My Guardian System: The Trader

'Looking at the condition of the letter, it seems it has been there for months now. Perhaps grandfather left here right after I went to the Academy.'

'I hope grandfather is safe wherever he is right now.'

Jem heaved a sigh before deciding to keep the letter. It was his grandfather's memento. After that, he stood up and went to his room, bringing with him the energy lamp.

'Hm, it's fixed?'

The broken door of his room returned to normal.

'Thank you, grandpa.'

He whispered in his mind as he touched the door.

When morning came, rather than letting the grains go to waste, Jem decided to visit Mr. Barn and asked his help in harvesting the grains.

Of course, it wasn't a nonprofitable help. He would be giving him a commission.

"I see. Sure, let me help you with that. By the way, Jem. Have you found that Oldman?"

Jem shook his head. "No. But he left a letter saying he went to visit an old acquaintance."

"Oh, I see. Damn. That Pal did not even come to bid farewell before he left."

There was a hint of dissatisfaction from Mr. Barn's tone as he said it.

"Oh, by the way, lad. Come with me to the house. You know, Miles? My granddaughter? She just came back."

He said excitedly.

'That tomboy?'

Jem thought inwardly.

Right. Before he met and played with Desty, the first person he played with as a child was that girl, Miles.

Since Jem was a wimpy kid before, she used to take the role of a noble knight whenever they played.

Miles has an outgoing personality. A big contrast to Desty when they first met.

Using a wooden stick as her sword, they often roam around to search for antagonists. Speaking of antagonists, they were small animals such as rabbits, chickens, and etcetera.

They only have one script.

Whenever they played, Jem always took the role of damsel in distress. And she would arrive with her wooden sword to rescue him.

Regardless, Jem had many things he needed to do.

"Sorry, Mr. Barn. I have lots of cleaning I have to do in the house. Maybe next time."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"It's up to you, lad. I will come to check the farm later."

"Okay. Thank you, Mr. Barn."

His grandfather mentioned in the letter to harvest them no matter the grain's condition.

After his talks with Mr. Barn, he went back to the house. Then, Jem started cleaning, keeping away the useless trash, and storing those with value. He wiped off the dust and got rid of the pests that were occupying the house.

It took him an entire day to make the house habitable again.

Now, Jem laid his back on the balcony, staring at the calm sky. He had to admit he missed this kind of mood.

Soon, he would be leaving this place again to search for his happiness. In short, his grandfather.

The serenity of the world in front of him was making his eyelids heavier. Jem slowly closed his eyes.

But not even a minute had passed since he closed his eyes when he heard a warning.

<Host! Enemy!>

His eyes shot open! However, what greeted him was dripping razor-sharp teeth and an ugly face with red predator eyes.

'Monster?!' Thought Jem while hastily turned his head sideways.

He was surprised to see it, but he had no time to think more about it. 

Shing!

Just right when he turned his head away when claws came to tear him.

The claws brushed the wooden floor and caused three long scratch marks on it.

Jem successfully evaded it!

He quickly followed up with a punch. His fist hit the monster's face and knocked it away. It wasn't only an ordinary punch. It was a punch with both the fortification and smite ability.

When Jem stood up, he saw the monster on the ground. Its head bent in the wrong direction, and its face was devastated. But it was still alive. It was squirming and twitching while groaning. He did not mindlessly approach to finish it unless he was confident of his defense.

Jem summoned his Dimensional Territory and took his weapons from it. 

As expected, the monster was still capable of fighting. It managed to get up. 

"A troll, huh."

Jem muttered the kind of monster in front of him. It was taller than him. The skin was dark green and was quite skinny in which its ribs and spines were noticeable on its body.

It looks horrifying.

Though, it wasn't his first time to see this kind of monster.

Even with its crushed face, it still came to attack him.

Jem casually threw a knife at it. The knife hit its eye and caused the troll to stagger. Jem did not waste the opportunity and severed its head with a dagger.

