Monster hunting

Roan then exited the village to collect leather. As such, he needed to kill monsters. If lucky enough, he might collect stat crystals from the boss monsters. Mob monsters didn't have them as their mana core has yet to be formed.

And so he went to the forest of trials. The place where monsters were in abundance. Lucky enough if he would survive. He was just entering the forest and he was soon struck with dread. Monsters already howled in the surroundings. The hair on his skin all went up.

It was then, howls in the surroundings were getting closer and closer. Alas, the monsters appeared and he was immediately surrounded.

"Demon wolves! I sure ain't a lucky one. Your leather is mine!"

He grabbed one demon fox on the neck and twisted it clockwise. Others shrieked and leaped when their fallen comrade died but they immediately growled. They pounced on him with their mouths opened wide.

According to Roan's memories, Demon wolves were huge and a great threat to a kid even armed with a weapon. A bite can be very devastating for one unarmored. But they have a weakness and that will be something that Troan will exploit. Roan stopped the mouth fangs bearing him off with his two hands and twisting their necks. Leaping behind them and twisting their necks hundred eighty degrees clockwise. Doing it without any hint of hesitation. Not need much muscle in doing it. Even a famished teenager can do it.

Roan then saw a bigger wolf that entered the battle. It was menacing in its growl and saliva was dropping. Fangs were longer than normal. White in its fur and its eyes were red compared to the mobs. It was none other than a boss!

It then dashed to Roan and then opened its mouth wide. With weapons drawn and in a reverse grip, Roan immediately leaped to the side to evade and then slashed its jaws apart with his short sword.

Swish!

The flesh was cut and then the wolf whimpered.

Roan then saw it attacked again but this time, Roan went to approach it without fear. He slashed with his sword and the wolf bit the blades. Making Roan smirk.

"A chance!"

Roan then leaped on the back and stabbed its skull several times. The wolf whimpered with every stab. Ending its life in the process.

"That was fast," Roan muttered.

Others fled with their tails behind their legs and only their wails were heard echoing in the forest.

It was then, that sparkles of lights entered his body and he watched them with eyes opened wide. Also, a crystal that was floating emerging from the body was seen approaching him. He grabbed it while smiling and then moved on to the next problem. He broke the crystal and his body absorbed it. It was none other than a Stat crystal.

Demon wolves' stat crystal gives +1 to Dexterity and every monster gives different types of crystals as a reward. Others gave Skill crystal, others Stat crystal. The other type was Health crystal, Stamina, and Mana crystal. Others were their regeneration varieties like Health, Stamina, and Mana regeneration crystal. The last one was Essence crystal.

They gave additional boosts to the ones who consumed them. Making Roan smile as he broke the crystal that he had looted. Summing it all up, he did receive +1 to Dexterity on just a whim. To extinguish his short-lived happiness, he wanted to solve his problems first.

As he scanned the surroundings, he indeed was in the middle of the wilderness. But anyways, it was not important. As he sheathed the swords to his scabbard, it sounded as if he put it inside.

Now the looting starts. He skinned the wolves that he killed and gathered 13 wolf skins. Making his backpack nearly full. He has to process it at the tannery to make it into the leather that could be made into leather armor.

After watching the reflection on the bloody knife, he saw his thin cheeks and his wrinkled eye bags. Round face and a ponytail of spiky auburn hair on his back. Hazelnut eyes and reddened lips. While his lips were dry and had a thin build. He only has tattered clothes and a robe for slight protection from the rain.

Roan then watched the sky and can only see the moon and the stars. He knew deep inside that they were there but the sun was not appearing anymore. Looking at his current situation, he was exhausted and hungry at the same time. He slammed his butt on the leaves and analyzed his situation first.

"I need shelter and food with water. A safe place inside the forest of trials is close to nothing. And water and food are also so scarce that you will be left dead in just a week. Especially all those running around from all those beasts chasing you all the time."

He first rested and sat on the rock near a tree. As he watched the rocks, a bright idea kicked in and somehow solved his food source. He pushed the rock and saw many creepy crawlies living under it. Eating his ass off after selecting only the ones that were edible and then went to find some mushrooms.

Sneaking inside the forest, he felt like he would live if he did not meet more monsters along the way. He saw a small brook several meters from where he was standing. Looking at himself on how lucky he was.

He then crouched and bent his knees while watching for potential stalkers and whatnot. He took a handful of water and tested if it was drinkable or not. To his surprise, it was sweet. Especially due to how dry his throat was.

Now his problem was his shelter.

"The top of the trees is not as safe as it seems. Most monsters can catch you off guard while sleeping as they can climb the trees effortlessly.

"Only the demon wolves and demon foxes can't climb. As for the demon tigers and the rest strutting monsters in the forest of the trial, they were able to do what they want with you especially when you were asleep. Sounds cute but it ain't funny." Troan scoffed.

"Don't mind gargoyles, they can fly and stalkers can climb trees with their curved claws built for rending flesh. Don't mind climbing trees, they were adept at it. The monster bestiary sure is helpful.

"Now another problem is my smell."

He went to the brook and then put mud all over his body. Especially the smelly parts of his body. That way, he was able to smell mud. It makes sense after all.

"The shelter was still a problem, hiding from monsters without smell is still hard if I thought of it. Covering myself with leaves won't help if I move for an inch when a monster is currently present."

And so devised a brilliant plan, his memory was pretty sharp despite forgetting some important memories. Luckily his survival instinct was with him all the time.

Wandering around the monster-infested forest. Sneaking with his knife drawn. He found a foxhole in one of the trees. To his surprise, it was not inhabited by any creature. Just as his excitement gets before him, he heard howls of wolves nearby. His hair went up for a moment.

As hasty as he was, he dug the hole with his knife for a bigger entrance and then entered it. Covering the entrance with his robe. It was then, that he calmed himself. His heart was pumping as the wolves scurried on the nearby leaves.

Crackles were getting nearer and nearer. Others might find his location but he will face his fate with all he got. His retreat was also impossible with no emergency exits currently. But it all became silent and the deafening silence was what responded.

'Luckily, they went away for now.'

The inside was cold and dark, luckily he was able to adjust his vision into the darkness. Making him more time to rest and stretch his stiff aching body.

His days went by without more problems, just a couple of stalkers roaming around the forest while he hides most of the time inside the roots of outgrown trees. Just lucky enough to dig them up before they showed up. They looked like gargoyles without their wings and were on their fours.

"This bunch of monsters is a nasty one when they stop stalking. They will surely aim for the kill. Mysterious freaks."

Roan then jolted after he didn't know he fell asleep for a while. Waking up with back pain as he was curling inside the tree root. He went outside and then stretched his back. Another day passed like he didn't know.

Minding how many days have passed, it was almost a week. He didn't know time passed that fast. The howling of monsters still felt spine-chilling every moment he heard them.

"Never getting old."

He then knew that it was time to return. Though he didn't want to do it as he was hated there, still it was better there than to survive in this forsaken place, he wondered.

'I am in the forest of trials. This village is on the edge of human civilizations, making it a frontal cannon fodder for the monsters. Also, the monsters here are densely packed and variations are more than your fingers to count. Seems a good place to hunt crystals and get stronger.'