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Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

  When Alexander regained consciousness, he opened his eyes to see a clear, blue sky. The familiar sight suggested that he was back on Earth, but the first thing he noticed was that there was more than one sun burning in the heavens. Alexander counted seven of them total.

  The second thing he noticed was that despite the intense heat that one would expect from seven stars, the temperature was quite comfortable.

  Sitting up, he was surprised to find that gravity had increased by several times. It wasn't too difficult for him to lift his upper body off the ground, but it was surprising. Looking around, he found himself atop a very tall hill covered in grass. A vast forest stretched out in all directions from the foot of the hill.

  Beside him, a very standard looking short bow made of wood lay in the grass. A brown quiver lay next to it, holding only five arrows.

  Sitting in the grass, Alex's began to get his mind in order. He thought about his friends and especially his family. He wished he had been given a chance to tell them what was going on. No, instead they would surely worry for many nights about him. They would probably comb the entirety of the earth, looking for him.

  After that came resentment. In his heart, Alexander hated the existence called Jin. Not only was Alex separated from his loved ones, their lives had been threatened. If Alex did not fulfill the role thrust upon him, who knows what would happen to them? Alex vowed that if the chance arose, he would strike Jin down.

  With a sigh, Alex stood up and dusted himself off. What could he do now? He was weak. Terribly weak. He felt as if that God of Order could kill him merely by blowing air at him.

  Resigned to his fate, Alex checked his condition. Though the increased gravity affected him somewhat, Alex's herculean strength remained in part. But he could tell he was nowhere near as physically strong as he used to be.

  He sealed my physical strength? It's like he's trying to lose this war on purpose.

  Reaching out towards a random sun, he tried to invoke his powers. But sure enough, nothing happened.

  Holding his hand out in front of him he spoke, "Soul Arrow." Yet again he was greeted with silence.The black arrow tattoo on his shoulder remained dormant.

  Looks like my divinity really has been sealed, Alex thought to himself. He said I would get it back when I grew stronger, but how do I do that? I really know nothing about this world.

  Strapping the quiver to his back, he picked up the bow and inspected it closely. No matter how he saw it, it was just an average wooden bow. The wood and bowstring were not special whatsoever. Pulling an arrow out of the quiver, he felt the balance was a bit off. Checking the other arrows, their situation was the same. Alex would have to take special care when firing these.

  Taking note of the shoddy craftsmanship, Alex cursed the god who had given this to him. I made better stuff than this when I was four. For someone who wanted Alexander to effectively save his ass, Jin was unbelievably unhelpful. Sighing once again, Alex slung the bow on his shoulder and set off from the hill. He had seen a small village off in the distance. It was time to gather some information.

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  Climbing down from atop the hill, Alexander entered the forest and headed north. As he traveled, he constantly threw out various combinations of punches and kicks. Even though he could walk, run, and jump with little to no issue, combat required a much, much greater amount of bodily control. He needed to completely calibrate his body to conform with the new gravity of Sanctus.

  Though they were hardcore archers, the Blacksun clan knew better than to believe they could keep enemies at distance forever. Thus, they incorporated many close combat martial arts styles into their training. Alex progressed through the forest while slowly getting used to the overall difference in weight.

  About halfway to the village, Alex heard a harsh voice pierce the air in the calm forest.

  "Ah? What's a foreigner doing here? Oi. Hands up and turn around slowly. No sudden movements."

  Alex was greatly startled. The voice came from behind him and was relatively close, but Alexander hadn't sensed him until he spoke. Slowly, he turned around to face the voice. The source of the voice was a well-built, bronze-skinned man wearing leather armor. Scars covered his whole body, and his most prominent scar cut down from the top of his bald head to just below his right eye. He was flanked by two equally burly men who appeared to be twins.

  "Bomi, who is he?" said the leader.

  One of the twins lifted what appeared to be a telescope up to his face and peered through it. "Boss, the Reader isn't showing anything. This guy hasn't raised his tier. There's no Aura Mark on his body."

  With that, a wicked grin appeared on the face of "Boss."

  "So he's a weakling, but looking at him, he'll probably fetch a high price. Take him."

  Alex was taken aback. He thought to himself, Reader? Tier? Aura Mark? What?

  He didn't have any more time to contemplate because just as the boss finished speaking, a shadow burst out from the bushes behind him. Spinning, Alexander gripped his bow and nocked an arrow in the blink of an eye. Pulling the bowstring back with great strength, Alex fired the arrow at the approaching assailant. Instantly spinning back to face the trio, he pulled three arrows out of the quiver and shot them simultaneously.

  Taken by surprise, the twins gracefully received the arrows with their faces while "Boss" hastily dodged. The first bandit had been shot through the throat, Bomi had an arrow sticking out of his eye, while his twin had an arrow shaft poking out of his mouth. Due to the bad balance of the arrows, even though Alex had aimed at the foreheads of the men, his attacks were off by a bit.

  Shrieks of agony resounded throughout the forest as the bandits fell to the ground screaming. The scarred man was enraged. Looking at his dying followers, veins started bulging out of his forehead. Then, a flash of "realization" struck him...

  "Golden hair, bow skills...hehehAhAHAHA. AN ELF! I've truly struck it rich this time!"

  Alex paused for an instant in confusion at the bandit leader's rapidly changing mood. The bronze skinned man reached for his sword and Alex turned and ran, snatching up the dagger of the first bandit as he went.

  That guy's definitely crazy. Elves aren't real...wait they might be. Damn it, I gotta get away.

  Alex could tell the scarred man was on another level. He had caught the others off guard because they thought he was weak. The bandit leader had let his guard down too but he had still dodged Alex's shot from such a close range. Having most of his stats sealed away temporarily, fighting in close combat with this man would be akin to suicide.

  From behind him, Alex heard that harsh voice yell, "Sword Wave!" He turned his head just to see a arc of white light flying towards him at high speed.

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