The first rays of sun crept through the gaps in the window shutters and woke Emiluna up like someone had banged on her bedroom door. On second thought, someone was banging on her bedroom door and the sun reaching her face could only mean one thing - she had slept in, again. Jumping from the bed in near panic, she grabbed her clothes from the floor and hurried towards the door.

"Emiluna Millersdaughter, I swear to all the gods if you do not get up this very instant, I will have you cleaning the house of every neighbor on your free time!" Bertram, her father, yelled through the door. Being called by her full name boded ill for the day.

"Coming dad! Be right there!" Luna replied buttoning up her work blouse and slipping into her leather boots. Without a mirror, she could not check her appearance but hoped it was alright. She had been trying to find a cheap mirror from the rare peddler visiting their village, but no such luck. Mirrors were a luxury and only the headman's wife had one, nobody else having the money to spare for vanity.

Finally fully clothed she reached the door, unlatched her self-made deadbolt, and opened it to the slightly red face of Bertram. It seemed like he had been standing there pounding on her door for a while now.

"Hello, father. Now isn't this a wonderful day!", she tried sweet-talking her way out of the tongue lashing she was surely about to receive.

"Shut it and follow me," came the terse reply "we are already late thanks to you and it reflects badly on your mother and me if we have to wake you up every second day."

"Yes, father." was all she could say without making it worse. While Luna had gotten adept at backtalk, she knew to pick her battles. Crossing through their small home, she tried making a detour to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. "Forget about breakfast. You sleep in, you deal with it!" Bertram admonished her, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her along.

Finally, her brain caught up with what was happening, sleep evaporating instantly. "But father, it is Sunday! I do not have any duties today!" she whined, to which Bertram raised an eyebrow and asked "You don't? Now, I remember some very special little girl pestering every single Hunter in our village for a tag-along, for the past 3 years! Ever since she turned 12 this girl wanted to learn hunting, survival skills, field-craft, and how to prepare animals to bring them back to the village. Now, who could that have been?"

Luna knew who this girl was, it was herself. But what did that have to do with her having to get up early on a Sunday? "I don't understand, father?" she said with a questioning glance towards him.

"You scatterbrained little girl." Bertram sighed loudly "Didn't mother tell you that Hunter Jonas has agreed to teach you when he has the time? He is doing it to repay a favor I did him a while ago. Today is the first day of your unofficial Hunter training!"

Luna's eyes had been growing into saucer plates while Bertram was talking. Hunter training? For her? Why had she not heard about it until now? Nobody had told her anything! "Father, I swear, mother did not tell me!" Luna argued loudly. "Do you think I would have been asleep still if I had known that I was going to train with a Hunter?"

"Now that you say it, it does seem a little off. Even for you. Mother did not tell you?" he asked and at the shake of her head exploded into a tirade "Damn that woman! She did this on purpose to surprise you and mess with me! Here I am all riled up because you are still in bed when I come to get you and you did not even know!"

They had been walking during their conversation and nearly reached the Hunter's house at the outskirts of the village. A sturdy little timber frame building placed on a stone foundation. Next to the house stood a little smoke and storage shack on stilts, high enough so no pests could reach it. In it, the Hunter smoked meat to preserve it for the winter or travel rations.

The village, Creek Springs, wasn't much. Just barely over 50 buildings, but each of those was sturdily built as this one. Solid timber frame, filled with loam, woven reeds, and straw. The villagers prided themselves that they and their ancestors had built to last. The village was surrounded by a wooden stockade, to prevent predators from sneaking into the village proper and as a solid defense in case of monster attacks, with a single gate. Only a single road leads away from Creek Springs. The village was located right next to the Everwood, which meant there was nowhere else to go. It was a dead-end, a day's travel to the next trade road, and only the occasional peddler or the tax collector ever made the trip to visit the isolated village. Neither was getting much out of the endeavor.

Just as they reached the house, Hunter Jonas stepped outside. He was a good-looking man, tall, with broad shoulders and short brown hair; with just a touch of grey at the temples. He had been waiting for them. The huge grin on his face was highly suspicious. "Hello, Bertram. Luna. What a great day it is. Did you sleep well?" he asked. And just like that, Luna knew what was up. "Mother told you! You knew I was going to be surprised today and might be late!"

"Thank your Berty," he addressed her father "for escorting her through the village. I am sure without you she would have been distracted by something and arrived at sundown. I'll drop her off in the evening, don't you worry. And give the best to your wife for a prank well played!"

