Chapter 3: Facing the Challenge

“Master, the young master has gone down to the slaughterhouse and decided to stay there for a week.”

While Franz was enjoying his "monster hunting" method, a shadowy figure was speaking with Duss, the head of the Bonaparte family and Franz’s father, in his office. The Bonaparte family was an ancient clan in the Ala Empire. Currently, in the capital city of Muchen, apart from the royal Nikolaus family, there were four major families in order: Carlos, Bonaparte, Philip, and Amaliza. While the top two families, Carlos and Bonaparte, had significant military influence, the Philip family leaned towards politics, and the Amaliza family had a strong advantage in trade.

The Ala Empire had seven legions totaling more than 700,000 soldiers. The royal family controlled the Forbidden Army and the Mage Legion in the capital. The Carlos family held the Heavenly Wolf and Iron Blood Legions in the south of the Ala Empire, while the Bonaparte family commanded the Roaring Tiger and Fierce Eagle Legions in the northwest. The remaining Dragon Legion stationed in the east of Ala was shared by the Philip and Amaliza families. Although it appeared that the royal family and the two families, Carlos and Bonaparte, had equal military control, the royal family was the strongest. The Forbidden Army was an elite force stationed in the capital, and the Mage Legion alone was comparable to the forces of the other two families.

In this world, people practice magic and battle qi, which are then divided into various professions. The most prestigious but also rarest are mages, who possess high magical talent and can harness natural energies to create powerful, wide-area spells. It is said that just one hundred mages can destroy an entire legion. However, the number of mages is very small; the Mage Legion in the Ala Empire has only over 7,000 mages.

Another type of magic practitioner is the alchemist, who has lower magical talent but high intelligence. Alchemists apply magic to formations, magical tools, and so on. In terms of Earth, alchemists are akin to engineers in the mainstream industry.

“Master, should we stop the young master? Since waking up, I feel he has changed a lot,” the shadowy figure continued. Duss pondered for a moment and then sighed:

“Let him do what he wants. He has suffered a lot over the past 15 years. As his father, I haven't been able to do much for him.”

Duss felt deep pain. As a father and the head of a great family, he was unable to care for his own child. Franz’s mother passed away early, leaving Duss feeling deeply guilty towards his youngest child. But Duss couldn’t do more, as the family’s decisions weren’t solely his but also involved a council of six elders, with the Grand Elder always opposing him. If he were removed from his position, he feared he wouldn’t be able to protect his son even a little.

“Shadow, after this clan inspection, go and take care of the young master. Report any issues to me.”

With a wave of his hand, Shadow vanished as if he had never been in the room. Duss, now seemingly older, looked into the distance and muttered, “My son, this is all I can do for you.”

One week later, at the Bonaparte family’s slaughterhouse, Franz, wearing an old apron stained with blood, held a dagger and stabbed a pig’s throat. As the blood spurted out, he swiftly cut off the pig’s head. His decisive actions made the nearby butchers stare in amazement. If they hadn’t witnessed Franz trembling while cutting off a chicken’s head in the beginning, they would have thought the young master was a professional pig slayer.

“Ding, pig killed. Host gains 5 experience points and 1 silver.”

“Ding, proficiency in dagger technique has reached 100%. Reward: 2000 exp, 100 silver, 5 portions of ramen, 1 basic shinobi badge, and the technique ‘Spinning Shadow Clone.’”

“Ding, because the host has killed 1000 pigs, achieved the title ‘Pig Slayer.’ The system rewards 2000 exp, 500 silver, 1 basic chain (necklace), and the skill ‘One Strike Kill.’ The host is encouraged to continue working hard.”

Seeing the rewards, Franz rolled his eyes and grumbled inwardly, “What is this ‘Pig Slayer’ title? But the rewards are not bad.”

Ramen: Made from wheat and meat broth with various spices, creating a delicious dish that ninjas can’t miss. Restores 100 stamina points.

Basic Shinobi Badge: A protective band for Genin ninjas. Defense: 5-10, restores chakra at 1/s.

Basic Chain: Jewelry for Genin that stabilizes the mind, increasing HP by 10 points.

Spinning Shadow Clone: A simple physical technique combined with shadow clone technique. The clone throws the main body into the air, both using their heels to strike the opponent’s shoulders and head. Consumes 50 chakra.

One Strike Kill: 1% chance to directly kill the opponent, bypassing any defenses. This skill cannot be leveled up.

Looking at the rewards, Franz wanted to laugh. It was like warming himself by a fire on a snowy day. Especially, the “One Strike Kill” was sometimes a life-saving charm.

“Open status panel.”

