The road stretched endlessly, winding through grassy plains dotted with small streams and trees. For the first time in his life, Kael was free—no fences, no training dummies, no Grandma yelling at him to fix the roof.
Just him, the Gloves of Chaos, and the open world of Eatheria.
He spread his arms wide, inhaling deeply. "Ahhhh… smells like adventure! And also cow poop. Mostly adventure though."
He kept walking, humming tunelessly, until a faint growl snapped him back to reality.
---
The First Monster
Out from the tall grass waddled a F-rank Ground Beast—a squat, boar-like creature with rocky plates on its back. It snorted aggressively, pawing the dirt.
Kael's eyes lit up. "My first real monster! Alright, piggy, prepare yourself for greatness!"
He grabbed a stick from the ground and clenched it in his gloved hand. The Gloves of Chaos pulsed, and the stick warped, twisting into a crude spiked club.
"Now that's more like it!"
The boar charged. Kael yelped, swinging wildly. SMACK! The spiked club connected with the boar's head, sending it tumbling into the dirt.
The beast twitched once, then went still.
Kael stood over it, panting, eyes wide. "…I did it. I actually did it!" He raised the club triumphantly. "Fear me, world! Kael Stormound, Slayer of Slightly Dangerous Piggies, has arrived!"
---
Collecting Loot
As he caught his breath, he noticed the boar's rocky plates had cracked. Inside was a faintly glowing shard of mineral.
Kael squatted, poking it. "Oooh, shiny."
Grandpa had mentioned monster cores before—low-rank ones weren't worth much, but they could be traded or crafted. Kael grinned, stuffing it into his pouch.
"I'm officially a treasure hunter now. Maybe I'll find enough to buy an actual bed that isn't made of hay."
---
More Encounters
As he traveled, Kael fought other weak creatures:
A flock of tiny winged pests that buzzed around his head. He turned a stick into a spiked paddle and swatted them like flies.
A mud crab that lunged from a stream. He panicked, grabbed a rock, and transformed it into a crude hammer. One smash later, dinner was served.
A pair of goblin runts—barely taller than his waist. They charged with rusty knives, but Kael transformed his walking pole into a jagged blade, smacking them down before they could even squeak.
By sunset, his pouch clinked with weak monster shards and scraps of material.
---
Reflection
Kael sat by a campfire that night, roasting crab meat on a stick. The flames danced, and the gloves gleamed faintly in the glow.
He leaned back against his pack, staring at the stars. "Not bad for a first day, huh? No broken bones, free dinner, and I only screamed… like, twice."
The gloves pulsed faintly in response, as if amused.
Kael chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. But tomorrow? Tomorrow we find something bigger. Something worthy of my chaotic genius."
He raised the roasted crab leg like a toast to the heavens.
"To the Stormound name! And to chaos!"
The night wind carried his laughter across the plains.
For the first time, Kael felt like a true adventurer.