part of the Central-continent.

Some of them were just guarding or transportation jobs, nothing I could get famous for.

Luckily, there is one quest that would suit my sets of skills.

It's a quest to slay a pack of Luster Grizzlies ranked A.

The details on the monster are a bit vague, but it should provide me with some good amount of money should the pelts be in good condition.

Grabbing the paper for the quest, I went over to the receptionist and handed her the paper over.

She looked over it and at the end, blinked in surprise.

"Excuse me, where is your party?"

"..." I just raised an eyebrow and waited for her to understand my gesture. Which she soon did.

"A-Ah right. I'm afraid that this job is recommended to do with a party. So, I'm not sure if-"

"Just do your job and give me the damn quest."

My voice cold with hint of a threat in it.

My eyes were probably glowing again, since she started to flinch when looking at my them.

"Look at him. Thinking he could go solo."

"Yeah right. He is obviously a magician so-Huh?"

Hearing the remarks of the other adventurers, I stretched my right arm to my side with my thumb up while still looking at the receptionist.

"The hell is he-UERGH."

Once I pointed my thumb downwards, I used Gravity Magic to make the guy as heavy as a boulder.

The sound of wood breaking and a person gasping as if he got hit in the guts was heard.

Everyone got silent.

I didn't have to look to know that he got crushed to the ground with his seat.

Opening my pocket dimension in front of every person in here, I pulled out my bag of coins.

"My apology for the damage. I will compensate for it."

Even after I put a silver coin on the desk, the woman still trembled.

"Y-You said you wanted this job. N-No problem, S-S-Sir."

Thankfully she complied, and allowed me to do the job. But something tells me that she just doesn't want to be my next victim.

She doesn't seem like the kind of person that would just speak out her mind like that idiot just now.

Waiting for her to do all the paperwork, I sense someone approaching me. And I am not happy about who it is.

Groaning into my mind, I readied myself.

"What do you want, Suzanne?"

"..." Silence yet again.

Not wanting any more of this, I turned around.

And just as expected, Suzanne and her whole party were staring at me with wide eyes.

From the corner of my eye I could see the guy who mocked me still not recovered and no one helping him.

'Serves him right.'

"Hey k-kid. I heard you are looking for a party."

"No."

Suzanne paused a bit before starting over again.

"But, don't you think you shouldn't go out alone."

"I doubt you forgot what I showed you and your party the other time."

Everybody except Suzanne flinched at my reply. She just froze with sweat drops forming on her forehead.

"I don't d-doubt your specialty in silent spellcasting. But don't you think it would be-"

"Just leave him be. Why should we care?"

'Thank you, obnoxious Archer-Girl.' She is the only one I like, yet oddly enough dislike.

She most likely is just trying to prevent her leader to invite someone to their party.

Something similar to the good cop and bad cop method. And there is not even a police in this world.

At her mentioning of me being a silent spell-caster, I got goosebumps from all the people in this building, who were in what I think may have been disbelief and now all staring at me.

'Why is this ability coming up now? What's the trigger? Goddess, please enlighten me.'

A simple glare at some of the groups that looked at me, and everyone went back into their own businesses, like slowly slurping their beer, or doing fake laughing.

But I can tell with these senses of mine that all of them don't want to end up like the guy who still is smashed into the ground.

'Isn't anyone gonna help him? Oh! They are all just afraid of being the next one if they help him.'

These senses of mine are getting out of control already.

The Archer-Girl and Suzanne kept on arguing with each other while I waited.

"*Sigh*… This is getting so annoying." I muttered.

"Everything is ready now. You may leave."

"Thank you."

After getting the affirmation from the clerk, I headed towards the exit.

"Wait! You really should listen to-"

Activating my Touki once I was out of the building, I sprinted towards the gates.

Passing by some people, I ignored their startled stares at me as I want to finish my job no matter what.

