1 CH1- Ryan Stark

In a forest a group of five men rode quickly chasing a deer the size of a bull, the deer ran faster than the horses that the men were riding.

"Quickly, he'll run away!" the young man leading the group shouted anxiously. He had black hair and black eyes, his name was Ryan Stark, lord of the Stark fortress.

"Dylan, shoot him in the leg!" Ryan called out to the man riding beside him.

The man Ryan was referring to appeared to be only a few years older than he was. He had blond hair and blue eyes, carrying a bow and arrow.

Hearing the orders, Dylan quickly drew his bow and took aim at the deer's leg, pulling the string with all his strength and releasing, he shot an arrow.

The arrow flew like lightning and hit the deer's leg, causing it to lose its balance and fall crashing into a tree.

The group quickly surrounded the deer, but despite having fallen the deer quickly stood up and glared at the group, before running towards Ryan with the intention of crashing into him.

Undaunted, Ryan rode straight for the deer, but before the horse got close to the deer. He jumped, pulling a silver sword from his waist.

Still in the air, a bluish aura appeared in Ryan's arms as he brought his sword down towards the deer's head.

The sword made contact with one side of the deer's large antlers, generating a grinding noise before the sword sliced through the antler and Ryan somersaulted to the ground.

While it didn't do the deer any real harm, the blow caused the animal to become disoriented giving Dylan time to shoot another arrow into its eye.

The arrow pierced the deer's eye causing pain and making it furious.

One of the men rode towards the deer swinging a large axe, but before the man finished swinging the ax towards the animal, the deer abruptly turned its head and stabbed its remaining antler into the man's chest.

The horn lifted the man like a rag doll, piercing his chest.

"Carlos!!!" Ryan yelled angrily seeing one of his men being wounded by the deer.

Running towards the deer and taking advantage of the animal's distraction, Ryan's sword gave off a faint sharp aura and he sliced from top to bottom towards the deer's neck.

The sword made a clean cut as it slashed the beast's throat, causing it to gasp, shaking its head and throwing the man's body towards a tree.

Right after throwing the man, the deer swayed until its body hit the ground with a few spasms before it stopped moving.

Running towards the man who was thrown, Ryan turned his body and looked into his face. But his eyes had already lost focus.

"Shit!!" Ryan growled, hitting the floor as tears welled up in his eyes.

Dylan and the others watched sadly as their sire wept for the comrade who had died.

After a few moments, a middle-aged man similar in appearance to Dylan walked towards Ryan and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We have to go, nephew. The scent of blood will soon attract other beasts and we are very close to the black forest." the man said.

"He was getting married next month, Uncle Alfred. He was so happy." Ryan replied in a sad voice.

Despite the sadness, Ryan wiped away the tears understanding that now was not the time to mourn. They had to get out fast or they would be in danger of encountering a rank 2 beast, or even worse, a pack of wolves.

Alfred then advanced, picking up Carlos' body and putting it on top of his horse, before getting on it.

Ryan, Dylan and Miguel, the remaining companion, quickly split the deer and climbed onto their horses.

Looking at his men, Ryan gave the order, "Come on, we're heading back to the keep."

And they then began to ride fast. Not long after that, howls started coming from the direction they came from, luckily they were already far away.

...

A while later the group arrived at a stone-walled fortress. The wall had deep scars, caused by the hordes of beasts that had already tried to invade the fortress.

But despite its appearance, it went to show that the wall was capable of keeping the beasts out.

Seeing Ryan's group return, one of the soldiers on the fence shouted, "Open the gate! The lord of the city is back!"

The gate then opened allowing Ryan and his group to enter the fortress.

Once inside the fortress, the group stopped and got off their horses. As a guard approached smiling.

"Welcome back, sir!" the guard said, before he saw the body on Alfred's horse and looked at the remaining limbs, with a sad face.

Ryan then said: "Carlos ended up being taken by surprise, I... I couldn't do anything"

Despite being saddened by Carlos' death, the soldier replied: "It's not your fault, my lord. He understood the danger of hunting, I'm sure he would be honored to die fighting by your side." He said it with firmness and sincerity in his gaze.

Hearing the soldier's words, Ryan sighed before shaking his head and looking at Alfred:

"Uncle, let Carlos' fiance know what happened and organize the funeral." Ryan said, before he thought of anything and continued, "And, give your fiancée a gold coin, she's going to need it."

A gold coin is a very large amount of money, as usually lords would only give ten pieces of silver to their soldiers' families when they died, this to lords who valued the lives of their soldiers.

But Ryan has a reason to give Carlos' fiancée a gold coin. The couple would soon have a child, which is why they recently chose to marry.

Understanding his lord's decision, Alfred nodded. Despite being a high value, it is for this reason that the people of the keep love their lord.

Ryan Stark might look too young for being only seventeen and already the master of Stark fortress, but after his father's death, he took over.

Despite his age, he proved himself worthy of the position, showing talent and wisdom. And unlike the vast majority of stronghold masters, he does not exploit his people with ridiculous taxes, and treats them with dignity.

Directing his gaze to Miguel, he gave another order: "Miguel, I want you to warn the soldiers at the other gates to stay alert. The number of times we have encountered bigger and stronger beasts seems to be increasing in frequency."

Nodding, Miguel climbed onto his horse to warn the soldiers at the other gates of the city.

Ryan and Dylan then took the deer carcass on a wagon towards the butcher's.

...

Inside the butcher shop they separated the deer parts, the animal was big enough to supply the territory's meat supply for a few days.

Sitting next to Ryan, Dylan said, "Don't take too much of yourself, my lord."

"None of us could do anything in a situation like that," he said, sensing Ryan's mood.

Dylan was one of the few people Ryan could call a true friend, having been with him since he was young. The two grew up together, practically making Dylan the brother Ryan never had.

"I know...I just don't like the idea of watching my soldiers die." Ryan replied as they continued to separate the deer's innards. "But do not worry. Don't think your sire will be depressed forever," he said with a smile, punching his friend lightly on the shoulder.

Listening to his lord, Dylan smiled.

After answering, Ryan felt something hard in his hands causing him to pull whatever it was from inside the deer's innards.

Cleaning the object, he realized that it was a stone glowing with blue light.

"Magic Core!" Ryan exclaimed, catching the attention of his friend who showed the same surprise on his face.

After all, neither of them had ever seen a magic core up close. A magic core only forms when a beast reaches rank 2, and no one in the stronghold has the strength to kill a beast of that rank.

"That's why the deer was so big and strong. He was in the process of transitioning into a rank 2 beast!" Ryan immediately understood why the deer was unusually large.

A rank 2 crossbow is totally different from a normal crossbow. Having greater strength than a normal aura warrior.

Looking at the rock, Ryan thought that he and his group were lucky the beast hadn't advanced before the battle or he didn't know how things would turn out.

'I would probably die again.' He thought with a deprecating laugh.

Ryan himself is just a beginner warrior, although he is close to advancing to an aura warrior. But the difference in strength between the two levels is like comparing a chimpanzee and a gorilla.

Holding the stone closer to his eye and watching the beautiful blue glow, Ryan suddenly felt a stream of energy flow from the stone into his body and towards his head.

It all happened in the blink of an eye and then he heard a voice in his head before he passed out.

[Power source found!]

[Absorbing energy source!]

[System loaded!]

Seeing Ryan pass out in front of him, Dylan jumped up in fear to hold your lord.

"Sir!!"

Next chapter