Having to eat raw meat, sleeping on tree branches as a Newt (Salamander), and taking a shit on a nearby shrub, that was how Lilith's life had been for the last two days.
One could say that she could have done something to improve her lifestyle, but she was a daemon, a beast, a monster, a demon. She couldn't just go to a home improvement store and ask for a stove. She tried cooking the meat with Tinder, but the Goblin meat exploded and became even more disgusting to eat.
She had thought everything would be smooth sailing, but no, it was slowly getting more challenging day by day. Just like she had thought previously, the Goblins she met the other day were the weakest Daemons of this place.
This forest was a fucking nightmare, it had LVL 17 daemons lurking about, and sometimes roars are coming from the depths of the woods that rocked the area. She can't increase her LVL quickly because the daemons lurking about were too strong to hunt.
She had been living off the Goblin meat she hunted since her first day here, but even that privilege was taken away by a pack of 【Silver Wolves】.
'Those daemons are already a 【Rare Tier】what the fuck are they doing around here!?'
Rare Tier was above the Common Tier, which was above all three of her forms. She already knew of this, but Alpha explained it to her nonetheless.
[The tiers of daemons are relatively easy to understand.
From lowest to highest; Common –> Rare –> Epic –> Legendary –> Mythical.
Every Tier has a level cap, and to ascend those level caps, you need to evolve further. Common-Tier's level cap is 20, and Rare-tier is up to 40, and then Epic-tier to 250. But it doesn't matter now, does it? Also, humans are the only beings who don't have a cap but increasing their LVL is more demanding compared to Daemons.]
Lilith cursed, but nothing happened. She already knew that cursing and complaining would do her nothing, so she moved forward and decided to first find the right prey to feast on.
Jumping from one branch to the next with his Newt form, Lilith moved quickly and silently as she could. After an hour or so of trying to find the first target.
[Black Nightmare Worm LVL 6 (Common)]
With a stub of hair sticking out its black slimy body, a gaping mouth with hundreds of protruding teeth, this creature was something not even worth the word ugly.
'Ugh, that looks hideous. It truly lives up to its namesake; that thing is truly nightmare-inducing. Thus, you shall become my Exp, now, die!'
Lilith transformed into a One Horn, and with her soft voice, she cast Tinder and made it rain upon the LVL 6 Black Nightmare Worm.
The Black Nightmare Worm had a strong defense and tanked the attack of her LVL 2 One Horn form.
Lilith's spell was backed with serious damage, but the worm's defense was stronger. She barely hurt the thing!
The worm shrieked at the sight of Lilith trying to attack it, but Lilith didn't bother to worry as she had the high grounds.
"Hahaha, die, and become my food!" she was hungry for both Exp and actual food.
The thing before her was disgusting, and she didn't want to admit that it would later become dinner. Lilith was ashamed to admit that when she saw the little thing, she drooled from hunger. But seeing that it could do nothing against her, Lilith was blinded and was now itching to eat the little bastard.
But what followed the shriek of the worm was something she did not expect.
A white thread shot out of its mouth, and even though Lilith dodged it, the headache did not stop. The white thread stuck to the tree, and the worm used it to get to her.
The worm dodged the rest of Tinder and met face to mouth with Lilith.
Lilith's face turned sour, and it darkened right after seeing the mouth of the worm, and just like she was a gymnast, she bent her back to avoid the strike of the worm.
Even the high ground was not enough.
'Crap!' She fell from the branch and crashed on the ground.
[HP: -30]
'That's cheating!' she yelled in her mind, but Lilith couldn't do anything about it, and instead of retreating, she decided to stick with her empty stomach's decision to hunt the worm.
The worm was glued to the tree, observing the loli, and assessed the next move it should take. Lilith was the same; she was waiting for the worm to make a move.
Her MP had already been emptied up to a third.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
[One Horn:
MP: 400/1140]
'Come on, come to momma, and I will show you what true pain is like.'
The worm shot a thread that stuck to the ground. Just like what it had done before, the worm pulled its body and launched itself to Lilith; its intention was clear — get rid of the annoying loli that hurt it.
The worm was fast, but its movement was linear, and she merely moved the side to dodge the attack. She then transformed into a Newt to cast [Bindings of Darkness]!
Upon its landing, the worm was welcome in the cold embrace of chains created from the shadows of the worm. The worm got caught with relative ease, and if a newt had a celebratory smile, it could be seen on Lilith's face!
'Hahaha, a worm will always be a worm! But, that spell uses up a lot of MP.'
That single Bindings of Darkness managed to use up all of the Ravager Salamander's MP. The bindings would last for ten seconds, but because of the level difference, the duration drastically decreased, so Lilith already transformed into an Ash Leopard and finished the job the next instant that she got.
The worm bled green, and it died after having its body pierced by the Lightning Claws.
[System Notification: Lightning Claws (F) –> Lightning Claws (E).]
[Ash Leopard:
Level up
All stats +2]
'That's new.'
She commented as she ate the slimy and the rather disgusting meat of the Black Nightmare Worm.
