VI

"Grain!"

"Come on now, go ahead and get in here!" a plump middle-aged woman, bellowed. "It's time for supper!"

A pale skinned boy could be seen emerging from the surrounding tree-line. His black hair, long and unkempt. He was only a little over a meter tall, but he was rather skinny. Due to his slim physique, a slight tone could be seen along his body. For someone his age he was definitely in good shape. His strong shoulders and long legs, showed his potential.

This boy was Dylan. 

He answered to the calling of his new name. 

Grain.

He was now eight years old and had grown accustomed to his new designation.

-SYSTEM DATA-

Name: Dylan/Grain 

Age: 8 years and 3 months (post-Gate)

Race: Human/???

Level: 1

Strength: 6

Agility: 7

Intelligence: 10

Dexterity: 5

Faith: 0

EXP: 25/100

Dylan had learned to operate the system after only a few months.

As a baby he obviously couldn't do much, so he opted to use the first couple years to understand the innate ability awarded to Gears. After trying for months he managed to activate the system for the first time.

Apparently he had to imagine the values appearing over his actual surroundings. This was similar to a HUD from most RPGs. He was thankful the system was 'dummy-proof' and only required a bit of thought. He only had to think of the information and the system would display it in front of him.

He could also choose to have the system respond vocally.

However he didn't do this often, because the voice was very robot-like, and it usually made him feel uneasy. Like he had heard the voice somewhere before.

The system also gave him the ability to map out anywhere he went. So naturally, he had a map of the entire property surrounding the barn.

Dylan had spent these last eight years, being raised up by several women that run an orphanage. There was a guy that supposedly owned it and the surrounding area, but Dylan had seldom came in to contact with him. He had heard rumors amongst the other children that once they became ten, they would go and help the man on his farm. 

His name was Jerald.

Dylan wasn't worried because he planned to leave by then.

He knew that once he turned ten the blessing would be unlocked and he actually could defend himself.

The system couldn't show him any data on the blessing but it showed that he had it.

-SYSETM DATA-

(Blessing)

Category: Majestic

Name: Valor

Skill: ???

Skill: ???

Skill: ???

Passive: ???

Passive: ???

Description: ???

Dylan couldn't wait to be able to finally leave this place and grow his power.

Life hadn't been perfect at the orphanage.

He only was guaranteed a meal a day, and even then, the food he received wasn't that nourishing. 

The orphanage was a result of the neighboring town losing many parents to the wars of the surrounding kingdoms. Jerald owned a farm that was sanctioned by the Kingdom of Crane. The kingdom was constantly at war over territories and often the citizens would be drafted to fight. 

Jerald was exempt because, he supplied a large amount of food for the kingdom.

He wanted to also dodge the large tax implemented by the kingdom, so he opened the orphanage for the surrounding towns and villages. The kingdom only audits Jerald's farm once every ten years. 

Once a child reaches ten years old, they can be scouted to join the army. Most would go into training for armed services or as support such as, cleaning, cooking, and first-aid.

These children would be paid with housing and education from the kingdom.

Jerald would often hire the boys and marry off the girls of the orphanage once they became of age. This would allow him to essentially, make them slaves. The kingdom allowed it due to the production rate of Jerald's farm.

Dylan was told all this by the women and children at the orphanage. Ever since finding out this information he had decided to lay-low and try to escape before his tenth birthday. He had no attachment to these people, so he usually would be out in the forest, practicing making fires, and shelters. He knew that once he left, he wouldn't be able to rely on others for residence.

Eight years had been long enough for his new personality to really set in. 

No longer, did he allow others to push him around, or take advantage of him. He had actually become a recluse. He chose to sleep outside and never be around others. The trauma from his time with the Gods hadn't went away and it bled through his eyes and demeanor.

No longer, was he the naïve young man from Earth, now he was a serious, determined eight year old. 

With ambitions of becoming a God.

Early on the women taking care of him and the children of the orphanage, noticed his dead gaze and reserved personality. 

When he was an infant many times the women would be concerned because he wouldn't make any noise. 

He would just stare into nothing with this concentrated look in his eyes. They all deemed him 'special' and just made sure he was clean and fed.

Dylan was originally meant to do chores, but he would just hide in the forest for days until someone else had to do them. They basically allowed him to come and go as he pleased. They never shied away from feeding or washing him when he showed up though.

-

Dylan arrived at the entrance of the barn and patiently waited to the side of a long line of children.

He always stood off to the side, because he knew that there would always be a plate saved. His favorite amongst his caretakers was a woman named Gertrude.

Gertrude was a woman in her early fifties. She had greying blonde hair, and a smile that could warm you in a blizzard. Her arms were small compared to her strength. One could say she looked feeble, but she was the foundation of the orphanage.

If not for her they wouldn't be able to feed the children the once a day that they did.

She would work at the farm and spend all her earning on the children. They all knew it took a toll on her but she never let it show.

After everyone had received their food, Dylan went inside towards the large table they were serving from.

"Grain!" Gertrude sang. "Look who finally decided to show up."

She used to call for him everyday but eventually it fell to the other women because she had to many duties to wait to see if he showed.

Gertrude loved the boy with all her heart, but she knew he was different. She often looked out for him when he was persecuted for being a loner. The other children would bully him, and until recently the other caretakers practically ignored him.

Why try and cater to am ungrateful child?

Dylan wasn't ungrateful, he just had such determination that he often ignored pleasantries. 

Very similar to his previous behavior, but instead of hiding from the world. He just pushed it to the side.

He knew this world was just a stepping stone for him to become more powerful.

Powerful enough, where no one could hurt him, ever again.

Dylan accepted the food from Gertrude with a slight smile and turned to leave.

