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[break][break]Continuing to roam the hills, he could see in the distance that there were shepherds here too, just like there had been in the much less environmentally friendly region within America. In comparison, the English landscape had remained relatively normal and much like how he remembered it being in the old world. Maybe it was for that same reason that he was not constantly on edge here, as it felt less like he could get jumped by ill-intending individuals or monsters out here. One good thing about the hills was that one could peer out quite far ahead into the distance, making it less likely for one to get assaulted before seeing what might be hunting them. That was, unless it came from the skies above.

[break][break]Hearing the sheep bleating in the distance, it wasn’t until he peered into the other direction that he noticed another person wandering about by their lonesome. Even though everyone in this world held the potential to be dangerous due to being given some kind of power upon entering, Hilbrand believed that simply the belief that everyone he encountered might have good intentions would get him killed quickly. Besides, if there was one thing he had learned growing up, it was the fact that the lone wolf was often the most dangerous, as the weak had a tendency of grouping up together for safety. While something could be said about there being strength in numbers, there was always going to be a moment in life when one was truly alone. And if that moment came at the wrong time, numbers wouldn’t save them.

[break][break]It was why he himself had always tried to get stronger, more athletic and more capable of looking after himself. Trying to do these things through baseball practice, kickbox training and cooking classes, Hilbrand managed to establish himself as someone who could look after himself quite well on his own, so well in fact that when he moved out, his parents made a monthly appointment with him for a shared family evening. One where he would cook, obviously. Deciding to head over to this guy and see whether or not they had ill intentions, there was no way for him to keep wandering around the area knowing that he wasn’t alone. Besides, if he had managed to see the guy, they could see him too. Letting a deep sigh escape his lips, the dark haired man wandered towards the stream.

[break][break]“Oi, what brings you out here. Looking to invade Gothica?”

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[break][break]After a quick trip to London, which had by itself been a rather interesting meeting with a somewhat strange individual, Hilbrand had made his way over to the world that yet existed outside of the safe zone. With central England covered in the massive gloomy city of Gothica, there was no way for him to check whether or not his home was still there. While it seemed likely that it had been completely replaced by this peculiar new location, it was not so much the house that he was worried about. Knowing what he knew now, it turned out that not everyone came into this world at the exact same time, as some people had been here for over a month while he had barely been here for a week.

[break][break]While one might argue that this created an unfair advantage for those that came in late, as it wouldn’t exactly be putting them ahead of the curve, it also meant that others would have managed to establish themselves within this world while others still struggled to get a grip on it all. For Hilbrand however, what mattered was not so much a gap in knowledge and power that could be bridged through means of hard work and effort. What mattered was whether or not his parents were still somewhere suspended in a loading zone, or whether they had made it into this world before him, landing in Gothica, as that was where their old home had been. And if that had been the case, chances were that they had been eliminated or captured long before he made it in here.

[break][break]Perhaps more annoying than not knowing what had happened to his family was knowing that he was nowhere near capable enough to enter Gothica and survive. As such, he had figured it a good idea to spend some time in the rolling hills, forests and meadows surrounding Gothica, to see if maybe there was some way in that might provide him some cover and would keep him from getting killed as soon as he reached the border. Right now however, he just found himself walking around in the hills as his task had not produced any fruits yet. Where the Bloodborne-esque city appeared gloomy, the hills were much less so, making them great for a short walk and putting one’s mind at rest.

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[break][break]As it were, it turned out that there was still some logic behind the madness, as the girl with the bird related skill did in fact have some ability to call forth such a scout. Whether it should have or not, the fact that the bird she managed to bring out seemed to also be capable of communicating with its summoner likely made it that much more useful to her. And him in this case. Scouting out the area and letting them know which way they needed to head into, Hilbrand didn’t mind acting as vanguard, as his ability to use a baseball bat meant he was at the very least good for that much. Scouting however had never truly been his thing, so leaving that in the hands of another worked out in everyone’s favor.

[break][break]Continuing to make their way towards this oasis, it bothered him that this “something” that was going about claiming the oasis as its own while killing any who would dare set foot in it, could not be described in a better manner. Was it something like the worm that he had just killed, was it the big daddy or mommy of said worms, or was it an altogether different kind of threat. All in all, “some creature” was not exactly the kind of description that would be all that helpful to either of them, aside from the initial warning that they could not just wander straight into the place and call it a day. And that was in and of itself quite helpful, so it wasn’t all bad at least.

[break][break]“Once the fighting starts, what kind of support will you be able to offer if it turns out to in fact be a larger version of that worm, or something worse.”

[break][break]Asking the only question that mattered right now, Hilbrand felt he needed to get right to the point as the oasis itself drew near. If things were to pop off the moment they got any closer than they did, him and his slugger were going to get to swinging, that much was for certain. His body wouldn’t be added to those that perished in the oasis, though any kind of aid would be helpful at this point.

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[break][break]“So your power lets you produce slimes? How does that work?”

[break][break]Wondering whether or not it acted in a manner similar to his own power, which allowed him to call forth his bat and empower his strikes. More than that, he recently started finding out that his power also had something to do with his physical attributes, as he could tell that he was becoming more and more resilient to certain types of damage. And in a world where danger quite literally hid in every dark corner, being a more resilient individual that could tank a few blows made his chance of surviving for a longer period of time significantly greater. So when the girl claimed that she could function as a human shield, it made him wonder if she also had certain physical attributes that made her less susceptible to damage.