Name: Franz Bonaparte. HP: 230/230. Chakra: 520/520. Stamina: 400/400. Level: 6. Experience: 1100/1500. Skills: Shadow Clone Technique, Spinning Shadow Clone, One Strike Kill. Equipment: Kunai, Shuriken, basic shinobi armor, basic shinobi badge, basic chain. Silver: 813

Franz frowned. “It seems I can’t level up here anymore. I’m only level 6, equivalent to a mid-level Fighter, while that Desmond is already a late-stage Fighter.”

In the Violet Blue Continent, fighting qi is divided into 8 levels: Fighter, Fighter Master, Great Fighter, Battle King, Battle Emperor, Battle Sage, Battle Saint, and Battle God. Each level is further divided into 3 stages: early, middle, and late. Similarly, magic is also divided into 8 levels: Apprentice Mage, Intermediate Mage, Senior Mage, Grand Mage, Archmage, Archmage Master, Mage Saint, and Mage God. On this continent, Battle Saints and Mage Saints are the highest-known ranks. They are recruited and supported by major empires. Battle Gods and Mage Gods are only in legends, and no one has ever seen them.

With only 3 weeks left before the clan inspection, Franz needed to make the most of his time to level up by killing monsters. If he couldn’t defeat Desmond in the inspection, it would be a disaster.

“Master, please don’t go. The Magical Beast Forest is extremely dangerous. Master, you…”

Emon, with tears streaming down his face, clung to Franz’s legs at the door, trying to stop him from going to the Magical Beast Forest. Franz sighed in frustration. Emon was good at everything but made a fuss about everything. To level up quickly, he needed to kill higher-level monsters. And higher-level monsters could only be found in the Magical Beast Forest – the haven for magical beasts.

“Emon, I’m just going out for a casual walk in the forest. Besides, the clan inspection is coming up, and I need to experience a bit.”

Franz tried to persuade Emon, but he refused to let go, saying, “If the young master wants to go, you must take me with you.” What a joke, Franz was going to level up by killing monsters and didn’t want anyone to know his secrets. Moreover, Emon’s weak abilities would only be a burden.

“You really…”

Franz irritated, kicked Emon away and slammed the door shut, leaving Emon sprawled on the ground.

At midnight, the Bonaparte estate was quiet in the darkness. Suddenly, a shadowy figure darted across the rooftops without making a sound. His running posture was unusual, leaning forward at a 45-degree angle, with his arms hanging back, and his feet barely touching the ground, more like jumping. With each landing, he would push off and leap forward.

“Damn Emon, making me spend 600 silver on this movement technique. But it’s not too bad. It’s even faster than a motorcycle.”

The shadowy figure was none other than Franz. To avoid Emon’s interference, he had to purchase a ninja movement technique from the system and sneak out of the family estate in the middle of the night. This made him very frustrated. Although the technique was fast, it cost 600 silver. He felt heartbroken because he had only earned just over 800 silver from his time in the slaughterhouse.

Franz slipped away, but he didn’t know that a pair of eyes had been watching him from afar since he stealthily left his room. The shadowy figure whispered, “It seems this young master is not as simple as everyone thinks.”

At dawn, Franz arrived at the Magical Beast Forest. Outside the forest’s edge, numerous teams of mercenaries were gathered, representing various professions on the continent. There were swordsmen in armor wielding greatswords; mages in magical robes; knights in shining armor riding tall mounts; and thieves in masks, slender and shadowy, blending into the darkness. Franz was dazzled.

Indeed, the Magical Beast Forest was not only a haven for magical beasts but also a hub for mercenaries. On this continent, the most powerful force is not the empires or the Holy Orders but the Mercenary Guild. This organization is non-political and brings together all professions across the Lion Continent. The Mercenary Guild accepts missions from various organizations, forces, and individuals throughout the continent. Mercenaries take on these missions and receive rewards upon completion. Franz's eyes lit up, and he quickly made his way toward the Mercenary Guild.

The guild was a tall, pointed tower built in a Western-style, larger than three football fields combined. Its walls were made of white stone, with marble inlaid along the patterns of the walls. The entire structure exuded an air of grandeur, majesty, and intimidation. Standing before it, one could feel a sense of pressure. Nearly every city and province in the empire had a branch of the Mercenary Guild to announce and verify missions. Inside the guild, mercenaries were busy taking and delivering missions, creating a scene of chaos and noise.

“How can I assist you?” A young woman at the counter smiled sweetly at Franz. Despite him wearing a mask and Genin attire, she showed no sign of surprise. In the world of mercenaries, peculiar individuals were not uncommon.

“I want to register as a mercenary,” Franz said in a deep voice.

“Certainly, please wait a moment.”

