Kane had started to jog towards the city. It felt as if his body craved for it, and it was so easy. His steps felt so extremely light.

The clouds had broke into a light shower. Yet he wasn’t cold or uncomfortable at all. Being alive felt so utterly refreshing. Never before had he experienced life like this.

He wasn’t all out sprinting, it was really just a casual jog. Still he felt saddened at the prospect of quickly reaching his destination. He wouldn’t mind to keep jogging for the rest of the day instead and so he was already looking around for anything of interest. A couple of hours into the run, he came across a set of footprints.

A bear had crossed the path and the tracks seemed very fresh on account of dry dirt having been uprooted from the damp top layer. Half an hour old, an hour at most he reckoned. With a grin he gripped his spear and headed off the path in the direction of the tracks.

After some time however he started to wonder if he had lost the bear. He was no tracker by any means and since the tracks on the path, he had found no other signs of the bear. He started backtracking a bit and zig zagging around in the hopes of running into the bear. After an hour of meticulous random searching, he finally succeeded. He could hear the bear growl in the distance. Was it fighting with something perhaps?

If he was to tell the story of how he hunted a bear, he would’ve said he was stealthy like a ninja until he was right upon it. The cracks of the twigs echoing the forest that originated from beneath his shabby boots told a different story. However, as it seemed the bear had something else to concern itself with, it did not matter anyway.

When finally in sight, he saw the bear digging up the ground. Near the bear he spotted a distressed wolf that was pacing around nervously while growling at the bear. It seemed the wolf was trying to get the bears attention, but it didn’t care, it clearly had other prey in mind and the wolf was no match for it. Putting two and two together, Kane understood what was going on and felt his body tighten. Power surged through him once again as he switched into a sprint with his spear at the ready.

He had prefered to attack face to face, but time seemed of the essence. The wolf had already seen him approach, but the bear was too preoccupied to notice. He plunged the spear into the bears flank with a bellowing roar.

The bear whined and turned wildly, causing the spear to snap in half. Kane slammed the broken half against the bears head like a club, but that was not enough. The bear reeled towards him and Kane lost his footing at the same time. The bear locked its jaw onto his shoulder and teeth sunk into his flesh. Kane in turn bit on the bears ear and ripped it clean off. He roared where its ear had been. The bear probably sensed that letting go would be bad, so it hung on Kane’s shoulder while growling. Trying to shake and twist Kane’s flesh..

But Kane was strong, possibly even stronger than the bear and in the struggle he had managed to pin the bear on its back. He felt more power surge. Kane reached for his makeshift axe that he had pocketed in his trousers and slammed it into the bears skull. The bear tried to move and right itself, but Kane prevented it from doing so. He hit it again and again until the bears skull cracked under his assault. Still the bear hung on, its growls seemingly turned into screams. Once more Kane roared like a beast himself and finally the piece of stone struck deep into the bears brains, breaking its skull apart. The bear slumped and died.

Kane found himself sitting on the bears chest, he gave it a couple of taps with the flat of his hand.

“Good fight.”

He took a glance at his status.

Name: Kane

Age: 26

Race: Human (High Noble)

Class: Herald of Principle (level 0)

Health: 89% (bleeding)

Experience: 58

Base attributes:

Strength: Extremely high (138)

Endurance: Extremely high (192)

Constitution: Extremely high (171)

Dexterity: Extremely high (114)

Intelligence: Transcendental (243)

Willpower: Transcendental (258)

Perception: Extremely high (156)

Charisma: Extremely high (105)

Beauty: Extremely high (126)

Luck: Average (49)

Class Bonuses: 1 attribute point per level. All attributes * 3.

Skills: Doctrine, Invoke Principle

Karma: Neutral (0) (locked)

Oh, he was bleeding a little bit. It didn’t look that bad though, at the rate at which his body had healed the swipe from the previous encounter, he wasn’t particularly worried.

Looking around he saw the wolf staring back at him, it was cautious, but also seemed thankful. He figured this was probably the same wolf he had met before. Peering to where the bear was digging, there was a small hole. And from within the hole tiny yelps could be heard. Kane smiled at the wolf and raised his thumb.

“So you were a mother?”

The wolf remained unmoving, simply waiting it out.

“Alright then.”

Ignoring the wolf he started to dismember the bears back legs, there was a good amount of meat on them. He would leave two legs for the wolf this time, there seemed to be quite a few mouths to feed after all.

As for the rest of the bear, perhaps he could sell it in the city, this time it would be better not to try to remove its hide first. Probably.

He threw both legs towards the wolf and suddenly remembered his second skill. Now was a good a time to test it out.

The wolf eyed the legs and the den as well for a moment before calmly returning its sight on Kane. Certainly she looked quite wise.

In his mind he activated his invoke principle skill and he felt a strange power surge through his body. He slammed his right fist into his left palm +and spoke towards the wolf.

“Stand proud as a supreme leader of one’s kin and powerful protector of one’s children. As a true queen. Be dominant and wise yet loving and gentle!”

