The Monk interested me first of all by the fact that it was almost the only one among all classes and the prestige classes that had a class bonus to movement speed, although rather to speed in every sense. Even, for example, a high-level Warrior with high agility and strength in the region of 20 or higher will not differ much in running speed from an ordinary person, only a Barbarian could break through human limits in this regard, though quite a bit, and a Monk. Moreover, the Monk has a very significant bonus.

It is also worth noting that the Monk could only use cloth armor types and light weapons, such as kama, daggers, shurikens, darts, and so on. Although mostly they still preferred a fist fight. For this class, there were special types of gloves for protection and additional damage. If you use any armor, even light, or heavier weapons, then the Monk's class bonuses will be automatically canceled.

The plus here is that with his appearance, a Monk if desired may not stand out outwardly at all, but at the same time remain "fully armed" so to speak. This class has high indicators of defence rating, stamina, reflex, will, and even resistance to spells. Besides, who I didn’t ask, I couldn’t find out if this world has any inventory, space rings, or at least some special bags. And walking in massive armor almost around the clock being a Warrior is such a pleasure.

The protection factor(defence rating) was an important parameter. The figure of this parameter summed up all types of protection of a living creature. For example, a Warrior in full armor has a defense factor of 20, it is obvious that he gets almost all the defense factor precisely because of the armor, so the opponent with low attack rating will simply be unable to penetrate this very armor as it should. At the same time, a small mosquito can also have a protection factor of 20, but here we mean something completely different. With a low attack, this mosquito is almost impossible to hit due to its speed and small size, with the exception of AOE skills.

Of course, with all the merits of the Monk, he has his own limitations on worldview and not only, besides, there is a main well-known drawback, namely, a catastrophic lack of damage and attack rating. In fact, this is one of the most harmless classes in this regard, even if they have bonuses to damage with fists and speed. For example, the Warrior is significantly superior to the Monk in both damage and attack rating. Monk will be able to escape from many, but it will not be easy to kill an opponent with an equal level and equipment in a head-on collision.

This drawback can be covered by, for example, moving over time to the Arcane Archer prestige class. This prestige class is somewhat similar to the weapon master class and greatly increases both attack and damage, just for bow users. In combination with the speed of a monk, this direction looked promising.

Derek and I walked towards our hut chatting and occasionally greeting others. The village was not large, so most of the people knew each other.

We soon arrived at our log cabin. It was very small and huddled in the middle of other similar dwellings. Even despite the fact that people became a bit stronger thanks to the class system, this also applied to most other races and living beings, so the safety of villages and cities still remained a priority. The territory of the village was surrounded by a fence and no one was in a hurry to expand this fence in order to have more space for housing.

Mary was outside the house doing the laundry. Usually she went to the river, but if the amount of washing was insignificant, then she was quite satisfied with the supply of water in the house. Anna was by her side and helped as best she could.

Seeing Derek, both mother and daughter were delighted. Anna ran into his arms laughing, and Mary looked at him with eyes full of hope. In fact, Derek was for Mary something like the last hope for the well-being of the family which was not surprising. Derek's talent in music has been revealed a long time ago and he often plays at a local inn. Not that it would be so difficult for another person to get the first level and take the Bard class, adding skill points to the performance. But this skill, like the class itself, only adds certain class effects depending on the leveling, and does not make you a good musician or singer. So really good musicians were rare anyway, at least among the lower class people.

Derek could have gone to town and continued his career there if he wanted to, but he loved his family and didn't want to leave them, at least not yet. I suddenly realized that if one day he realizes that he can leave the family to me, he will most likely do so. Well, in any case, I don't care, in the near future I did not plan to go somewhere, after all, this body was only 14 years old.

I was not eager to babysit this family, but on the other hand, Derek could be very useful for me in the future. And in the near future, I simply will have nowhere to go.

Ignoring this touching scene, I moved to the hut. There was not a lot of space inside and a large part was occupied by beds. There were no separate rooms, we all slept side by side. In the near future this place will be my home.

The very next day I asked Derek to introduce me to a local bowmaker, after all, most of the village looked at Derek favorably. If I had pinned myself, I would most likely have been sent to hell. But even Derek was not easy to persuade the master to help me in training, he did not confess, but I guessed that he had to bribe him for compliance.

Since then, I have spent most of my time on the craft. It turned out to be far from easy and it took me almost a month to make the first semblance of a bow. Of course, one of the reasons for such a slow progress was that the grief teacher cursed me more for the fact that I was translating wood for nothing than teaching something. But later on, progress went much faster and over time I learned to create a pretty decent bow in just a couple of days.

Gradually, the master softened, noticing that I hardly talked, but only engaged in business. And later he even took the initiative to chat. It turned out that he was in the city of Rent where he learned the craft. Simple bows were not much appreciated in the city, although it was possible to earn a couple of coins from their production, so in addition to what was necessary for the village, he was mainly engaged in the manufacture of arrows. Once a season, a tax collector from Rent came along with his escort, and as a tax he received exactly arrows from this master. Of course, they were also not considered particularly expensive, but since it was a consumable item, there are no too many arrows.

I made improvised wooden swords and trained with Derek in addition to my craft. There was no one to teach us, so it didn't look very impressive, but better than nothing. But Derek managed to partially fill this gap by finding one of the warriors in the tavern and asking him to help. Soon, instead of a sword, I carved two improvised Sai out of wood for myself and trained only with them. It was a small weapon with a short blade that made it easier to deflect attacks and engage in close combat. Although I trained hand-to-hand combat, without quality gloves, I needed an alternative in the form of light weapons.

Mary stopped beating me for any reason and now looked at me with interest. I suspect that she eventually stopped harrasing me not only becouse changes in the behavior of the new Jack, but also to the fact that Derek talked to her about this. Little Anna stopped running away from me in corners and at times could even speak, although she called me a villain.

Soon it was time for the tax collector to arrive. The village was completely closed and was self-sufficient, rarely any of the peasants left its walls for a long time. Residents ate what they grew, used the tools that they made, and so on. In fact, there was almost no trade in the village at all. Even the innkeeper was often paid with goods. It was barely possible to reach the city in order to sell goods. Earlier, they already tried to collect something like a caravan there, but it ended in failure, so the arrival of the tax collector was almost the only holiday of communication with the outside world.

Of course, this tax collector was not eager to take anyone with him on an excursion, but there were rare exceptions.

Shortly before his arrival, Derek decided to tell me about his plans to go to Rent. The local contingent appreciated his music, but it was only natural that he was looking for a better audience. He said that he had already agreed with the head of the village and, in theory, would be able to leave the village.

- Will you take care of the family? - he asked.

I raised an eyebrow slightly. All day long I basically went about my business, either craft or training. I practically did not help with the housework, although the previous Jack did not help them in this regard either. In general, I honestly did not quite understand what he meant, but I knew what to answer.

“Of course you can rely on me brother.

Derek smiled and seemed to soar as if those few words solved all his problems overnight. I even felt a little embarrassed, I might have to really watch out for them with one eye.