'Nightstalker's are a collective term used to refer to a plethora of species of dangerous humanoid monster's. The majority of which possess a heightened intelligence comparable to our own.
The term was coined after the capture of a monster who'd reached a high-societal position of town governor in the year 274. That creature called it's own species the Nightcrawler's.
That creature took out 80 knight's and 12 Royal knight's before being exhausted to death. upon its demise the monster reverted to its original form.
A meter tall black beetle with a virtually impenetrable carapace. that had been retrofitted into the King's personal shield. its sturdiness unmatched.' Excerpt from — Guide to the origin of Nightstalker's by Gabriel Alston, The forth royal scribe.
...
Ray's dagger clashed against Varin's time after time. Steel ringing against steel as the blades united, Varin's shadowy silhouette flashing in the dim room time after time.
Whenever Ray's guard let up or he slipped in the defence Varin would adeptly control his dagger to stop just short of the teen's neck.
the constant clanging of metal echoed deeply within the sealed room as their spar continued, and soon the first hour had passed.
"You sure you wanna end so soon ray?" Varin gave him a toothy smile, "it'd be boring to end this so soon."
Varin was beaming like a child who got a new gift, Due to his unique prowess he had to constantly restrict his speed, So for him. Finally being able to use his full prowess against another felt cathartic.
Ray was clutched his knees, panting, his vision covered with the fog of exhaustion. The boy's stamina drawn to a limit. This had been his daily experience for the past four months, and he loved every second of it.
[Basic dagger mastery(mostly unlocked): your training in the art of daggers is just beginning, feel the flow of the air around your blade. feel the placement of your feet, the contraction of your muscles and you can reach a unprecedented peak in dagger skills.]
[Requirements: learn one dagger based combat skill (complete) and swing a dagger 100,000 times. 47,326/100,000 (on full unlock +2 Agi)]
'Each day, I've swung this dagger like my life depended on it.' Ray thought, his gaze settled on Rexar, who was watching the duo train and giving pointers.
Ray was eyeing Rexar's intermediate dagger mastery as his end goal. the compounding stats between both basic and intermediate would fix all his requirements for Agility in the short term.
Ray caught his breath and wiped the spit from the side of his lips. "continue."
The months continued to pass and the date of Ray's sixteenth birthday was approaching with haste...
Ray spat out as he collapsed to the floor. 'I can't even lift a finger, lets hope this did it.'
His past year had been nothing but a glorified training arc for him. Dagger training, archery training, body-training.
[Military training(mostly unlocked): you've spent 4 years with targeted military training and the results will begin to show. +2 Str +1 Vit +1 Agi.]
[Requirements: spend 6 years with targeted training. (upon unlock +1 vit +1 Agi)]
"that's one step out of the way, lets see my status now.."
'Status'
[Name: Ray]
[Age: 16]
[Health: 140/140]
[Strength: 12] (+1 natural growth+1 military training )
[Vitality: 14] (+1 natural growth +1 suffused regeneration)
[Agility: 12] (+1 natural growth +1 basic dagger mastery)
[Mind: 9] (+1 natural growth)
[Skills: ]
[Observe: +1 Mind]
[Tough body(level up unlocked): +1 Vit]
[Deft hands: +2 Agi
[Bodybuilding: +2 Str +1 Vit]
[Bulwark training: + 1 Vit]
[Military training (mostly unlocked): +2 Str +1 Vit +1 Agi ]
[Common slaughterer (not unlocked): (980/10,000)]
[Suffused Regeneration: +1 Vit +50% health regen speed]
[Basic dagger mastery(mostly unlocked): +1 Agi (97,281/100,000)]
(author note: All skills mentioned that don't directly affect his stat's like the dagger art mentioned for basic dagger mastery will not show up in the system. all purely attack combat skills are hidden from both the readers and Ray. think of the system as a guide to power. not a tool of power)
"6 years huh." Ray looked down at his less-than tender palms. and sighed, 'it's been a journey. i bet the little street rat i used to be couldn't imagine I'd get this far... this quickly.'
Ray got to his feet and decided to take a much needed break from the constant training. His feet carried him to a familiar alleyway. 'Looks just as shit as i remember.' he placed his metal gauntlet on the side of the wall, and walked in, claw scraping across the mortar.
Inside that alleyway Ray came face to face with something he never expected to see here. "A new bed? did one of the other rats move in after i left?" he muttered to himself, 'maybe i know them, but think of it as a gift from me to you stranger.' Ray dipped a finger into his coin purse and fished out a gleaming circular coin embezzled with gold.
The Gold coin had a imprint of a gate, and within the gate stood a shield. 'Astrartes kingdom token, to protect our beginnings.' Ray smiled as he slipped the coin under the lucky guys pillow before leaving.
..
Very soon his feet came to a stop once again. "Silvermist inn, looks much more run-down than i remember, What happened." Ray stood there looking at the cracked glass windows and stained brickwork. 'can they not even afford basic clean up?'
'Ding Ding Ding!' the familiar chime of a bell rang through his ears as Ray stepped into the inn.
"welcome customer." Casper came up to him, but clearly did not recognise Ray anymore. he'd simply changed too much too fast.
"You welcoming customer's at the door now sir Casper?" he used the same wording that he used as a kid to try jog the mans memory. But to no avail.
"Can't help it" he sighed. "Demons and monsters visit more often than guest's here."
Ray was confused, yea sure the carriage activity had been quiet these past years but Ray had subconsciously ignored it. It'd been happening since the start Afterall.
"Why, What happened. When i used to live here things looked much better than now?"
"you lived here? i don't remember housing anyone with your looks. But after what happened at the nearby village. and the constant troubles on the road's no-one's willing to brave the danger without a good reward.."
Ray's face turned serious, 'was a village directly attacked?' "Can you tell me more?" Ray pulled out another gold coin and placed it on the bar.