A golden light enveloped the wolf’s body as the principle was invoked upon her. Within a mere moment she grew in size, standing even taller than Kane himself. Confused for but a moment she quickly adjusted herself. She no longer felt fear towards Kane and walked out with a confident gait that definitely befitted a queen. Her eyes shone with intelligence and her bearing was that of one who would refuse to bow down.

Invoke principle was definitely a magical skill. And though its power was abstract, it was clearly very powerful.

The wolf had feared the bears, but would no longer need to fear them. The wolf walked up to Kane and proceeded to lick his wounds clean with a demeanor of a mother treating her child. Kane did not mind and patted her on her neck.

“Thanks girl, but it’s fine.”

He hoisted the bear by its front paws on his back. Glancing at the wolf once more, who was calmly seeing him off.

“The best of luck to you and your family, I’ll be taking this with me though. Stay safe.”

Of course the wolf did not answer. But her eyes and posture seemed to be that of understanding. And just like that, a queen was born that day.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The weight wasn’t too bad. But being very top heavy, keeping balance was slightly annoying over the rough terrain. Before long however, he had found the path again and headed towards the city. He mulled over his immediate future. Perhaps after selling this bear, he could buy a weapon that wouldn’t break after only two uses.

When the city came into view, he was a bit surprised. It wasn’t his idea of a capital city at all. The city laid on a raised u-shaped sloped land formation, towards the higher end stood a large castle and in front of the were strewn out houses. Fifty, sixty, a hundred at most? How many people would live here, five hundred, a thousand maybe? Way too small to call a city.

At least the city was gated it seemed. Or rather, a more appropriate term would be fenced? Where were the grand cities from lord of the rings?

The castle sure was pretty large, but it didn’t even look all that impressive. Rather it looked bland and boring. Grey and rough.

“Well, it’s better than nothing.”

On the way to the gate he walked past a farmer that gave him a curious look. Kane waved his hand at which the farmer reacted to by quickly going back to work. He hoped they weren’t too xenophobic here. His run in with Carl didn’t suggest so, but that might have just been Carl’s nature.

He was let in relatively easy. After stating his intentions, the guards opened the gate for him and even told him where he might be able to sell the bear. They had looked at him strangely, but it didn’t seem like they had any intention to bar entrance at least. Strangely, they seemed to lack motivation altogether. A rather odd and uncomfortable atmosphere hung around this city like a deep invisible fog.

It wasn’t long before he stood before a place that smelt particularly bad. Suddenly the door sprung open and a man burst out of the door.

“Ah a hunter! Nice catch, nice catch. Come inside, come inside!”

And as quickly as he came out, he went back in. He could at least have held the door for him. Kane shrugged and slugged himself and the bear through the large doorway.

“Put it on the table in the back over there.”

The man was already preparing all kinds of tools. Shouldn’t he try to buy the bear first? What was his business anyway and by the Gods what was this smell.

“I’ve come to sell the bear.” Kane said as he placed the bear on the large table. “Of course, of course.” Finally the man turned towards the table with a shocked expression on his face.

“Whe- whe- whe--- Where is the rest of it!?”

“I cut of its hind legs.”

“No, no, no, no.. Oh no, what have you done to it, oh no..”

“It’s… Just a dead bear. Sir.”

The man gave Kane a look that could probably kill, but then composed himself.

“Of course, yes. Of course. My apologies. A bear this size though. I would’ve bought it from you for 20 silvers if it was in tact. Now though. I can give you 3 -”, as the man continued the inspect the bear, “no, 4 silvers at most. Ah! What happened to your shoulder!”

“Bear teeth.” Kane animated the scene with his right hand with a faint smile at which the tanner’s jaw simply dropped.

“Fine, you are the strangest hunter I have ever seen. But no matter, here’s your coin, go buy a shirt with it. Now goodbye. I have got work to do.”

Kane took the silver coins and studied them, a kingly imprint marking one side. They were fairly well made, he noted.

“Certainly, I have received my pay. I bid you a good day.”

“Shoo, shoo.”

With how terrible the smell here was, he didn’t have to say that twice. Even though he did say it twice. Kane swiftly left the tanning house.

“First things first.”

The people moving about mostly ignored him, giving him only a couple of stares at most. But when he asked for directions, they would swiftly explain whatever he needed to know. And thus he stood before the adventurer’s guild. He hadn’t expected much of it after having seen this town, he steeled himself for disappointment and entered the building.

But he was surprised by the scene that met his eyes. There was a low area furnitured like a common tavern, groups of interesting looking people were sitting at many of the tables and the atmosphere was lively. Rowdy even. A woman wearing a robe who had a long exquisite looking staff with a glowing gem caught his eye. Also a large man wearing way too much armor for being indoors had an oversized mace leaning against his table.

Even more interesting was a small statured broad shouldered man with a long beard, merrily drinking his ale like it was water. And another man that seemed to have scales running up his neck, and was that a tail hanging out beneath? Over at the bar there was even a young waitress girl serving out drinks who had animal ears! And a furry tail! Half humans existed in this world!

Hmm, he had seen only humans out in the street though. Maybe they were rare then. Still, this was exactly how a world with magic and dungeons should be like. With a smile plastered across his face he let out a pleasing sigh. Few also took notice of him, but quickly lost interest.