Being too hungry to even notice the taste was something of an achievement in and of itself. Well, Lilith benefited from it, so it didn't really matter.
She was also too distracted by the new update that she found the food tasteless.
'Alpha, what is this thing?'
[It's your skill proficiency, it had improved, so the strength of the Lightning Claws had increased. Try using the skill to see for yourself.]
Listening to her advice, Lilith activated the Lightning Claws and noticed the subtle changes that had occurred. The lightning present around her claws was thicker and tangible.
Its power had undoubtedly improved by a lot, and with this, Lilith had a sudden idea. A smile blossomed from her green blood-stained face.
"If that is the case, then can I continuously increase my proficiency without limits if I train?"
[You can, but it has limitation for active skills the limitations is base on the level and state of your body, the limiters activate once you reach a particular skill proficiency. If you ask why this is so, that is because a strong skill is useful, but it will become useless if it is too powerful and hurt the user.
As for passive skills, the only limitations are how much time and effort you put into it. While some can be improved through increasing your level, some need effort. Before I forgot, you can be granted a skill if you meet specific criteria or requirements.]
Hearing Alpha's words, Lilith showed a smile, and she finished the worm in one gulp. Three minutes later, she finally tasted the worm and almost threw it up, but Lilith forced it back in, so it was all right.
'That was disgusting...this is all those Silver Wolves' fault!' I'll get you guys once I get to your level!'
Lilith moved past the gut-wrenching experience she got from the worm and went to train.
While she was about to enter her training mode, she remembered something.
"Oh yeah, is my limit SSS-tier? I have an SSS, right?"
[Nah, that one is a useless skill, so it doesn't count.]
"So you are finally admitting the skill chosen by your Goddess is useless? Does that mean you think she is also useless?"
[...The skill is useless, but the Goddess is not, let us move forward. Also, I am the one to optimize your body, work hard, and grow stronger, so I will finally have some job to do. Do your best.]
Lilith decided to let the days pass and prioritized training.
Lilith spent fourteen days searching for prey to increase her level and, of course, to eat. She would use her forms wisely and kill her enemies,
she will only target one daemon at a time to make sure it was safe, and she wouldn't die. Her target was the Black Nightmare Worm that averages from LVL 5 to 8.
After three days of hard work, she reached LVL 7.
It was slow, but that was because she was making use of the system and abusing it to increase her overall capability.
She managed to create passive and active skills in her three forms and improved what she already had. But what developed the most would be her [Elemental Manipulation].
----------------------------------------
[One Horn:
New Passive: Fire Manipulation (C), Wind (C), Earth Manipulation (C), Wood/Nature Manipulation (B)
New Active: Earth Wall (700 MP) (D), Thorn Whip (600 MP) (D)
Improved: Spell Casting (C), Mana Manipulation (C), Tinder (D), Wind Shield (D), Earth Weight (E)]
[Ash Leopard:
New Active: Lightning Feet (500 MP/per minute) (E)
Improved: Water Manipulation (D), Lightning Manipulation (D), Lightning Claws (D)]
[Ravager Salamander:
New Active: Miasmic Expulsion (50 MP/per second) (E)
Improved: Bindings of Darkness (C), Poison Spit (C)]
----------------------------------------
Lilith was improving a lot, and she was not going to stop. However, after spending time increasing her skills, she hit a wall that made her unable to progress.
Her skills finally reached the limitations after abusing the system for such a long time. Alpha was like an abused wife as she worked hard to best optimize Lilith's skill to not have any adverse effect on her body.
If she were a living creature, she would have died.
Moving on, Lilith now had no reason to stay coop in a branch, and she began to feel a little confident in hunting other daemons.
Turning into an Ash Leopard, Lilith went to find a daemon who would satiate her hunger. For the past few days, she had been making do with whatever low-leveled daemon she comes across, but yesterday Lilith found the meat she found most delectable — Goblins.
While on the move, Lilith used the chance to collect some dried wood and leaves. She collected many of them, and she had to transform into her loli form to carry it all. Lilith reached her destination and stood before the entrance to a cave.
Gathering the leaves and twigs into a pile and then taking out the collection she had on the shrubs, Lilith created a small mound. Smiling, she used Fire Manipulation to start a fire and create smoke and then Wind Manipulation to send the smoke inside the cave.
"Now, we wait."
Shrieks coming from inside the cave echoed out, and soon enough, Goblins came rushing out of the cave to avoid suffocation, only to die by Lilith's hands.
The first Goblin she killed was at LVL 8.
"Goblins who scouts the area for food are low-leveled; the higher-leveled ones are here acting like kings. Hehehe, now, become my food and my Exp!"
[Life Essence + 8]
She hunted 15 Goblins in total. She cleaned out the Den with ease with her trick, and after so many, she was granted a title.
[Goblin Slayer: your attacks deal 50% more against the Goblin Race.]
"I shall slay all the Goblins in this place and increase my LVL and get revenge on those dastardly Silver Wolves who stole from me! Today is the birth of the Goblin Slayer!"
Lilith dramatically swore on top of her lungs.