Running through the Veles village was a small petite silver haired boy, no more than 5 cycles old.

He's been running every morning, every Sol for awhile now.

At first, he only run one lap around one street, but as time goes on, he expanded it around the whole village,

which wasn't a small feat considering his age.

[Good morning Kai, Cripin. The usual patrol ?]

[Good morning Arian. Yeah, it's our turn to patrol in the morning this Sabb. What about you, on a morning jog ?]

[Like usual, then I won't disturb you. See ya !]

Continuing his morning running like usual,he's about to finish his 10th lap around the village. Exhausted, he heads home, to the Fronto family inn.

[I'm home!] He said as he entered the kitchen.

[Welcome home, come, dinner will be ready soon.] Miranda answered.

He's been living with Fronto family for 2 cycles now and he's come to feel here just like at home.

At the beginning it was very awkward, but over time it got better.

As he come to the table and sit on his chair, he asked:

[Where are uncle and Bernard? I also didn't see Myla around...]

[Calvin has gone with Myla to the school to enroll you two and Bernard is probably training like usual.]

Miranda answered. At first, Arian was calling them by their names, but over time, he started calling them uncle and aunt.

As a 5 cycle old, he and Myla will start going to school. It's not a normal school, but a school designed to train warriors and eaters.

Arian and Myla has been training with a sword for about a cycle now, and Calvin wasn't a gentle teacher.

He wanted them to learn as much as possible before they start going to school.

Arian was also learning magic from his grandma Abbey once a Sabb every Lun.

[Your grandpa and grandma will be coming this sol before they head to the city...] Miranda said.

[About time, they been pushing that away for awhile now.] Arian answered.

Because of Howard's and Garrett's achievements during the war with Nox kingdom, king was very easy on their family,

but as the work piled up, they couldn't wait anymore for Garrett to return home and replace Quinn.

[We're home]

[Home !]

As Calvin and Myla have come home, they were only waiting for Bernard to return.

Since Arian has started living with them, Calvin has started growing a stylish beard, seeing it looks cool on him.

He wasn't joking when he said he's gonna make Arian strong, thanks to his spartan training,

both Arian and Myla can swing even a real sword like its nothing. Although it's just a normal swing.

[The paperwork is done, they will start going to school next Lun.] Calvin said.

[Do I also need to go to the normal classes ? I don't think there is anything left for me to learn in there...] Arian asked.

[No, you can skip those and do whatever you want. You only need to attend eater classes and take tests for the normal ones.] Calvin answered.

[Yay, more time for training and studying...] Arian joked.

[That's good and all but wouldn't you want to go and play a little ? All you do nowasols is training and studying...] Miranda asked.

[Why, I'm having ton of fun doing just that.]

Arian know that his way of thinking baffled those around him.

While other children his age always played around and only trained and studied when their parents convinced them, Arian was the complete opposite.

Arian loved to study because he found it interesting to learn about this different world, however, what he loved the most was running.

Pushing his body to the limits and experiencing that runner's high was something he loved even in his previous life.

But, a leg injury in high school prevented him from ever running again which greatly depressed him.

[Be careful, don't push yourself too much. We don't want those fevers to return now, do we ?] Calvin said.

[Don't worry so much uncle, last time I had a fever was one cycle ago...] Arian answered.

[It's still better to be careful for awhile, okay ?] Miranda added.

[I will !]

Maybe because he's older, or because of training, Arians frequent fevers have disappeared completely.

[I'm home, what's for dinner ?] Bernard asked as he come inside, completely shirtless...

[Come and see, it's the usual. Well since everyone's here, we could finally start to eat.] Miranda answered.

Their dinner was a standard commoner meal, like a horned rabbit soup with a few vegetables and black bread.

Because most ma.beast meat was too tough for normal humans, they would normally eat only horned rabbits, two headed wolves or antlerless deer

which were not even considered ma.beasts. While commoners eat anything out of necessity, nobles eat delicate delicious food just for enjoyment.

After the dinner, Arian headed to his room to continue reading the book that he have yet to finish.

He has already finished reading so many books that he managed to fill an entire bookshelf, which everyone found very impressive.

