After having a grand time — exploring First town with his friends — Harwin once again encountered the bizzare and cruel deity in the void space. His feet, all the way up to his ankles, were drenched in blood but that was not his concern for the time-being.

  After trying to raise an argument, his lips were sealed with thin needles, a gift from this same divine being that had brought him to this world. The former could not argue now but only be appalled by the words uttered by the figure standing in front of him:

  "As I was saying, you will be teleported to a different land. Worry not, it will be part of this world. You might know it as well, it lies to the west of this continent. You have to traverse through the new lands, but there is something else you have to do for me there..."

  As this expression-less figure spoke, Harwin constantly tried to speak out but as his lips were sealed, only a muffled sound managed to escape out from time to time which irritated the deity.

  "Ugh, fine, I will undo it but do not shout again. You presume the role of a merchant in this new world, do you not? Let us speak in a civil manner, and I might be willing to hear you out. Do we have a deal?"

  Harwin thought for a while and then nodded.

  "Good," The needles instantly disappeared, so the figure continued once more: "You owe me, remember? I saved you and your dear friends from a rather grim future." He looked amused while flaunting the favours he had bestowed.

  Harwin understood, as he had acknowledged it himself at that time.

  "I will take your silence as a yes. To repay this debt, I need you to meet someone in this new land. It is a mysterious man or woman, I am not sure. This individual is not even traceable by your dead old friend." The figure pointed towards himself, Harwin made a disgusted look which only further amused the strange being.

  "What does this person even look like? How am I even going to find him or her out?" Harwin questioned.

  "Hmm, I am not sure about its appearance or gender, but it is from your world as well."

  The lad was obviously shocked at this sudden revelation. The reaction did not matter to the former who continued:

  "The individual is not one of mine, however. It is a rather blessed one, or so I have heard. You have to touch its bare skin anyway possible. You can shake hands with it, punch it, strangle it, bash its head in or make love to it, I really do not care about the method."

  The being seemed a bit annoyed at even mentioning this mysterious individual. On the other hand, Harwin was just plain confused.

  "What then?" The young mage asked with curiosity.

  "Then, you will have to probably figure out things on your own. You are free to return back to your friends or stay at the new place. Once again, it does not concern me."

  "I see, what if I decline?" Harwin inquired with a stern look.

  "I want you to progress, so I would probably have to get rid of all of your elfin friends and associates who have encumbered your growth." The ruthless deity was calm in his threat, but he clearly had the means and power to back his words.

  Harwin understood the risks, and he would never have wanted to see his friends dead. He decided to assent but with a twist:

  "I will accept, but I need more information, and I have a request."

  "Ask away~" The being said — callously.

  "How long will it take for me to find this person? Where exactly will I be teleported to? If I do not succeed in this task, what will be my fate?"

  "It can take days, months, years or till the end of your life. You will be teleported to a large island of sort, and as mentioned earlier, it is westwards. There really is not an option of you failing, either you will complete the quest or you will die trying." The being's statements lacked any emotions, but he was serious yet, just in the slighest, desperate.

  Harwin knew better than to argue with an illogical divine being, so he posed another question:

  "What will you give me, any blessing?"

  The figure cackled at this question. Harwin just stood there, not shocked at all, as he had gotten used to the shenanigans of the deity. After a few moments, the former finally answered:

  "You owe me, and you will do all of this without any promises of rewards or blessings. I will, however, from the kindness of my heart, wish you good-luck~"

  The lad was furious at the response, but he did not show it. Instead, he negotiated:

  "How about this: I will try my hardest in finding this person for a year, but if I am not successful then you will allow me to go back."

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

  "Hmm, Do you really think that you are in the position to negotiate?" The figure asked — clearly peeved.

  "Oh, I thought you would be willing to listen to my demands as well. If you have someone else to rely on for this matter, then you are free to send them in my stead. If you send me without my consent, I will not oblige with your commands. If you force my hand, then I will take my own life which shall foil your plans once and for all." Harwin's eyes glinted with resolve.

  The figure became quiet for the first time but then his grin returned. He stated:

  "It is great that we understand each other better now. Very well, you better give it your all in this time-frame. I will know if you do not. Now, I bid you farewell. I have high expectations, so you better meet them."

  Harwin had negotiated with divinity, but he also understood the consequences. He braced himself for the strange sensation of being teleported once again. The young lad steeled his nerves and only thought about his loved ones in that moment. In a single second, he was spiraling in a vortex. He felt being torn apart and his soul sliding through spikes. Once more, he lost consciousness.

  As for his friends, they were taken care of as well. Harwin was a cautious man, he had already prepared for such an event by keeping a letter in his bag. The contents of the letter basically assured the reader that he will return and explain the situation no matter how long it took. Of course, it was still quite the shock for his elfin associates and freinds especially Alisa and Landel, but they would have to cope with it for now.

