Chapter 1- survive

Roaarrrrrr!!! an earth-shattering roar resounds across the lush

plains. Zeke stood there aghast, frozen by the ghastly beast before his eyes. It was over five meters tall and three meters wide. It

looked like a boar but had the head of a bull and skin like a rhinoceros. Two sickle like horns extended from the top of its head nearly a meter long. The most frightening thing to Zeke though

were its eyes. Eyes so terrifying they could pierce through to his soul.

It was a c ranked monster, a demon boar. As he stood there petrified in horror, soaked in his own sweat. He couldn't take his eyes of those three blood red eyes that were arranged in the shape of a triangle. As Zeke stood there trembling uncontrollably a fowl stench came out of the creatures mouth and hit his nose making his insides turn Zeke had only one thought whilst face to face

with his untimely demise. ' fuckkkk!! I hate you Karry. Even if I die ill still make sure my ghost will haunt you from the afterlife.' He couldn't help but think to himself 'why did I ever let you

bring me here? Screw riches, fuck treasures….what use is all that shit if I'm dead?'

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Early morning, the sun shone down upon the near barren hillside. This hill was situated on the edge of a small Village in the Leyman empire. The Leyman Empire, built nearly five hundred years ago was constructed after hundreds of pathfinders explored and cleared out the dangers in a large area around the endless forest. This was an operation that took over thirty years to finish and cost not only millions of gold leys but also cost the lives of hundreds of pathfinders. In fact never again since the founding of the empire has such a large operation been undertaken.It was a giant project that took decades to accomplish but eventually the Leyman empire rose up and it has existed ever since. On a corner of the hill was a small crop field. Although the hill was nearly void of any vegetation, in this small crop field various types of grains, fruits and vegetables could be found.

These crops thrived with life serving as a testament to the farmer's great skill with plants and agriculture. In the middle of the field stood a muscular and sweaty youth with short curly

hair, hazel eyes and slightly tan skin. He was around 1.8 meters tall with a fit build. The youthwalked through the fields occasionally stopping to check on some crops, a happy grin plastered to his face every time he did.

After making his rounds he turned towards his small but comfortable house and made his way over. As he was about to enter his house he heard a piercing voice in the distance. "Zeke!

Zeeekkkeee!! Wait up". Zeke paused and looked towards the direction of the voice. After a while a figure could be seen coming over the hill. She was thin, and had short golden hair that stopped at her ears.

Her eyes were a deep blue color and she had fair skin. she ran closer and closer until she stopped in front of Zeke with a giant grin of satisfaction. Even without speaking Zeke could tell from her

expression what she was clearly thinking 'I'm truly amazing aren't I hahahahaha.'

Zeke rolled his eyes and knowingly took her bait asking. "ohh Karry, what has you so happy this early?" Karry's grin miraculously got even wider as she reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a round button the size of a small fist. The button seemed to be made of bronze or copper. It was engraved with a picture of a forest in the center. On the left side of the forest lay a barren desert and on the right side was a milky white sea.

Behind the forest stood an all-black mountain that resembled a piece of obsidian that was so incomparably tall it seemed to hold up the sky. Right on top of the forest was a small letter f.

Karry suddenly spoke. "it's pretty awesome right"? she said fishing for approval.

Zeke starred at the button confused. "uhh, sure I guess. What is it". Karry suddenly lost her bright smile. "are you.., really? It's the insignia of the Pathfinders. This is the proof that I finally

became a Pathfinder" "whaaatt? A pathfinder hahaha you finally succeeded? I guess all those years of failure finally paid off?" Zeke said mockingly.

"humph, let me tell you, with this a new door has opened up for me. I'll finally be able to explore the desolate lands, the door leading to riches, treasures and power has finally come my way. It's

amazing, right?"

Zeke let out a sigh and responded "congratulations Karry, you can finally begin your life as an adventurer." "ahahaha yes yes, the road to glory awaits." She looked at Zeke and said. "don't

worry Zeke you can come with me. We shall embark on the road to riches and fame together."Zeke promptly shook his head. " uhh no thank you, I'm happy with my life as it is. Bedsides I'm

not a pathfinder how can I go to such deadly places?"

"Zeke…you live on a barren piece of land all alone, how can you be happy? Look with this insignia I can take you on my adventures. Think about it, wealth, fame, glory, treasures, it can all be

yours. I've just got to register you as my helper and the rest is history" karry looked expectantly at Zeke.