Most of the books were borrowed from his grandma's library or from father Killian.

While reading the book, he absentmindedly invoked "status" in his mind.

Name: Arian Deurius - Damian

Age: 5

Race: Half-Elf

Gender: Male

Level: 1

Attribute: none

Skills: [Appraisal LV2], [Swordsmanship LV1]

Abilities: [Concentration LV1], [Mana Control LV1]

Title: none

Soul type: Red

While looking at his status, he remembered what father Killian said about each category.

While name, age, race and gender are obvious, others are a little bit complicated, some more, some less.

Level is a number that represents a strength of the soul and absorbing the soul fragments by killing the creatures with a soul will increase the number.

Attribute is an elemental component of a soul. Only humans and halflings can be born without an attribute.

Using magic require an attribute, so those without attribute cannot use any kind of magic.

So, fire magic require an fire attribute and water magic require a water attribute. More complicated magic like ice magic require two attributes, water and wind.

Because of this, more and more wizards are becoming eaters, as absorbing a ma.beast soul core will result in them acquiring an attribute that ma.beast had.

Skills are the knowledge of the soul and any creature that could learn and think could acquire a skill.

So, if you learn how to use a sword, you will acquire a [Swordsmanship] skill.

Abilities are the most interesting as every creature has them or could acquire them.

Every creature has an ability that is unique to their race, which also make every creature's appearance unique.

Humans only has magic or mind related abilities, but eaters could acquire other abilities by absorbing ma.beast soul cores.

Titles are a mystery because they can come anytime and without warning.

They usually come after completing a certain action and can grant you a bonus to your status. But sometime, that bonus could also be negative.

Other than appraisal, Arians status is relatively normal.

He got the sword skill one lun after he started training with the sword, Myla got it two lun after.

As for his abilities, he may have acquired [Concentration] because he reads so much, and [Mana control] when he was learning magic from his grandma Abbey.

[Arian!!! Your grandma and grandpa are here, come to the kitchen.] Bernard called while Arian was lost in thought.

He quickly jumped off the bed, returned the book on the shelf and got out of his room.

[Here I am, let's go...] Arian answered.

[Are you ready for the hunt, next sol will be your first time fighting ma.beast, right ?]

Bernard asked as they were on their way to the kitchen.

[Both nervous and excited to tell you the true...] Arian answered with a smile.

[Haha, it's just a slime type ma.beast, those pests are easy to kill.] Bernard was encouraging Arian

When they come to the kitchen, Quinn and Abbey were sitting at the table talking with Calvin and Miranda.

[Good evening, grandma, grandpa...] Arian greeted Quinn and Abbey.

[Hello there Arian, how have you been ?] Quinn asked.

[Relatively good, enjoying my time doing fun things...] Arian answered.

[Hohoho, I see. That's youth for you.] Quinn laughed

[Liar, all he does is train and read those books of his every sol.] Miranda added.

[Well, if he enjoy doing that, just let him do what he wants to do.] Abbey answered.

Abbey was coming to visit Arian every Sabb to teach him magic, but Quinn could only manage to come once a Lun, for which he felt really bad about.

[I heard you are going back to Immitrex city, is that right ?] Arian asked.

[Unfortunately, it's true. We can't wait for Garrett to come back forever.

If he doesn't come back and inherit my title in a few more cycles, I will need to give it back and let the King choose someone else to inherit it.]

Quinn answered.

[When are you going to the city?] Calvin asked.

[Next sol in the morning, my personal guards will come to pick us up.] Quinn answered.

[This is why we come here so suddenly, we wanted to personally let you know about the situation.] Abbey added.

[I see...] Calvin answered.

[We really didn't want this to happen. It feel so wrong to just leave Arian here while his family just up and go somewhere, leaving him behind...

I feel like laughing when I remember how angry I was at Howard, yet I'm about to do the same thing...] Quinn said while lowering his head.

[Its okay, you just need to wait until uncle Garrett comes back and take your place, right ?] Arian asked innocently, making everyone surprised.

Arian know that they didn't have any other choice, he also already got used to people leaving him behind as it happened to him many times, but nobody know about that.

He also know that he will one sol leave this village and go on his own journey, leaving everyone behind.