Bertram only nodded, clearly unhappy being the unwilling participant in the prank, but what could he do? He turned around grumbling under his breath and stomped off. Hunter Jonas turned towards Luna, eyeing her outfit.

"Good, your outfit is acceptable for going outside the village. Sturdy boots that won't get soggy from stepping into a puddle. I don't care if women wear pants or not, we are practical people and skirts just get in the way when hunting. Don't listen to what the old people tell you about propriety, if you want to go outside hunting, then pants and sturdy clothing is what you need. We will have to do something about that hair of yours though. You really don't want it to get tangled up in a branch or brush."

Jonas grabbed two small backpacks from his porch and rummaged through a side pocket, coming up with a piece of cord.

"I made a mental list of things, so first," he said, handing over the second backpack "This is now yours. It used to be mine and looks a little worn out, but it works just fine. When going hunting you need to be prepared. The backpack contains basic things to survive in the wild. A flint to start a fire, a bandage in case you get injured, and a water skin. This time I have lunch packed for the both of us, but next time you will have to pack your backpack and you will carry all your supplies yourself, all day long."

"Also, use this cord to fix up your hair. If you're sure about becoming a Hunter, you should consider cutting it short or get it braided. Long hair looks pretty, but it gets in the way. When working in the village it is a nuisance, but when hunting the distraction could get you hurt or even killed."

After getting an affirmative nod from Lune he went on. "Being a Hunter is not only about finding animals to kill and butcher for meat. It is also about knowing if there are animals or monsters close to the village, scaring off predators or bigger pests who could ruin the fields and even kill the occasional monster that gets too close. The Hunters are the reason you kids can run around the village freely, even in the evening. The wooden palisade might bring safety in the night, but it is our job to make sure no monster gets close enough to hide in the fields or a ditch right outside the village."

Luna was a little stumped. This was the longest speech she had heard from Hunter Jonas, ever. Normally he was the quiet type and did not have much to say, but it seemed that was more due to a lack of interest in the topics. Being a Hunter seemed to be his calling and he had a lot to share about that.

"I never thought about it that way. How often do monsters get close?" Luna asked him.

"Now don't you start running around telling people that. People would only talk and worry without good reason. It has been like this since the headman's father's father founded Creek Springs. Everyone has a job to do and there is no point in everyone knowing. If there is a threat we tell people, but that has not happened for quite a while now. So keep it quiet, I only told you because it is important to what a Hunter's duties are." Jonas told her sternly.

"We don't see too many monsters these days. The Kingdom makes sure to destroy nearby dungeons when new land is settled and the court wizard is keeping track of if new ones appear anywhere in the kingdom. I only know that because some years ago, when I was out hunting, I met a band of adventurers on the road who were on a mission to destroy a new dungeon. They were just passing through, but I traded a fresh rabbit for some information."

Luna's eyes went wide at the mention of adventurers and she interrupted Jonas, awe clear in her voice. "You met real adventurers? Like those from the stories? We never see those here!"

"Do not interrupt me, young lady." Jonas shut her down, clearly annoyed. "I can answer questions about fancy pants adventurers later. Now we have a job to do. Yes, a Hunter also works on Sundays. Animals and Monsters do not care about what day of the week it is. So, off we go and until we reach the outskirts where we have to be more vigilant, why don't you tell me what you know about the Hunter class?"

It seemed like adventurers were a sour topic for the Hunter, so Luna decided to steer clear of it for now. No chance that she would pass up the chance to learn about them, but it did not seem like a good idea to annoy her trainer at the start of the day. Luna gathered her thoughts on classes. They were nothing special, everyone had at least two. Two of the three total class slots would become available when she turned 16 years old, which was only four weeks away for Luna. All she would have to do was touch the Class Stone kept in the little village temple. It was brought out twice a year for children to undergo the Rite of Ascendancy, gaining access to their first two class slots.

While she would turn 16 in just four weeks, she had to wait another 7 weeks until she would have the chance to undergo the Rite. It could have been worse, the headman's son Dorvan turned 16 just two days late and had to wait nearly six months. In that time he thoroughly annoyed the whole village with his constant complaining about how his lot in life was.

The class stone was magical, it only worked twice a year, during summer and winter solstice. The Class Tablet on the other hand was available all year long, located right at the entrance to the temple. Villagers could use it at any time to check their stats, classes, and skills. Even daily if they wanted to. Not that checking daily did them any good. Skill gains slow down and the higher their level, the more experience required for the next one.