[break][break]When she had spat her slime at a zombie at range, it was slammed into the ground as its head had taken significant damage. This along with the earlier encounter with a zombie at least proved that the head was indeed their weak spot. Marking their first kill out of the ones required, the noise made by bringing down one member of the undead community gave rise to movement all over the place. With much of it coming from places where the zombies would not be able to venture out of by themselves, as opening doors was no longer on their list of skills. Trying to pin-point any places where zombies might be coming out of, it was at that point that one of them lunged from the side, lacking any arms as it jumped in head first with its mouth open.

[break][break]Not about to get damaged by such a simple-minded creature, Hilbrand swung his bat to the side with a wide arc, smacking the creature in the head with the tip as a loud crack resounded throughout the empty park. Whacking it aside, it fell to the ground with a thump, goo running out of its nose and ears which proved to Hilbrand at least that it was quite dead again. As the noises grew louder however, he was not exactly ready to let go of his bat, realizing that he might be needing it a lot more any second now.

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[break][break]Swinging and missing entirely, Hilbrand struggled to figure out what had just happened. As someone who had swung a bat a million times over the course of his relatively short life, he knew exactly how to do it when it meant hitting a far smaller object literally the size of a baseball. Yet now as he swung, he missed the oddly proportioned girl entirely without her even dodging. Wondering if it had been a subconscious choice not to hit a woman or if it had been something else entirely, there was no denying that somehow, something had gone entirely wrong and set him up for failure. For as the swing went by her entirely, the girl took to the pillows in the back, asking how she should handle him.

[break][break]Regaining his footing as the two spoke, one of the pillows gave her the go-ahead on acting however she wanted, this told him two things. One was that she had to ask before she could ask with full autonomy, which seemed to be relatively in line with how a summoned being would behave. The other being that the guy he was supposed to be fighting was hidden away inside of those odd pillows. Still, even knowing this, that did not meant that he knew which of the three contained the real guy, though that was something he could find out if need be. When the girl decided that it was time to attack, her hand glowed with a strange hue as she lashed out towards him. Hoping that this time would work out better for him, Hilbrand swung the bat towards her hand, not sure what would come out of it.

[break][break]“I have no idea what you’re talking about, what level are you!?”

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[break][break]“A guild?”

[break][break]Hearing the mention of a guild, it made the black-haired man wonder as to whether it was in any way similar to how one functioned in the games he had played. One person being in charge as guild master, a bunch of goons acting as second in command to make sure the chat didn’t go out of control when the leader was out, and more or less moderating who gets which loot when running high-end dungeons and raids. Not quite sure how such a thing would translate into real world shenanigans, the only other kind of guild that he was aware of also moderated how much members of said guild would be able to make for their crafts. It was really just a fancy way of making sure one business would not put the other in the ground by outcompeting them through providing lower prices.

[break][break]Since he wasn’t a craftsman at all, it was likely the former of the versions of a guild, unless she was part of some cooking-collective that aimed to establish fair guidelines for chefs trying to set up a business in this new world. Truth be told, part of setting up his own restaurant here didn’t sound like it would be that bad of an idea. Hell, he might even try something like it once he learned more about what this world was like and what it had to offer in terms of currency. After all, establishing a business without having a damned clue as to whether or not people even used money here sounded like a poorly executed plan. Continuing the story, Pori claimed that she had come here to see if she could get into Canada, which also sounded a bit odd.

[break][break]“I’ll have to think about it. As for Canada, why would you want to go there?”

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[break][break]When Hilbrand thought about doing missions that involved bashing the heads of monsters such as those of the many zombies that wandered New York city, he never thought he would have to do it while holding someone else’s hand. When your main weapon and source of outgoing damage revolved around a baseball bat, only having a single hand to wield it with was going to make things relatively difficult. More than that, not having the kind of mobility he normally had would only add towards making it that much harder, which all in all made this into the tougher missions one might throw his way. But here he was, ready to undertake a difficult task with the same kid he had met within the city some time prior.

[break][break]“Well, out of all the missions we could have done, this one is certainly going to be one of the most interesting and challenging ones. If nothing else, it should teach me how to use a weapon more effectively with one hand, and my off-hand at that.”

[break][break]Speaking in a tone of voice that was just beyond neutral and hinting towards a happy one, the words he had chosen to use would indicate that he had no qualms with doing all of this. This was because part of the mission enforced the fact that its participants had to not be negative, or they’d fail right away. For someone like Hilbrand, being negative came easily and naturally, which went to further add to the difficulty of the overall undertaking. Fortunately, he was not going to be alone in this whole ordeal. Judging by the way in which the girl carried herself, she supposedly had some strength to her, which was to be expected of someone who had been around for an entire month longer than he had.

[break][break]Extending his right hand so that they might get this show on the road, he did not say much else to the kid right now. As it were, his mind was still going over the idea of this planet being somehow alive, causing the monsters that were around to exist, just like it caused them to exist here. More than that, it was also the reason why they had these odd missions that could be taken, while at the same time watching over those that took them with unflinching eyes, ready to fail them the moment they slipped up. As such, Hilbrand could not give in to his urge of being negative, mean or provocatively annoying, not for the coming thirty minutes or so. After all, how hard could it be to take out five zombies?

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