It was night when a few people began knocking on the cabin door.
"Old witch! Help us!"
The villagers continued knocking until the grandmother opened the door angrily, smoking her pipe.
"You're quite bold to disturb me at this hour," said the grandmother.
"Please, we need help. Our hunters were injured by a beast in the forest," asked an older man.
The witch stared at them before sighing.
"VAELOR!! GET READY!" shouted the grandmother.
"Thank you so much," a man said.
"Don't be so quick to thank me. You'll have to give me something in return," the grandmother said.
Vaelor, still tired, came down and saw all the villagers at the cabin entrance, which was strange since they didn't seem to be coming to complain.
"Vaelor, go fetch my utensils and ingredients right now."
Vaelor obeyed and went to look for what was requested, finding it in the potion room along with a bag of ingredients, which he packed into a backpack.
"Alright, guide me," the grandmother said.
They both left for the village, guided by the villagers until they reached the village chief's house.
Upon entering, the groans of nearly all the hunters could be heard, each injured with various wounds.
The grandmother approached the village chief, who stared at her.
"Mireth..."
"Silence. You called me for this, and I'll do it, but you'd better give me some meat and a few chicken eggs," said the grandmother.
Vaelor found the situation a bit strange, but followed his grandmother to check on the wounded.
Upon seeing them up close, it was clear that each one had different kinds of wounds. Some had injuries that looked like they were made by an animal with claws, others had bites as if from a snake, and finally, the leader had two holes in his stomach and was missing his left arm.
Mireth prepared herself instantly, taking some ingredients and starting to make potions. She finished a potion, and Vaelor handed it to each of them.
Among the potions were Health, Antivenom, and Stamina potions.
After an hour, they had finished healing everyone, which amazed the villagers, seeing that even those who were on the brink of death were healed.
"Thank you, truly, thank you."
The villagers began thanking her, but Mireth was not at all pleased, so she clapped her hands, making everyone go silent. She approached the leader of the hunters to speak to him.
"Explain, what happened?" demanded Mireth.
"Witch..." The man sat up slightly, seeing that his arm was missing.
"I asked, what happened?"
The atmosphere became tense, making everyone stay quiet.
'Something is off here,' thought Vaelor.
"I don't know," said the hunter leader. "It all happened so suddenly..."
The leader began explaining that the day had started normally, and they were able to catch some animals until they found a boar completely torn apart, so they had to return to the village.
They reorganized to figure out what to do, as it could be an invasive predator that could ruin the valley's ecosystem, so after deciding that this couldn't happen, they set off into the forest to kill the predator.
From the boar, they tracked two sets of footprints, one from a goat and another from an animal they had never encountered.
They followed the tracks through the forest, searching for the beast, until the massacre began.
They didn't even see what attacked them, but it was with immense ferocity, taking down most of them with a single strike, leaving them stunned and frozen, if not for the Hunter Leader, who kept them somewhat calm.
He tried to attack the beast, but something like a whip came at him, ripping off his arm, and then that same beast went after him. After that, he didn't know anything else.
"When I woke up, they were already bringing me back to the village, but some stayed behind to delay the beast. I thank you for healing me so I can go back and rescue the others."
Mireth puffed her pipe and exhaled the smoke into the Hunter Leader's face, knocking him out instantly.
"Listen carefully. You are forbidden from going into the forest until I say otherwise," said Mireth.
"W-Wait, there are still...!"
The Village Chief was about to complain that there were still some left in the forest, but he was silenced by an overwhelming pressure on his body, causing him to fall to the ground.
"As I said, you won't go. I'll take care of this, and the forest is closed until further notice," Mireth said.
All the villagers were terrified of her after seeing what she had done.
"Vaelor, follow me. You have a job to do."
"Y-Yes," Vaelor responded nervously.
--
--
{Pov Vaelor}
I was shocked by what the grandmother had done. I already knew she wasn't just an alchemist, as everyone had to have a class, and from what I saw, she must have the Mage class and be quite powerful.
I followed closely, as I had never seen her so angry. I don't know if it's because of the system or something about this world, but I felt an unusual aura around her. Maybe it's the magic of a mage.
"Vaelor, take this."
The grandmother, now known as Mireth, threw me a backpack with small potions containing a green liquid.
"I'll go find the rest of the hunters, and you need to spread this liquid around the village. It will prevent the beasts from getting close."
"Alright," I responded.
Mireth went into the forest to find the others.
'I could follow her to see how she fights.'
I thought for a moment but discarded the idea after seeing her behavior.
I grabbed the backpack and went to do what she had ordered. I opened one of the potions, and immediately, I smelled a horrible odor.
"Of course, with this, the beasts won't get close. Even people won't want to come near."
I began spreading it as instructed, and surprisingly, the smell didn't spread as much as I expected.
I spent hours doing the same thing, so I was already tired, but I was almost done, so I kept going until I eventually fell asleep.
When I finally had the whole village surrounded, I had a thought, "Why don't they attack the cabin?" I didn't know why, but it was likely that the grandmother had something to do with it.
I yawned loudly, lay down on the grass, and looked up at the stars.
"I wonder, what class will I get?"
I closed my eyes to rest a bit and fell asleep.
--
--
Days passed since that incident. Mireth returned with the rest of the hunters, but some had died, and she couldn't do anything.
There was mourning throughout the village and a burial for the dead. The grandmother told everyone that the creature that attacked them was dead and that they shouldn't worry, but they should carry a repellent made by her in case of emergency.
I wanted to ask the grandmother what kind of creature it was, but I didn't know how to start the question, so I didn't ask. However, what I did know was that it had to be strong to defeat so many, especially Alonso, who was a skilled swordsman and the most experienced hunter of them all.
The grandmother only received the chicken eggs, as the beast was edible, and they could get more meat than what was requested.
Since Alonso lost his arm, he had to step down from being the leader of the hunters, as he would only be a burden during hunts. He handed the position to another of the more experienced hunters, while he would train young people interested in becoming hunters.
As the mourning passed, I spent my time making potions just to test how much I could do and how they worked.
Now, I was looking at the system and what I hadn't seen before.
____________________
Name: Vaelor
Age: 5 years
Race: Human
Title: Reincarnated
Class: None
Subclass: Alchemist
_________
Class Skill
--None
Subclass Skill
--Create Minor Potion / 2% Mastery
System Skill
--None
____________________
"So there's a percentage of how well I've mastered a skill. Maybe if I master it to 100%, it will evolve into an upgraded version."
I thought about what to do next, as I had used up all the Potion Vials I had, which I got from the repellents Mireth gave me to spread around the village.
'The grandmother must be very powerful to defeat that beast. Could she really be a Mage Class? Or is it something else?'
I kept thinking, but since I didn't know what else to do, I opened a book I had about classes and started reading it to learn more about them and be better prepared for when my class was chosen.
"If I get a class I don't like, can I change it with the system?"