"Huuuu…Be ready dad, I already know this is the one."
"Huh? Oh, sure. Do your best Al, dad will whoop you with only a finger this time."
"Tch, you are too full of yourself, I heard from auntie Idril that mom is twice as strong as you."
"Hahaha, she is not wrong! Your mother sure is something else, especially on the be-"
"Come on, dad! Take this seriously!"
It was the middle of summer. Currently, in the Drukas' garden, a 6-year-old Alden is facing his father. They do this face-off every afternoon, for about 2 hours each session. The reason behind this was because Alden's wish on his birthday.
"You can do this Al, wipe the floor with that buffalo!"
Idril yelled while lying side-way comfortably on a bench. She giggles and enjoys a cool grapefruit juice prepared for her by Jenny, who is standing nearby. This maid is here every single day, Alden always notices her soft smile every time Liam knocked him down. Whenever he asked her about it, Jenny wore a serious expression like he is accusing her of murder.
'Tch, these guys, it is hard to find an ally around here. Stupid Asta, forcing this young soul to do the impossible! This is all his fault!'
Alden grumbles in his mind and rushes forward to attack dear father.
***
It was a week before Alden's 6th birthday.
In this world, the concept of birthdays is very loose, but that is because an average person's lifespan is about 200. After a while, people just stopped celebrating it annually. They only celebrate once every 6 years, which means that this will be Alden's first birthday after he came to this world. The first is also called the 'Welcoming', officially marking his existence in the world of Pridevion.
'I am 6 already huh? It is a miracle how people live that long in this tough world. I guess the strong lives, weak dies system actually works. Is earthling the real savages…?'
At first, after viewing the system's general information and cautious warning, Alden thought for sure that he would have a hard time in Pridevion, fighting every second for his life. But after a while of experiencing it for himself, he found his current life to be rather peaceful.
Other than the damn curse that he had already survived after birth, wasting a full 2 years of his life. Alden has never been in danger. His life at the mansion is pretty awesome from his point-of-view. Filling his daily schedule with playing around in the forest in the morning and accompanying his mother in doing fun stuff in the evening. Maybe, the only time he had to work hard for real is the first two hours after lunch, when he has a martial-art class with Liam. But even that is still breathable as his father is always considerate toward his health and never gives Alden exercise that he couldn't handle.
Alden is currently lying in the grass, next to the huge tree from when he first woke up. She's called Igorlas, and she is the heart of the forest near the Drukas' mansion. Here, the forest blessing is at its strongest and Alden is thoroughly enjoying every second of it.
"What are you thinking about, Alden?"
"Oh Naifel, when did you arrive? It is nothing, just silly stuff, I don't even want to think about it either. Just simple wondering and all that… hahhh."
Naifel was a rare Jinn, or a male fairy. He was one of the new fairies that are born every year in the forest and Alden was friends with him ever since he first appear, so their relationship is pretty close. He is currently also Alden's only male friend, although the fairy concept of gender is pretty blurry.
"If you don't want to talk about it, you should have stopped at saying it was nothing, fool."
This fairy unfortunately has a mild Tsundere symptoms that he was quite familiar with in his past-life. But because he is actually very nice and considerate, so it is barely acceptable.
"I was counting on you to ask me about it. I am too smart for this small forest. Isn't that right, Igrolas?"
"Tch…you used to be so timid and shy, how come you turn out like this?"
"I was never shy stupid Naifel, it was a phase. I wasn't sure how things work, now I do. This is the real me!"
"Just talk about your problem already."
Alden sneered at his pushover friend, then talk.
"Don't you feel a little too strange?"
"What do you mean?"
"This body of mine is cursed with hardship, for two years to pass by so peacefully just like that. It's strange."
"Hmmm. I heard about it, the fairies told me you were very weak in the past and only recently started to get better. But how is that called cursed with hardship? Aren't you overreacting?"
"That's the truth though. It kinda felt like this is the calm before a storm. Hmmm, am I missing something? Is this related to why I was rarely allowed to leave the manor?"
"Hahhh…This idiot. You were not allowed to leave because you were weak, did you not hear me properly. The Dreycott town is a pretty intense area, although the people are nice, monster attacks are frequent since we are close to the Abandoned Domain. That is why you are only allowed to move if there is Jenny or Lady Sylvia. You know this already, why bother asking?
"Is this all though?... Well, I was just feeling uneasy, that's all."
Alden indeed know what Naifel was nagging about. His family, the Drukas, lord over a small rural town called Dreycott. Its located in the east, and is facing one of the 2 red areas of the continent called 'The Abandoned Domain', a pretty flashy name in Alden's opinion, just to call a large ruins where abnormal amount of monsters gathered and frequently went berserk.
It started after his dad, Liam Dane Drukas, retired from being a hero and choose to station here, protecting the Findell Kingdom even in his retirement.
Originally, there are only the Drukas that moved here along with some elite that follows his father. But after a while, some admirers and wanderers naturally gathered around and started to form a village around their manor.
