Preparation

Based on the number of Skills he had—most of them Rare and fairly high-leveled for a village kid—as well as his high Spirit stat, he was bound to receive higher-ranked class options.

Of course, there was no harm in over-preparing. Gaining more life experience would only increase his chances and present better options.

"What's the hurry?" Noelle responded.

In the end, she gave up and started walking toward him with Paul.

"I only have a few months until I turn ten, so the more trips I make, the better it is for me," Peter explained.

"Oh, so you've really decided to choose a combat class in the end, huh?" Paul remarked amicably.

Paul and James both came from hunter families and had decided early on to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors.

Inspect {Human}…

[

Name: Paul

Race: Human

Class: Woodsman lv. 8, Villager lv.1

Level: 9

Age: 15

]

Inspect {Human}…

[

Name: Noelle

Race: Human

Class: Herbal Alchemist lv. 4, Villager lv.3

Level: 7

Age: 14

]

Now that they were close, Peter used Inspect on them for the experience.

Not everyone ended up choosing a combat-related class. Technically, Woodsman wasn't a combat class either—the distinction was much subtler.

Noelle, for example, could use her class to brew an explosive cocktail and throw it in combat, but that wouldn't make it a combat class. The answer, as always, lay in how experience was calculated.

Noelle would only gain experience from tasks that aligned with her class. Similarly, Paul could use his skills in war and kill thousands of people, but it wouldn't provide him any experience.

This was why people preferred choosing generalized classes with specialized skills. The more generalized a class was, the more types of tasks would contribute to leveling it up.

Of course, not everyone had the option to select such classes. That was why people encouraged children to take on various challenging and meaningful tasks, hoping they would unlock a more versatile class.

Stats, the number and level of skills, the grade of those skills, the feats one had accomplished, the difficulty of those feats relative to one's abilities, and many other parameters all played a role in determining what class options a person had when the time came to choose one.

"Yeah, I don't want to be a merchant or anything else," Peter said.

"That's a good choice. You've always been good with the sword. The only reason we can even win against you is because of our higher physical stats," Noelle said, shrugging.

"That's only true for you and Sasha. His skill with the sword is too advanced for me to beat him in close combat. David and James probably feel the same," Paul grumbled, patting a sheep.

"Can you tell me what kind of creatures you've encountered on your past trips?" Peter asked.

Peter had read about plenty of creatures in books, but so far, he had only come across horned rabbits and slimes.

'Wait, Aunt Amelia's tamed cat should also qualify,' he recalled.

"I mean, there's not much to talk about. It's mostly simple creatures like deer, horned rabbits, slimes, and pheasant birds. The guards don't allow anything predatory to get close to the outskirts and survive. We did once encounter a pair of wolves, though," Paul answered, settling down nearby.

That was a bit disappointing, but considering the village's safety, it made sense.

"They were just normal wolves. Still, very dangerous for us, at least. It's funny how a pair of ordinary wolves could be more threatening than a bunch of goblins," Paul added, smiling by the end.

"Don't underestimate humanoids," Noelle interjected, her voice firm.

Paul had the decency to look ashamed.

Humanoid monsters were a sore subject for Noelle. After all, she was an orphan because of them.

She had lost her parents to an orc attack on the village before Peter was even born. Everyone knew the tale—how the orcs attacked, and how the Count later sent his knights along with a large band of adventurers to purge the humanoid monsters from the forest.

The village militia didn't just defend against wild creatures; they were also responsible for ensuring that no stray humanoid monsters escaped into the forest.

They multiplied quickly, and when they did, they invaded.

Entire nations had fallen to such creatures in the past when left unchecked.

"Well, if we finish shearing by the end of today, we can go tomorrow. I could use the opportunity to gather herbs for potions to sell. The merchants should be visiting soon to collect the summer crops and wool," Noelle muttered once she had calmed down.

No one had any objections, so they focused on their work.

…

"Use it responsibly. I don't want to hear about any incidents."

Peter accepted the small blade from his father, nodding in acknowledgment. They stood at the gate of their house, waiting for the others to arrive.

"I'll be careful," he promised.

He had received the weapon a month ago and had already familiarized himself with it by sparring with his father every morning. This was the first time he would be taking it outside their home — and potentially using it in combat.

They didn't have to wait long before the group arrived together. Each of them carried proper weapons and wore leather armour, just like him.

Peter nodded at his parents before walking over to stand beside his friends.

"Try to remain vigilant and don't go too deep," his father warned, addressing the older ones in the group.

His mother sighed softly before walking over to Noelle, handing her a small kit, which Noelle accepted with a bit of confusion.

"A mother cannot help but worry about her child. The kit has some potions in it — use them if any of you end up getting injured for any reason," she said with a gentle smile.

Noelle returned the smile. "Don't worry, Aunt. We'll only stay in the outskirts and flee back to the village at the first sign of anything unexpected."

"Yes, Aunt. We also have this to call for help immediately," Sasha added from beside Peter.

She pulled out a tiny cylinder from her chest pocket — a small signal device designed to fire a colourful smoke signal into the sky.