Survival of the fittest

Holden's eyes were bloodshot as he lay in a state of constant state of fear and anxiety,startling anytime he heard any other sound besides the constant pounding of the rain on his face.

His entire body was tensed as he waited an entire night and day before rising from the mud,resembling a monster rising from the dead.

The young man had displayed impossible patience as he remained in the mud and rain while observing the changing skies' rise and fall.He had been observing from the depths of the mud through a small patch of the sky between the dense tree canopy the entire night.

He finally clambered out of the pit of mud carrying his backpack and immediately sprung up the nearest tree he could find.Holden vividly remembered his fathers warnings throughout his childhood about the creatures that resided in the forest,and had immediately looked for a safe hiding place.Holden,sitting in a crook between the high branches finally dug through his backpack.

He immediately spotted a large bag of dried meats,fruits,nuts,and a waterskin filled too the brim.He silently thanked his parents in his head and continued on with his examination.

He then took out the most eye catching thing in the bag,a elegant short sword with the phrase "Live Righteously" engraved on the pommel.It came with a leather scabbard that had a large yellow sun painted on it.

He knew his parents had planned too gift him this sword and for the hundredth time in the past few days,Holden cried out with sobs that racked his small body.The boy had endured this long containing his emotions before he finally couldn't control himself anymore.He lay on the tree too grasping his sword with white knuckles,taking a long time before he steeled his heart,sheathed his sword,and attached the scabbard too his sword belt.

He then continued digging through his bag and found various items for weapon maintenance that his cautious parents had packed in the backpack.And under it all was a massive map depicting hundreds of miles and a rough path from his secluded village too the royal capital of this country.

After evaluating his supplies and repacking everything but his sword,he secured himself in the tree and immediately passed out from emotional,mental,and physical exhaustion.The boy slept like a dead man only waking up the next morning after high noon.

He felt deep fatigue in his mind and heart however his body was ready for the rough path ahead.After a few moments of finding steeling his mind the small child set off through the dark woods maintaining a light jog.

...

Holden was trembling as he put one foot in front of the other.He had been running the entire day and after hours of a torturous journey,he had finally reached his little body's limit and had too retreat into the safety of a tree too rest.He slept through the night reliving the moments of his parents death over and over until he woke up gasping in a cold sweat.

The boy stayed in the tree for a long,long time before gritting his teeth through his pain and continued his journey on foot,albeit slower.He carried on tempering his body,mind,and heart as he carefully traversed the forest and slept in the trees.Until,a few days into his grueling path when his food rations finally depleted and he had too embark on his first hunt.

...

Holden sat patiently and quietly among the forest canopy straining his eyes too spot small prey or atleast a small monster.He was completely alert and his entire body was ready too spring on whichever small animal came his way.Unfortunately for the boy,on his very first hunt he was already sniffed out by a massive black and white bear-like monster that directly looked at Holden in the eyes.

When Holden met the monster's predatory gaze, goose bumps covered his entire body and he slightly trembled.He took a moment to bring back his calm after analyzing the situation and assuring himself that it was impossible for the beast too reach him that high up...

Sadly,Holden massively underestimated the power of nature as the monster stood up on his two back legs,un-sheathed massive steel like claws,and swung its massive arm cleanly through the tree!

The waist thick tree trunk exploded into shrapnel and the tree collapsed bringing the unfortunate boy down with it.Holden,who's mind was already racing managed a clumsy roll and luckily dodged the bears follow up attack.Holden's pupils dilated as he saw the massive claw filled paw swipe centimeters away from his face.

Holden having some light experience from spars with his father and his natural talent,he quickly drew his short sword and dashed backwards and tried too find a way too escape.However the bear,infuriated by his miss let out a earth shaking roar and swiftly and violently leapt on the small boy attempting to fatally wound him.

Holden was frozen in fear by the intimidation of the fearsome roar but luckily his life or death instincts woke him from his stupor and he dived under the bear while it leapt over him.

However his moment of hesitation cost him as the bear managed too land a mighty swipe with enough force that the light boy went flying off until he collided painfully with a tree stump!

Holden felt as though his rib cage had collapsed as he puked blood.Tears welled in the young boy's brilliant eyes as he grit his teeth and slowly stood up searing his lesson into brain.Holden would never again hesitate in fear!Both opponents slowly recovered until the bear took off too his weakened prey determined too finish it off!