That small village then gradually grew to a size of a town, enough to be called a fiefdom ruled by a baron, and was officially recognized as Dreycott. Still, his family has never received an official noble title, and is only considered a local Lord.
'I always wonder about why though? A retired hero position should at least have gained a title already, but our family even ruled over a kingdom's land. Is this discrimination? Is dad being bullied, no, that is not possible. I wish I could just ask him out right.'
All of the information above, Alden had acquired by himself through books around the mansion and sometimes, from Charles after he pleaded nicely. His parent never actually talk about it, as though they were just some farmers living in the countryside.
Which, they are completely not.
They are monsters with monsters stats. Their strength could probably wreck this whole town down a couple of times over. Every time Alden's having a nightmare, their face would pop up at least once. It was that traumatic.
After 2 full years, his attribute had grown steadily.
===Status===
Name: Alden Dane Drukas
Status: Blessed by the Forest
Age: 5.9
Race: Conqueror/ Druid
Title: 1st Apostle of Adventure
Gift: Undetermined (Time remaining: 0.1 years)
Overall Rank: F -> F+
Strength: 4.7 (+10) / 100
Dexterity: 4.6 (+10) / 100
Stamina: 5.1 (+10) / 100
Intelligence: 23.8 (+10) / 100
Mana affinity: -10 / 100 [Fix]
Luck: 90 / 100
Charm: 76.1 / 100
Active skill:
None.
Passive skill:
[Resistance - G]:
Acquired by suffering under a horrible curse since birth and survived!
- Effect: You gain minor resistance to all hostile external forces.
- Evolvable.
[Divine Revelation - S]:
As an apostle of the Heaven, you will heed your God's instructions, following their will. Whenever and wherever.
- Effect: It is now possible to communicate with the Lord you serve.
- Trigger randomly based on (Asta - God of Adventure) intention.
[Adventure Affinity - S]:
The universe wishes for you to go on exciting adventures! It will do its best to reward you.
- Effect: You are likely to encounter an adventure.
- Trigger randomly based on 'Luck' stat.
Remark: You are growing steadily on a paved path. Your strength is still lacking compared to a native, but is very commendable for a 6-year-old. With the Blessing of the Forest, you might win over some lowly thugs.
==========
"Hahhh... this is still lacking."
"Hmm, did you say something?"
"No... don't mind me Naifel."
After all the training and his body's natural growth, his strength is now close to his 17 years old self. But that is not enough for this world, at least, not enough for his own standard.
But now, Alden is starting to think that his standard is too high. The two monsters named Liam and Sylvia are walking calamities.
Alden indeed had already risked it all and checked his parents' status.
Although he almost fainted while trying to peep into his parent's strength, twice. Causing a ruckus in the household and still got almost nothing in return, as the system inform him that his existence is not high enough. Alden succeeded in stealing a piece of crucial information, their rank.
These two old age's heroes both stand firm at the SS rank, causing Alden to almost choke to death in disbelief.
'According to the system, SS rank means that they should have at least 58 points per attribute, but I know that dad focuses on strength while mom relied on magic and intelligence, so they should be unmatched in their own field. Tsk tsk, it is really depressing knowing this info, curiosity got the best of me.'
Their firstborn, Alden, on the other hand, pride himself as the only person in existence who own a negative attribute. Although he is an F rank, it is mostly because of his abnormal Luck and blessed beauty, which means that it does not even matter.
Moreover, his fixed stat is even 'Mana Affinity. He already knows that mana is very important in this world, but he just doesn't know the exact extent. But seeing he is still living normally, Alden decided to just focus on improving his other attributes first.
'The higher the attribute, the harder it is to increase. I can't even try to increase my sky-high luck anymore, nor do I know how to. Hahhh… being the son of the heroes is a tough job."
Alden lamented, then quickly re-check his own status in case the vicious curse had magically disappeared, only to sigh heavily again in disappointment.
Looking at his friend being depressed out of nowhere, Naifel was understandably worried.
"Hey, are you really ok? Isn't it time you go rest?"
"Annoying Naifel, I said don't mind me. We already had dinner and I am sleeping with Igorlas tonight, mother already consent."
Seeing Alden patted Igorlas' tree roots next to him lovingly, Naifel just sighs. It clearly not the first time the boy had done this.
"No need to be feisty, I am just worried, okay? Your temper is really unbefitting of a druid."
"Do you know any other druid? No, there are only me and mom Sylvia, so shut it."
Over the past three years, other than his stats, his information about the world has also grown a lot.
Not only did he learn everything he could in the books about Dreycott and the Drukas' history, but some of his questions were also answered.
One of which, being his not-so-secret race, the Druids.
It was around a year ago, Sylvia sat him down and told Alden about his linage. She mostly told him about the benefits of being a druid, a race that is loved by both mana and nature. Alden could technically exercise limited control over anything nature-related, like controlling tree, which is Sylvia's specialty power, but that will require mana, and well…
After listening through all of it, the system gathered enough samples to create a summary of the benefit.
[You have gathered part of the knowledge about the race, 'Druid'. Information will be updated.]
===============
Race name: Druid - Deities of Nature.