On my way to the gates, I asked the guard where I would find Lake Cucuru and some details regarding Luster Grizzly.

Since I have to be careful with my Touki I decided to take the rest of the way with ease.

Just because I can use it doesn't mean I need to use it. And besides, I get recoil damage from it that need long sessions of advanced Healing Magic.

"Let's hunt us some bears." I said to help me get motivated.

***

It's been 3 days already since I left Rosenburg to go do my jobs.

The forest on the way to the lake was filled with snow, ad it honestly looked like a winter picture, suitable for a wallpaper on a pc-screen.

Leisurely walking through the woods, I sensed some people following me and I identified them already.

"She and her group just don't know when to give up, huh?"

The whole group agrees to help me from whatever I'm doing.

Well, all but the archer girl. She most likely has no other choice but to go along with her group.

Then again, they could be doing a job of their own that was close to where I'm going. Like a double-booking.

But I haven't seen many other jobs that were about monster subjugation. Which means that they are indeed following me.

And it was obvious how they did. My footprints were telling them where I am headed, and they probably asked the clerk what sort of job I took.

Not wanting to deal with her and her group, I looked around to think of a plan to avoid them.

This forest has a lot of trees, so I could try and climb them like a monkey.

But that would take up a lot of time.

"So, what if I…?" An idea came into my head and I immediately set it into motion.

Using my [Specter Force], I grabbed onto one of the tree's branches.

And although I said that I should be careful with it, this will be a moment to train.

I lighten my body weight with Gravity Magic, and then I swung in the air from tree to tree while switching between my mana-arms to grab onto the next tree.

I was feeling a slight warm-up in my shoulders and biceps, so that will be a good work-out.

After a few minutes, the nerd in me couldn't resist, and I put on the pose of a web-shooting superhero that wears a red and blue full-body costume.

Using this method of traveling allows me to leave no footprints behind, and I can do my job without any distractions.

While doing a bit of a jungle-man, I used my senses to locate the Luster Grizzly pack.

This definitely would have been easier with Ruijerd around. My own detection magic isn't as advanced as his.

There aren't any snowy areas at the Demon-continent, so I wonder how he would've handled the environment.

And Eris would have definitely liked to do this job as well since she always had a need for adventure.

And this brand-new environment would have piqued her interest for sure.

But I'm pretty sure that nothing would have beat the experience she had at the Great Forest.

That girl just doesn't know when to hold off on those-

"Oh crap."

Because I distracted myself for a second with these thoughts, I swung towards a tree and slammed head first against it.

I didn't have time to use any sort of magic to lessen my crash and lost control over the invisible arms and fell to the ground.

As I landed on the ground with my back, the snow cushioned my fall, but the snow that the tree caught in its branches fell on top of me.

Blood trickled down my forehead and the snow on top of it eased on the pain.

My brain felt like it was in a pinball machine.

Some of my motivation got lost in the progress.

The superhero I imitated would surely laugh his head off, for seeing someone other than him slam into something.

"I really need to get a hold of myself."

Having my eyes closed, I went into deep thought.

There has to be some other explanation for my recent moody behavior. It doesn't sit well with me that my curse is solely the cause.

Could it be because of my fight with Paul?

No, I already set it into my head to apologize to him once we see each other again.

My near-death experience from Orsted?

Unlikely, since I already died twice before.

Eris cracking my nuts?

After thinking about it more calmly, I figured out why she did that.

The loss of the Holy Relic?

...…...maybe......

Perhaps it has something to do with the body I've stolen.

My medical knowledge isn't good, but there should be something I remember from the other world that could explain my moody behavior.

Let's see. What illness could an 13-year-old boy ha-

"Oh god." My eyelids snapped open, which gave me the view of the cloudy sky and snow on my face.

'How could I forget? Oh, right. I was a shut-in most of that time.'

The one period in everyone's life that is hell to go through, and a nightmare for parents to witness.

"I'm going through puberty......no~."

///