9 First Hunt

[Notice: Pain Nullification unlocked.]

[You have exceeded the threshold. You are now Rank G.]

Five uneventful years has passed and I can already walk on my two feet. My hair is covering my whole head, my skin went darker since I was in the sun almost every day for hours and I can walk barefoot without the rocks hurting my feet...as much.

Hyoran is also old enough to stand and run around as well. Her icy hair also grew which it reached below her chin. Hyoran is a wild child for sure, she's running around like she ate a pound of crack. She's jumping on walls, furniture and sometimes ceilings. When we ran to one end of a farm to another which takes 5 minutes to walk on foot, she ran back and forth in 3 minutes without breaking a sweat. I however, managed to reach the end in just over 3 minutes, but I was winded.

"System...Status..." I said, panting from running with Hyoran.

<Name: Kain Void>

<Gender: Male>

<Race: Human(???)>

<Rank: G>

<Skills: Cold Resistance, Heat Resistance, Poison Resistance, Regeneration, Radiation Resistance, Appraisal, Pain Nullification>

"So I moved up a rank. Okay, it's a start. Check Hyoran's."

[Attempting...completed.]

<Name: Hyoran>

<Gender: Female>

<Race: Beastkin-Wolf>

<Rank: E>

<Skills: Cold Nullification, Ice Magic-I, Body Strengthening, Water Magic-I>

"Looks like she ranked up too. But no skills...well, no rush." I thought to myself. I looked up to the bright blue sky, I began to think about so many possibilities of how will I rise to power like I did with Evolutionism. But this time, it ain't gonna take days...it'll take years. I continue to look at the sky to see someone look down below, with its deep blue eyes.

"Hey, are you sleeping?" Hyoran said, leaning over to me.

"No. You're really fast, Hyoran." I said, standing up. Hyoran giggled, hopping around.

"Are you excited? Mama and papa are taking us to hunt!" Hyoran said excitedly. However, he's only gonna show us how it's done. To even try it ourselves, we need to be older than five years old. Ezo said that a year ago.

"Yeah. Is he ready?" I said.

"Come on, let's go!" Hyoran said, hopping about and began running. I jumped up to follow her, but I didn't recover enough of my stamina. I ran, but I was moving much slower than usual.

Meanwhile, Ezo is gathering supplies to hunt down game for food and money. He brought in knives, axes, bows and arrows, and miscellaneous stuff. Hyoran made it first to meet Ezo, skidding to a halt, kicking up dust.

"Papa, are you finished?" Hyoran asked.

"Just about." Ezo replied. He hoisted the supplies in the green sack behind his back. "Where's Kain?"

After he said that question, I clumsily walked towards the spot Hyoran is standing as I was out of breath again. "I'm here..." I said, out of breath.

[Notice. Enhanced Endurance acquired.]

Wow, really? I winded myself twice and got the skill? Well, this will help me in the future.

"You two raced, right?" Ezo said, smirking.

"Yeah, and I won!" Hyoran said happily. Tuya began patting Hyoran's head.

"Remember that Kain is human. If he was a Beastkin like us, he'd won." Tuya said.

"Alright, we're all set. Let's all get going." Ezo said and we ventured out.

We left the gate where Tuya left, but turned to the left into the forest. After a couple of minutes walking we see a gelatinous life form. It's colorless, and has a core inside. A slime.

"A slime...System, check its stats."

[Complete.]

<Name: Colorless Slime >

<Gender: N/A>

<Race: Slime>

<Rank: J>

<Skills: Regeneration>

J rank, the lowest rank possible. Weak enough for any young child to defeat it. Slimes are the weakest race, but excellent potential and numerous evolution paths. When I played as one, it can be easy or an outright nightmare. So, I would get Physical Attack Nullification or Predator to make this an easy path. Seeing it has no such skills, it's easy pickings.

"See that? That's a Colorless Slime. Even though it is weak by itself, it'll overwhelm by sheer numbers." Ezo said.

"Oohh...it looks so squishy." Hyoran said, astonished by this simple mass of colorless jelly.

"All you have to do is to defeat it." Ezo said. Ezo gave Hyoran a wooden club.

"We'll save you when you're in trouble." Tuya said. "Watch closely, Kain for Hyoran will fight the slime."

"Okay." I said, nodding. The reason Hyoran is holding a weapon because some slimes may be poisonous or corrosive. Plus, her claws, though longer than mine aren't long and sharp enough.

Hyoran encountered her first enemy that is a slime and immediately strikes the slime. With one strike...

*SPLOOSH!*

An instant kill. The slime's body was scattered, splattering across the ground and some of it landed on her hand. As she started licking it, she spat out immediately.