Background: A race born from the world tree, Yggdrasil.
Benefits: 'The Blessing of the Forefather'
1, Terrain buffs:
Large-size forest: +10 points to 'Strength', 'Dexterity', 'Stamina' and 'Intelligence' after 2 hours.
Mid-size forest: +6 points to 'Strength', 'Dexterity', 'Stamina' and 'Intelligence' after 2 hours.
Small-size forest: +4 points to 'Strength', 'Dexterity', 'Stamina' and 'Intelligence' after 2 hours.
All nature terrains: +1 points to 'Strength', 'Dexterity', 'Stamina' and 'Intelligence' after 2 hours.
2, Mana attribute: The user's mana is gifted the effect 'Nature Affinity', x15 effectiveness to all actions that affect nature.
================
The second benefit aches Alden's cursed heart very much.
His mother also dropped a bomb on Alden through the conversation, saying that she is the only survivor of the race, and now, there is only her and Alden can be called a proper druid. But Sylvia glosses over this detail really fast and doesn't seem to wish to talk about it, so Alden gave way and didn't force her.
'Now that I think about it, there are just too many red flags have been raised over years. I don't really know much about both Liam and Sylvia, there will come a time when I will have to explore it. Oh well, the moons tonight are really pretty."
The lazy Alden decided to just go with the flow and break the shell when the time comes. He is not the one who is complaining anyway, he enjoys his peace very much. For now, he was stargazing before bed.
Pridevion has 1 sun and 3 moons. The sun is similar to the one from earth, but the moons are much closer in distance, hence, it is much bigger and shines brighter, one of them is even red in color. Alden always enjoy watching the moons, so much so that the family noticed and accompanied him to stargaze occasionally. Watching the beautiful moons reminded him how much his life has changed and made him appreciate his peaceful life even more.
As he was cherishing the moment while sneering at the dozing-off Naifel. A familiar white window tab suddenly pops up. Although it has been dormant ever since that first night, Alden only sighs. He sat up straight, the night sky has naturally lost its beauty.
'I knew it, it was getting too perfect. My Lord, please give a reasonable revelation this time, please!'
Soon, the [Divine Revelation] skill triggered.
- The God of Adventure is satisfied with your current growth and wishes to see you at his tower.
The unexpected wish makes Alden tilt his head.
'Tower? What tower? Do you perhaps have a property in this world, my Lord? '
- The God of Adventure clicks his tongue at your lack of knowledge and asks for you to find out yourself.
'What is this? do you just want me to wander around because you are bored or something? A tower with no name?''
- The God of Adventure giggles and stated that it is 'his' tower.
Alden shook his head, but he did not refuse. It was probably time for him to act like a proper apostle of the gods. He was also quite curious about the unknown information and sudden request from Asta.
'Something must be there for Asta to act up. Hmmm… Wait! How am I supposed to go there in the first place, I wasn't even allowed to take a stroll around Dreycott without the adults! How am I supposed to go anywhere?'
- The God of Adventure requests you to tell your parents you wish to know more about your 'gift'.
The confusing conversation gave Alden a splitting headache. He quickly turns to his innocent Jinn and snaps, venting his anger a bit.
"Go away Naifel!"
"Huhhh!? What is that?"
"Shut up Naifel, leave. I am having me time with Igorlas, you are not welcome."
Alden patted Igorlas' roots again, the roots even budge a little in response to his affectionate touch. Other would probably think the 6-year-old boy insane for being so intimate with a tree, but Alden doesn't really care.
"You are so irritating, fine! The ladies are probably waiting for this sir anyway! I'm leaving, hmph!"
There is, in fact, no fairy waiting for Naifel. But Alden was at fault here, so he didn't point it out. And after he could no longer see any flimsy red wings, Alden speak his mind out loud, intending to have a proper discussion.
"What do you mean, Lord Asta? I will naturally know what my gift is when the time comes, though?"
- The God of Adventure urges you to just request your parents that, and choose 'the tower'.
"Huhh? But will that even make sense? I don't want to come off like an insane person in front of my parents though?"
- The God of Adventure urges you to just request your parents that, and choose 'the tower'.
"What… is even going on…Is the skill glitching?"
Alden thought they were communicating in two different languages.
The whole conversation was just too confusing and the annoying Asta keeps urging him to raise that random question to his parents, then choose 'the tower'. No matter how much or what Alden asked, the same answer always pop up in form of emotionless white tabs, which infuriated him.
Alden was experiencing conversing to an impenetrable wall, and is slowly losing his mind.
After a while, he decided to raise the white flag and just do as told, there seems to be no problem anyway. He could afford to be seen as crazy once or twice.
"Tsk, so there really isn't a choice… Ok, FINE! Whatever, my Lord, I will do just that on my birthday! Are you happy?"
- The God of Adventure wishes to see you at his tower.
"F******CKKKK!!"
That night, Alden has a nightmare. Even the lovely Igorlas couldn't stop this one. He dreamt of Asta constantly chewing his head, then spitting it out as the poor boy shivered helplessly.
Just like that, the birthday lunch finally came.