4. Skill Gathering

"What are you two doing?!"

I look up to see my parents carrying bags of stuff. It seemed to be a lot of canned food and water bottles. I knew they were sorry warts, but I didn't think they were this bad. I throw my stick down, and my brother follows.

I then lay on the couch and let my exhausted body cave into the sofa.

"We are just practicing just in case the world end and dragons come out of the sky."

My parents roll their eyes, telling us to clean up while they start dinner. We both go upstairs to shower. While I was in the shower, I decided to check my stats.

<Name: Silas Freud

Species: Low Human

Level: 1

Job: None>

It was still the same as before, and although I couldn't see my skills, I knew I got some.

<For having enough proficiency, you have gained the (Stab Lvl. 1) skill>

<For having enough proficiency, you have gained the (Slash Lvl.) skill>

<For having enough proficiency, you have leveled up (Stab Lvl. 1) to (Stab Lvl. 2)>

<For having enough proficiency, you have leveled up (Slash Lvl. 1) to (Slash Lvl. 2)>

I heard the woman's voice say both of these things in my head while I was training. That's what happened in Hearthia, so I know this is normal. I never tried using it in case I broke something, so I decided I would try it out tonight on one of our trees.

Exiting the bath, I clean up and go downstairs. Everyone is at the table looking at the TV. I join them to see what's up.

On the TV, there was a top-down view of Earth. It slowly zoomed into the pacific ocean—a vast new mass of land as shown on the screen. However, at a certain point of the camera zooming in, the camera had its connection cut.

"As you all can see, whenever any types of technology try to look into this island, it automatically cuts off no matter how powerful the camera is. This new continent is already giving scientists headaches. Only after 2 hours after the voice call did authorities start going onto the island. It has been 10 hours since then, and soldiers have started to come out of the continent. We can not get any information for now, but soon the mysteries of these new islands will cause the world to stir. Stay tuned to see what happens next."

After the news finished, everyone stared in silence, not just in the Freud household but worldwide.

A place where technology doesn't work. This is insane!

Even Silas was a little surprised at this.

He didn't understand how Hearthia could be so advanced but never used electricity like Earth, but this may be why. But how does this happen?

Silas shook his head before getting out of his thoughts.

"So, what were you two boys doing when we got home?"

His mom looked over at Silas with a quizzical look.

"We were preparing; what would happen if monsters started appearing! We have to be strong enough to protect you guys."

As if Drake had the same thoughts, he rapidly shook his head, agreeing with Silas .

"Oh, whatever, just don't get hurt."

Silas sighed in relief. He knew he was still a teen, so having a little imagination wouldn't hurt. And his parents definitely wouldn't believe him even if he told the truth that monsters might appear from those new pieces of land.

After dinner, his parents made him and his brother sleep.

It seems that they will be watching the news in case something terrible happens.

In Silas's room, he was thinking about what he should do next.

"It's not like I can kill monsters for exp."

After thinking a bit, he figured out what he wanted to do next.

There were a couple of basic skills that every adventurer gets.

(Punch), (Kick), and (Evasion).

Even if you aren't a close fighter, these skills are good in many situations. For instance, just having the (Punch) or (Kick) skill can add more force to a punch you might have to throw out last minute. Evasion is self-explanatory and helps to dodge.

Getting in a stance from back in his training days, Silas threw one punch after another. He only hit the air but slowly got used to the feeling again.

<For having enough proficiency, you have gained the (Punch Lvl. 1) skill>

After seeing that, he squatted down. He then rolled back and forth while imagining fireballs coming at him. It wasn't just moving. He would sometimes jump, dash, and crawl. He did tons of stuff to avoid the imaginary stars in his mind.

Soon his stamina was getting low as he was breathing heavily. But the words he heard seemed to refresh him completely.

<For having enough proficiency, you have gained the (Evasion Lvl. 1) skill>

Now, thinking of the kick skill, it gave him a headache. He would have to kick something for it to be in effect. But he was already yelled at early for making so much noise while trying to get the evasion skill. He would have gotten the skill quicker if it weren't for that.

Silas decided not to try to get it for now as it was already past midnight. He would have plenty of time tomorrow to level up his skills.

Waking up early, Silas found that his parents were downstairs. They were packing up to leave and reminded Silas to stay inside and not do anything dangerous.

Silas watched them walk out as he said bye. His brother was still asleep, so he started on his practice of kicks. Kicks and punches were never his styles too much, but he had enough experience to fight well. He went outside and chose an excellent try to practice on. Since he didn't want to injure his legs, he taped a pillow to the side.

He then started his practice. It was just a mix of kicking high low medium. It wasn't anything too special but enough to get him enough points for the skill.

<For having enough proficiency, you have gained the (Kick Lvl.) skill>

By this time, his brother had finally woken up. He unwrapped the eggs and bacon his parents made that morning and ate it with his brother. They only sat silently at the table. As they were finishing up, the silent TV suddenly had a loud beeping sound before someone started speaking.

"Breaking News! We have just got reports from multiple sources explaining the new mysterious land masses. Take it away, Bret."

The once pretty woman on the screen was changed to a built burly man.

"Thank you, Dana. Today I am with lead scientist Horun as he explains the situation of the countries exploring the new land. Take it away, Dr. Horun."

The camera pans to a skinny old man. His pale white skin shone against the sun. His balding head didn't help with the glare. He grabs the microphone and coughs to clear his throat before speaking.

"Hello, I am Dr. Horun, one of the lead scientists under the American Forces. I want to make some stuff here first. Everything you hear here is true, and do not be surprised. A press conference with the president will be taking place this afternoon, so questions should be given to him."

As Dr. Horun spoke, it was as if nails were rubbing on a chalkboard. No one could bear the uncomfortable and scratchy voice of this doctor. He looked as if he didn't notice as he continued speaking.

"Number one, all technology doesn't work on these new land masses."

This first sentence stunned everyone. Even the camerapeople were shaking a little. Everyone who heard it was in disbelief.

These past two centuries have been all about creating new technology. So when people heard that there was something that could stop the use of technology on a broad scale, it was unbelievable!

Silas was even surprised to see his guesses turn true.

'So, our world might turn into Hearthia. But will this force spread to the whole world?"