Off on the other side was a large panel with papers hanging from it and a small waiting area as well as a reception. A sign with a large shield emblem marked its location. That was probably the adventurer’s guild area. Kane walked towards the man sitting behind a desk.

“What can do for you?”

“I’d like to sign up. Go on quests and grand adventure!”

“Sure, sure. Name?”

“Kane.”

“Age?”

“26.”

“Race?”

“Human”

“Class?”

“Hmm, Herald of Principle.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Herald of Principle. That’s H E.-”

“No, no, wait. We’ll do this the easy way. Follow me.”

The man stood up and entered a backroom, Kane followed, he understood his class would probably be unknown, but he also figured lying about it probably wouldn’t help either, so he expected as much.

“Place your hand on this orb, it will allow me to see your class.”

Interesting.

“Will it show attributes as well?”

“No, though there are ways to be able to measure someone's attributes roughly, there is no way to test someone for them accurately unfortunately.”

So there are ways to see other peoples status after all, albeit with limitations. Kane placed his hand on the orb.

“Hooooh… You really weren’t lying. Level 0 still, but what kind of class is it? Is it a fighting class? Usually rare classes are pretty strong, but is this one like that as well, or is it useless? Is it a very rare class perhaps, or maybe even legendary?”

The clerk’s eyes shone brightly. So there were legendary classes as well. Kane’s was unique though, He wondered how they would compare.

“I guess it is probably fairly special, it isn’t legendary though. And I can handle myself, I killed a couple of bears on my way here. No problem.”

Learning that it wasn’t a legendary class seemed to disappoint the clerk a little.

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it. Do know you have holes on your shoulder by the way? Are you sure you had no problems with those bears you defeated?”

Kane glanced over his status. 88%. It did drop a percentage, but the bleeding had stopped, probably nothing to worry about.

“Just a little roughed up, nothing to worry about. I didn’t have a decent weapon you see.”

The clerk raised his eyebrow. “I see. Well then, I’ve filled out the required paperwork. Take this.”

He gave Kane a copper tag. “Now hold it in your hands and say the word activate.”

“Activate.” The clerk took the tag back and said “Confirm” The tag lit up with a magical sheen for a moment before looking utterly ordinary again.

“Here you go, don’t lose it. Now you are copper ranked and can take on copper ranked requests. Prove yourself worthy and you might just rise in rank. There are a total of four ranks. Copper, iron, silver and platinum. Though considered a rookie now, when you reach iron you will be considered to be a capable adventurer. At silver you are considered to be professional and platinum rank is reserved only for the strongest and most capable of adventurers. Please be aware of your limits and do try to adventure together with other people as it raises your chances of survival. When you pick out a request, note the location of the requester and always go to them first to officially request the quest. Your reward is also handled by the requester. If you would rather go to a dungeon, you can sell any raw materials you might find, you can do so at the back of the guild house. Any more questions?”

“No, that should be fine. If I can think of anything, I will be sure to ask.”

“Good, welcome to the adventurer’s guild.”

Kane hung the tag around his neck. Now that he had his tag, Carl would probably let him inside that dungeon. But perhaps he should first look over the requests, see if anything would pop out at him. Which reminded him.

“Oh right, I noticed it is pretty busy upfront, they are all adventurers?”

“I would venture a guess to say that they are, yes.”

“Well, I was just wondering, since it is in the middle of the day.”

“Most of them have come from other places to gather together for the drake extermination request. A few might simply be waiting for the dungeon to reopen.”

“Oh, a drake hunt. Interesting.”

“Sir, you only just signed up here, I would strongly oppose joining them. Drakes are even dangerous to kill for platinum adventurers. But, the scales are worth a lot, and there are always people willing to risk their necks for a bit of gold.”

“Ah but I am allowed to accompany them?”

“It’s your life you are throwing away, it would be different on a dungeon or specific request where things revolve around good teamwork as well. But I doubt anyone would be in the way on a drake slaying quest. An extra target might give the rest a couple more seconds.”

The clerk smirked rather evilly. But Kane understood it was sarcastic and rather meant as a warning.

“I see, thank you.”

At the request board, Kane read through the papers one by one. Ironically, almost all requests were gathering requests. Was gatherer considered an adventurer class after all? The drake request looked real fancy, it started by stating it was by the king’s request. The reward seemed to be 20 gold coins split between all adventurers and no limit on the amount of adventurers that were accepted. 20 gold is probably a lot, but wouldn’t this cause issues? There was a date on it, the fifth of tempest. That was when the expedition would set out. Without knowing what date it was now, there was no telling when that would be. So Kane turned around and faced the rowdy tavern area.

“Greetings good people, my name is Kane. May I ask what date it is today?”

Kane spread out his arms invitingly hoping for a response, only to be met with several glares before the mage woman finally replied. “Sure cop. It is the 4th of tempest today.” Kane was certain her smile was meaningful to say the least, so he gave her wink in return.

“One more day until the drake expedition!”

Although the dungeon was definitely alluring, adventuring with a group of actual adventurers on a grand quest such as this was so much more alluring.

“Seems like I came just in time.”