All roads lead to… somewhere, at least

It took me a good two hours to find the edge of the forest again. During that time, I fiddled with the HUD to try and see what else I could get from it. Nothing much, it turned out. While I could prompt it for some basic information on itself, I could not make it make quests, or tell me info on things not related to knowledge I already had. This was a tad annoying, but understandable. After all, it’s a cheat, not a win button. If I expected cheats to be a guaranteed solve all, I would be acknowledging that my enemy could face anything I did, no matter how much I planned, and I couldn’t accept that. Not after the last time I was made helpless like that.

After reaching the edge of the forest, I walked past the tree line, taking a minute to let my eyes adjust to the change in lighting. It seemed I was not actually at the edge of the forest I quickly discovered, but simply a large, straight clearing that seemed to be an unpaved road. Looking both ways, I saw nothing that set either direction apart, so I elected to simply pick a way and go. How you may ask? Simple, I grew a blade of grass on the path and saw which direction it leaned towards after.

After using my very educated and not at all chance-based method of deciding which way to go, I began walking along the path. For quite a long time, perhaps an hour and a half, nothing of interest happened along the path. For entertainment I made up jingles for myself, rehearsed my grand speech, and watched my mana recharge, which happened a bit faster than paint dried. It was just after my mana fully recharged, that I began to hear something ahead.

Interested in what may be happening, I sped up my pace, soon becoming able to see the source of the noise. Ahead of me was a somewhat fancy carriage, around it were what seemed to be corpses of a few men and horses, and surrounding it was a group of six humanoid shaped beings in black cloth outfits, all with hoods and facing the carriage. As I began to approach, I could understand what was being said.

"Come on out, we promise that the boss will treat you right," Said one of the figures outside the carriage. "You have to know we'll be able to break in eventually, so why don't you just step on out so we can all have a bit of f-"

"Hey, Smoke," one of the others interrupted, looking towards me. "There's... someone coming this way." after that they all turned to look where the second speaker was indicating.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Called out the one identified as Smoke.

I considered for a moment, stopping my advance about 5 meters away from the gathering. "I am one who was been gifted, the first to bear the power of a newborn god," I replied in a righteous and dignified tone. Technically I was not lying, I was most certainly gifted, and I was the first to bear my own power, though technically I was not yet a god, that was most certainly my hope.

The figures took turns looking at each other before all looking back to me. “What? This guy some looney?” One of them asked Smoke.

“Don’t matter, we’ll ’andle ‘em fine anyway.” Another replied, drawing a dagger from a sheath on their side. At that moment, the HUD popped up.

You have entered combat with members of the “Dark” faction, you’re physical attack has increased by 10%

I glanced at it before setting my eyes back on the six figures. “So, you are followers of those deranged sisters then?” I asked in the same tone as before.

The one with their dagger drawn flinched for a second, before Smoke spoke up. “How could you have possibly figured that out?” Their tone was aggressive, and any other emotions were hard to read from their muffled voice.

“Why should I answer? After all, it’s pointless to speak with dead men.” I replied in a mostly neutral tone.

"We'll see who's dead soon!" The one who spoke first yelled before charging me. 'My Physical attack has increased, let's try it out. after all, it would be a shame to waste mana, or this opportunity.' I thought to myself as I got into a fighting stance. I may not have done much directly in my last life, but I was still trained in basic self defense. The Cloaked figure neared, and I threw a punch at them in order to stun them for a follow up attack. What I was not expecting, was the cracking noise that echoed out after my fist met their face, followed by them being sent slightly backwards before landing roughly on the ground, unmoving. Me and the other figures stood there in a disbelieving silence, interrupted for me by the HUD opening up with a message.

Achievement Unlocked: One Pu~nch!

Kill a creature with a single punch

Reward: Physical attack +50% for punches

I chuckled to myself. 'Seems this will be easier that I thought.' I returned to my fighting stance as Smoke called out to the others, "Looks like we've got a strong one boys, let's take 'em out." With this rallying cry, they all rushed towards me, though still in an incredibly uncoordinated manner. The one with a dagger reached me first, who I quickly sidestepped before giving them a jab to the side that sent them slightly flying as I turned to the next assailant. I punched the next one square in the ribs, feeling them break and give way before I spun around, hitting another in the side of the head with my fist. As the two I punched reached the ground I turned to the last unnamed grunt. They stood their, slightly trembling as I fixed my gaze on them before I grabbed them by their throat and twisted my hand around, cleanly snapping their neck.

I heard smoke crying out from what was now behind me at the carriage, "H-how... how is such strength possible for a mere human!?!" I turned back slowly and did my best to do an intimidating slow approach. It seemed to work, as before I reached them they fell to the ground, whether it be playing dead or passing out.

I chuckled to myself as I continued to approach the carriage. Upon reaching it, while trying to look through the curtained windows, I at last got to see what my human form looked like in my reflection. I had somewhat long hair that could be described as a bit regal. It was dirty blond in color, which my beard matched. My beard, speaking of, was quite well groomed, being cut in a way that made it have a fine corner following my jaw. My face was rough and sharp, in a powerful but noble style. The only feature that even hinted to my difference from the normal human was my eyes, which were a sickly green in color. I would say I looked quite good, the perfect appearance... well, all except for one thing.

The carriage door opened slightly, a somewhat young feminine voice calling from within, "who are you?" They hesitated for a moment before asking an additional question, "and why are you nude?"