Chapter 9: The Journey Begins
The ride wasn't a long one and they were now in a forest which was of course within the range they were allowed to go.
Just as he anticipated, Racheal had brought him to this part of the forest which was mostly filled with a certain F-rank agility base beast.
Beasts were separated into two classes.
Normal and Magical.
Magical unlike normal beasts could use mana and magic attributes, they also possessed mana cores just like humans.
Mana cores were very important as almost everything runs with mana and they served like a battery.
Both classes of beasts followed the same ranking.
F-Rank
E-Rank
D-Rank
C-Rank
B-Rank
A-Rank
S-Rank
S+ Rank
SS Rank
SS+ Rank
Lesser beasts were from F to A-rank with A-rank and below being greater beasts. The cores produced by magical beasts also followed the same ranking.
So this place was filled with the lowest rank of beasts but it was still too risky for someone like him.
They both came out of the vehicle before glancing around.
It seemed like they were the only ones here but they knew better than to drop their guard.
“If we come across any beast of the F rank, leave it to me. Only interfere when you deem my life in danger,” he instructed.
She wasn't happy with this at all as only coming to the forest already put his life in danger but she understood what he meant.
They both walked deeper into the forest and it wasn't long after that Art began to feel a little bit tired.
This wasn't good as he contemplated whether to rest or not and this made him fail to notice the creature hiding beside him.
With one leap, it covered the distance between them, its jaws headed straight for his neck.
Art slashed one of the two daggers he held towards it but cursed internally as his body was too slow. He wasn't going to make it on time.
A beam of water slammed into the beast which looked like a wolf but was more bigger with sharper, longer teeth and claws.
It was sent flying straight into a tree branch which impaled through its neck, killing it instantly.
Art turned towards the source of this attack to see Racheal with her right arm outstretched.
"Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yes. Thanks,” he responded, wiping the sweat from his forehead while walking forward.
She wanted to tell him that it would be best if they head out but she knew that it would only be a waste of time.
Art on the other hand was embarrassed and disappointed. If he came here alone, he would be probably dead by now.
The ability of a Silver to automatically know how to wield a weapon without any training was called weapon awakening and it can only happen for a particular type of weapon. So if someone gets a spear awakening they won't be able to use a sword or arrow without training from the beginning, although they would still improve faster than others who weren't Silvers.
Art who currently wielded two daggers didn't have a weapon awakening for it but he learned how to use multiple weapons along with martial arts from his former world so he believed in his capabilities to kill a beast like that but alas, his body just couldn't respond quickly to his thoughts which was why he almost ended up dead, and now, his free EXP was gone.
He promised himself to leave this forest in a much better state.
This time while walking, he didn't get distracted by even the strange beautiful plants and flowers which didn't exist in his former world.
Some of them opened while spreading out sparkling specks of dust, which was a very beautiful sight, and some changed colour depending on how close you got to them.
Too bad he couldn't appreciate all this.
The forest got dense with plants and trees the deeper they walked in.
They didn't say anything to each other. While he focused on finding beasts, Racheal concentrated on protecting both of them as her eyes daggered around every area they passed.
Before the beast which she killed earlier leaped towards him, she had already spotted it but waited to see how he would react and she had to say that she was very impressed by how fast he did.
Not just this but his health had improved slightly, his character had gone through changes after he woke up and he also seemed more distant.
This was both confusing and surprising as she didn't expect so many changes when he said that he had been reborn.
She knew very well that she was in love with him and honestly, she wanted him to see this, drop his almost impossible pursuit of becoming as strong as his father and live with her for the rest of the little time he had left, which she swore to put her best into making him happy and memorable.
Even though she was a little bit disappointed when he still insisted on becoming a powerful mage the other day, it moved her when she saw his determination which was something she admired but had been lost, and the way he asked for her help made her very happy, so if she couldn't make him happy by being a couple then she was going to do so in whatever path he chooses.
Although it pained her when she thought about things like this, she wanted him to die with a smile on his face.
But never did she expect to see him so dedicated to what he said.
Even though his body was frail he kept exercising and shockingly started to make improvements.
The change to his health and body was slight and not pronounced, but she has been with him long enough to notice it.
Not just this, she also witnessed how fast he moved when attacking the beast, and even though it wasn't that fast to her, he would have in no way moved as fast as that three days ago. Also, the fact that he was still walking despite the distance they have travelled, proved it even more.
This was because of his current endurance stat point which was five times more than that of three days ago.
To perform better next time, Art put his remaining two free stat points into agility, making him close to the speed and agility of an average base mage. But even with this, he won't still be able to perform as well as someone else with an 8 stat point in agility because his bones and muscles were just too weak.
Until he locked his mana core to stop his body deterioration, putting stat points in not just vitality but others, would prove barely significant. Which was why he needed to lock it as soon as possible.
For now, the thing keeping him going was how he planned on repaying everyone ten folds for how they had treated both him and the former body owner. Yes, he believed that he deserved justice, it wasn't as though he was using it as an excuse to also relive himself …………right?
Well, for now, that was only a pipe dream as he was sure that he was the world's weakest mage.
“Why haven't we come across another one?” he asked with a frown. Asif responding to his question, a similar wolf beast to the one he fought, or better put, she killed, emerged from the bushes, making growling sounds while starting at them.
His grip on the dagger tightened as notifications suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Instant quest received]
[Kill your first beast]
[Reward: ???]
[Punishment: ???]
[Host has to do this without external help!]
‘Such a nice way to put it. So this one comes with a punishment and here was I thinking that I had a pampering system. Well, I already had that in mind.’
“Racheal. Don't interfere no matter what happens. If I lose my life then so be it. I can't become the strongest if I can't kill a simple F-rank beast, can I?”
“But………” she wanted to object but he was already walking towards the beast.
‘What’s gotten into him? Does he want to get himself killed?’
She calmed herself down trying to believe that he must have something in store which would guarantee victory. So she decided to just observe. Little did she know that he only had his skills to use.
Even though he felt nervous and a little scared, he was also excited as he prepared for his first fight to mark the start of his journey from the weakest, to becoming the strongest mage in the world.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone