"Uhh..."

Feeling uncomfortable, Damian turned around in his sleep. Not finding any relief, Damian spread his legs wide, but the uncomfortable feeling continued.

One more turn and it was known that this discomfort was caused by nature's call. Damian wanted to sleep a bit longer, but...

Nature's call shouldn't be ignored. Damian opened his eyes, wondering if he had drank anything cold the night before.

The morning fog began to dissipate as dewdrops began to trickle down the blades of grass, shimmering like precious beads ticking down as they wetted Damian's cloth.

Accepting the wetness as a gift from mother nature, Damian let the fresh morning breeze blow by his cheeks, nose, and ears, washing his face with the most refreshing face wash in existence.

Rays of orange and gold rained down on the clearing, attempting to set it aflame. The shaggy grasses waved like rippling waves in a green ocean. The lush, green trees moved with each gust of wind, like an instrument of the morning breeze, bringing the refreshing music of whipping leaves to Damian's ear.

Reading many novels, Damian had laughed at the protagonists who forgot about their transmission the second morning they woke up.

But being in a similar situation, Damian couldn't relate anymore. 'So it was true.'

Damian wore a big smile on his face as he got up. He opened his arms wide and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

'This isn't a dream. It's reality.' No matter how many breaths he took, Damian knew he couldn't get rid of the big smile off his face. That's why he let his lips crack as big a smile as he wanted.

*Phew!*

Releasing a long breath, Damian opened his eyes again. The 1.8-metre body with muscles in the right places had gained some fat during the last year, waiting to be burnt and revel in the ripe form it once had. His angular face, crowned by his short black hair, had black eyes shining with uncontrollable excitement, and expressing his emotions were his thin lips, cracking a smile wider than their boundaries allowed them to.

Same but yet different, Damian felt his heart wildly beating in excitement as he screamed at the sky, "I am awake!"

Since he was in this fantasy, he might as well make it his own. Humans loved adventure, and Damian was no different. He was an adventurer at heart, and he wanted to see everything this world had to offer, beginning with this forest. But before that, he had an important task to do...

"Let's answer nature's call." Damian walked to the end of the clearing and started watering a tree.

Brave had been fast asleep when she heard a scream. Startled, she snapped out of her sleep, only to find her master screaming at the big-big roof. Is he attempting to win over a female? She didn't know. But looking at her master watering a tree with her tilted head, she was sure he was marking his area.

Done with his gardening, Damian turned back only to find the cute Brave looking at him with her tilted head.

*Ahem!*

"Good morning, Brave." Clearing his throat, Damian pretended like he wasn't doing the good deed of watering a tree and greeted Brave. He walked back to the centre of the clearing and took a seat.

Taking the last loaf out of his inventory, Damian tore it into two parts, passing the smaller one to Brave. He chewed on the larger one. 'It looks like I have to try the wild rat meat today.' Deciding on his dinner, Damian checked his status.

-----//-----

[ «Status» ‹Skills› ‹Companions› ]

>----

[ Name: Damian Colt ]

[ Race: ??? ]

[ Age: 19 years ]

[ Height: 1.8meter; Weight: 69kg ]

>----

[ Level: 2 ]

[ Expression: 0/50 ]

[ Stats: 5 ]

[ Class: (???) Monster King ‹1›]

>----

[ Strength: 7 + ]

[ Agility: 7 + ]

[ Stamina: 7 + ]

[ Vitality: 7 + ]

[ Mana: 19 + ]

[ Spirit: 0 ]

>----

[ Water affinity: 0% ]

[ Fire affinity: 0% ]

[ Earth affinity: 0% ]

[ Wind affinity: 0% ]

[ Spiritual affinity: 100% ]

>----

[ Spiritual abilities: N/A ]

-----//-----

I would have continued with the balanced approach, but...

Gulp!*

Gulping the last bit of bread down his throat, Damian looked at Brave, stuffing her small cheek full of big bites of the bread.

'I have some rats to trap.' A small smile appeared on Damian's face.

>----

[ Strength: 7 ]

[ Agility: 12 ]

[ Stamina: 7 ]

[ Vitality: 7 ]

[ Mana: 19 ]

[ Spirit: 1 ]

>----

Investing all his stats in Agility, Damian was about to get to work when...

*Ding!*

«New quest generated!»

-----//-----

[ «Quest¹» ‹Inventory› ‹Messages› ]

>----

[ Quest: Revenge. ]

[ Difficulty: E+ ]

[ Objective: Kill the Wild rats. ]

[ Description: You had a hard time scaring the rats away yesterday and were badly injured in the process. Show them the wrath of the monster king and exert vengeance on the rats by killing them. ]

[ Rewards:- ]

[ 0/1 kill: Fruit bread X2 ]

[ 0/2 kill: 1.5-litre water bottle X1 ]

[ 0/3 kill: Basic health potion X1 ]

[ 0/4 kill: E-grade sword X1 ]

-----//-----

[ Accept the quest 'Revenge'? ]

[ ‹Yes› ‹No› ]

'This is new.' Damian was thinking of the choice he received at the end of the quest window when he remembered that he hadn't received a choice like this in the previous quest.

Putting his new question on his long list of questions, Damian chose to answer yes. He was going to kill the rats anyway, so the quest was welcome for him. Who doesn't like free rewards, especially when they are so generous?

Looking at the rewards, especially the fourth one, Damian felt more motivated than before.

Turning to the hungry rat who was done with her breakfast and looking at him with her big golden eyes, Damian said, "It's time to get to work, Brave."

As the last bit of the morning fog dispatched from the earth, a man and a rat set out to work...

.

.

.

.

"Finally, we are done." Letting out an exhausted sigh, Damian used his thumb to wipe the beads of sweat gathered on his forehead. The sun on top of his head was releasing heat. He didn't expect it would be in the morning.

Taking the water bottle out of his inventory, he stirred the last 100 ml or so of water it contained. Filling the 20ml or so cap full with water, he passed it to Brave on the ground.

Brave, laying on the ground, used the last ounce of energy she had to drag her mouth to the cap, licking the water.

Damian felt sorry for the energetic Brave of the morning like this, but looking in front of him, he felt it was necessary.

Gulping the cold water down his throat, Damian felt satisfied. He wondered, 'Does the inventory have a cooling effect or does it keep the item at the same temperature it was stored at?'

Leaving the question for sometime later, Damian squatted at Brave's level. Taking the now empty cap and fitting it onto the bottle, he stored it in inventory.

"You remember your task, right?" Damian locked his eyes with Brave, asking the question.

*Squeak!*

Receiving a determined nod from Brave, Damian got up. Looking at his bare chest, he once again looked at the trap.

'This better work; I am sacrificing my shirt for it.' Damian had first thought of setting up a normal booby trap, but he didn't have enough time or resources to build it. And even if he did, looking back at the nature of his enemies, he was sure most would jump past it.

"Brave, get to your location." Damian picked up a stick beside him, giving a command to Brave. He wasn't sure how much she understood or if she even understood anything, but she had done enough. Now it was all up to him.

.

.

.

.

*Squeak!*

Hearing the squeak in the distance, Damian looked at the sun, which was on its way to the west horizon. 'It took me a long time to track them down.' Taking a deep breath, Damian started walking towards the sound.

A few moments later, standing in front of the group of rats, Damian couldn't help but marvel at his luck in finding all four of the four rats from yesterday at the same place.

*Squeak!*

As the leader of the group let out a threatening squeak, the hairs on its body stood up, making its followers follow suit.

Damian walked towards them, unconcerned about the rats' threats.

'Oh, the leader has a wound on his forehead. Was he involved in some gang fight?' He even commented on the new cut wound on the leader's forehead.

*Squeeeeeak!*

Taken aback by the carefree way of the enemy, the leader let out a high-pitched squeak, backing off a little. Unlike yesterday, when it was daring and challenging, the leader looked a bit afraid today.

Damian, noticing this strange behaviour, had no way of finding the reason. Stopping a few metres ahead of the group, Damian stood there in silence.

*Squeak! Squeeeeeak!*

The tension among the group was increasing. The rats were letting out squeaks after squeaks to warn the enemy, but he was just standing like a statue.

Just when the nervous rats were about to pounce on the enemy, their enemy moved faster. In a sudden moment, Damian brought the stick high in the air. With a quick successive movement, he used all his strength to slam it down on the head of the leader.

*Katcha!*

With the whistle of the stick breaking in two, the rats leapt at the enemy.