Chapter 1
(The Prologue, containing background on how they arrived here, is in the auxiliary chapters!)
Jake Pov:
My name is Jake, I have been living in this southern mountain range for one year. I am 7 years old in the way of the world and live with my older brother Hunter who is 9 in the way of the world and my younger sister Emma whose 6 in the way of the world. We have been helped by a man who comes by form time to time from over the mountain range.
The mans name is Rider, he comes from 'The Duchy of Gamerton'. It is surrounded by mountains on the East, South, and West. An a hostile nation, Jones, to the North. He comes to us through a hidden mountain pass so we are not found out. He has been leaving us material to Study so we are not stumped in society.
My brother Hunter goes and hunts food for us from Time to time. He uses his Magic to hunt and he has pretty good stats from what I saw in his Status screen. I am practicing in Magic like him but I don't get the Status Scan until I get baptized in a church. When my brother got baptized there was something on his menu that made Jones go after him. Its the reason we are here. His Status Screen is as follows.
Status
[Name: Hunter Dire]
[Race: Beast-kin Dire Wolf]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: Nine years Old in way of the World, Eighteen years Old in way of Time]
[Level: 5]
[HP: 600/600]
[MP: 950/950]
[Ability: A+]
Strength 140
Agility 0.3
Stamina 240
Endurance 160
IQ 40
Muscular Density 4
[Title(s): First Son of a Earl, Survivor of the Forest of Monsters, Prodigy]
[Mana: Dark brown]
[Magic]
Fire Magic Lv.3
Wind Magic Lv.1
Earth Magic Lv.2
Water Magic Lv.1
Creation Magic Lv.1
Space Magic Lv.1
Light Magic Lv.2
Life Magic Lv.1
[Skill(s)]
Survival (Passive) Lv.5
Hand to Hand Combat Lv.3
Swordsmanship Lv.2
Hunting Lv.3
Regeneration (Passive) Lv.1
Stealth Lv.1
Physical Resistance Lv.4
Magic Resistance Lv.2
[Blessing(s)]
Blessing of the god of Creation Lv.1
Blessing of the god of Life and Death Lv. 1
Blessing of the god of Magic Lv.1
Blessing of the god of Skill Lv.2
Blessing of the god of Martial Ability Lv.3
Blessing of the god of War Lv.2
I don't know what the title, 'Survivor of Forest of Monsters', means. He also has a lot of Blessings for some reason. But as Rider had said when he saw it was 'With Great Power comes Great Responsibilities'.
But my current Goal in life is to find what happened to my family. When I asked Hunter he said that the information could be found at the bottom of the Dungeon. So against his wishes I am going down the Dungeon to find that info.
I head down to as far as I normally do and get ready to go. I grab a knife my brother gave me and some Leather training armor. I don't have the Status Screen yet so I am training in Magic. I wonder what my blessings and Magic will be along with my skills.
I open the door and start walking down the steps. Currently my brother should be taking care of Emma so he shouldn't notice. On the way down I run into a few Goblins and take out my knife. It should be the right size for me at my age and size.
I get into a defensive stance and get ready to fight. The first of the 4 Goblins head at me and as he approaches I dodge his Club attack. Taking my knife I cut off its hand and proceed to cut off its head.
Now as far as monsters go, when killed they don't disappear. They can be harvested for their magic stones and other parts like leather and fur depending on the monster. It is the same for animals one could say.
The other goblins advance in groups of two. My elder brother trained me in Martial arts so I should put that to good use. The first pair comes up, I duck down avoiding the sideways swipe with the club. I continue to swipe them off their feet and punch the right one in the head.
He is knocked out and the other is getting back up. The other two advance to attack and I avoid their downward strikes by sidestepping. I take my knife and cut the ones arm before its throat. That two is down for the count.
I continue forward sidestepping to narrowly miss the goblins attack. I take my knife and plunge it into its heart and give it a good twist. But I forgot about the Goblin behind me who hits me in the back. That's going to hurt tomorrow, after all this is only leather training armor.
I move around into another defensive stance. I only have two enemies, but it is still against me. Just how hard are the lower floors, and why did the people before leave them here. It advances and I go to using martial arts.
I move its club to the side with my left hand. I proceed with my right, knife in hand, taking it from left to right in a backhand stabbing motion. It hits its target of the solar plexus, that is where most Magic stones in monsters are.
Magic Stones are stones in monsters containing Mana. They are also the main life source of monsters, there are exceptions though. Beast-kin, Leprechauns, Dire Wolves, Great Wolves and most S class beasts don't have them. That being said Humans, Elves, and Dwarves don't have them Either. They rely on their heart and their mana shows a color based on its stage, that can advance, the higher the color the stronger the mage. Sadly I don't know the rankings of them yet. The reason those don't have them is either they are to powerful, or an advanced race.
Since I destroyed its magic stone it dies instantly and I continue forward after taking my knife out. I only have one left now! "Jake!," Hunter yells. I guess I have been found out. I take my knife and quickly kill the one who was getting up.
Lets see, 5 dead goblins and 4 magic stones. That's a nice haul, I can't use the 5th since it was destroyed. I quickly harvest them from the corpses and run back up the stairs to see one Hunter, Emma, and Rider waiting.