In a remote village, at the northeastern tip of the Akazac Empire, a young man was lying on the grass sunbathing.
He was a teenager with an extraordinary appearance, but the dirtiness from his somewhat rustic and poor life overshadowed any good features on his appearance.
He had naturally silver hair that reached his shoulders, and his distinctive golden pupils flickered as he gazed at the sky.
He had a face as elegant as a prince's, but it was partly hidden by his somewhat disheveled hair.
Kain, an orphaned teenager.
Fifteen years ago, he appeared in this village for unknown reasons. The villagers, unable to bear to see him die, decided to take him in and raise him until he was 15 years old.
Everyone contributed a part to raising Kain, so it could be said that the whole village was his foster parents.
Today, Kain planned to go hunting alone in the forest.
He prepared a homemade bow, a quiver with about 20 arrows tipped with sharp stones and secured with dried animal tendons. He also prepared a knife and a rough cloth bag to carry the spoils.
Having finished his preparations, Kain calculated the time based on the brightness of the sky, confirmed that there was enough time, he began to head deeper into the forest beside the village.
With the current time until nightfall, Kain only set his sights on deer or rabbits, which were fairly easy prey to hunt. As for more hostile targets like wild boars, Kain did not want to attack them with such simple preparations.
Very quickly, Kian discovered a rabbit digging a hole. He took a deep breath, slowly raised his bow and aimed at the rabbit's head, avoiding affecting the delicious meat.
Whoosh!
The arrow left the bowstring and flew towards the small creature, but perhaps because it sensed danger was approaching, the rabbit suddenly moved at the last moment. This caused the arrow to hit the rabbit, but it did not die.
The rabbit ran away injured, and Kain followed. When the rabbit jumped into the small hole, Kain jumped in too.
However, he suddenly felt weightless and fell, as if being pushed into some kind of pipe straight down into the ground.
Kain tried to escape, but the force of the slide was so strong and fast that he lost his direction, and Kain hit the bottom.
Under that impact, Kain could not hold on and fainted.
When Kain awoke, he found himself lying in an underground cave with no natural light at all.
This cave is not very big, it is only about three meters high and four meters wide, but it stretches like a road with no end in sight.
Although there was no natural light in the cave, Kain could still vaguely observe his surroundings thanks to the glowing grass growing at the edges and on the ceiling of the cave.
However, upon seeing this grass, Kain became strangely tense.
That's because Kain knows what this thing represents.
Dungeon.
Kain had a secret that only he knew, and he dared not tell anyone else.
Ever since he gained consciousness, strange knowledge had appeared in his mind. What's more, he didn't seem to feel any discomfort, it was as if this knowledge had been flowing through his veins since he was born into this world.
In that vast mass of knowledge, there was a mention of Dungeons, a type of structure that looked like ancient ruins or underground caves. And the distinguishing mark of Dungeons was this special type of glowing grass.
What makes the Dungeon even more special is that it is home to monsters.
Monster, not animal.
A horde of creatures with almost no self-awareness, following only pure killing instinct and hostility towards all forms of natural life.
This is what makes Dungeons so dangerous.
Now, a 15 year old teenager like Kain has lost his way in such a Dungeon, with only arrows and a dagger as his weapons of defense.
This is indeed the worst case scenario.
"Don't panic, Kain, you must calm down."
"Calm down... calm down…"
Kain silently consoled himself.
After a while, the panic inside Kain finally disappeared, because Kain knew panicking wouldn't help anything.
Gathering up the scattered arrows, Kain walked forward with the knife at his side.
Luckily the place he fell to had no monsters, it was quite safe for the time being.
Suddenly, there was a low growl from the distance.
Kain also stopped, he placed the arrow on the bowstring and drew the bow forward.
This cave is quite empty, there is no hiding place, so attacking the enemy before the enemy attacks you is the optimal solution.
Also, from this growl, Kain thought that this was one of the easiest monsters to deal with in the Dungeon, Zombie.
Zombies have more durable bodies than normal humans, but their relatively slow movement speed is a definite drawback.
Seeing the silhouette of the Zombie within his range, Kian released the bowstring, causing the arrow to draw a perfect line in the air, accurately piercing the Zombie's head.
Kain was delighted, but it seemed he had underestimated the Zombie, and also overestimated his arrow. Because the Zombie was still alive.
The arrow is not embedded deep enough.
Kain's expression changed, he quickly pulled out another arrow, however it was too late.
As soon as it reached a certain range, the Zombie suddenly accelerated and charged towards Kain, forcing him to abandon ranged attacks and draw his dagger for close combat.
A loud crash rang out, it was the sound of Zombie's teeth biting into his dagger. Faced with the Zombie's somewhat superior physical strength, he glanced at the arrow above its head and made a bold decision.
With one hand still holding the dagger to block the Zombie's jaws, Kain reached out with his other hand to pull out the arrow. Then Kain suddenly turned to the side, pulling the dagger with him.
In that moment, Kain reversed the grip of the dagger, stabbing the sharp tip into the spot where the arrow had been earlier.
Thanks to the tear, the knife penetrated the Zombie's head, destroying its brain.
The monster's body collapsed, motionless, indicating that it was dead.
After the battle, Kain breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the cave wall to rest. Suddenly, a blurry screen appeared in Kain's mind.
"What the hell is this?"
Even with Kain's knowledge, he had no idea what this thing was for the moment.
Still, he looked at it, mentally of course.
[Level]: 1
[Ability]:
-[Thunder Magic ★]
-[Enhancement Magic ★]
He tried to interact with this screen, but only when he noticed the two lines [Thunder Magic ★] and [Enhancement Magic ★] did the screen change.
-[Thunder Magic ★]:
+[Thunder Bullet level 0] 0/1 (+)
+[Thunder Summon level 0] 0/2 (+)
+[Thunder Navigation level 0] 0/3 (+)
-[Enhancement Magic ★]:
+[Enhancement Body level 0] 0/5 (+)
+[Enhancement Tool level 0] 0/10 (+)
Looking at the information this thing displayed, Kain remembered what this was.
This is magic.
And it is classified into different branches.
While contemplating, Kain focused on the (+) symbol behind each magic skill.