It was an unfamiliar world, a land that though limited from one's current perspective, carried an air of boundlessness as if deep at its core was a plethora of endless mysteries.
Deep in an ancient mountain range filled with a myriad of wild plants, unusual flowers, and towering trees whose branches extended towards unviewable heights. A soft mist lingered around the surroundings, hinting of the hour, which was approaching dawn.
Occasionally, one would hear a few roars from unknown beasts. The shuffling of the underbrushes and vibrations from heavy steps added a kind of wild flair to the environment.
Peering through this fading morning haze, one would see a few silhouettes that shuffled about the various distances, traversing this dangerous mountain land. Some of a few familiar shapes, while others seemed bizarre.
In this world, there weren't many who would dare to wander here, as it all too known just what kind of disaster would await them if ventured through the depths of these mountains. Yet, despite this fact, it would seem that a poor unknowing family, is destined to fall prey to its boundaries.
Buzz! Following an odd sound like space tearing, a rift formed within a region with a complicated-looking glowing diagram beneath it.
Soon, four rays of lights flew out of the rift and fell on the diagram. It didn't take long for these lights to expand rapidly, forming into the figures of four individuals as the warp in space and diagram faded after a flash of light.
"Ack," Marius made a slight groan in pain, as he held the side of his head while thinking, 'Shit, the side effects are kicking in now...'
He felt a feeling of tiredness, but as if something strange happened, a unique power from the surroundings, gushed into his body, allowing his fatigue and pain to ease by a section.
Marius was surprised by this as he knew these effects from using his [Strengthen All Skill] would only worsen around this time. However, he didn't have time to ponder it. He looked around in shock; never did he think he would have ever come across such a scene. Nevertheless, with his abundant experience from his past professions, he promptly recovered and got to the matter at hand.
"Ria, hurry, we must take the kids and find shelter immediately!" Marius said, making quick judgment after looking around this unfamiliar environment, he even fills a tinge of anxiousness due to the strange roars he was hearing.
Marius had wanted to question Ria, as he recalled seeing her make a strange expression during the previous scene. However, he realized that right now was not the time.
Like his father, Grevlin was also a mature child for his age and didn't act in a major panic. He trembled a bit, edging as close as he could to Marius as he tried to hide his fear. He then looked up at his father and asked with worried eyes, "F-Father, where is this?"
Marius, who heard Grevlin's words, looked away from the surrounding's seeing the fear in his eyes. He sighed, patting his head as he spoke, "Son, I don't know, but right now we need to leave, let's talk once we've found safety."
Grevlin, hearing his father's words, lowered his head before he looked at him with firm eyes, and replied, "Yes, father."
Marius felt proud of his son's ability to adapt to the situation, but as for his wife, he frowned as he didn't hear her reply. Instead, he heard another sound.
"Mama wake up! Mama! Dadda mamma is sick! Waaaa!"
When Marius heard this, he turned around with shock on his face as he saw the adorable Little Rose seated on top of the collapsed Ria while crying, her small arms rubbing the sides of her eyes helplessly.
"Shit!" Marius unknowingly swore out loud but unable to take it back now, he picked up Grevlin and hurried over to Ria.
Upon drawing nearby her, Marius placed his hand on her forehead and found that it was burning like a raging flame.
'Of all times to have a fever, goddammit!' Marius cursed inwardly with a look of helplessness, he placed Grevlin down and tried to coax Little Rose.
"There-there now, my adorable little rose, look mother is fine, we only need to bring her to safety, can you be a sweet little rose and help daddy?" Marius asked in a soft tone as he wiped the corner of her eyes.
Little Rose looked at Marius with her terrified eyes as she asked, "Really? Can dadda help mommy?"
Though Marius knew time was going, he couldn't just run off with her using force, it would be even worse if her cries called out a horde of unknown creatures. He nodded and replied, "Mm, when has pappa ever lied to you?"
Little Rose seemed to have calmed down, she adorably stared at Marius and replied, "Okwwuaay."
"Good girl," Marius said, prepared to take her up, and bring the entire family away. However, despite his effort to work quickly, it was already too late.
Growwwl! A savage roar sounded from behind the entire family, filling every one of them with a terrible feeling. Even Marius felt that whatever was behind them was something he was in no way a complete match.
