When Damon arrived at school, there was Leon once again to greet him. This time though, Kalli was with him. With a wave, Damon ran over and they started talking while walking towards room 107.

Currently seated in the class, Damon was listening to Dan giving a lecture about monsters and how to kill them. The part he most wanted to hear was finally explained by Dan.

“To find monsters, one would have to go to a hunting ground. There are a few nearby that are managed by the government, but you’ll have to get permission to enter,” explained Dan.

Damon had finally heard the info he had been waiting for. When the day ended, he left for home without notice, leaving Leon and Kalli wondering about what had happened. His destination was indeed one of the hunting grounds nearby. It was a park, a large wildlife park that was infested with creatures not known to this world.

It was a Level 1 hunting ground, meaning even the least powerful humans could hunt there. You only needed verification granted from the government confirming that you had at least one skill to be able to participate. The security around was lax though, after all, it was only a Level 1 hunting ground that no one paid attention to.

I should be able to sneak in with Stealth right?

Damon’s plan was to sneak into this area secretly, because he didn’t have a verification. He could obtain one, but then he would expose his skill and potentially his system. That wasn’t a risk worth taking, so this was his only option.

I need to level up as quickly as possible, so I can increase my stats.

Damon was almost obsessed with his stats. Just the thought of wiping the smug looks off of the noble’s faces pleased him to no end. That’s why he was focused on leveling up today. He had already completed his daily quest and this time, he but it into defense. Having balance stats was important, being all strength or any other stat would just be stupid and would lead to one’s downfall.

Name] Damon Zellar

[Class] None

Level: 1 (1/10)

Strength: 7

Defense: 6

Agility: 5

Magic: 0

[Special Stats]

Luck: 5

Intelligence: 4

*** Has not been unlocked yet

[Skills]

Stealth(F)

Now that it was night time, Damon finally moved out with his stealth skill activated, and headed towards the park. It wasn’t far away, it was within walking distance of his house. The entry level posted by the government, and the close proximity to his house were perfect circumstances that he didn’t want to let slip by. There was no reason for him not to go, he was confident in his physical abilities after all.

The streets were quiet at this time of night, there were almost no cars or people that could be seen. The only things present were the street lights illuminating the dark roads. Without making any sounds, Damon sprinted to the wildlife park even though his stealth was activated. He wanted to stay cautious in case some high ranked officers were around.

In England, the police force didn’t contain regular citizens, it contained high ranked skill users. Ever since Omega, the appearance of humans with skills caused concern for the people without skills for their safety. That’s why the government decided to hire the people with powers to protect its citizens. These kinds of people had excellent benefits and were often treated with the utmost respect. It was a wonderful job that everyone worked towards, but few actually made it.

Damon was on the lookout for these people until he finally arrived at the hunting ground. A black gate could be seen in front of him that was being managed by some lazy guards, but he wasn’t going to enter from there. After some inspection, he found a small hole just big enough for him to fit through. He pushed himself through, barely able to fit. Some of his clothes got stuck, but he managed to pull it off, leaving a tiny bit of cloth stuck behind. Finally pulling himself through, he could spot several signs indicating danger, and signs saying beware of monsters.

He didn’t even glance at them and chose to walk into the woods. One didn’t notice it until they got close, but the woods were riddled with noises. Screams, screeching, all kinds of sounds you wouldn’t think were possible could be heard.

So that’s where the monsters are.

Damon headed towards the direction of the sounds and came to a clearing filled with monsters. They were short, green and very ugly. The classic goblins from fantasy stories were right in front of him! With a fearless step, he showed himself to the monsters, but they only turned their heads.

[Lowest Rank monster detected]

Goblins were the lowest ranked, comparable to that dog-like monster from the dragon’s cave. They could only be found in the lower leveled hunting grounds, and rarely in the higher leveled ones. Normal people could probably kill them if equipped with a simple knife or sharp utensil. That’s how weak they were.

When the goblins spotted Damon, they took a quick look at him and did something that confused Damon once more. They got on their knees and kneeled! Not even humans, monsters! Goblins were kneeling to a human being! A never before seen event was unfolding, but no one was around to witness it.

So these goblins acted the same as that dog… I still don’t understand why though. They’re monsters-right?

Even though they were showing obedience, Damon still needed to level up, so he brought out the knife he had brought from his kitchen and creeped closer. The only skill Damon possessed was stealth, so he couldn’t resort to any special attack magics to kill the goblins. He had to do it by hand. It may be messy, but Damon’s determined face showed otherwise.

The goblin’s heads were pointed downwards, so they were very vulnerable. Around 10 goblins were kneeling, they traveled in groups and were rarely alone by themselves.

That’s perfect, I can level up just from this hunt!

Damon was delighted at the situation, what would he get from a level up? These types of thoughts were spinning inside his head as he slit the throats of the goblins, one by one. Finally, after 10 strikes, there were 10 corpses lying on the ground.

[Level Up!]

Corpses of monsters were sometimes worth money. Occasionally, they dropped gold coins which could be traded for cash, and that’s what Damon found. One gold pieces was worth about $50 USD, so you could potentially make a living out of hunting monsters. Damon had found two and that brought his mood even higher. Something weird also came out though, a golden piece of paper came out of the 10th golbin.

[Upgrade Pass(F) Found]

Damon read the description window and was elated by what the upgrade pass was capable of.

There was a near impossible chance to get an upgrade pass from a monster, but he got one! It could upgrade a skill of your choice by one level depending on the level of the pass. An upgrade pass like the one he had just found could only upgrade F ranked skills.

Perfect! I can use this on stealth and upgrade it to E rank!

Damon pocketed the two gold coins, and opened his system. His level had increased just like he thought, and there was a notification on the level up reward, but he wanted to save that for later. Increasing the rank of his skill came first! To activate the item, he just had to rip it in half and say the name of the skill he wanted to upgrade..

“Stealth,” announced Damon, while ripping the upgrade pass in half. Almost instantly, a message popped up

[Stealth Upgraded to Rank (E)]

[You are now able to maintain the skill for 5 minutes instead of 3.]

Awesome! Now let's get onto the rewards for the level up!

[Level Up Reward Options]

-Strength +1

-Defense +1

-Agility +1

-Magic +1

Damon decided to put the 1 point into agility, because his strength and defense were already upgraded, and he didn’t need magic yet. His new system page looked a bit nicer than before.

Name] Damon Zellar

[Class] None

Level: 2 (1/10)

Strength: 7

Defense: 6

Agility: 6

Magic: 0

[Special Stats]

Luck: 5

Intelligence: 4

*** Has not been unlocked yet

[Skills]

Stealth(E)

I accomplished a lot today haven’t I. I earned some money, and I even increased my stats, skill, and level!

As Damon walked out of the park and headed back home, he activated Stealth just in case. Little did he know, that was the best choice he could’ve made. A familiar group of teenage boys were waiting outside of the park, having been tracking Damon ever since he left his apartment.

“Where is he! I swear I saw him enter, but he still hasn’t come out yet!” complained a member of the group.

“You think he died from the monsters or something?” asked another.

“Shush you morons,” yelled the leader. “Just wait, we’ll jump him the moment he comes out, and question that commoner until he begs for mercy.”

They waited and waited, but nothing happened for the rest of the night. Damon on the other hand, received a peculiar notification.

[Special Stat *** (1/5) unlocked. 4 more narrow escapes from death needed to unlock the Special Stat ***]