That's just how life works, but this was not a mindset of a child, but an adult.

Everyone else know how cruel it is to leave such a young child behind, like his parents did, even if it is with another family.

[Yes, thats true...] Quinn answered after coming to his senses.

[Don't worry, we'll take good care of him.] Miranda answered with a smile.

[By the way, did you heard anything about Garrett ?] Calvin asked.

[Yes, just last Sabb we heard that he returned back to Uruviel Kingdom, so let's just hope it's a matter of time before he come back...] Quinn answered.

[Oh that's great news. But I still can't figure out why did he go to the Krerean Kingdom...] Calvin said.

[Gods know why...] Abbey said silently.

After that, they talked about various things before they said their goodbyes and parted ways.

After Arian returned to his room, he started preparing his equipment for tomorrow.

His leather armor made from horned bear's skin and reinforced with iron plates that he got from Fronto family for his 5 birthday and

a silver one-handed sword that he got from his parents as a parting gift. Both were a very well made items.

He was very excited for tomorrow's hunt more than anything, even if they would be hunting slimes, the weakest ma.beast in the world.

..........

Today is the first time I'm going outside the village and quite far at that.

I, Calvin, Bernard and Myla are walking across abandoned farms into the forgotten valley which is infested with slimes.

There exist about 45 types of slimes but most of them are the weakest Copper rank and only a "big" variant is one rank higher.

However, those big variants are extremely rare.

There are 8 ranks of ma.beast in total:

Copper from LV1 to LV10

Iron from LV11 to LV20

Silver from LV21 to Lv30

Gold from LV31 to LV40

Platinum from LV41 to Lv50

Mythril from Lv51 to LV60

Orychalcum from LV61 to LV70

Adamantite from Lv71 to LV80

Copper rank ma.beast are recommended as a foundation material for those that wants to become an "eater".

Because not every soul core is compatible with other soul cores, its best to create a foundation that is compatible with most other ma.beast soul cores.

Also, first two soul cores are combined to form a basic Transformation that stays with eaters their entire life.

Other absorbed soul cores are nothing but an upgrade to the basic transformation.

So Bernards basic transformation "Horned stone werebear" won't change drastically

or even a little if he absorbs another soul core that has little to no compatibility with his basic transformation.

This is why children that are going to become a Eater start to train so soon.

They also get assistance from their teachers to create their basic transformation that suits their fighting style.

However, nobody has ever absorbed a slime soul core because it is considered useless.

There is also a side effect of *softening which is the complete opposite of what happened to Bernard when he absorbed the stone golem soul core.

Basically your body start to become slime like over time.

[Are you ready? Okay, listen here, try killing those small green ones around here,

but be careful not to go too deep because there are those that can shot stones at you and I don't think you are ready for that.]

Calvin stoped and explained.

[Also try slicing them in half when they jump at you, because if the cut is too shallow,

they will just regenerate... Slimes may be weak, but they are annoying to kill.] Bernard added.

[Arian to the right, Myla to the left. And, START !] Calvin shouted.

Myla is going into clear space without any tree while I am going into small grove.

There are countless green slimes on my path, but I could also see a few blue and brown ones.

I look at them with appraisal...

.....

Name: Water slime

Level: 1

Attribute: Water

Abilities: Unable to appraise

Title: Unable to appraise

Hp: 100%

Mp: 100%

.....

Name: Earth slime

Level: 1

Attribute: Earth

Abilities: Unable to appraise

Title: Unable to appraise

Hp: 99%

Mp: 100%

.....

Water and Earth slimes, huh... Looks like every slime here is LV1.

I come closer to the green one and wait for him to jump at me. When he did jump at me I cut him in half with one swing, killing it instantly.

This looks easy but that wasn't a normal sized slime but a small one. Normal sized ones have a harder skin so there are harder to slice.

While thinking about that, two green slimes comes jumping at me simultaneously.

I evaded the first one and sliced in half the other one.

After restoring my stance I waited for the first one to jump at me again before cutting it in half.

This is easy, I only need to be careful not to get swarmed by a large group and to have enough space to swing my sword.