He scarfed down the entire plate of, boiled potatoes and cabbage, before handing the plate to another of the women.

He ate mostly meat out in the forest and wouldn't turn down some vegetables to help his diet. He knew he needed a wide variety of foods to grow correctly. Unlike other children he was completely focused on maximizing his growth.

A sure sign of that is his Intelligence stat. 

After realizing that he need to let his body naturally develop, in order to increase his physical stats, he began to focus on acquiring knowledge.

He often stole any books he found, or eaves-dropped on adults having conversations around the orphanage or farm. From doing so he learned to read and write, which was unheard of for kids his age. Granted he had over 2 decades of experience reading and writing in his past life. If any of the adults knew, they would immediately sell him to the kingdom as a promising genius! 

He also learned a lot about the way of the economy and the surrounding kingdoms.

Apparently there was no official currency and most things where just bartered for, with other items.

Gold and gems still had value, but were similar to other materials and only sought out for accommodations or tools.

Also the Kingdom of Crane was the aggressor in this war, and the other countries were just defending from its invasion. So, trades between other kingdoms and races were common, just a little less common here.

After around five years of reading and gathering knowledge he manage to max out his Intelligence for his level. 

He also learned of the different threats in the world. 

Obviously, there was the fighting between humans, but even greater enemies lie farther away.

There were entire regions owned by powerful beasts.

There were unexplored mountain ranges, and giant sea monsters.

There was even a continent that was solely for demons!

Dylan had only heard of these demons but he was sure they were real.

Why? 

He had seen another race of people.

Elves!

The Elf that he had seen was a trader. He was initially shunned by the people of Jerald's farm, but after a short meeting, he was allowed to bring his wares once a year.

He had also already seen beasts.

Beasts ranged from large wolves to ferocious dragons. The higher the level of the beast the more sentient it was. There is also beasts that are humanoid. These being goblins, gnomes, kobolds, etc.

Humans also have sub-species in this world. Ranging from merfolk and dwarves. To orcs and beast-kin.

It was basically a fantasy novel. 

All these races were at war with the beasts and demons.

All while, the humans fought amongst themselves.

Elves and dwarves were generally friendly, and get along with humans. However, the orcs and beast-kin are usually treated as slaves or mercenaries. 

These five groups would fight when it came to resources or territory, but usually they stayed in their own borders and managed trade.

There was already plenty of in-fighting and defending from the beasts, not to mention the demons made war with everyone constantly, so life was hard for most. If the other races banded together they could wipe them out, but there are too many differences.

-

After he eating, Dylan set back out to the forest. For almost three years he had been living in a hole covered by a roof made of stone, branches and rope.

If one looked from a few meters or more away they would only see a bush, but upon closer inspection a make shift shelter could be seen, in the dense brush. 

He chose to remain here when he decided a hole with a make-shift roof, is the best temporary shelter. 

Over the course of his stay in the forest he practiced many different survival techniques he had seen in movies and TV. After much trial and error he had created methods that worked for him. He would sometimes spend up to two weeks in the forest before returning. The longest he had gone was 15 days. At that point he had exhausted the surrounding area of rabbits, squirrels and small birds, and didn't feel confident hunting anything bigger.

Dylan created a sling out of loose rope from the barn and used it to hunt.

It took him years to get it down, but now he was confident in taking down smaller animals. He also had acquired a lot of experience in skinning and preparing most small game. Hunting came easier than he thought it would. must be that natural instinct.

After arriving at his accommodations, he began to go over his stats.

-SYSTEM DATA-

EXP: 25/100

This bugged him.

He had killed hundreds of small animals at this point, but his experience never rose. 

The one time he had seen and increase was when he stumbled across this injured elk in the forest.

It was massive!

Easily over three meters tall. Its antlers were humongous and gave off this warm feeling. 

He found it in a small clearing with a large wound on its side. Breathing heavily and obviously scared, it initially tried to scare him off.

He just calmly approached it.

Eventually it relaxed and allowed Dylan to be near it. He reached forward and began to pet it.

The elk allowed the comforting gesture and welcomed Dylan's company.

As he watched the majestic beast he could almost see its life force leaving it. After a while, the elk turned towards him. It grunted and motioned towards him with its nose. Then in a violent jerking motion, it snapped off the upper piece of its right antler.

Afterwards it picked up the piece in its mouth and dropped it in front of Dylan. 

He picked it up and was shocked.

-SYSTEM DATA-

(Blessing)

Category: minor

Name: Elk Lord

Skill: ???

Passive: ???

Description: A piece of antler from the protector of the forest. Said to bring courage and growth.

With the notification appearing in his view, the elk antler turned into particles, before entering his body and merging with his soulflame.

-SYSTEM DATA-

(Host receives 25% of max experience for acquiring a new blessing)

-

That had been well over a year ago. Since then he had tried his best to gain more EXP.

It was now dusk and Dylan decided to do one last perimeter check, before going to sleep.

He wanted to form the habit for his eventual escape.

After he emerged, a scent caught his attention.

Smoke.

It was smoke!

He immediately ran towards the barn.

As the orphanage came into view, pillars of black smoke, being kissed by bright orange flames, could be seen. Cries of pain and pleading could be heard over the sound of metal clashing and fleshing being ripped. 

Hundreds of dark-skinned men with the face of a hog, were having their way with the entire place! Children were being taken, the women raped and the men were slaughtered.

The orcs ransacked the entire farm, as if looking for something, or someone.

He wasn't sure what was going on, but as soon as the scene came in to view, Dylan changed direction and headed for the property line.

Apparently he was going to need to move a few things up the schedule. 

Looks like Jerald' farm, is taking part in the war after all!