After arriving at the village, the group separated. Gabriel, Jonas, Luca, and Michelle went to the main hall to heal Luca. On the other hand, Bryn went to a well near his tent to clean up. He became a mess during the comings and goings of the hunt and the clearing.

Getting a bucket filled with water, he sat on a piece of wood and rubbed a cloth on his hooves and legs. The fabric became dark red and brown after a few passes on each leg. His hooves still had dry blood stains to remove, but his hazelnut fur started to show again.

After cleaning up, he went to the agreed-upon Mr. Lysander’s bar. Upon arrival, he saw a few familiar faces from the morning training session. The realization that everything happened on the same day made him startle as he entered.

“Are you okay, young man?” asked Lysander.

“Mr. Lysander! I’m fine, thank you. How are you?”

“Everything is normal. I heard you went hunting today. How was it?”

“I did…” Said Bryn with a slight tilt of his head down.

“First time?”

“There was so much blood…” Said Bryn frankly, his eyebrows raised.

“Sit here. Gabriel told me to take care of you.” Lysander said, pulling a chair from a table close to the counter.

“Thank you.” said Bryn, sitting down.

The man brought Bryn a cup of milk and sat beside him. From up close, Bryn could confirm the man was a veteran. His age was noticeable compared with the other adults he knew, and the scars also gave away his battle experience. But in this world, there could be hunters with those characteristics, even adventurers. What set Lysander apart was his eyes. The distant look, straight posture, and sad expression were classical characteristics of those who had seen the worst the world had to offer.

Bryn accepted the gesture, bringing the cup close to his mouth and blowing out the steam before drinking. His hands and body felt the heat warming him inside and out. That tiny cup was enough for him to remember the embrace of his mothers. A tear ran down his face as he looked at the empty cup without realizing it. Lysander waited next to him in silence until Gabriel entered the restaurant with Michelle and Jonas by his sides.

“Hey, Bryn, we are here!” exclaimed Michelle as she entered the bar and ran towards his table.

Bryn looked back at the door as Lysander got up from his seat and walked back to the counter. “Gabriel,” said the man.

“Lysander, thank you for your help.” Gabriel answered.

“Old man, please give me the usual…” said Jonas.

Lysander answered him with a glance. “I see you still lack your manners…”

“What are you talking about? I’m refined. Now steak me.”

“What are you having?” asked Lysander, looking at the kids.

“I want Mystic Boar!” said Michelle, no doubt in her mind. “We don’t have that, but I can do some wild boar.” he countered.

“Fine...” she snorted, crossing her arms over the table and laying her head down.

“I’ll have the same, thank you.” Said Bryn.

“Bring me the same as Jonas’s.” Said Gabriel.

“Is Luca going to be alright?” Bryn felt a bit awkward to ask but did it anyway.

“Big Bro is fine. He just needs to rest.”

“He was as reckless as Gabriel when we were kids… He got injured by a baby Ice Leopard. I thought we taught him better…” Said Jonas.

“Our healer was able to patch him up. Nothing food and rest for a few days can’t fix.” said Gabriel.

“I’m happy to hear that!” said Bryn. Gabriel’s words removed a weight from his mind.

“I see you got two levels before everything happened… How are you feeling?” asked Gabriel.

“Amazing! I still need to test a few things about this status's difference… Any suggestions?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“You invested on Str, Agi and Dex, I see. It's a good choice for the initial levels. I feel you must create a solid footing before finding your path.” Said Gabriel while holding his chin.

He seems open. I’ll get more info to improve the plan. “Mr. Gabriel, I understand the status, but what are they most relevant for?” Asked Bryn.

“By the heavens, you have a good mind for training but no information!” Said Jonas as he put his feet over the table and rocked his chair back. “Everything is almost obvious, but here it goes… As it suggests, STR makes you stronger but indirectly affects explosive power and stamina. Int will allow you to increase your mind’s capabilities, directly correlating with the number of skills you can learn and how powerful your magic will be. Dex will help you fully comprehend your body, increasing precision on every task. Agi will allow you to increase the speed at which you can function. Vit will give you different strength; you’ll become more durable, less sick, and wounds will heal faster.” Jonas put his feet down and approached Bryn’s ear. “Some say Vit will make you live forever and be full of virility…” he whispered.

Bryn was not expecting the change of pace on the explanation and jolted back, almost falling from his chair.

“Hahahah, got you.” Said Jonas before continuing. “Lastly, Luk. People will have different explanations about this one. Some say it’ll help you find treasures. Others say it enables you to deal more damage on your attacks… I’ve only seen three people with a very high Luk status, and they didn’t say much…”

“Uncle Jonas, father told me dex is important to use magic as well…” Said Michelle, as she tilted her head to the side looking at her father.

Gabriel smiled at her before complimenting Jonas. “It is essential! Magic drains your mind to control the spell, but your energy is still stored within you. The better you comprehend your body and how magic affects it, the better and faster you can use it…”

It is very similar to what I thought, but many experiments must be made. In an MMORPG, classical factors relate to each status point, but this is a new reality… There should be even more impactful ways that status points can influence it. I should store some status points unassigned to experiment with in the future. Next round of questions! Bryn's smile only grew as his mind worked. Using his excitement and eight-year-old body, he raised his hand high and said: “I have another question!!”

Both Jonas and Gabriel smiled once again and nodded slightly approvingly.

“I realized that hunting with a short sword is impractical… What are the best ways to hunt?”

“Good question! Hunting is much different than fighting. The closest thing would be assassinations. You should use the weapons that consume the smallest amount of effort for maximum damage. A bow and arrow are my first choice for low-level individuals…”

“Michelle uses a Bow. Is she low-level?” Bryn asked.

“Compared to you, no. Compared to us, absolutely.” Said Jonas before he rose to his feet and screamed. “Old man, what's going on with the food?”

They all looked back at the kitchen door as the white-haired man came out holding four plates.

“Michelle, could you teach me how to shoot tomorrow? I want to learn how to hunt effectively…” asked Bryn.

“Yes! We can have competitions as well!!” She exclaimed.

“Bryn, until you reach level 5, you and Michelle will hunt around the village. Luca should be fine to help you two by then.” Said Gabriel as he pulled one of the plates closer to him. “Now, let’s eat. You’ll need energy for tomorrow.”

After a long day, every bite was a bit of heaven for Bryn. That night, as he got to his bed, his eyes closed before he hit the mattress he had created for himself.

The next morning was similar to every day. Bryn woke up, went to the training area, guided everyone during stretching and gave the orientation for the following training. Leaving everyone to train by themselves, today he decided to get a feel for his status differences on every subject he had trained before. The increase in status was significant, but the difference in performance was not as drastic.

My skills gave me three strength points, going from one to four, but my power didn’t multiply by four... I should expect that increasing it to 12 after the skills and levels would not make me three times more powerful. Still, there is a noticeable change in jumping power… He thought.

After the morning experimenting, he met Michelle for lunch at Lysander’s place. Whenever he accompanied Michelle there, Lysander didn’t even speak about prices with him. It was different for the guests on the other tables.

They went straight towards her home to pick things for the hunt.

Bryn waited outside the main hall, sitting down and looking at the movement around the square. The square was sizable, with a central fireplace for celebrations.

I never realized that the square and the village had so much movement. Even with so many people participating in the training sessions in the morning, I still don’t recognize many faces. I should ask Michelle and Luca to take me around the village at some point.

“Bryn, I’m ready!” Michelle said, running out uncoordinated.

“What is that?” Bryn asked.

“Dad told me to bring this old bow you could use! How were you planning to shoot your arrows?”

If I could facepalm myself, I should. I must learn how to prepare for these new situations. Come on! He schooled himself.

“Thank you.”

“Now come, we can pick the arrows on the way.”

Michelle chose a different route to leave the village. On the way, she stopped at a house to pick up the quivers filled with arrows as they kept walking outside the small town.

“We are going to a different area today?”

“Yes, Dad told me to play it safe… I can't face a magical beast, you know?” she said, nodding from side to side.

“Those creatures looked strong…”

“They are! Now, let's talk about your bow classes. Have you ever shot an arrow?” asked Michelle.

“I have not.”

“Ok. First, your arm is not the most crucial part of bow hunting…”

Bryn looked sideways, his face skeptical.

“I’m telling you, father and uncle said your arms are relevant just enough to aim. The power comes from your back and core, and precision comes from your releases… We can talk with your bow in hand. We are here!”

Bryn looked around and found a series of round pieces of wood. Sometimes, they were in trees, some hanging from branches, and a few were lying on the floor around the area.

“Welcome to my training palace!” Said Michelle.

“Your training palace?”

“Yes! Here is where I came to train alone! I wanna be better than Luca with my bow!” exclaimed Michelle, extending her bow forward with an arrow cocked and releasing it in the middle of one of the hanging wood pieces.

What a show of… Still, that was very cool.

“How should I start, Michelle?” asked Bryn, his hands going for his bow in her hand.

“First, bow etiquette!” she said, giving him the weapon.

Bryn’s smile faded instantly. “Bow etiquette?! What do you mean?”

“Uncle Jonas says we have to respect our weapons! Are you ready?”

“Yes, I guess…”

“Ok! One, only point your bow at things you want to shoot at. Second, never fire your bow without an arrow. It can ruin your strings, third…” Michelle went on for a few minutes, Bryn's eyes almost closing from boredom. “Finally, are you ready to shoot your first arrow?!”

Bryn shook his head to wake up from the stasis as he confirmed, “Absolutely!”

“What is your dominant hand?”

Bryn waved his right hand.

“Hold your bow with the left. And extend your arm forward…”

Bryn followed every instruction to the letter. His position was perfect after so much mobility training and increased status.

“Now I’ll place an arrow here, and once you pull, remember to aim with your whole body. Not just your arms!” She said, placing the arrow over his left hand and on the string.

Bryn arched his back as he pulled the string. The wood on the bow bent as the tension rose, and he felt the power behind the arrow. Looking straight at the wooden board, he released. The arrow whistled in the air as its tip etched into the wood.

Bryn’s face became red, steam almost coming out of it.

“HAHAHA, Bryn, you are horrible at this!” Michelle fell to the floor laughing as his arrow stuck two trees to the left.