That's why those trees around me are really annoying, but I guess this is good training.

After killing about 20 green slime, I realized that I wandered too deep into the grove.

Remembering what Calvin said, I turned around to go back but a tree next to me was suddenly hit by a stone.

Before I even realized that I had already started running, countless stones were already hitting the trees behind me.

As I ran between the trees for a while, I ended up on a vast plain that Myla has gone to.

Before I could even look around, two brown slimes jumped towards me.

Reflexively swinging my sword at them, I managed to cut in half one of them while other had a deep cut.

Seeing that the other one won't jump at me again, I started running towards the place where Calvin and Bernard were.

My hand was trembling from killing that earth type, his skin was too tough.

I continue running not thinking too much about it...

Suddenly, two stones hit my back, making me clench my teeth from pain.

But I continue to run towards Myla that just came into my view. She was waiting for a green slime to jump so she could cut it just like Bernard suggested.

[RUN!!!] I shouted with all my might, as another pair of stones hit me while others were flying over or near me.

Myla was confused at first but then her expression turned sour, before starting to run too.

[Hahaha, that expression was gold!] As I screamed at no one, another stone hit me in the head. Ouch...

.....

Before long we reunited with Calvin and Bernard. But I fear that swarm behind us has grown a little bit too large.

[Hide, we got company !] I screamed.

[Lots and lots] Myla added.

[What are yo...] Before Calvin could even finish his sentence, a large rock hit him in the face, making him nearly fell to the ground.

All four of us then hide behind the trees, as slimes continue to shoot stones at us.

[How the fuck did you managed to bring so many with you ?] Bernard asked with a amazed expression.

[Sorry, they followed me while I was escaping from them.] I answered while lowering my head.

[Ouch, ouch my nose. If they weren't such a low level, it would probably bleed.] Calvin said.

[Don't say that, father!] Myla answered.

[Hey, those attacks aren't lethal at all, right? So why don't we just attack them straight on?] I asked.

[Well if you don't mind the bruises, go ahead.] Bernard answered.

[Haha, then I will go ahead]

After saying that, I got out of my cover and started running towards the swarm of slimes not minding Bernards shouts that he was just joking.

There were countless green, blue and brown slimes shooting at us stones and water projectiles.

[Dammit Arian, I can't havE YOU HAVE ALL THE FUN !] Bernard was saying as he transformed in the middle of his sentence.

[Myla, we are going too...] Said Calvin.

[Yes, father!] Myla answered

Before we realized it, it was already evening. We then headed home with countless bumps and bruises all over our body...

Only bernard was without a scratch...

..... At Home .....

In front of the entrance stood annoyed and worried Miranda. As she looked at our sorry state, she asked us all:

[Where have you been up till now, you should be back before dinner, right ?

And why do you all look like a horned bears just played catch with you ?]

[Sorry, sorry, I didn't think that Arian would bring a whole swarm of small slimes to us, not to mention, he then jumped recklessly at them...]

Calvin answered with a smile while scratching his head.

[I sorry, but it looked fun to do that...]

I answered with a smile as blood started running from my forehead across my face...

[Arian, you should be careful, you know ? Slimes may be weak but they are really dangerous in groups.] Miranda said.

[Nah, we are also to blame. We didn't even tried to stop him...]

[Even we jumped and attacked like Arian...]

Both Bernard and Myla have come to my defence. Thank you guys.

[Well no matter, come let me heal you so we could eat, you must be hungry.]

Miranda said as we walked inside. As a former Red adventurer, Miranda knows how to use healing magic.

That's why I didn't worry about cuts and bruises as she could heal at least that. After healing us, she reheated the dinner.

[Next sol we are going on a hunt again, but this time Arian, please don't get into trouble.] Calvin said as we were eating.

[Yes, it won't happen again.] I answered.

After the dinner, I go to my room. After cleaning my armor and sword from the slime goo and dirt, I lay on my bed and look at the ceiling.

After invoking "status" in my head, I look at my level. Still level 1 huh ?

It's just like they say, no matter how much you kill them, your level will go up so slowly that it's better to hunt anything else.

As I was falling asleep, I thought about how tomorrow is going to be a long sol again....