Chapter 1: A Boy With a Dream
"Ugh."
"Here, take this!"
"Huek."
"And this!"
At the back of the school grounds, a group of boys kept beating down another boy their age. And this boy has certain characteristics.
The boy has dark Brown hair and heterochromia (red left eye and blue right eye). And right now he is crouching down as he is getting beaten by the group around him.
"Come on, scream!"
"Guh.
"I said scream!"
"That's enough for today; let's leave."
Yeah, it's not fun like the first few times we beat him up."
Well, I guess you could say he got stronger thanks to us."
"Yeah right."
"""Ahahahahahaha!"""
They stopped beating him, realizing he was responsive like he was before. Afterwards, they left laughing as though what they did was something normal.
"Treat those bruises as our present for this summer vacation, Trash-ven."
"""Ahahahaha! """
Ugh. Grunting as he stood up. The boy, whom they called Trash-ven, then looked around and thought. 'Are they gone? Good.'
After confirming, he put a piece of clothing in his mouth and then bit on it hard. A few minutes later, a series of continuous grunts and rough breathing followed.
"Kohoh, kohoh, haaa, haaaa. That was even more painful than what they would usually do. Haaaah, calling me whatever they like, my name is Jayven, You bastards."
Afterwards, he stood up with a heavy sigh, cursing at the now-gone group of boys, and then limply walked in a certain direction.
And after walking for a few minutes, the boy, Jayven, arrived at a bush and looked at his surroundings.
He then took something out of it. With the rustling of the bushes, he took out his bicycle.
"Good thing I put it here; let's leave before they come back."
And with that, he rode his bicycle and left the school campus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a few minutes, he arrived at his apartment, where he treated his wound with medicine ointment.
"Tch, huuuu. This is even more painful than last time. For now, let's see my status, {Status Open}."
____________________________
Stamina - 17/30
Mana - 20/30
STR - 7
VIT - 14
INT - 11
AGI - 7
DEX - 9
SKILLS>>
CONDITION>>
TRAIT>>
___________________________________
Looking at his current status, he had a disappointed look on his face.
"I guess this is as expected. With the pace I have now, I won't be able to become a Hunter."
He then lay down on his bed as he closed his eyes. But then, a few seconds later, he got up with a fierce look in his eyes.
"So what if that's the case? Even if it takes years or decades, I won't give up. Even if it is just a glimpse, I will take my chances."
With those words as his drive, he moved his body and did a few sets of workouts. Afterwards, he took a shower and left the place with his bicycle.
~~~~District XX-Dungeon Yellow Rank~~~~
"Jayven you're here. Looks like you got into an accident again."
He said this, looking at his bruised face.
Yeah, senior, I just almost hit a passing cat on the street."
He replied, knowing he was trying to avoid talking about the real reason for it.
"Heh, heh. Let's do our best, yeah."
"Yeah!"
"Shut your yapping and get to work, you imbeciles! The hunters are already going to finish their raid; we need to dismantle their spoils so that we can get paid."
""Yes, sir! ""
With that, Jayven and his senior gathered themselves up and got to their position.
"Man, I can't believe we would be on the field even though it's just outside the dungeon, and Yellow rank one at that."
"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask, but why did we from a Dismantling Company get called out here even though we should be at the factory?"
"So you didn't know?"
"Sorry, was there something that I didn't know about?"
"I guess you didn't hear from the news last night."
"No, so what is it?"
He then told Jayven about some bigshot's child coming to this place for training and that the mayor of the place tried to appease him by gathering the full force of those who were working to support the hunters.
"They hired Chefs for the food, Blacksmiths for repairs and extra weapons, scavengers to clean the left-overs, dismantlers to process raw goods, miners, and many more just to accommodate the hunters needs."
"Wow, Just wow."
"I know right. Oh, could you pass that knife over there? I accidentally slipped it from talking to you just now."
"So it's my fault now."
"Yes, so could you please?"
"Yeah, Yeah."
As they were chattering, Jayven gave the knife to Senior, and all of a sudden he got asked a question.
"So yeah, Are you still not giving up on that dream?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look, you got closer to the dungeon you always dreamed about entering."