With two heavy steps, Marius heard the stones behind them being crushed into rubble, further emphasizing the danger of the entity.
Grevlin was so shocked that even with his mindset, he fell on to his rump while trembling. Little Rose, now in Marius's arm, fearfully pointed at the thing behind Marius and spoke, "Dadda look! It's a bwwig cat!"
Marius sighed as he didn't turn to face the beast, but look at his trembling son, he firmed up his mind and shouted, "Grevlin!"
"Grevlin!... Grevilin!... Grevlin!" His reverberating inside of the trembling boy's head, causing him to awaken to his senses.
Grevlin, now awake from fear, looked at Marius, but then Marius only smiled and put down Little Rose as he spoke again, "Protect your sister and mother!"
Grevlin, hearing this now understood the situation, being quite smart for his age he knew their position well. As an extremely obedient son who was very attached to his father; no matter what his father said, he would do it without much hesitation.
A firm look came into Grevlin's eyes as he stood on his feet and balled up his small palms into a fist when he replied, "Father, I will do my best!"
Marius heard all needed to hear from Grevilin's words, he placed Little Rose down and looked at her before he spoke, "Little Rose, papa will be busy, be a nice girl and stay close to brother."
Little Rose was confused at first, but when Grevlin hurried over and held her shoulder, she looked at Marius and replied, "Okwaay."
Marius wasted no more time; he turned around and walked towards the beast that was lurking behind them. As for why it didn't attack immediately, it seemed that the creature was somewhat weary of Marius as it was eyeing him with cold and analytical eyes.
It was a trait of any wild beast, to cautiously eye their opponents and strike when they are at an advantage. Some wouldn't even waste a second, attacking directly to conquer their prey with brute force.
A tiger was one such beast, the prestigious lord of any creature in the wildlands. It knew of its strength, knowing with full certainty that any prey targeted by it would fall by its paws; this was the basis of its confidence.
However, this creature was, by all means, not an ordinary tiger. Its frame was more than triple of a typically grown tiger's size, as its fur was black. Looking at its rear, one would see two tails, and much like its two ruthless eyes, each of them had peculiar traits, one had flames that blazed wildly as the other glowed in an icy light.
The Blazing Ice Black Tiger, a truly sinister predator, found not only in this mountain range but in many others, though it was fairly common, it was still a creature with excellent fame amongst those in the lower ranks.
Naturally, Marius didn't know of this creature's fame. What he did know was that he had no options at this time. He needed to fight and eliminate the threat that can kill his family, no matter the cost!
'Think, think! There must be an away out of this situation!" Marius thought as he stared at the tiger that was glaring at him with its two eyes, one filled with ice and the other with fire, its low growls sending a bad breath from its savage mouth spread across the surroundings, revealing its shimmering fangs.
As if Marius recalled something, his mind had a light bulb effect as he thought, "Yes, that's right, the system, I couldn't use it on Earth, but maybe it will be different here..."
Not wasting any time, Marius first used it to spy on the enemy before him. However, the moment he did so, he got an unexpected notification.
_____
Ding!
[Your power is far lower than the enemy, details can't be inspected!]
_____
Marius frowned, he calmed down and decided to check his stats, but right then, another notification popped up before him.
_____
Ding!
[Host has invoked the personal stats system in a new world, optimizing power conversion!]
Ding!
[Power conversion complete, because of your Status, your Level has automatically been increased by 1!]
Ding!
[Your Mystic Power has been awakened, G RANK!]
Ding!
[All base stats has awakened G RANK!]
_____
When Marius heard this notification, his eyes beamed with joy, but this didn't last long. He saw that the Blazing Ice Black Tiger, which was eyeing him cautiously, had started to push power into its hind legs, causing the ground to form a depression.
'Hmph! I don't give a shit how powerful you are, threatening my family is seeking your death!' When Marius thought this, his face turned malevolent. He already knew what he needed to do fight the beast, he called up his Inborn Skill Screen and commanded with his mind, 'Use all Mastery Points!'
A savage power began to form around him, causing the air to grow more chilly as the misty wind blew across the area, acting as the setup for Marus and his family's first real battle in a brand new world.