From the cut, blood spurted like a fountain. A splatter of blood landed on Jem's face near his mouth. With a glint in his eyes, he licked it.

He was already used to drinking beasts and monsters' blood in the labyrinth. For him, water and blood hadn't much difference. All were good instruments to quench his thirst.

The headless body fell on the ground.

Without sparing a glance at it, he focused his attention in front of him. A more astonishing thing was happening in front of him.

The sky has the color of blood. And flying monsters were crossing everywhere.

"What the hell was happening?"

Jem mumbled.

However, instead of a proper reply, he got a warning from the trader.

<Be careful, host!>

Five trolls were rushing towards him; they were coming from the grain field.

A magical ring shone on his wrist.

[Light Wave!]

Jem fired his newly learned spell. The troll running in front of the group was hit and knocked back. And it crashed on the other one that was running behind it.

The three remaining trolls managed to close their distance at him.

He greeted the first one with a kick. Then, he evaded the coming claws by swaying to his side. Next, he stabbed the third one who appeared behind him.

[Light Wave!]

Jem fired at the troll he kicked a while ago using his other hand to finish it.

Garg!

The troll groaned in pain. A second later, its body disappeared into the grain field.

He kicked the one he stabbed, at the same time, unburying his dagger.

The last troll sent consecutive attacks using its claws. But to no avail. Jem easily dodged the troll's attacks with a little sway of his body.

Looking at how he casually dealt with the trolls, speak of his experience in dealing with them.

Well, it wasn't his first time dealing with trolls. Inside the labyrinth, Jem fought with dozens of them. So, countering them was easy-peasy for him.

Seeing that its attacks bear no success, the last troll screamed eerily.

GWAAARRR!

It is supposed to be an intimidation ability. However, it was facing the wrong opponent.

With a speed that is hard to perceive with naked eyes, Jem threw a knife at it. The troll did not even notice it.

The knife went directly to the troll's mouth and pierced its throat.

GWAA—-!!

It choked the troll.

Jem summoned ex-energy on his legs and kicked the ground. His figure disappeared in that instance, then reappeared in front of the troll. Before the troll could react, Jem already sent a palm to its stomach. The troll's body bent into an inverted C.

It was an instantaneous leap and directly attacking the enemy.

With a super-fast movement, he followed up with an elbow attack at the troll's jaw; the troll's eyes almost popped out of its eye sockets. It staggered back, but Jem did not let it escape from his grasp.

He used another instantaneous leap. His figure disappeared once again and reappeared in mid-air, above the troll. A kick from above came crashing into the enemy's head. It was the same attack he used to defeat the rebel leader.

GUH!

Blood splattered when his kick smashed the troll's head.

It instantly killed the last troll.

His expression never changed, even after killing all the trolls.

Jem glanced around. The sky was still blood red. And flying monsters were constantly passing by.

"Trader, do you have any idea what is currently happening?"

Jem asked the trader.

<No, host.>

"I see."

"Regardless."

"Do you think there's a dungeon entrance around here?"

Looking at the dead trolls, he believed something was amiss. There's no way this type of monster could appear here. There were only two possible ways for them to arrive here.

The first was through the dungeon entrance. And the second was by destroying the barrier that was protecting the whole country.

Or even by weakening it.

However, to destroy or weaken the Ex-Light Barrier, there were some circumstances that the monster needed to do.

One of them was defeating the whole military and army group that was protecting the barriers.

So, the first one was most likely the reason for their appearance. Jem concluded.

<Yes, host. I sensed a malignant aura about half a kilometer away east of here. Though, I'm not sure if it was a dungeon.>

"Wait, half a kilometer away east of here?"

<Yes. That's what I said, host.>

"That's where Mr. Barn's house was."

<Are you going to help?>

"Well, I need his help too. Besides, we could gather more points if it's truly a dungeon." 

<You're right, host>

Before leaving, Jem noticed the troll's corpses were still there.. So probably, their source of existence was still out there.