My Perfect Isekai: Pragmatic Protagonist, Progression Fantasy and Strategy

I woke up early, before the pale sun managed to peek over the wall of the dense forest surrounding the settlement. My mind immediately went into high gear, completely free from that earthly stupor after waking up. I took a slow breath, feeling the cool air stabilize my internal furnace. Ladvia outside the window looked exactly as I remembered it – a muddy hole clinging to the edge of the wilderness. From the outside, it smelled of damp oak, wet fur, and biting smoke from cheap wood.

I stood up from the creaking bed and stretched hard until my shoulders popped with a dull crack. I looked at my arms, analyzing the state of my new body . I had a slim but stone-hard silhouette. It was enough that I lightly clenched my fist to feel the packed fibers under my skin .They worked and tightened like steel cables, ready to release kinetic energy. This physical shell was eager to take loads, vibrating with the potential of the sapphire mana .

I went downstairs after throwing a few worn coppers to the innkeeper for the night. Instead of pushing straight into the forest to look for beasts, I preferred to approach the day using pure logic. I had to check how my raw abilities – sapphire lightning, slime, and ordinary telekinesis – would work in combat against local meat. I needed to verify the physical laws of this place before taking on higher-tier threats.

I headed straight for the local branch of the Adventurers Guild. Inside, it was mostly empty and smelled of old wax and sour beer. With a lazy smile, I approached the dusty notice board. With a quick movement, I tore off four simple copper contracts: bandits, herb gathering, a goblin nest, and a mutated orc. Money at this stage did not interest me, as silver would come later. I just wanted to get some practice into my muscles and test the physics of this world in a direct clash.

The first target was on the South Road. The contract spoke of a group of deserters who organized an illegal toll booth there. I walked down the middle of the muddy road with a strolling pace. I kept my hands pushed deep into the pockets of my black coat, radiating complete Brazen chill. When they caught my step, they jumped from behind a large boulder. They held rusting weapons and shouted vulgar screams.

There were three of them. Their leader, a powerfully built brute with a nasty scar, aimed a dirty spear at me. He demanded everything I had, or they would leave me in pieces. I sighed quietly, and a slight smile of pity crept onto my face. With every stranger, I preferred to live in peace, but this blockhead just crossed my red line. In my eyes, he ceased to be a human and became only an annoying anomaly to be removed. My head immediately broke his posture down into cool factors.

”You are standing wrong, blockhead,” I threw coldly, ignoring his cheap threats. ”You expose your whole right side and your body weight is on the wrong leg.” ”Before you even poke me, you will fall over yourself.”

The bandit turned red with fury, taking it as a brazen mockery. He rushed forward with a wild roar, delivering a sudden, brutal thrust straight at my chest. He lacked any technical skill. I did not take any sword out of my pocket. I did not even fire a fraction of mana from the magic weaves .

When the rusty spearhead was just centimeters from my body, I calmly took my hand out of my pocket. I did not need advanced armor. My new fibers and a tiny, silent impulse of telekinesis, guided by my expanded imagination, were enough to anchor my grip . I grabbed the thick shaft. With a dry crack, I broke the thick ash wood in half. I crushed his weapon like a cheap match.

The bandit froze in place, staring at the broken stick with complete stupor. His pure logic was not able to process what he just saw. I did not give him time to fix this error. I took one fluid step forward, entering deep into his zone. I delivered a lightning-fast punch straight to his solar plexus. I hit with pure, brutal kinetic energy.

The man bent in half in a split second. He released all the air from his lungs with a pitiful whistle. Then he fell face down in the mud, losing consciousness from the pain of crushed organs.

The second bandit saw his boss fall from one punch. He screamed in authentic panic, dropped his sword, and ran into the forest. I bent down and picked up a smooth stone. I focused a fraction of my expanded imagination on it, supporting the throw with a silent impulse of telekinesis .I threw it straight at the back of his head. The stone hit the skull with a dull splash. The fugitive plowed into the ground and stopped moving.

NovelPhoenix is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

The third one did not even move, trembling with fear.

”Tie up your colleagues with their own belts and drag yourselves politely to Ladvia,” I ordered him in an icy tone. I turned on my heel and put my hands back in my pockets. ”Tell the Guild that Dave says hello.”

The second contract on my list was a simple walk through the forest. My body felt light and perfectly responsive, absorbing the unevenness of the mossy ground with zero effort . Thanks to my sharp senses, I quickly located a cluster of rare Bloody Herbs near a deep ravine. As I was packing the pulsing, red plants into my bag, I heard a quiet sob from behind a fallen oak.

On a mossy log sat Mia, the young girl from the village. She was staring at her empty basket with absolute helplessness. The kindest guy in the world immediately woke up within me. I approached her with a relaxed pace, keeping my hands in my pockets. Without a word, I pulled half of the gathered herbs from my bag and dropped them into her basket. Mia blinked in shock, her eyes wide as she looked at the expensive plants.

”Take them, Mia, before some thugs find you in these bushes again,” I said with a friendly, gentle smile. I didn’t wait for her thanks. Helping others on a whim was a great distraction from breaking bones. My conscience was clean, and I moved deeper into the forest, ready for a real fight.

The third target was the goblin nest. When I approached the mouth of the cave, the smell of rot and methane hit my nose. My pure logic told me that entering that mud was a total waste of calories. Magic was a tool of causality, so I decided to use the environment . I raised my hand and released one small, sapphire spark of lightning into the tunnel.

I turned my back to the entrance and covered my ears with a lazy yawn. Three seconds later, the ground under my boots shook with a heavy thud. A roar of fire erupted from the cave as the methane ignited in the closed space. The explosion killed everything inside instantly. I walked into the smoke, gathered the hard cores from the ash, and moved to the last target.

The final contract led me to a collapsed mill. A Mutated Orc – a two-meter brute with thick, knotty skin – was waiting there. He roared and swung a rusted club at my head. I dodged the heavy blow with a minimal movement of my torso. I wanted to test the kinetic energy of my fists on his armor. I delivered a hard right hook to his ribs, but it felt like hitting a solid rubber tire.

”Too thick for blunt force,” I murmured, analyzing his anatomy .

I opened the valves in my palms, releasing a thick stream of Sapphire Slime. I forced the mana to compress until it became as hard as a butcher’s anvil .My fingers transformed into long, curved claws – a lethal tool I called Abyss Claw. My hands were now two razors of unnatural density.

The orc swung again, but I was already inside his guard. With a surgical strike, I cut through the thick tendons of his legs. The brute collapsed with a pathetic scream. I ended the fight with one clean thrust to his heart, retrieving the core from his chest.

I returned to Ladvia an hour later and dropped the four bloody proofs on the Guild’s oak counter. The receptionist literally dropped her pen, staring at me with wide, shocked eyes. ”One mutated orc is a mission for a full team of veterans!” she stammered. ”It’s a matter of logic and the right tools,” I replied with Brazen chill, pocketing a heavy pouch of bright silver.

My stomach growled, reminding me of biological priorities. I went straight to the ”Weary Bear” and ordered the largest roasted chicken they had. I sat at a free table, crossing my legs and ignoring the noise around me.

Halfway through the meal, a loud, arrogant voice came from the best booth in the room. Count Valerius sat there, surrounded by armored guards, mocking my black coat. ”Look at that lone wolf in the corner,” Valerius laughed, pointing a jeweled finger at me. ”I bet he would piss himself at the sight of a forest rat”.

I did not turn my head. I continued to chew the meat slowly, maintaining my chill until the plate was empty. When I put down the knife, a predatory hunger flared in my chest. I activated my analytical grid. I closed my eyes for a split second, and my mind rendered a perfect map of the tavern, locating every muscle and breath of the Count’s group.

I released raw Blood Lust .My murderous killing intent flooded the tavern like a heavy, lead avalanche .The air became so thick it was hard to breathe. The guards stopped laughing, their lungs seizing up in animal paralysis. Valerius dropped his cup, the clay shattering on the floor with a hollow sound.

Only then did I turn my head slowly, sending him the smile of the most sympathetic guy. ”Excuse me?” I asked in a very quiet, polite tone that echoed in the terrified silence.

Valerius was broken. His aristocratic pride evaporated against the wall of reality. He offered any amount of silver for an escort to Oakhaven. ”Dave,” I replied with a nod. ”I accept the contract, Count”. My body, warmed up by the tests, was finally ready for a much more serious fight in the city.