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Theron stood dumbfounded on the scene of rotting carnage around him, scrunching his nose at their fizzling bodies emanating the stench of death. The boars had their eyes popped wide open; their deaths were not pleasing, to say the least, they died without knowing what exactly had been inflicted upon them.
His wolf trotted over to his spot, its eyes unflinching at their carcasses. It nuzzled its head at his waist, instilling a sense of ease into his heart, a feeling he’d long since forgotten.
Speaking of this thing… Just one level showed how much stronger it is than me.
Status - Horned Gray Brute Dire wolf | Health : 12/12 | Mana : 0/0
Level: 2 | Next 145 xp
Rank: 1 | Max Level 5
Mana cost: 3 | slot cost: 1
Element: Normal | Affinity: Melee
Class: Wolf | Type: Beast
-Attributes-
Free points: - (+2/level)
Might: 8 (+2/level)
Speed: 8 (+2/level)
Magic: 0
Toughness: 5 (+1/level)
Resistance: 2
-Abilities-
Seeing the status of his recently leveled-up dire wolf confirmed two theories circulating in his mind. First, the gap between their strength grew a few steps further from its insane attribute gains—more than doubling his own—and second, it emphasized the necessity to focus on his summons to do most of his legwork. He topped his admiration off with a gentle pat on its head, then allocated a point to its might and toughness, respectively. He added one point to magic for himself after bashing his head attempting to increase his summon slot, sighing when he realized it was impossible to do it this way.
Next, and this one panged his heart when he realized; the most recent kill earned him 5 points instead of 10, following the rules the message box declared. He assumed those boars drifted at around level 1, evident from their low difficulty, which made the reduction in his experience gain sensible, or perhaps it was the opposite; the boars were of higher level, thus earning him more experience before he leveled up. Regardless, to achieve another level, twenty-nine poor boars had to perish.
That’s… a lot of boars.
He glimpsed at his companion and gave a double take when he realized its slightly increased size. The difference was subtle, vague enough that he wouldn’t notice unless he paid close attention to it. He gave it another pet before pulling away, glimpsing upon the stretching forest view; a painting the color of verdant and brown orbiting around him, swaying, webbing his sight. He packed his satchel, then breached the forest.
More boars showed up, each swiftly dealt with without complications. Their increased power made their hunts easier, but after 9 more kills, and 45 experience points later, he gasped for air as he hid under the shade of a giant bark, his recent exertion had pushed his legs beyond their limits. The looming, waving shadow granted him time to check his growth.
[You gained 5 exp. Points] x9
[You completed a new aspect!]
[Aspect of Forest Black boar is added to your compendium. You can summon it after materializing the aspect using an aspect core.]
I don’t have any aspect cores, nor do I know how to get one… He groaned as he opened his status page, hoping to see any additional information. Also, the materia…
[You obtained a materia: R-1 Forest black boar.]
[Materias: used to craft weapons, armor, and other things from a checkpoint or an aspect store. To view your obtained materias, please consult your materia page.]
Interesting… Materia page?
OBTAINED MATERIAS
R-1 Forest black boar x1
“Huh.” He closed the somewhat paltry interface of the materia page, opting to focus on his own status instead. No amount of materia would be helpful unless he found a method to use it.
Theron Gray | Class: Novice | Rank: Unranked
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Class: Novice| Level: 2 | Next 100 xp
Mana: 4 / 11
Summon slots : 0/1
Essence: 200
-Attributes | Free points: - (+1/level) -
Might: 3 (+1/level)
Speed: 2(+1/level)
Magic: 6
Toughness: 3 (+1/level)
Resistance: 10
Abilities - Active
Abilities - Passive
Necrotic aura - lvl 1 | Summon Aspect
Extract Aspect | Unsummon Aspect
-
His wolf tilted its vicious head at him, attempting to peer at his status page, but it clearly couldn’t see it. “Sorry,” He mumbled to himself, “Give me some time, will you? I’m exhausted.”
Somehow, his wolf understood what he meant.
The banging of a tree jerked them both awake; Theron yanked his head back toward the source, then saw the blurry figure of a bipedal monster clawing away at a tree. Its colorful hide veiled most of its body, yet from its silhouette alone, his mind conjured the image of a terrifying beast; a bear.
Not just a bear, but a humongous, gigantic bear clad in an array of colorful carapaces made of blue and orange. Ropes of drool dangled below its chin, fearful lines of its insatiable hunger. It approached from the commotion he had just caused. The scent of blood hung thick in the air.
Standing upright, its height reached the third quarter point of the giant trees brooding over them. After a closer look, he noted the spiky protrusions on its back, forming a defensive barrier against all sorts of damage from that direction.
[You are not meant to fight all encounters. Run if you have to.]
No shit.
His body shivered upon its presence, and without sparing as much as a glance, he and his wolf scuttled the hell away. Not fighting that thing yet. He grimaced as his legs burned, each step consuming more willpower than the previous one.
They ventured deeper into the forest, the only correct direction being the opposite of where that thing was heading. He stopped when he saw a path leading to a valley, navigating through the jutting pieces of dirt alongside its edge to reach the lower ground, then trudged his way past a small thicket.
With the bear nowhere in sight, he took a large gulp of breath, relieved. An overgrowth of trees shielded him from the burning sunlight from above, bathing him in its warmth.