The only ones checking their status daily were the children who just turned 12 years old. They automatically gained access to the mandatory Apprentice class at that age and everything was new and exciting. They could now start to learn from the Craftsmen in the village and would often check if they had gained a Skill for something. But even for them, the novelty wore off quickly, quickly following their parents in the routine of only doing the customary check every Sunday after paying their respects to the gods.

Both the Class Stone and the Class Tablet belonged to the village, the item information even stating that they were bound to Creek Springs and could not be removed from the village proper.

All children were being taught the basics in their little village school if you could call it that. It was nothing special after all. Set up more as a daycare for all the children in the village, it was run by Agatha, the headman's mother. Nobody knew exactly how old she was by now, but her knowledge was quite valuable for teaching the children. Luna had learned well and was quite proud that she could read, write, and do some figures. It was essential for all children to learn, everyone having stats, classes and skills required them to know at least the basics, otherwise, they would never be able to read their status and would have to share it with someone else and rely on their help.

With Jonas setting the pace, Luna had to scramble to not fall behind, but could not quite keep up with the Hunter's skill and stats empowered strides, "Hey! Wait for me!" Luna yelled. With her Athleticism Skill at only level two and a lack of Class Skills that improved Stamina regeneration, she was struggling to keep up.

Turning around, Jonas had a sheepish grin on his face. "Oh, I am sorry Luna. I was a bit lost in thought and followed my usual routine. Now, what about my question regarding Hunters?"

Luna caught up again, a little out of breath. "I learned that Hunter is a class that merges fighting and crafting into one class. Instead of just being a pure combat class like Archer, it also provides access to survival skills, skinning, butchering, and other food-related skills. That is why it is such a popular class in villages. It can be used to gather food, grants knowledge on how to survive in the wild, but also grants skills for fighting, which come in handy for defending the village."

"Very good Luna. You listened well, but something you are not taught is that Hunters are the forward line of defense of the village. We cull the small animals near the fields, sure. But it is also our job to make sure that the other villagers can go out and work in safety, every day. The village stockade is the last line of defense. The Hunters are the first and it is on us to ensure we bring early warning if something is up. Do you remember early last year when the headman rang the village bell?"

Luna nodded and Jonas went on, "That was Hunter Gregson's doing. He spotted a dire boar near the forest and rushed back to gather the other Hunters. He informed the Headman, who then gathered everyone inside the village until we could take care of the threat. It needed all eight of us Hunters to take it down. We butchered it, packed up the meat, and dragged the carcass towards the forest. Took us half a day, but nobody was hurt and the next day everyone was back out working. Your parents knew of course, but no need to tell the children. You all know not to leave the village at night or stray too far during the day, as well as run at the first sign of danger. Oh and the boar meat was what we feasted on during the summer solstice festival that year"

Luna did not like being called a child and was about to protest, but Jonas interrupted her before she could. "Enough of that though. This is the last field cultivated by the village and everything beyond this point can be considered wilderness. It is not completely accurate, since the village cleared the surrounding trees and we rarely see bigger animals or even monsters here, but it is not unheard of."

They had been following the only road leading away from the village. It made walking a lot easier and they had traveled this far in only 20 minutes. If they had to walk the same distance in the opposite direction, it would have taken them much longer. Especially Luna, without any skills to improve her stamina and movement speed would have struggled even more to keep up with Jonas. Jonas led the way, starting to circle the village and Luna realized that there would be no more easy road for the rest of the day.

The day went by quickly. They followed the outer perimeter of the village while Jonas explained the basics. Luna was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge Jonas had. She never expected that there would be that much to be a Hunter. Which animals left, which kind of tracks, how to differentiate between animal droppings, how important staying downwind is when trying to sneak up on animals, at what times animals were active. And those were just a few of the topics Jonas touched on.

Jonas told Luna that when on patrol alone he would travel much faster and range further out to cover more ground and increase the chance of finding game animals to hunt. But for today he had planned to only walk his perimeter around the village with her. Though he did promise to take her hunting if she decided on taking the Hunter class. But basics had to come first and giving her a first impression of what hunting entailed was important. After all, she had to be sure to pick a class that she liked. It was especially important for a class that had duties related to the village's protection. Nobody wanted a slacker on guard duty.

When they entered the village in the evening Luna was clearly exhausted, but looking happy. "Can we stop by the temple so I can check my status?" She asked Jonas, who confirmed with a curt nod. While the day had not been physically exhausting, Luna's constant questions had taken a toll. He was looking forward to dropping her off and getting home to his wife and dinner.

Luna skipped ahead to the temple and placed her hand on the class tablet right at the entrance. Magic letters appeared in her vision.

Name: Emiluna Millersdaughter

Level: N/A (Requires non mandatory class)

Race: Human

Age: 15

Class 1: Apprentice - Mandatory

Class 2: N/A (Requires Age 16 and Rite of Ascendancy)

Class 3: N/A (Requires a combined level of 45)

Health: 140/140 [(Vitality x 10 + Strength x 2.5 + Dexterity x 2.5)]

Stamina: 35/145 [((Vitality + Strength + Dexterity) x 5)]

Mana: 117/117 [(Wisdom x10 + Intelligence x 2.5 + Charisma x 2.5)]

Regeneration - Per Minute

1.26% Stamina [1% base x Body/Mind x Skill Modifier]

0.79% Mana [1% base x Mind/Body x Skill Modifier]

1% Life [1% base x Skill Modifier]

Stats - Body

Strength: 9

Vitality: 9

Dexterity: 11

Stats - Mind

Wisdom: 8

Intelligence: 8

Charisma: 7

Available Points

Stats: 0

Skills: 0

Skills - Personal

[Athleticism] - Level 2

[Night Eyes] - Locked

[Memories] - Locked

[Languages] - Level 4

Skills - Crafting

[Cooking] - Level 3

[Sewing] - Level 2

Skills - Utility

[Tracking] - Level 1

[Stealth] - Level 2

[Survival] - Level 1

Luna turned back to Jonas, a beaming smile on her face. "Hey Jonas, you taught me [Tracking] and [Survival] today and you improved my [Stealth] skill, must have been your tips with staying downwind and letting me sneak around a bit."

Luna was happy with her new skills and improvements, quickly moving along the road towards her parent's house. Jonas hid it well, but he was quite pleased with her progress and the idea of getting another Hunter to share the patrol duties with. Currently, the village had eight Hunters, but two of them were getting old and had to start sharing a patrol route, no longer able to cover one on their own. They had been looking for children interested in the Hunter class, but all the boys in recent years were following their father's footsteps. Which was completely normal, but only highlighted the fact that the village Hunters had few children. While it was rare for a girl to pick up the Hunter class, Bertram had mentioned Luna's interest to Jonas, who in turn had gotten permission from the Headman to take her along to see if she might be a good candidate.

Reaching the house, Jonas knocked at the door to return Luna to her parents. Bertram opened the door, obviously relieved to see his daughter back safe and sound. Luna said goodbye to Jonas and went inside.

"How did she do?" Bertram inquired, which only got a tired grimace from Jonas.

"She did well, but she really has to learn to stay quiet if she wants to succeed as a Hunter. I did not have to answer that many questions since the last time it was my turn to present the Hunter class to the kids in one of Agatha's lessons."

"Now don't be that way, Jonas." Bertram replied, "she is only 15 and does not know anything about the world outside the village. She is getting close to her Rite and curiosity is to be expected. Just be glad she does not know that you used to be an adventurer in your younger days, or that your second class is [Knight]. I know you hate talking about it, but you know more about combat classes than any of us here. Except for Agatha maybe, but who can guess what the old crone knows. Same time next Sunday?"

"Yes, same time," Jonas nodded, "but I will pick her up at your house, so please make sure she is ready. I underestimated the extra time we need for the patrol. It has been a long time since I had someone along on patrol without any Class Skills and I simply forgot how big the difference is. We also need to stop now and then so I can show her tracks and other signs for animals passing."

The two men clasped hands and said goodbye, Jonas making his way to his house and Bertram going back inside closing the door, only to find Luna standing slack-jawed right next to the entrance, apparently in the middle of cleaning off her boots. Bertram felt cold sweat forming, having accidentally spilled Jonas' secret.

"Close your mouth and listen very carefully. You were not supposed to hear that, only very few people know that Jonas used to be an adventurer and you will not ask him about it and if you tell anyone else I will make sure you regret it! He gets to decide if he wants to share his life's story."

Luna's expression quickly changed from unbelieving amazement to contrite acceptance. "I am sorry father. I promise I will not mention it to Jonas or anyone else. I was not listening in on purpose, but I had to clean off the dirt right now. Otherwise, mother would have my hide for neglecting the boots and clothes, not to mention dragging dirt into the house."

Bertram knew that was the best he could get from his daughter, so he accepted her statement with a nod and went inside.