Chapter 5 - Jack's Letter

Ronald was practicing his swordsmanship in the backyard of his uncle's house. But he can't concentrate cause he kept feeling that something bad would happen today.

Time passed slowly until the moon had already risen on the horizon.

Ronald felt very worried about his uncle. It wasn't an abnormal thing for his uncle to stay in the forest for days, but his uncle had said to him that he would come home and have lunch with him, but it was already night, and he was still not back.

As Ronald was sitting near a window, he suddenly saw a black raven. Although it was still far away and only a black dot can be seen in the sky, he has a feeling that it is a raven, and that it was coming to him. It was a really weird experience for him. It was as if the black dot was shouting to him saying, "I AM A BLACK RAVEN AND I AM COMING TO YOU!"

But although Ronald felt weird and curious, he didn't delve deeper on those feelings, as he felt a strange increasing bad feeling as the black spot came closer and closer.

A moment later, a 1.5 feet tall black raven really came to him and dropped a black book in the table near the window, and it then landed on the frame of the window.

The raven looked curiously at him before making a sound.

"Arck Arck Arck..."(Raven's cry)

Ronald didn't know why, but he seems to understand what the bird was saying, it was asking for its payments.

Ronald forgot his worries for a moment because he was curious about this black bird, so he used his skill <Beast Appraisal> on it.

---

Shadow Raven (Sally the Messenger Raven)

Lvl: 3

Hp: 14560/14560

Mp: 11260/16320

---

Ronald was shocked seeing that this raven was a level 3 beast, but suddenly the raven made a sound.

"Arck... Arck..." (Raven's cry)

The raven was asking for him to pay quickly, as it became annoyed at Ronald, who was looking at her with an open mouth.

This action of his caused the raven to think that Ronald was thinking of eating him.

'Hmmph... You're too weak, I can even beat you by just flapping my wings so hard and blew you away, leaving you in a life and death situation. Maybe.., I should just blast this boy away. This boy is so hateful, delaying my eating time with my precious.' thought the raven.

After thinking for a little bit, the raven came into a conclusion.

'No, I can't...If I blast him off and accidentally kill him, I wouldn't receive my pay. And if I don't receive my pay, I couldn't afford to buy my favorite food, my precious... NOOOO... If I can't eat those soft, creamy, and super-duper delicious little things, then I would regret what I have done... Then, I will die without eating my precious... NOOOOOOO...'

Although the raven was screaming in her mind, her expression didn't express any of it. It stayed looking calm on the outside without any waves appearing on its expression.

Although Ronald understood what the raven wanted, he doesn't know what to give as payment to it. So Ronald was confused and started thinking hard on what to pay, money or food?

Seeing Ronald's confused expression, the raven cried again.

And when Ronald looked at it, the raven was pointing at the book on the table with its beak.

Following the raven's suggestion, Ronald grabbed the book, but when he touched the book, the bad feeling he felt a while ago came back again.

Nervously opening the book slowly, what Ronald saw first was a letter, Ronald started reading the letter and started crying. The letter was a letter from Jack.

----

First of all, Ronald, I am sorry, I haven't gone back home for lunch. You see... Uncle has some things to do.

I wish I could say that I will not do it next time, but I guess I couldn't now.

In any case, don't worry about me. Although I don't want to leave you early, as I wanted to see you personally standing at the top, sadly, I can't do anything about it now. You see things happened, so be it.

Even if I die, I hope you will still continue to move forward. No matter what kind of hardship you encounter while climbing the mountain of trials, don't give up and just continue climbing forward.

Always remember that although I am not there anymore, I am still there inside your heart, watching your progress and supporting your every move.

---

Ronald's eyes were already full of tears reading until here.

It was some time before Ronald calmed himself down before he continued reading.

The raven watched Ronald with an annoyed expression, but it still patiently waited for him to finish what he is doing.

----

Anyways, enough of the chitchat. Before I end this letter, I need to inform you of some things. And you must always remember them.

- If you want to see your mother, you must first become stronger, much stronger than me, at least reach level 8 before you think of finding her.

- Don't let anyone find about your family name until you are not strong enough. I have left you a skill book for you called <Basic Information Disguise>. To use that skill book, just put that book near your heart, and let the book do the rest. Also, if you use the book, ensure that you have a free skill slot, or the book would just be wasted.

- Do not use your bloodline form in public. You may say that you don't have a bloodline form, but I know that someday you will awaken it. I BELIEVE that you will awaken it.

- Be careful of anyone who had a red moon with a tree on its center as their insignia. Although they don't know any information about you, just to be careful, stay away from them.

- Lastly, after you leave the village, find a person named Edgar Bluespear and tell him that I am your uncle and show him the black badge with a red dagger on it. He will help you.

Oh, by the way, before I forget, there is a small wooden door under my bed, which is the opening of a small compartment. All the things you need are inside there. Also, don't forget to give the black raven 20 of those black coins that have a mansion carved on it.

And oh, I nearly forgot. After I died, a powerful skill will be released, affecting all the villagers, except Hannah, by the way, Hannah is not her real name, and although she looks like someone who is in her 20s, she is already about six times my age. It is on you to find her real name and age, this will be my final test to you. Good luck, kid... Haha... Oh, I have gone off-topic, where were we again? Oh! I was talking about the powerful skill. So, let's continue... It will erase all their memories about our interactions and you being someone I knew.

And if you are curious about how and when I wrote this, there is an organization called shadow messenger. If you want to know the details, search it for yourself, I have no more space to write it here... (*sigh)

That's all... Good luck, kid... I'll be watching you...

Your uncle, Jack

---

Ronald had finally calmed down after he finished reading the letter due to how his uncle arranged his message. But, although he has calmed down, he still felt sad. He knew that death in this world is as natural as breathing. You can die at any day, any hour, any minute, or in any second. That is why he always remember what his mother said to him when he was still a little kid.

"We don't know about tomorrow, but we know that we are still living today. So, Ronald, always remember. Always make your day worth it, so that when the time comes, you will not regret that you did nothing."

His mother's words and his uncle Jack's words woke him up from his sadness. Although he knew that his uncle wouldn't come back anymore and that he wouldn't see him again, he doesn't want his uncle's sacrifice to be in vain.

Although his uncle didn't tell him in what way he died, or who or what killed him. He has a presumption that it was somewhat related to the people he told him to stay away from.

So, he promised himself that he would become stronger.

While Ronald was on his own world, steeling his resolves, a loud cry dragged him out of his thoughts.

"Arck... Arck... Arck..."

The raven cried loudly with a very annoyed expression on its face.

"Oh, I forgot. Sorry, I'll immediately get your payment," Ronald said as he hurriedly went to his uncle's room.