The next morning came with the harsh clang of a bell and a shout of, "Up! If you're not swinging before the sun rises, you're already dead!"
Kael groaned and rolled off the straw bed, sore from the day before. The mill job turned out to be backbreaking labor—hauling logs, splitting wood, and cleaning out grinding stones—but it paid in warm meals and a roof over his head.
After work, he trained.
Every day.
Wooden swords. Dummy targets. Basic stances drilled into him by the gruff town guard captain, a one-eyed man named Garven. Garven didn't ask where Kael came from. He didn't care.
"You want to swing a sword? Fine. But don't expect to survive with dreams and luck."
Kael learned fast.
The System tracked his progress. He could feel it—each strike, each parry, refining something deep inside him.
> Progress: 83% – Weapon Proficiency Unlock in 2 Days
He was starting to feel stronger. More focused. But he also knew it wouldn't be enough. Not in a world like this.
---
On the fifth day, while helping gather firewood with two village boys, something went wrong.
The woods were quiet.
Too quiet.
Kael felt it before he saw them—a prickle on his skin, a knot in his gut.
"Hold on," he whispered. "Something's—"
A high-pitched shriek split the air.
Goblins.
Three of them burst from the underbrush, green-skinned, yellow-eyed, wielding rusted blades and jagged clubs. One lunged straight at Kael.
"Run!" Kael shouted to the others.
He didn't run.
Instead, he grabbed a fallen branch—long, thick, a makeshift staff—and met the goblin head-on.
Clang!
The branch splintered against the goblin's blade. Kael staggered, rolled, and came up behind it.
CRACK!
He drove the branch into its skull. It shrieked, fell—twitched—and stopped.
A chime echoed in his mind.
> You have defeated [Goblin Scout Lv. 3].
Skill Fragment Extracted.
New Skill Acquired: [Quickstep Lv. 1]
"Wait—what?!"
Another goblin charged.
Kael instinctively sidestepped—his body moving faster than it should. The world seemed to slow for just a moment.
> [Quickstep] activated. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
He slid behind the goblin and smashed its leg out from under it, then drove the broken branch into its chest.
Blood soaked his hands.
> You have defeated [Goblin Fighter Lv. 2].
Skill Fragment Stored (Insufficient Energy to Extract).
The last goblin turned and fled.
Kael didn't chase it. He stood there, panting, heart hammering, staring at the bloody mess at his feet.
The village boys returned, wide-eyed.
"Y-You killed them…"
"I got lucky," Kael muttered. But he knew it wasn't just luck.
It was the System's help.
Back in the village, Garven inspected the corpses Kael dragged back.
"You did this with a stick?"
Kael nodded.
Garven grunted. "You've got guts. And maybe some talent."
> System Notification:
Training Complete – Weapon Proficiency Unlocked
New Skill Acquired: [Basic Swordsmanship Lv. 1]
Kael read the message and smiled faintly.
This world was brutal. Bloody. Real.
But it also had rules. Rules he could master.
And now… he had his first kill.