Evel yawned.

It'd been a slow week overall. The area around the village had been especially silent, and the number of monsters reported around the area was a measly single goblin, one that'd been killed and whose corpse had been destroyed beyond use.

So he was left with nothing to do. He still tended his field of course, but doing so only took up his morning. His afternoon was woefully empty, night was even more so, and as much as he liked reading, sitting around for several hours with his nose in a book only gave him back pains.

He did his best to train his new [Skills], but with no idea on what to do, progress had been slow.

Or at least, it used to be.

Because on one particularly empty afternoon, an idea cropped up in his mind. He'd been walking alongside a nearby river, idly watching the fish in the waters pass him by when he remembered something his dad had said.

"All men should be able to fish!" He'd proclaimed with his usual gusto. He wasn't quite sure what importance fishing had to being a man, but if his dad said so, then it must hold some form of truth within it.

That was why he quickly rushed back to his field to retrieve the four remaining wooden knives he'd carved out weeks ago. Weapons in hand, he went back to the river, and with weeks of practice under his belt, he took up one of his knives and threw it at one of the fishes.

And it missed.

But he wasn't deterred. He picked up another knife, followed the fish, and threw it once more. This time, it did hit, and the fish went flying into the air as blood splashed all about. It certainly wasn't the cleanest thing he'd ever done; the dull and misshapen knife probably had something to do with it, but it was still a success.

So began his afternoon fishing adventures. Instead of spending them idly wandering, he'd now gather fish by stabbing them with his wooden throwing knives. And it was fun! Rushing towards the speeding fish before it could escape his sight became a game of its own.

But more than that, it was challenging, and anything that was challenging provided experience for his [Skill].

Which was why after roughly a month, his [Knife Mastery] looked like this.

[Knife Mastery Lv - 2]

[63% towards next level] You have a moderate understanding on how to hold knives. Damage dealt by knives has been increased by 20%.

You have an affinity for knives. All stats gain a +2 increase when a knife is held.

A painful 37% was left before the skill would reach its third level, made even more painful when he realized that it would've probably reached that threshold had he finished the remaining magical tomatoes he'd cultivated from those goblin corpses.

In his excitement, he forgot that the magical tomatoes were still a fruit, and he could only lament when he noticed the remaining magical tomatoes had rotted beyond safe consumption.

But that was fine. Mistakes are just another form of lessons after all.

As it turned out, the silent week he'd experienced wasn't so innocent after all.

Every half a century or so, a [Goblin Lord] would be born, and the threat the normally weak goblins posed would increased significantly. It wasn't a world-ending event; far from it, but a knight from the nearby kingdom had taken a visit to his village and told them to remain home for the next few weeks.

It was a sound advice, and the reasons for it was just as understandable.

Evel couldn't really follow it.

He had a field he had to tend to every day after all, and the other farmers in his village was probably undergoing the same problem as well. From what he'd heard from his mom, most farmers decided to harvest what they could and stay at their homes for as long as possible. Seeing as they couldn't really defend themselves, it was the most logical choice.

But he was different. He could fight, and he doubted anything extraordinary would show itself in such a remote location.

That, and his dad said that men shouldn't back down so easily.

Still, in case something did happen, he increased his stockpile of wooden throwing knives, this time created by an actual woodworker who knew his way on the craft. His mom even got him a belt to carry the wooden knives, bought from one of the few leatherworkers in the village.

So he went, tending to his fields as he did for several years now, just mixed with some caution in the event that something does happen.

And something did. It was noon that day, and he'd been harvesting some of the berries he'd planted week ago when he heard a nearby bush rustle. He immediately snapped out one of his wooden knives, arm reared back and ready to throw.

Then, out came a rabbit.

Even blinked at it, and blinked again. Rabbits aren't a common species, at least not where he currently lived at. It didn't pose any threat to him though; it couldn't, not with how many wounds it had all over its body. It took a step forward, then two, and then it tripped and fell onto the earth.

It was still breathing, barely, but definitely alive. He stared at the injured animal for a few moments, a silent debate raging in the back of his mind, before he ultimately picked up the rabbit and rushed back home. Slamming through the door, he showed the rabbit to his mom, and she quickly pulled out some cloth to stop the bleeding.