Hearing that, Jayven just looked at the dungeon and said. "Although I did say I wanted to raid a dungeon, that doesn't mean that's my dream."
"Oh? So what is it then?"
Hearing that, he then reminisced about his past. a guy holding a huge sword and saved him and his friends at the previous orphanage he first lived in.
And at that time, the words that he left him just stuck to him like glue.
'Everyone can be anyone they want to be, no matter the circumstance, as long as there is this tiny hope and they make the most of it. So don't beat yourself up because of failure; there is nothing against that one success.'
With those words as his pillar, he didn't stop believing, and even now he is still struggling to make his dreams come true.
"Hey, come on, answer me."
Getting back to his own thoughts, he answered his senior.
"I just want to be a hunter, a hunter that can save those in need, and a hunter that everyone can be proud of."
"What? I thought you wanted some to be rich and raid dungeons for the trills and adventure?"
"Well, there's that, but let's be a bit realistic here. My skill is holding me back, and my talent is lower than everyone at my age. What more do you think I can do?"
"That's surprising, but if you already realized that, then why work hard to dream something next to impossible?"
"It's not about achieving something I can't hvae its about working hard on that goal and earning it. In that way it would be something I can be proud of and thats just proves I earn and deserve it."
"Mhmm, wow, I guess you really thought it that far, huh?
"Hey you two! Stop yapping your mouths around and help with the restocking of this new batch of monsters."
"Damn that pig again. Why is he targeting us? Plus, we are not assigned to that shit."
"What can we do? Let's just finish this."
As the two were about to carry out their work, a boy who looked like Jayven's senior came to them.
"Big brother, let me help."
"No, kid, your skill is needed somewhere else, and the manager will yell at us again for making you tired before the big work."
"Okay. "
A little kid like the little brother of Jayven's senior working here may seem like child labor. But since they all have certain skills, they are actually allowed to work only when certain conditions are met.
"Well, his skill is very handy, so I understand the manager's point of view, but he is still a kid."
"Well, that's my fault; I suddenly asked him for help, and the manager saw it and thought it might be a good opportunity."
"Eh, did that happen before I came here?"
"Yeah that's right. Anyway, let's get a move on and finish this task."
"Okay."
The two then continued to check the corpses and carry them to the table for dismantling. But suddenly they were tackled by a goblin, and not just any goblin; it was a Hobgoblin.
With its human-like size, both of them were flung away, and seeing this happen, the whole group of people were so scared that they instantly fled the place.
As they were thrown out by the hobgoblin, It continued to attack Jayven's senior.
"Brother!"
Upon seeing this, the senior's little brother used his skill of telekenesis to throw heavy objects at the Hobgoblin.
Still, it was no use, as it was only pushed away by a few steps.
Upon realizing it had been pushed back, the goblin got so angry that it turned to the boy with a growl, ready to jump at him.
"Eeikk!"
But it wasn't able to, for Jayven stopped it within its tracks, holding tight on the goblin's leg while also using his feet to hug the pole near him.
"Grrrghgh"
"Kuh."
Angry that he stopped it, he attacked Jayven with a strong swing of his fist. But it was useless, as Jayven is still stuck to him no matter what.
Seeing this, it continued to attack Jayven even more. But all were useless, as he didn't budge.
"Kugh." 'Whatever you do, you're stuck here with me. After all, I just activated my skill to just stop you.'
He said as he looked at his status, and there he saw his current skill,
'Heh, to think I can use this to stop this guy. This useless skill that can only restrain its user. But let's see if you can cancel my skill with your brute strength?'
That's right a skill that only restrains its user [Restraint (User)]. This is one of the few reasons why Jayven is dispised mostly by everyone at his school
"Graaaah! "
The Hobgoblin kept on attacking, making Jayven suffer heavy bruises. But he still held on, making the Hobgoblin perplexed.
'You can only make me feel a little pain since I restrained one of my five senses.'
Like Jayven said, his restraint can't only restrain his body's movement but also his senses. Which in this situation his sense to feel pain to reduce it.
Jayven continued to hold on, even as he bled from the excessive beating. Holding on until the hunters arrive.