  When the young man finally opened his eyes, he found himself in a place surrounded by ashen dunes. It resembled a desert, but instead of sand grains, there was charred, blackened earth everywhere.

  Harwin did not panic this time. He first examined himself. He was unscathed and his trusty equipment was present as well. After this, he began to observe his surroundings. All he could see were dunes of the stygian sand, but there were also some occasional ruins.

  It would not have been safe to just walk randomly, so he strategized first. The sun was still up which made it simple for him to know the poles, it was a skill he had learned from the captains as well as Iquaral — the village mage.

  After much pondering, Harwin decided to walk north, it was more of a gut feeling than anything else. Although, it was still dawn but the sun was mostly blocked by thick, dark clouds. It felt like he was in the middle of an ominous ocean, a devastated civilization.

  After walking for some distance, He finally came face to face with one of the decayed structure. It was plain simple, made up of polished stone. It seemed like someone's home but half buried in the strange sand. Harwin decided to go in, even though, his mind told him otherwise.

  Inside was nothing except broke furniture. It was quite dark, as if, even the rays of sun dared not enter the place. As logical as the fellow was, he still decided to explore further.

  Upon entering one of the rooms, he made a rather peculiar discovery, there were some charred pieces of wood. It was still fresh which meant someone was nearby, however, there was no sound or footprints nearby.

  Harwin had already taken out his blade and prepared himself for the worst. Suddenly, he heard a screeching howl from outside. His first instinct was to immediately encounter it, but then he calmed himself down. He subtly sneaked towards the source.

  What he witnessed was a terrible sight: there was a hound, about two times larger than the ones in his world, with crimson eyes. However, this was not the reason of fear, instead, there stood a figure in front of this beast which had a humane body but six arms and a twisted back. It was naked with bones almost popping out of its body — either starved or a bizzare anatomy. This strange creature was trying to kill the hound, possibly to satisfy its hunger.

  Harwin did not want to interfere but the hound was sheltering its pup which made this soft lad change his mind. His first action was to reason, an idiotic move considering it was not a human but a monster who stood in his way.

  "Stop! Find something else to feast on!" Harwin shouted.

  The creature immediately turned. Its face was just as twisted as the rest of its body. One of its eyes was missing, the other glinted with blood-lust. Its fingers — thin and lanky — had over-grown nails as sharp as knives. Most disturbingly, its organs were visible from the waist up to the chest.

  Of course, such a thing could not have been sentient. It lunged towards Harwin with ferocity. Harwin had learned to remain calm in combat under the brilliant guidance of two genius swords-men. He had already taken a defensive stance, as soon as the opponent was in close range, the former pierced right through its heart.

  In spite of the lethal strike, the thing was still moving. Harwin took a few steps back. He was flabbergasted by the outcome, but he did not lose focus from the impending danger.

  The creature once again charged, it tried to slash with its sharp nails but Harwin was able to deflect with easy. The hideous being was not fast, but it was not going down either which meant Harwin would have to try something different. He once again made some distance, inviting the opponent towards him. This time, he casted an intermediate spell — 'flaming arrow' — which landed right at the target.

  The enemy was set ablaze and fell to the ground, grunting and screaming with a horrifying voice. Harwin, however, did not show mercy. He began chanted a few more basic fire spells to roast his opponent alive which finally went down after some struggle.

  At this point in time, Harwin was a baeil intermediate mage while being near the next sub-class as well which meant he was not even near depletion. After this short encounter, he noticed that the hound was groaning and growling with pain whilst watching Harwin with suspicious eyes. The lad kept his distance. However, he also casted a healing spell which instantly closed the wound of the poor beast.

  It now trusted Harwin a bit and let him near its pup. The young mage inspected to find that the pup was already dead. The hound tried to get him to cast a spell on its offspring as well but soon it understood what had occurred and gave up.

  The poor beast just sat down near its dead child with tearful eyes. Harwin, after standing there for a few moments, was disturbed once again by a loud cry of help. He rushed towards the sound but did not engage at the sight.

  This time, there were two people — one man and the other a lady — surronded by the strange undead beings, but there also laid few corpses around them, most probably, their dead comrades. The lot were in a sunken part of the land which meant Harwin was still not visible to the horrible, twisted monsters. The man was acting as a shield to the lady with a sword raised towards the many enemies, one of his arm was limping.

  Harwin wanted to help, but there were at-least six of the undeads which meant he would be risking his life in the process. This was the reason for the slight hesitation. It was then that the pair, suddenly, spotted him. Immediately, their eyes filled with hope. He could not abandon them now, no mater what.