"come on Zeke, it's always been just us two against the world. Whether it was surviving in the slums or escaping danger we always did it together. You're not going to let me do this,

alone are you? Plus I promise I'll definitely protect you so you don't have to worry about the dangers." she stares pleadingly at Zeke " pleeease"

Zeke does his best to stay strong but after a brief period of consideration he looks into Karry's eyes and he finally gives in. "You're so annoying" he mumbles "fine, I'll go with you but only after the harvest period in a few months, I can't leave my babies until then."

Karry exciterdly yells " yayyyy, that's fine I still have a lot of stuff to purchase before we can go. We'll need a storage sack, some weapons, The monster index and other necessities I have to earn a few more gold leys before i can buy them." After expressing her happiness Karry looked to the skies and yelled "look out world, the greatest adventuring team in history has just been made. Riches, treasures, fame, here we come!"Zeke thought for a moment then asked, "by the way, where exactly will we be heading?"

"ah, I forgot to tell you. Once you register to be a pathfinder there are four sectors you can choose from" she pointed to the forest on the badge "you can choose to explore the endless

forest, the scorched plains, the nether mountain, or the jade sea. Each area has their own respective dangers but they also have different treasures and different reasons that make them

attractive to pathfinders" she paused for a moment, as if waiting for him to digest all the information before she continued. "the f above the forest means that I'm an f ranked pathfinder

belonging to the endless forest faction."

Zeke took in the information then asked "wait, f ranked?"

" uhuh" Karry patiently explained like a teacher to her student " there are ranks assigned to each pathfinder which essentially summarizes their strength, abilities and achievements. It also helps

in the distribution of missions so a weak pathfinder isn't given a task that's basically impossible for them to complete. The monsters and certain areas are also classified according to this rank.

The ranks range from f, which is the weakest all the way to SS which is the strongest.Zeke chuckled as he heard this "so essentially you're at the bottom of the ladder?"

Karry proudly retorted as if she wasn't affected by his mocking laugh. "for now, yes, but by exploring new areas and discovering new species of plants and monsters I can increase my ranking."

"ok you braggart I get it now, so we'll be heading to the endless forest, right? Is it dangerous?"

"of course," she immediately responded "but compared to the milky sea which has thousands of different types of monsters, the impossible to ascend nether mountain and the nearly uninhabitable scorched plains it's mildly less dangerous"

Zeke released a depressing sigh "I see, well that being the case I changed my mind, I'm not going"

"come on zeke pleaseeeeeee"

Zeke tried to resist but after a few moments of looking at that childlike face he couldn't help but give in. "fine but if I die just know that my ghost will haunt you for all eternity"

" yaaaayyyy" she excitedly screamed. The duo made their way over to Zeke's house and continued their conversation on the way.

And that was how the greatest pathfinder team in history began their journey, though neither of them realized the impact they would have on the world in the days to come.

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Zeke stared at the ferocious beast in front of him. He noticed the cuts on its body and blood dripping from its wounds. It was obvious the demon boar had just been in a fight prior to their meeting. As he was panicking and lost in thought he finally heard Karry's voice.

" Zeke!..Zeke! don't just stand there,..run!" Zeke finally managed to snap back to reality. He was about to turn and run when the demon boar bent its mighty limbs and leaped at him with an

open mouth fully exposing its numerous lengthy and shark like teeth. Zeke quickly rolled to the side. He reached for his waist and pulled his sword out of its scabbard. Karry watched in horror as the demon boar lunged at Zeke.

She quickly grabbed her spear and madly rushed at the demon boar while yelling "ahhhhhh" she thrust it towards one of the demon boars eyes. It turned its head to the side and used one of its horns to parry the spear knocking it to the side. "tink" the sound of metal colliding resounded through the forest as the spear flew out her hands.

The demon boar released a fierce roar and shook its head. Suddenly, series of scorching flames blew out Its nose. Its four hoofs began to glow bright red leaving a fiery imprint everywhere it passed. "shit" Karry realized what was happening "Zeke run, it's about to use its magic." The duo turned and escaped into the distance, they didn't make it very far when they felt an intense heat on their backs. Whoosh, a giant ball of flame quickly rushed towards them. They quickly dove to the side barely avoiding this life stealing flame.