The sound of a running brook veered his path to the left, past the wall of thick bushes and trees. As per usual, he ordered his wolf to scout ahead before entering. It returned with a slight growl, gesturing the lack of anything dangerous beyond the tree line. No boars appeared in his path. He hunched over the river, playing with the fresh, cold water lapping against his hands, relishing in its pristine, clear water, then cupped a handful and gulped it down. His wolf watched his act with an aloof disposition; Theron noticed it never bothered to eat or drink.
His wolf’s head shot upward, frowning at a pair of white eyes peering through the shroud of the vegetation.
Emerging from the greeneries, a four-legged beast not too different from a tiger trespassed into their vicinity, hunger evident in its eyes. Ropes of drool dripped onto the damp soil as its jaw curled into a ravenous scowl, hallooing its clear intent to consume his meat whole. Neither Theron nor his companion had time to prepare; his confidence from the boar killing waned as two more heads broke through the hedge of the forest around them. Eyeing his mana, a frown creased his forehead as he only recovered four more after emptying his reserves against the boars. With the recent addition to his magic, he had 5/11 in reserve. 5 damage… Only enough to trigger its secondary effect once.
And since they were outnumbered, the tutorial’s aggro effects no longer functioned, and the tigers were free to aim at him. Theron blasted his aura to full, hoping it’d at least deter the tigers a little. On earth, normal, non-dire wolves with no horns stood no chance against tigers individually, but this wasn’t earth anymore, and the tiger’s overall strength had been weakened by the tutorial’s effects.
3 green-skinned tigers circled them. Their patterns melded with the branches and leaves, tiny spots of brown and light green coalescing with their environment. Neither appeared larger than his own wolf—a fact which eased the black hole eating up his insides—His feet found their footing as he shifted behind. His wolf stuck close to him, countering their growls with its own. One lost its patience and bolted, urging the others to follow…
…which his dire wolf intercepted with a swift bounce upward. Water splashed as the other tiger-like things crossed the tiny rivulet while blood drizzled from his wolf’s bite, crunching its target’s gullet. Its extra level, the slight damage of his aura, and an additional point in its might gave it an advantage in a one-on-one fight, but that wasn’t quite the case here—especially not for Theron.
[You gained 20 exp. Points]
One dead… But-
He ducked under to avoid the pounce of one, yet the other dug his forearms as he blocked its paws, pushing against its bite, crying inside from the pain. An anguished howl reverberated as his wolf bounded for rescue, but a slight crunch drowned its voice, followed by Theron’s cries of anguish.
Its fangs pierced the layer of leather clinging to his left arm, digging deep enough to reach his bone. A battered left forearm dangled on his side when his wolf crashed against the tiger pinning him. On the soil, a half-dead man collapsed with burning tears dripping from his cheek, jaw clenched to tide the pain behind his throat, refusing to give in. He groaned as he pushed himself up, just quick enough to avoid the crashing of the other tiger. Granules of dirt flew as its jaws met air. Theron’s wounded self rolled away sluggishly, yearning for time. With no weapons available at his disposal, defending against those monsters proved arduous and, oftentimes, impossible.
[You gained 20 exp. Points]
Shrieks of pain echoed, then died once his wolf finished the other one. Claw and bite marks peppered its figure, pinkish-red lines slashing its otherwise gray fur. Both were wounded from this encounter, a first since his arrival here. The last tiger noted Theron’s ruddying wounds, yet it hesitated to resume its assault. Two dead friends cautioned it enough to reassess the fight. It retreated, finding avenues to escape, but Theron’s pain-flooded mind wanted pure revenge. His wolf bolted at an alarming speed, its dark fur blurring upon its approach. A pair of long fangs slid past the tiger’s defenses, resulting in a splatter of blood as his wolf inflicted fatal damage that left it limp.
[You gained 20 exp. Points]
Once the battle ended, he collapsed on the floor, losing his will to stay conscious. The fight felt as if it lasted for hours, despite only a minute passing since their encounter.
His wolf limped over his drained self, licking off the wounds on its paws, panting. Red bubbles popped on its nostrils as it lowered its gaze, saddened at Theron’s current state. Each twitch of his left arm caused him to keel over in pain, a burn worsening once his adrenaline wore off. Baring his teeth and using his wolf’s back as leverage, he scrabbled up, eyeing his recent kills, frowning, tasting salt on his lips. Blood dribbled down his exposed wounds, weeping red tears onto the humus. Compared to the tigers, Boars were a significant step down in difficulty.
He raised his dominant arm, casting a line of shadow on the lifeless corpse below. The system wasn’t lying—his dire wolf overpowered the weakened tigers, an impossible feat for all the normal wolves back on earth.
[Rank 1: Forest tiger Aspect learned. Progress: 10%]
Cool… At least I don’t have to kill 20 of them this time. Theron’s eyes dimmed as he scoured the other carcasses. Sixty essences richer, he approached the running river, cleaning his bleeding arm the best he could, gritting his teeth to ward off the pain. First, he removed the ravaged leather, glancing worriedly at the open slit where its fangs had slipped through, then studied his languid forearm. Could be worse, he whispered to himself as he cleaned the edges of the two pulsating, burning incisions, gently moving toward the center. Without antibiotics, the odds of his arm closing its wounds were… paltry, at best. God knows what kind of bacteria was swimming in there.
But this world is anything but normal. He clung to that hope, grimacing as he stood. “Let’s go, Wolf.” I should probably give it a name… He thought as he followed the river line, hoping it would lead him somewhere.