The hammer, a blur of polished steel in Tyler's grasp, vanished with a subtle shimmer, swallowed by the unseen inventory. Rebecca, a distant figure against the backdrop of the night, stared. Her gaze was unwavering, intense. The thought solidified in her mind, sharp and cold: "Should I just kill him?" The bow, a taut arc of wood and sinew, rose smoothly, the arrow finding its aim at the vulnerable column of Tyler's neck.
Tyler, head tilted back, gazed at the moon, a silver disc hanging heavy in the inky sky. A sigh escaped his lips, a soft, almost inaudible sound. Then, a change. A faint, ethereal blue light pulsed across his body, emanating from the wounds that marred his skin. Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, the gashes began to close, the crimson fading to a healthy pink. The flesh knit itself back together, the damage undone.
Rebecca’s breath hitched, a soft gasp escaping her lips as she witnessed the impossible. Her bow dipped slightly, the arrow’s trajectory lost. "A regeneration skill?" she whispered, the words barely audible above the night sounds. "This is impossible," she mused, lowering her weapon.
"The way he moved, the way he fought… Is he truly E-rank, or is he close to D? It still doesn’t explain it. He was able to move faster." The questions tumbled through her mind, unanswered, leaving her with a growing sense of unease.
The feeling of renewed vitality coursed through Tyler. Instinctively, he summoned the familiar glow of his status window.
"Woah, I leveled up this much?", he thought, a surprised grin spreading across his face. Right then, a system panel appeared, shimmering into existence before him, displaying:
Achievements Unlocked:
First Boss Monster Kill: +15 points for each stat.
Killed a Shadow Walker: +10 AGI.
"What?? That's insane!" Tyler said out loud, his smile widening. Rebecca, observing from a distance, thought, "Who is saying that to?"
Tyler viewed his status again:
SPECIES: Human
NAME: Tyler Evans
RANK: E
LVL: 39
CLASS: Craftsman
HP: 133/133 MP: 126/126
STR: 120 AGI: 118
DEF: 165 STM: 116
STATUS: Healthy
Skills: Armour Craft, Weapon Craft, Weapon Mastery, Alchemy
Equipped Skills: Rush-MC 17, Bash-MC 15, Kinetic Overload-MC 22
Achievement Unlocked: 3-digit hunter +5 points for each stat.
Stolen story; please report.
"If fighting boss monsters gives these kinds of rewards, I should just keep hunting bosses," Tyler said cheerfully.
Rebecca looked at him and thought, Oh, so he's crazy.
"Hey," she said, her voice cutting through Tyler's thoughts. He turned to face her.
"Who are you talking to? We should go back to base and sell the boss monster's materials," she stated.
"We?" Tyler questioned.
"Yes," Rebecca replied. "If it weren't for me, that monster could have killed you."
Tyler's expression turned serious. His voice was low and intense. "Do you feel that mark on your neck? That's when I saved you. You could have lost your head."
Rebecca, remembering the near-miss, instinctively touched her neck. A faint green glow emanated from her hand as a system message appeared to Tyler: Rebecca activated skill: Light Heal. He watched as the shallow wound on her neck closed and healed. He thought, "She has a healing skill?"
"Regardless of me saving you or not, I clearly took part in killing this boss monster. Plus, an E-rank like you couldn't have been given a quest hunting Shadow Claws," Rebecca stated, her tone implying a certain superiority.
Tyler felt a prickle of annoyance at her phrasing. "An E-rank hunter like me. You could have just said 'an E-rank hunter.' And no, I'm not letting you have any of the materials from this boss monster. Did you think I forgot about what you did that time? The Shadow Walker is mine," he retorted, turning his back to her and facing the fallen Shadow Claw.
She lifted her bow, the arrow aimed squarely at his head. "You do know I can kill you right here and now, right?" she said, her voice dangerously calm.
Tyler turned his head, his eyes glowing with a faint blue light. "Go ahead and try," he challenged, his voice even and unwavering. The hashing hammer materialized in his hand, the polished steel gleaming under the moonlight. Rebecca's hand trembled slightly, her grip on the bow loosening.
"What's wrong with me? Why is this happening? Did his level rise that much when he delivered the final blow? Did he rise to D-rank? If so, his speed probably increased a lot too. Should I risk it and take the shot?" Rebecca's thoughts raced, a whirlwind of uncertainty and doubt. She lowered her bow, the tension slowly leaving her body.
Tyler's hammer vanished into his inventory. Without a backward glance at Rebecca, he walked past the Shadow Walker's corpse. "What is he doing? Is he going to let me take it?" she wondered, watching him closely. She couldn't understand why he wasn't claiming the materials.
Then, Tyler spoke a single word: "Extract."
Instantly, the Shadow Walker's hide and claws vanished, leaving behind only a skinned carcass. "That damn skill," Rebecca muttered, gritting her teeth in frustration.
She watched as Tyler walked away, his figure shrinking into the distance. "He's just an E-rank," she said aloud, the words laced with disbelief and a simmering resentment.
Meanwhile, Tyler sighed in relief, stopping to check his stats again:
SPECIES: Human
NAME: Tyler Evans
RANK: E
LVL: 39
CLASS: Craftsman
HP: 138/138 MP: 131/131
STR: 125 AGI: 123
DEF: 170 STM: 121
STATUS: Healthy
Skills: Armour Craft, Weapon Craft, Weapon Mastery, Alchemy
Equipped Skill: Rush-MC 17, Bash-MC15, Kinetic overload-MC22
"Oh man, I could have gotten shot," he thought. "I don't think I would have dodged her arrow if she'd fired. She has some cool skills too. That healing... was it what Grone said he couldn't do that time I was fatally injured?" The encounter left him pondering her abilities.
Tyler looked at his stats and considered heading back to base for some rest. Then, his gaze fell upon his level. "Wait," he murmured, a thought sparking in his mind. "That girl, when I checked her stats, she was D-rank at level 44. And when I first saw Grone, he was about level 48, I think, and a D-rank. He became C-rank when he hit level 50, I think. Does that mean if I reach level 40, I become a D-rank?"
He looked around his surroundings, a new determination hardening his gaze. " I've gotta hunter more monsters. ," he declared.
"With how much I'm leveling up, it's almost as if I don't have that 25% penalty the system gives me," Tyler mused, continuing his walk. "Maybe it's because I'm not from this world, because I'm not blessed by their goddess." He paused, letting the thought hang in the air. "I wonder what she was like. Do they even know her, or is it like how it was in my world? People praying to God and believing in superstition, even though most of them have never witnessed it with their own eyes." He shook his head, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Anyway, I've got to stop thinking about these things. I've got to focus on finding monsters."
As Tyler walked, he spotted a familiar sight—a large cluster of the flowers he'd seen before, scattered across a surprisingly open area. His surprise deepened as he noticed four Hex Horns, simply resting on the ground as if asleep. A low snoring sound emanated from them, adding to the surreal scene. "Look at all this material," he thought, his eyes widening. "I wonder how many potions I can make with this. My virility i mean, my HP—would shoot through the roof."