Chapter 5: The hunt

My dad dropped the knife he was holding and my mom stopped stirring their soup, on their faces were smiles that were definitely hiding some other emotions.

-Is my face that bad?- I asked Dabria

-Trust me, it's horrible-

"Perseus, did you just ask to accompany us on a hunt?" My dad asked

"Is that bad?"

"No sweetie, We are planning to bring you with us, it's just..." My mom said with a worried tone

"You're too young and it's too dangerous," my dad said, finishing my mom's sentence

"Besides your hair is already turning white, no more like it's all white, we have to figure out if you have any diseases that John can't figure out at his skill level, if it turns out fine, we'll consider taking you with us"

Unlike my Dad's black hair or my mom's brown hair, my hair is completely white, just like my previous life, well it was more silver than white.

-Oh yeah, why is your hair silver in your past life?- Dabria asked curiously

-Didn't you like observe me back then, shouldn't you know?-

-I only observed you for the last 3 years of your life-

-Well it's because my hair lacked the pigment that makes it have its color, which in my case was black, so my hair constantly lost its color from a young age, till there was more white than black, the mixture caused it to look silver-ish. Seems like with this life's luck, my hair is completely white, probably for the same reason-

My dad is a muscular man with black hair, and hazelnut eyes and is about 173 cm tall. Mom is also slightly muscular, she is about 168cm, has dark brown eyes, and brown hair and unlike my dad, she is smooth white. I a light brown skin like my dad and dark brown eyes like my mom, the only thing that makes me stand out is my completely white hair.

"Please Please Please" I begged while trying my best at the sad puppy eyes

-You look like a killer who just found his victim- Dabria said

- Shush -

-Besides, why do you want to watch them hunt so much, with your 3-year-old body, I doubt you can do anything-

-If this world is like any cliché novel, the forest is where you find your companions or pets, I want someone to help me out of trouble in the future. Maybe I'll find an injured baby wolf to raise as a companion-

-Fair enough-

My parents look at each other before sighing.

"Besides what we do out there in the forest might scare you." my mom said concerningly

"I promise to not get scared, I want to be as strong as you guys when I grow up"

"Fine, but we'll go when John is free, we need someone to help take care of you" my mom says

"Yeah, he can make sure you're safe" my dad reassured

"Ok!" I said while celebrating in my head "Can you teach me how to read after lunch please?"

-Can't you already read?- Dabria asked

-I still have to act like a dumb kid, if I learn how to read now, I can at least read educational books without needing to hide it-

"That I can do," my dad says while he picks his knife back up to continue chopping the vegetables

We had lunch and my dad taught me, I pretended to be dumb so-

-Shouldn't be too hard- Dabria exclaimed

So as to not get caught, I did show off a bit to make myself look smart to speed up the progress. After 3 days:

"My boy is a genius hahaha" my dad laughed

"He can already do math better than most students, he probably got the genius from my side," my mom said

"Mom, Dad, when will John be free?"

"In a week honey, now let's study some more or do you want to go out and have fun with the other kids"

"No, I'd rather study"

-Wouldn't going out and making friends be more beneficial for you- Dabria advised

-No, I'd rather not, they're too childish for me, besides unlike you, my parents, or John, I don't really trust people-

-With your carefree spirit, I doubt you hate people that much, just make friends with one, it's not like they'd do anything to hurt you-

-Dabria, I doubt you know the true nature of people-

-It seems like you had some bad experience during the time that I didn't watch you, I wouldn't bother you about this any further until you're ready to tell me-

During that week, I learned some geography too. We are living in a village called 'Rabbit Village' due to the abundance of rabbits in the nearby forest. Or that doesn't belong to any kingdom, but its closest kingdom is the kingdom of Artia. Artia is a kingdom famous for its trade, seems like a good kingdom for me to get rich in.

*****

1 week later

"Kid, are you sure you want to come with us?" my dad asked

"Yeah, it's not too late to turn back now" John added

"I'm sure that I want to do this, I don't want to stay home all day" I answered

"Ok, guys let's go easy today since Perseus is with us, we should go for only easy targets" my mom announced "As usual, Axel you handle close combat and the traps, I'll use the bow for support and John you support us and make sure Perseus is alright"

"Yes ma'am" the 2 guys said in unison

- Dabria make sure to look out for injured animals, we can get them to be our companion and raise them to be stronger to fight along side us-

-Along side you, you mean, I don't plan on getting involved- Dabria replied

-I thought we were in this together-

-We are- she replied nonchalantly

I just sighed and continue the day as usual.

I kept looking around to see if there is any injured animal around us and we finally walked to a stop. My dad set out a small trap because I'm here, they're not hunting large animals today, they're probably going for a small animal like a rabbit and count it as a day. As I kept looking around, John misunderstood that I was impatient.

"Relax lil buddy, hunting is all about patience"

"Ok I understand" I said to go along with his misunderstanding

Then I heard a loud barks and the sound of a lot of footsteps running towards our direction. The 3 adults got ready in their stance.

"Seems like it's our unlucky day, John make sure to prioritize Perseus' safety" My mom said

John then went in front of me and push me behind him.

I then saw a grey cat then ran out of the bushes several meters in front of us chased by several coyotes. As the cat was running towards us, it saw the trap and avoid it swiftly.

-Smart cat, after this, we have to get it as our companion-

-That's what you're concerned about?- Dabria retorted

-Don't worry, with John here, we'll be fine, I'll support him if I need to-

-You're weaker than him, what can you even do?!-

The cat then slipped past my parents and under John and jumped onto my head, I was caught off guard and fell backwards. It tried to jump again but it slipped and also fell and it fell on my chest.

< I really should've seen this coming>

Nothing ever goes the protagonist way, now coyotes came out, at least it wasn't a big magic bear. Why does it all have to be so cliché...*sigh* maybe we should rename this story to 'That time I got struck by lightning and got reincarnated into a fantasy world alongside a self-proclaimed best and most beautiful goddess of death'

-Hey! I am the best and most beautiful- the self-proclaimed best and most beautiful goddess of death retorted