Zeke looked behind them to see the demon boar still chasing. He quickly searched his surroundings for something that could help. After a moment, he spotted a cliff about thirty meters away. He hurriedly informed Karry.

"Karry look, there's a cliff lets run over there. Maybe there's a stream we can jump into." Without a second thought they both got up and resumed fleeing in terror. The more they ran the

closer the demon boar got. "damn it" Karry spat out in frustration"why the hell is a c rankedmonster in an f ranked area? This doesn't make any sense" she reached into her storage sack and pulled out a metal ball.

"this is meant for rank e or lower monsters but hopefully it can slow it down for a bit." She turned around and threw the ball at its legs then continued running without waiting to see the

results.

As the metal ball closed in on the demon boar it suddenly opened up and split into dozens of small metal balls that hit its hoofs. "Boooom!" the sounds of explosions resounded throughout the forest as the balls exploded upon impact. The force from the explosion caused the demon boar that was running to be briefly knocked of balance falling on its side. The demon boar immediately got up again. Although unhurt by the explosion it was clear to see how incensed it currently was. It released a loud roar and continued to chase after the two.

The brief fall of the demon boar provided just enough time for Zeke and Karry to reach the cliff. As they looked over the side of the cliff their hearts quickly sunk. The cliff was about fifty

meters from the ground and below was nothing besides rocks and boulders. They're hope of finding a stream to dive in was immediately diminished.

As they stood there with their only chance of survival now gone dread immediately filled they're hearts. As hopelessness and despair washed over them Karry began sob quietly. "Sniff sniff Zeke, I'm sorry I made you come with me, now we're both going to die just because I wanted to find some treasures" Zeke looked at his friend from childhood as she silently sobbed.

He let out a warm and calming smile "it's ok, you didn't make me come I choose to come on my own. Besides we may not exactly be dying today. If I remember correctly then according to the

monster index the reason such a dangerous savage beast like the demon boar is ranked c and not higher is because it lacks intelligence, right?" as he spoke Zeke looked at the bottom of the cliff then observed the demon boar that was getting closer and closer.

Karry suddenly understood what he meant she let out a smile and said "yes, that's right its actually, really dumb. Could it be you want to trick it?" Zeke gave her a nod then spoke "wait till It gets closer, when I tell you to, quickly jump towards the side." The two firmly agreed on the plan and waited for the demon boar.

Time seemed to slow down as they waited, their hearts were beating faster and faster, getting louder and louder until it seemed like the only sound in the world. Ten meters, eight, five, three

as it passed the three-meter line Zeke immediately yelled "jump" the duo promptly rolled to the sides. Shocked the demon boar tried to stop but its fast speed coupled with its large size and

weight caused it to be unable to reduce its overwhelming momentum.

The demon boar stumbled over its legs as it rolled over the cliff falling head first. Bang!! The sound of a large impact echoed throughout the endless forest as the beast crashed into a huge

bolder, its head immediately shattering it into pieces.

The two stared in amazement at the crippled beast for a moment before Karry immediately reacted "quick, we have to find something to throw at it. We've got to kill it before it recovers." After a few minutes of searching they managed to find large rocks and several stones which they hurled at the demon boar. After nearly an hour of using the demon boar as target practice the once mighty roars of it's turned into desperate whines of mercy and eventually it ceased to make any sounds or movements. "hahahahahah, we did it, we actually managed to kill a rank c monster" karry excitedly spoke.

After escaping the clutches of death, she immediately regained her carefree and cheerful attitude. "We have to hurry down there, the demon boar is a treasure trove. Its horns, Skin, tendons they're

all worth a lot of gold leys. Oh, and it's magic core too. Zeke that's a magic core of a c ranked monster…a c ranked magic core! do you have any idea how much it's worth?" Zeke shook his head as he watched Karry loose herself in her thoughts.

He was sure that her eyes had turned to gold coins as she stared at the dead beast. A magic core is essentially calcified magic power. Certain creatures are able to manipulate the world's energy and use it to attack. When enough of the world's energy is gathered it forms into a solid shape inside the monster. The higher ranked the monster is the more energy is in the core which increases the worth of the core significantly. An f ranked pathfinder getting a c ranked magic core is nothing more than a pipe dream. From this it can be understood why karry was so excited.They searched the forest and managed to find some tough vines. After finding one that was long enough they scaled the cliff and made their way down.