I quickly turned my attention back to the scene in front of me.
I saw the beast still clawing at the ground, attempting to pull itself up and gain better footing.
However, my father, wielding his brightly shining silver blade, didn't let it. Rushing in, he lunged at the beast, leaving huge craters in the ground as he did.
Wow, I guess he isn't a knight for no reason.
Unfortunately, it seemed that fate had other plans entirely because when my father jumped at the monster, he ended up bumping into the ceiling, which was very low to the ground.
Wow... smooth moves, dude.
I guess luck just wasn't on our side, I think as I see my father grimace in pain, falling to the floor. Dropping his blade in the process. Seemingly knocked out by the painful blow.
Oh no! What should I do? Wait, I know! The dagger!
I look around, scanning the room for the weapon I created earlier that night.
I see it lying on the ground in a corner, likely because it was thrown when the beast emerged from the ground.
I start crawling towards it with barely enough strength to lift my limbs, of course because I am still just a one-year-old baby.
But still, I move. Making my way towards the dagger with sluggish speed.
Come on! The beast could get out at any second, and all I can do is slowly await my demise!
Finishing this thought, I regained a sliver of hope as I forcefully grasped onto something. It was my dagger!
Turning my head, I noticed the beast already slamming its foot onto the ground, gaining purchase and pulling itself from the deep hole.
Similarly, I also saw my father begin to move again, awakening from his painful slumber.
Using my dagger, I attempted to pull myself up from the floor to stand on my feet, but of course, as it always does, my body betrayed me, and I fell back to the floor with a thud.
Luckily though, my father, still injured from the hit, groggily stood up, reclaimed the sword from the ground, and with a loud battle cry, began rushing towards the shadowy beast.
Once more, the beast let out a screeching noise loud enough to crack bulletproof glass, piercing my ears and nearly making me go deaf.
I grimace and pull my hands to my ears and watch as my father and the beast engage in a terrifying battle.
Even while covering my ears, I still clearly hear what seems to be the sound of metal clashing against metal. The sound embraced my ears with a stabbing pain.
Then, all of a sudden, before I could do anything about it, my vision went completely black as I passed out.
***
I woke up in a daze, my brain feeling as though it was banging against my head, almost as if it was trying to escape.
I realized that I could still very clearly hear the sound of swords clashing. Or, in this case, claws and swords.
As I look up to see what was going on, my face went completely blank, adopting a very noticeable hint of fear.
The scene unfolding in front of me was something I could only describe as absolute carnage.
In front of me were two heavily injured beings.
One takes the appearance of a human, and the other, that of a hideous, wound infested beast.
The human, seeming relatively unscathed other than a few mildly deep gashes along his torso, stood strongly against the beast.
And, with its almost unrecognizable features, the beast was severely injured in nearly every corner of its body. Seemingly only hanging on with incredible willpower.
It seems I passed out only for a few seconds. It looks like the beast is nearly dead; My father just needs to land the killing blow, which must be pretty difficult when he's also trying to protect me.
I have to find a way out of here!
I scan the room, trying to find a route of escape, but unfortunately, the only exits are the door and, of course, the giant hole in the roof.
Damn... I guess I can't do anything for now. Let's wait until this battle is over.
I say as I, yet again, slowly crawl to the corner of the room and pull my knees to my chest, trying to seem as small as possible.
I watched as the fierce battle continued, with my dad being the obvious winner. I calmed my nerves a bit.
The beast's movements were sluggish and sloppy, clearly due to all the gaping wounds on its body pouring blood to the ground, staining the dirt a dark green.
That gives me an idea.
I look down at my dagger, smiling with a mysterious glint forming in my eyes.
Looking at the monster, it would die any second now, and judging by how my father is still attacking it, I only have around 30 seconds to perform the most spectacular throw of my life.
I grasp the dagger with my palm, gathering all the strength I can muster. And started crawling forward towards the onslaught of vigorous attacks.
I was only 2 meters away from them when, all of a sudden, I spotted an opportunity.
The beast had just fallen to its knees, finally succumbing to the countless wounds on its body.
Siezing this opportunity, my father lurched forward, launching his body at the beast. Ready to end its life.
However, before my father even got anywhere near the beast, a piece of dirt, in the shape of a dagger, stabbed squarely into the monster's neck. Ending its life on the spot.
Or so I thought.
Actually, the dagger, made purely of dirt and nothing else. Simply crumbled to pieces upon contact with the moster.
A piece of dirt obviously wouldn't be enough to kill a sacred beast born from the curse of an ancient demon.
What was I even thinking? How could I kill something so strong with only 1 point invested into my strength stat?
I'm trapped in a child's body, after all.
Realizing this, I looked ahead of myself to see that my father's blade was stabbed cleanly through the heart of the monster, ending its life.
Dang, I guess trying to kill steal isn't the strategy I should rely on. Especially when the victim is my own father.
Speaking of which, I looked over to see my dad thoroughly checking out the gashes in his side with a solemn expression plastered on his face.