The young woman maintained her cheerful demeanor, making Franz inwardly admire her professionalism. After a while, she brought out a registration form.

“May I have your name?”

“Knife.”

Franz chose a pseudonym instead of his real name. Still maintaining her calm attitude, the young woman handed him the form.

“Mr. Knife, please complete the form to finalize your registration.”

The form contained only a few simple details, with the most important being the profession. Franz chose “thief.” In this world, thieves could be considered assassins, skilled in stealth, assassination, and information gathering. Thieves had strong offensive capabilities, and high speed, and could easily kill enemies of a higher level. However, they were not suited for prolonged battles due to their slender build and the high consumption of battle qi. Their specialty was assassination, not prolonged combat.

After filling out the information, Franz returned the form to the young woman.

“Please pay 1 gold coin for the registration f*e.”

The staff member accepted the form and said. Currency on the Lion Continent was standardized similar to the euro in Europe, divided into two types: silver and gold. One gold coin could be exchanged for 100 silver coins. A family of three could live on 1 gold coin for a month if they were frugal. Thankfully, even though Franz was considered useless, as the child of the Bonaparte family head, he still had enough gold coins.

“Here is your mercenary badge. Your current rank is D, so you can only accept D-rank missions. Please complete more missions to increase your rank.”

Mercenaries were classified into 7 ranks: D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. D-rank missions were simple tasks like gathering herbs, killing level 1 magical beasts, and collecting their hides.

Franz chose a mission to collect 10 Essence Chickens, which are level 1 magical beasts. The reward was 1 gold coin. Suddenly, a system notification sounded:

Mission: Collect 10 Essence Chickens. Reward: 200 exp, 50 silver. Failure Penalty: None. Time Limit: 1 day.

Franz's face lit up with a smile. Indeed, he was correct; he could create missions for himself. Completing missions was much faster for leveling up compared to killing monsters. Plus, it was a win-win situation. He chuckled with a hint of mischief, “I’m coming for you, Chicken Master.”

The Essence Chicken is a level 1 magical beast found in the Magical Beast Forest. Although it has minimal offensive power, its speed is extremely high, and it usually lives in flocks of 5-7. If you don't attack them quickly, the Essence Chickens will scatter, making it impossible to pursue the entire flock. This task, while simple, can take a very long time for individual mercenaries to complete. Franz thought for a moment and spent 200 silver to purchase from the system.

Basic Shuriken Throwing: Can throw up to 5 kunai or shuriken simultaneously. Accuracy ranges from 60-100%. This is a basic combat technique for ninjas, with a range of 100 steps.

The Essence Chicken is very fast, so attacking multiple targets at once is the most effective way to complete the task quickly. With the accuracy rate of the basic shuriken throwing technique, encountering up to 4 flocks should be sufficient to complete the mission. With that in mind, Franz quickly headed towards the Magical Beast Forest. Since Essence Chickens are level 1 magical beasts, they are usually found near the edge of the forest; the deeper you go, the higher the level of magical beasts. It is said that at the very end of the Magical Beast Forest, there are level 10 magical beasts – the legendary divine beasts.

After walking in the forest for an hour, Franz encountered the first flock of chickens. It was quite fortunate. The Magical Beast Forest is incredibly vast, and even though Essence Chickens are numerous, finding them is not easy. This flock had 6 chickens. The Essence Chicken looks like an Earth chicken but is one and a half times larger, with robust thighs clearly adapted for escaping in the forest. Their alert eyes constantly scan in all directions, and they will flee immediately if they sense danger. The system scan provided information about the Essence Chicken:

Name: Essence Chicken. HP: 60/60. Mana: 30/30. Health: 40/40. Attack: 5-10. Skill: Swift Escape (increases speed, enables extremely fast escape). Level: 10.

Level 1 magical beasts being level 10 already beyond the realm of wild beasts, having skills adapted to their environment. Franz approached the chickens carefully, not daring to get too close. At about 20 meters away, Franz decisively threw 5 shuriken.

“Ding, Host killed an Essence Chicken. Reward: 100 exp, 5 silver.”

“Ding, Host killed an Essence Chicken. Reward: 100 exp, 5 silver.”

The shuriken flew straight and embedded into the necks of the Essence Chickens, killing them instantly. The system notifications kept coming. Surprisingly, his luck was still good; his accuracy rate reached 100%.

“Ding, congratulations Host has leveled up to level 7. Reward: 150 silver, 10 kunai, 10 shuriken, 1 pair of cloth gloves. Equip these items?”

“Yes.”

Franz was thrilled, finally leveling up.

