Monsters attack humans; humans kill monsters. Humans hunt monsters; monsters kill humans. It was an eternal fight for survival. When monsters started appearing three hundred years ago, humans were the weakest prey they fed on.
They discarded Cattles and animals as an alternative for humans. Animals soon started evolving by absorbing mana, and many different types of monsters appeared. Some of them remained the same, just like some humans.
The hatred between them runs deep, and Arthur wasn't going to stop killing them. He was striving to get stronger, and monsters still killed humans when they could.
However, there were monsters like Kira, who were only struggling to survive. A headache was about to come over him as he pondered over it.
"Awoo…" Kira signaled the brooding Arthur that the meat finished roasting. Snapping out of his thoughts, Arthur saw the skewers were steaming, and the scent of the food was bewitching.
He stroked Kira's leg as it was too big for him to pat and thanked him warmly. The wolf stared at him and licked his face, making Arthur laugh and struggle to wipe the saliva out.
Arthur kept trying to control his mana after his meal. After eating the mana-enriched meat, he felt it was easier to manage his mana with the overflowing energy absorbed in his stomach. It was still only a tiny bit better than before, but it was still some progress.
As the night descended, Arthur lit up some lanterns to sit with Kira under the stars. Unfortunately, there weren't any. Instead were a myriad of colors traveling through the skies, going back and forth as if patrolling the world. Arthur laid down next to Kira as the two stared at the night's sky.
"You know, I miss my family. My mom would always nitpick everything in our lives, but she wasn't always like that. It was the overcautiousness she developed after we lost my dad. Now that it's so quiet here, I miss her.
Oren always kept to himself after we stopped playing together. When we were young, we would make our room as a base for a secret society. We would then role-play as spies around the house, and we used to be so immersed in it. I wish we could spend more time together…" Arthur found it easier to talk to Kira than he did with other humans.
It probably was because it didn't understand his words, making Arthur vent to his heart content. Kira laid next to him, awake but silent, as Arthur kept talking about this and that. Arthur went to sleep after a while.
The next day, Arthur did the same. As Kira took care of hunting monsters, all Arthur did was sitting down and practicing using mana. He might be delaying the growth of his stats a bit, but he thought it would be better to know how to handle his strength than simply having it.
The day was uneventful, and Arthur took some breaks from practicing and walked around the pub. He also tried some alcohol, but the taste was worse than he imagined, although there was a feeling of light-heartedness after consuming it. Unfortunately, he sobered up in no time due to his mana.
In two days, Arthur made some progress in his mana training. Although it was a bit slow, he was able to guide the mana through his body.
However, he needed almost an hour to make it reach his hand. This made him feel frustrated and confused, as he thought it would be a lot easier than this. His frustration grew until he decided to call it a day.
He has awakened at 18, a lot later than the usual limit. It was normal that he struggled to make things work in a day or two, and Arthur realized he was conceited again.
After another night of watching the sky with Kira, Arthur decided to sleep so he could wake up early and try again. He headed upstairs and threw himself atop the bed he loved so dearly. Sleeping became his favorite time of the day as he missed the softness of a bed a lot.
***
"Ching~ Ching~ Ching~."
Arthur's brows furrowed as he heard the bell ring. He was confused as he woke up to the barely illuminated room. Thankfully he had a myriad of colors to thank. However, what made him see was the bell he made ringing loudly and the runes on top of it glowing brightly.
"This…" Arthur's heart started beating in anxiety as he realized this was the artifact he made on the first day. Primitive monsters would stay away from Kira; that's why he had forgotten about it.
Now, its ringing signified that something above primitive monsters was within a 100 meters radius of his house. After using a primitive mana core, the radius doubled in range, making it a convenient tool for him to use as an alarm.
Arthur picked up his sword and threw his new armor on his body. He then darted outside the room, and as he was descending the stairs, Arthur could hear the howls of a wolf. It was Kira. Now, more urgent than ever, Arthur jumped over the porch. As Kira usually slept outside, it was right beside the house.
With his perception increasing in the previous days, Arthur had no problems seeing at night. Three hooded figures surrounded Kira, with two of them throwing fireballs and ice spears at it as the last one fought it with a great sword.
"YOU BASTARDS!" Arthur roared, hoping to distract them. His voice was a lot more powerful than he thought as he felt his blood boil with rage.
Multiple runes appeared as they fused with his body, greatly enhancing it. His agility reached 50, and he found himself in front of the group in no time. This was the first time Arthur fought while being blinded by rage as he never felt the urgency of protecting something.
"What? There's someone here!" Startled by the roar Arthur made, the mages stopped their attacks as they turned around to defend themselves. Arthur's plan worked as Kira was fighting the swordsman without needing to worry about the mages.
Although they were called mages, their abilities were the same as they used only fire and ice attacks. These two were a standard ability line that many mages had, and the two didn't use any magic skills as they would drain a lot more mana.
Arthur now faced fire and ice coming from each side as he couldn't close in on time. However, his golden eyes flickered with light as he crouched down suddenly while holding his sword next to his wrist. His two feet dug deep into the ground, and Arthur had his foot inclined forward. Only then was that mana drained from his body as he activated the runes he had on his boots.
Two Force-II runes activated simultaneously on his boot, and Arthur felt himself reaching a speed that made him dizzy. He was like a cannonball as he crossed the distance between him and the mages in an instant.
The two attacks of the mages missed due to the sudden change in location as Arthur passed right between them. They were so close that Arthur could feel heat and coldness on the sides of his body.
"Lian, help!" The ice mage shouted as he constructed an ice wall in front of them as protection. Arthur used the momentum he gained from his boots and the runes on his sword to strike as powerfully as he can.
The ice wall broke down with a powerful booming sound proving how deadly Arthur's attack was. Arthur felt like the sword was about to break as it couldn't withstand the impact of such force. However, it was still intact, and that's what Arthur needed.