It looks like he's struggling to wrap his head around the situation, too. I think to myself as he rushes over towards me.
"Ronin! Are you alright?!"
He says as he picks me up, cradling me in his arms, inspecting my body.
"It looks you'll be alright. Don't worry, Rony, we'll get out of here as soon as possible. Your mother is already packing our things. We can't stay here any longer."
He held me in his arms, seemingly afraid to let go, as we walked out of the room towards his and my mother's room.
As I entered the hall, I noticed that everything looked relatively fine, aside from a few broken glasses, likely due to the absurdly loud screeching produced by the monster.
Looking further into the kitchen, I noticed that my mother was there, frantically putting things into a crudely made leather bag.
She seemed very panicked. No, that wasn't the right word.
She seemed terrified.
I wonder what could have scared her so intensely?
When I entered the kitchen, though, I got my answer.
Looking out the window, I understood why my mother was so terrified.
Staring back at me through the small wooden frame of the window was nothing more than a seemingly endless, raging inferno.
The fire, being so inconceivably enormous that even the clouds could barely be seen.
The entirety of the quaint little village that I had slowly begun to get attached to was up in flames.
The entire damn village.
This is just the beginning. I don't even want to imagine what the aftermath of this absurd event will amount to.
"Mariselle, we have to leave. All of the villagers are likely already dead. We can't save anyone from that enormous fire."
My father was the first to speak.
He's right. I don't think we would have survived either, if we didn't live on the edge of town atop a hill that stops the approach of the flame. Only slightly, though.
"I know! But what about the peop... No, never mind. I've already gathered our things. When do we head out?
"Now."
***
We snuck through the night, narrowly evading the nearly endless number of beasts by hiding amongst the trees and bushes. Even though we were avoiding them, It seemed as though the army of monsters was following us around wherever we went.
We did have to confront a couple of them, but with the only thing around being forest and the occasional patch of grassland, my father was able to defeat them much easier than the first time when the cramped room was holding him back.
Our goal? I had no idea, but seeing the slight confidence in my father's eyes, I was reassured.
He probably knows where we're going.
That got me thinking about the quest from the system.
I have to kill 3 of those horrifying beasts? No thanks. I don't really feel like losing my life tonight. Especially after seeing how ineffective my skill was against the damn monster.
I really wish this night would end soon. I want to see what this title thing might give me.
There was nothing really like it in the many novels I read back on Earth, so I want to figure it
out as soon as possible.
That also makes me wonder.
What happens when I finally level up?
Judging by what happened when I got my first class, I'll probably get stat points, which I can then allocate to any of the aspects.
My plan from now on, if I even obtain any stat points, is to put them all into strength. I really can't stand this frail little body anymore.
Not even being able to walk is really getting to me.
I just want more control over myself.
So, with a boost in strength, I should be able to at least lift myself to a standing position.
On that thought, I have been thinking that I really want to improve faster so I can finally get to exploring this new and fascinating planet.
I think to myself in an awkward tone.
All those beautiful elf wom... I mean... beautiful scenery! Yes! all of that beautiful scenery to explore.
But with that final mischievous thought, my father stopped in his tracks.
Slowing his pace while signaling to my mother to halt.
Looking ahead, out of the densely packed area of trees, was what seemed to be a cave. A fairly large cave opening, actually.
We approached the opening of the cave at a much calmer pace. My father seemingly much more relaxed as he looked at the entrance.
My father calmly made his way into the cave, with no regard for the fact that we had no light.
It seemed odd to me at first until I realized he knew exactly where he was taking us.
Soon, we reached the end of the cave and stumbled upon a wall of cold, hard rock in front of us.
However, my father seemed to know the place perfectly as he continued up to the wall of the cave first, handing me off to my mother, and then he began scanning it for something.
I'm not sure what it is, but it looks like he found it, seeing as he stopped his search.
Moments later, I noticed him grab onto something. Pulling it from the wall, he lifted it triumphantly into the air.
Is that... A key?
I couldn't dawdle on it for long, though, because the very next moment, I watched him plunge the key straight back into the cave wall and twist it slightly, making a sound that resembled a door unlocking.
Then, with the sound of stone scraping against stone, right before my eyes, the back wall of the cave started opening. Making way, to a strange path that led far down into an open area.
I was absolutely astonished. a pathway leading underground. What could it mean?
Shortly after seeing it happen, my father came over to me and my mother.
"Follow me. Don't worry, we'll be safe from those monsters now."
Hearing that reassuring phrase, my mother and I did as instructed and followed him through to the pathway.
Looking back, after walking farther onto the path, I saw the door made of stone close on its own.
Huh, that's neat.
Then, turning around and looking forward once again, my eyes met with the most amazing sight I'd ever seen!
In front of me, at the end of the pathway, an enormous expanse of buildings and people walking around opened up to my eyes, as I saw, from the end of the pathway, an entire city open itself to my view.
Seeing my amazed expression, my father turned around and, with a warm smile etched onto his face, and arms wide open, he said...
"Welcome to the incredible mining town of Stonehollow, my dear family!"