"Blech! The slime tastes bitter." Hyoran said, sputtering to get rid of the bitter, rubbery taste. Hyoran ran back to us sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"Were you expecting slimes to be like gummy bears? Fruit snacks?" I thought to myself.

"Slimes were never meant to be like food, Hyoran. Not raw at least." Tuya said, giggling.

"One Strike!? You did great, Hyoran! You have talent!" Ezo said, patting Hyoran's head. Hyoran smiled and began wagging her tail. "Kain, there's another slime, pick a weapon."

Ezo laid out the weapons in front of me. There's a hatchet, a dagger, a club, and a shortsword. I picked a dagger and jumped over the bush to encounter the slime. I looked at the dagger that has a slightly jagged blade with a wooden shaft wrapped in some white cloth.

The reason I picked this was because, I held many knives before my death.

"System, check the dagger." I said and it appeared on top of the dagger.

<Name: Primitive Dagger>

<Type: Dagger>

<Rarity: Common>

<Skills: None>

"Hmm, doesn't even show the attack stat unlike the game. Oh well, gotta start somewhere." I shrugged. No use complaining on how weapons work. I encountered another Colorless slime. "Check its stats."

[Checking...completed.]

<Name: Colorless Slime>

<Gender: N/A>

<Race: Slime>

<Rank: I>

<Skills: Regeneration, Physical Attack Reduction>

I rank with Physical Attack Reduction? Well, this could be a little troublesome since I have no magic, but I'm Rank G. But I noticed something. Is that a crystal? Well, I better defeat it to get a little reward.

The slime turned to me, noticing my presence, perceiving me as a threat. It lunged at me to attack, but I saw this coming a mile away.

I reverse gripped it and slashed the slime. The instant I slashed it, it separated in two and was reduced into a puddle.

Ezo, Tuya, and Hyoran clapped, impressed that I killed the slime in one hit.

[Rank I target slain. 500 EP* acquired.]

"EP? What's that?" I wondered, but I'll leave it at that. I looked at the puddle that was once a slime and picked up a crystal that is the size of a dime, milky white which emitted a faint glow. "A mana crystal."

[Correct. It is a Mana Crystal. Monsters gain crystals by reaching a certain power in rank. Rank I is the minimum to have crystals. The stronger the enemy, the larger the crystal.]

"Good to know." I thought. Even though I already knew this, but a nice refresher.

"That was amazing, Kain and a crystal at that! Both of you were amazing!" Ezo said happily and hugged Hyoran and I simultaneously. "Let's hunt some more slimes so that you two get the hand of this."

We nodded and continued to slay slimes until the sun begun to set and the sky turned orange. After the hunt, we killed plenty of slimes ranking from J to H and gained some crystals. Ezo realized that we should return.

"Alright kids, we're done for the day!" Ezo said, calling for us. We headed back to him to help him pack all the stuff including the Mana Crystals.

"Did you have fun?" Tuya said.

"Uh-huh." Hyoran said, shaking her head up and down. So did I as well...and I meant it. My parents never did this outdoors thing when I was a kid. They were always at work, but did more for my siblings. I'd be lying if I wasn't jealous, but I wanted a sibling deep down, so I tried to be the best big brother. After all the times of being mostly away from parents, it ain't so bad.

Night falls again and me and Hyoran climbed on our beds parallel to each other in our pajamas. I was wearing a white pajama shirt and pants where Hyoran wears a also white single sleeping dress.

"That was fun."

"Yeah..." Hyoran said and began yawning as she is getting sleepy and her eyelids getting heavy. "Goodnight, Kain."

"Goodnight, Hyoran." I said with a smile and she smiled back. She then closes her eyes and sleeps the night away.

I, however stayed awake so that I can get more information for EP and crystals.

"System, what is EP?"

[It stands for Evolution Points. For every enemy you slay, you gain EP. EP can be used for obtaining skills, evolving yourself, and others.]

"Do I need to use EP for ranking up?"

[Yes, but you can also rank up naturally as your body develops. However, the more you rank up, the greater the cost and the longer it takes to naturally rank up.]

"What about evolution?"

[Also costs EP. However, humans cannot evolve naturally.]

I nod, understanding the system's explanation of how this kind of system exclusive to me.

"Check my stats."

<Name: Kain Void>

<Gender: Male>

<Race: Human(???)>

<Rank: G>

<EP: 3500>

<Skills: Cold Resistance, Heat Resistance, Poison Resistance, Regeneration, Radiation Resistance, Appraisal, Pain Nullification, Enhanced Endurance>

"Is it possible to rank up?"

[Calculating...completed.]

"Guess I have to kill some more slimes." I thought to myself. If I keep this up, I'll be able to close the gap between Hyoran and I. With that moment, I finally fell asleep, waiting for the next day.

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