She asked where he found it, and she told him. Just like he, his mom was very much confused why an injured rabbit would randomly show up at their field. He initially thought that it belonged to the goblins, but he could see no reason why they'd keep a rabbit in the first place. His mom suggested that it might be someone's pet, but with nothing to signify an owner, they couldn't prove its validity.

They both agreed to keep it around.

They hadn't found a name for it yet. His mom was notoriously terrible at coming up with names, and it seemed that curse has been passed to him.

How regretful.

That aside, with his family's new addition, he began growing some leafy greens for the little guy, and the occasional carrot here and there for the rabbit's dessert. It seemed to like cabbage the most for whatever reasons, so he made sure to have some growing at all times.

Oh, and it liked to be pet as well, which immediately made the rabbit twice as endearing to the boy.

After two weeks of relative silence, Evel finally did encounter a goblin.

He'd been on his way back from the nearby river when he spotted leftover footmarks on the soil. It didn't look like it belonged to a human, nor did it look like an animal's, so he could only assume it was a goblin. With a wooden knife in hand, he silently followed the footmarks, eyes vigilant as the sound of flowing water filled the air.

And then he saw it, kneeling further down the river as it scooped up some water to drink.

Something about it seemed different though. The goblin looked bigger, for a lack of a better word. He could also see a wooden club placed by its feet.

It was clearly distracted.

He thumbed the wooden knife for a moment, aiming it at the goblin's neck. Silently, he raised his arm, and with as much strength as he could, he threw the knife forward.

His throw missed the intended target, but the knife still made it to the goblin, digging deeply into the goblin's spleen. It roared in pain, surprised, before it picked up its club and turned around,

And fell forward as another knife was thrown, this time stabbing right through the goblin's eye. It twitched for a moment, and then stopped dead.

You have killed [Tough Goblin Lv - 1]! Gained 15 Exp!

It was over, just like that.

It felt rather empty actually. He'd been at the complete mercy of that first goblin he encountered, and a part of him was somewhat expecting this one to do the same.

Alas, not even that [Tough] moniker it held could save it from a knife to the head.

Evel sighed, plucking out the two wooden knives from the goblin and rinsed them with the river's water.Placing them on his belt, he took hold of the dead goblin and began dragging it back to his field, careful not to let the corpse slip into the river and get washed away.

After an hour of dragging, he finally made it back home. Shovel in hand, he did his ritual; digging a hole, rolling the corpse into it, covering it, and planting a seed over it. He chose to plant a berry this time, somewhat curious if the magical berry would bear as many fruits as its normal counterpart.

He watered it, gave the soil a encouraging pat, and headed back for his cabin, tired and very much hungry for some dinner.

A month later, and the berry had fully grown.

As expected, the berry the plant bore was a tad off. Instead of the usual bright red, the magical berries were a deep blue.

The berry plant only bore 10 berries however, a third of its usual produce. It was still a quite a large number, but nothing compared to its original. Still, this one has the magical property of giving its consumer a skill, so the boy couldn't complain too much.

His spoils gathered, he went back to his cabin and gave them to his mom. She took two, sliced them, and gave them slices a good pour of honey.

It wasn't...appetizing, especially not with how odd its smell was. It almost reminded him of rust, though mixed with sweetness because of the honey. Nevertheless, food was food, and so he grabbed a slice and plopped it into his mouth.

He instantly cringed. The berry was painfully sour, and that sourness stuck around on his tongue for several seconds. The honey helped, somewhat, but it was ultimately drowned out by the sheer sour taste of the berry. Still, he braved onwards, eating the rest of the berry slices.

And after a long minute of silent suffering, the notification finally appeared.

You have gained the skill [Bulwark]! [Cooking] bonus added! [Bulwark] has gained 15% Exp!

As Evel was drinking a glass of water to push away the sour taste, he glanced at his basket of magical berries, then to his rabbit, and then back.

"You want to try?" He asked.

The rabbit nodded, and so he fed it the magical berry. The rabbit immediately closed its eyes and hopped around in what he assumed to be pain.

His mom laughed quietly from the side.

[Bulwark - Lv 1]

[15% to next level] Steel flows in your blood. When activated, reduces incoming damage from next attack by 30%. Costs 10 MP.