“Open status panel”

Name: Franz Bonaparte. HP: 280/280. Chakra: 560/560. Stamina: 420/420. Level: 7. Experience: 1600/2000. Skills: Shadow Clone Technique, Spinning Shadow Clone, One Strike Kill, Basic Shuriken Throwing. Equipment: Kunai, Shuriken, basic shinobi armor, basic shinobi badge, basic chain, cloth gloves. Silver: 38.

Looking at his funds, Franz smiled wryly. Earning money wasn’t easy, and spending it went too quickly. He collected the 5 chicken carcasses, put them in his bag, and continued on his way.

The Magical Beast Forest was indeed vast, with numerous magical beasts. Along the way, Franz killed several level 1 magical beasts to gain experience and silver. With his current strength, he could handle level 2 magical beasts, but it would require more effort, which he wanted to avoid, especially in the Magical Beast Forest where magical beasts could attack at any moment. It was best to conserve some strength. By noon, Franz had collected only 7 Essence Chickens. The forest was so large that even mercenary groups rarely encountered Essence Chickens, let alone Franz.

Feeling a bit hungry, Franz took out a deer carcass, another type of magical beast he had hunted on the way. He brought the deer meat to a small stream to clean it up. He was planning to have a barbecue in the forest. However, after cleaning it, a big problem arose… Franz didn’t have a fire. As a young master of a large family, cooking was done by others, and daily necessities were taken care of. Who carries a fire-starting tool with them?

“I’m not a caveman; I can’t eat it raw.”

Franz sighed, scratching his head, imagining himself eating raw deer meat with blood everywhere, which made him feel nauseous. Suddenly, he spotted a cute rabbit near a tree. According to his memory, this was called a Fire Rabbit – a level 1 magical beast with the ability to spit out a small fireball. Franz’s eyes lit up, and he quickly grabbed the poor rabbit, baring his teeth and saying:

“Little rabbit, be a good bunny and give me a bit of fire, and I’ll let you go. Deal?”

Unexpectedly, the little Fire Rabbit, knowing its life was in danger, stubbornly refused to produce even a tiny bit of fire, let alone a fireball. Franz squeezed the little Fire Rabbit’s neck, threatening it.

“Don’t be ungrateful. Spit it out, spit it out!”

“Mr. Rabbit, I’m begging you. Just give me a bit of fire, please.”

“Pretty little rabbit, if you give me some fire, I’ll introduce you to a lovely female rabbit. How about it?”

…

After a round of threats and coaxing, the poor rabbit finally spat out a small flame. That was enough to complete the task.

“Ding, Host killed the Fire Rabbit. Reward: 80 exp, 5 silver.”

…

Magical beast meat is indeed different from Earth’s meat. It’s not greasy, has firm flesh, and is full of energy. Franz ended up eating an entire deer. Looking at the pile of white bones with no meat left, he felt embarrassed. He never imagined he could eat so much. The appetite of a ninja is truly astonishing; no wonder Naruto could eat an entire stack of ramen bowls.

“Oh, right, I need to replenish my equipment.”

After satisfying his hunger, Franz checked the system. Shuriken throwing is a great long-range attack but consumes shuriken quickly. Entering the system, he carefully examined the equipment store. There were weapons from kunai and shuriken to ninjato and katana, as well as genin, chunin, jounin, and ANBU clothing, along with daily necessities like pots, pans, and even a lighter… Yes, a lighter. After spending a lot of effort begging the little Fire Rabbit for a bit of fire, finding a lighter here made Franz feel extremely frustrated.

After continuously battling magical beasts in the Magical Beast Forest for more than two weeks, Franz's level had risen to 14, equivalent to an early-stage Combat Master, and his mercenary rank had increased to level C. Completing tasks and fighting magical beasts had brought him a considerable amount of wealth. Franz had now taken on level C tasks. He had also purchased a set of shinobi physical techniques and the Body Replacement Technique from the system. Currently, he frequently had to fight level 2 magical beasts with considerable strength, and the basic shuriken throwing technique was no longer sufficient for his needs. Additionally, level 2 magical beasts were already level 20 or higher. The effectiveness of shuriken throwing was not as noticeable as it was at the beginning.

Body Replacement Technique: Uses a nearby small object as a substitute for oneself. Consumption: 60 chakra.

Today, Franz continued to venture deeper into the Magical Beast Forest. His task was to eliminate a pack of wild wolves in the western part of the forest. This task was not too dangerous. Although the wolves were aggressive, they were only level 1 magical beasts of level 17. Because there were more than 20 of them, the task was classified as level C.

Suddenly, Franz felt a chill run down his spine. His extensive combat experience made him sensitive to being watched. He sensed that someone was observing him.