Holden glanced at the bear yet strangely there was no fear in his shining eyes as he dragged himself too meet the bear in a life or death collision!Prey and predator collided and immediately Holden was faced with a violent onslaught of swipes and stabs that he barely managed too dodge and parry with his exquisite sword.

A booming sound rang out as sword and claw collided and Holden managed too deflect the bears attack causing it too be unbalanced as its huge momentum carried its mass !however, Holden's shoulder was painfully dislocated as the massive force behind the bears attacks flooded its way down up his arm.

Holden managed too toss his short sword too his other hand and immediately spotted a massive opening in the bear and his shining pupils burned with passion and excitement.

Holden the six year old brutally grasped this opportunity and slashed up through the Massive beasts throat!Even with his extraordinary sword he couldn't all the way through the monsters thick neck and tough hide.

However it was enough, Ink like blood sprayed out of the beast's neck like a fountain while it slowly collapsed in the floor as it moaned painfully.Confusion clouded the beast's eyes as if it couldn't understand how he was killed by his own prey.

The proud beast let out a unwilling cry before a white sparkling mist exploded out of its chest,and a cavity was revealed showing a beautiful and shining black and white crystal ...

Holden let out a victorious roar so loud that it managed too scare of all the birds in a half mile radius!he sank down to his knees simultaneously crying in pain and laughing in triumph.

He triumphantly marched up too the massive beast that he,a six year old slayed!He remembered his father explaining that there were grades of monsters based off their danger level and their Cores.

Cores were extremely valuable as they could be used in weapons forging,crafting,as an energy source,and most importantly for young Holden,they could transfer some of their power and attributes too whoever absorbed the crystal!

The crystal's shape was generally always the same and appeared in a similar fashion too the bear's reveal but it's color depended on the beast that it belonged too.The crystals and beasts were correspondingly ordered from

SSS tier-an earth shaking calamity that could wipe out humanity

All the way down too

F tier- a small monster that might pose a threat to an individual

There was also typically a threshold just below C tier that differentiated between monsters with superior intelligence and a beast/animal monster like the bear Holden just fought. However,naturally there are exceptions to this rule.Arnold had briefly explained some basic workings of the world to his son and Holden managed too recall the information.

Holden rushed too pick up the crystal which he assumed was an E tier crystal based on how terrifyingly strong it was!Holden knew that his success could be attributed too luck and circumstances yet he was still incredibly proud.

After all,Holden was still a six year old even if he had been through a life and death battle!He gently grasped the bear's crystal and closed his eyes,took deep breathes,and he eventually felt a warmth penetrate his hands!

Holden felt as a warm current penetrated his palms and slowly sunk in too his veins.His little body started too violently shake and his golden pupils glowed!He felt the warmth circulate throughout his body and penetrate every fiber in his being!

Holden being a young boy couldn't take the violent energy that wasn't meant for a child too absorb.His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed on the forest floor.

Holden woke up,startled from the changes in his body and immediately felt unfamiliar with the body he was in.He stood up shakily and noticed that he was atleast a few inches taller as he saw the world from a vantage point he had never seen before.He felt his body and noticed he had put on a considerable amount of muscle mass as his originally lean body was corded with muscle!

His originally small six year old body resembled the body of a rather muscular ten year old!He then ran various tests and found out that he was more explosive,obviously stronger,and when he ran his blade over his skin lightly he noticed his skin was tough like leather.

Holden was confused as too why the crystal changed his body so much,he figured it might be due too his young age and his special constitution.Either way he was ecstatic and he then made his way too his kill.

He knew he would have a rough road ahead that would take many months and potentially throughout the winter.And so he skinned the Massive bear with his newfound strength while simultaneously taking out all the edible meat.It was nightfall by the time he had skinned and separated the meat because of the tough hide and the careful cuts he had too take too not ruin the hide...

Holden was huddled by the first fire he made on his journey,risking being caught by predators to dry meat and ran hides.He had set up a makeshift rack too dry meat and amateurishly tanned the thick and tough hide.

He didn't sleep the entire night as he kept his eyes peeled and ears tensed for danger.He stayed at that camp for a few days until both the hide and the meat were fully dried while practicing his swordsmanship and cooking some of the meat too actually eat throughout the day.

Finally his effort paid off and he packed the massive amount of bear meat into a bulging backpack with his fur tied onto it.The now bigger boy took over into the forest swiftly and dexterously.