*ding!*
Shut up! Meera snapped to the notifications, and they listened. They had been going off in her head the whole day, driving her up the wall. How do these people live with a non-existent bell in their heads?
She huffed as she sat on a log, wiping blood and grime off her face. Her chakram zipped through the air, and she didn't even have to catch it. It just phased through her arm to rest on her wrist.
This was the fifth attack of the day. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought the monkeys were running raids on them, whittling them down little by little. She had killed eighteen monkeys so far. Six of them were in this round. She still needed to collect their tails. Simply put, she was too exhausted to move, let alone cut off their tails. She needed a breather, and more than that, she needed food.
Her other two companions were not looking much better. They had run out of arrows in the third round, so they had to fight with their blades. Silas looked like he had his fill of violence, but Cossus had a huge smile.
"If this keeps up, we'll clear the forest before we reach Belacre," Cossus said. "Thanks, Bait."
"If they don't clear us first," Silas muttered. "And it's not thanks to Meera alone. It's that big boy we're lugging along. They want revenge for their leader."
Cossus looked between the alpha's skin and Meera. "Thanks, Bait."
Meera sneered, not knowing if that Bait comment was meant for her or the corpse or both. Slowly but surely, he was getting on her nerves. If she didn't need him to stay alive, she might have flung her death frisbee at him.
"Don't mind him," Silas said. "He grows on you, eventually."
"If you say so…"
She drew a deep breath and went to collect her tails. She was covered with blood and grime from head to toe, so she didn't care how carefully she cut the tails and where the blood went. She stuffed them with the rest in her small bag that Silas had given her.
She hoped there was a stream nearby, or she would smell like blood forever. She had never been filthier in her life than right now. She tried to push the filth away as she helped the brothers toss the tail-less monkeys in a pile. Their impromptu funeral, which did not include any cremation or burial, was complete, and they made their way out of the battlefield.
They didn't talk much as they followed the sun west as it dipped toward the horizon. The giant planet overhead shone brighter as the sun vanished from the sky. It was a strange yet astonishing phenomenon that some scientists back home would give their arms and legs to observe and document. She was just happy that no monkeys were chasing her at the moment.
They walked till Meera's feet were just about ready to fall off. Then finally, Silas called for them to stop. Meera dropped her pack right there and crashed to the ground. Cossus didn't even look at her and just nodded to his brother. Then he dropped all his stuff to the ground before walking off.
Meera frowned. "Where is he going?"
"To scout out the place. Make sure no immediate dangers are lurking about."
So always scout out the place before going to bed. Noted.
Something her father had drilled into her from a very young age. Always learn from others, especially when you don't know what you are doing. She took over Cossus' responsibilities while he was scouting and was terrible at them. But luckily, Silas was a patient teacher. He told her how to tie the knots properly and where to put the stakes so the tent didn't fly off at night.
By the time, Cossus returned to give the all-clear, everything was in place, and Silas was collecting logs to make a bonfire.
Cossus whistled. "So, Bait has other uses after all?"
"And you have none," Silas shot back. "You could have brought some wood."
"Dry wood is going to be hard to find, especially after last night's storm, so I thought, why bother, and why not let big brother do that for me."
There was some more banter back and forth, which Meera was beginning to enjoy. It was, after all, more ammunition to use on Neel when she finally found him and gave him a couple of smacks upside the head. They ate some monkey meat that night. She was so famished that she didn't even think of objecting.
"You must have gotten many levels today," Silas said between bites. "Best to look over what you got and get things sorted. In case we're attacked in the night."
Meera nodded. They finished their dinner without much talking and settled in for the night. They again gave her the tent even though Cossus tried to object, but Silas put his foot down.
Meera lay down on the makeshift sleeping bag, got as comfortable as she was going to get and let the deluge of dings wash over her.
*ding!*
[Your party has defeated 78 Nightcrawler Monkeys. You have gained partial experience.]
[You have defeated 18 Nightcrawler Monkeys.]
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 3. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]
[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 4. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]
.
.
[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 9. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 3. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 5% boost]
[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 4. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 6% boost]
.
.
[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 6. All of your mirror-based attacks will get an 8% boost]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Identify has reached Level 2. You can now Identify people up to thirty levels higher than you.]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Ambush Tactics has reached Level 2]
[Congratulations. Ambush Tactics has reached Level 3]
This one surprised Meera as they hadn't used many tactics to ambush the monkeys. It was mostly her running as bait, but in a way that could be classified as ambushing them.
*ding!*
[Class Ability activated. You have stolen the general skill of Climbing. You already have this skill. You cannot learn this skill again. Hence bonus experience has been added to your skill.]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 2]
*ding!*
[Class Ability activated. You have stolen the general skill of Climbing. You already have this skill. You cannot learn this skill again. Hence bonus experience has been added to your skill.]
Meera quickly eyed the next few skills she had acquired, and they were all Climbing. She tried a new thing and decided to discard them and save herself the headache of a few bells. And to her surprise, it worked. I'm going to try a lot more things with these notifications.
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 3]
[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 4]
[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 5]
Her eyes widened at how much the skill went up for not even using it. She had some ideas on using her class ability to level up skills she didn't use much. I should talk to Silas about it tomorrow.
*ding!*
[Class Ability activated. You have stolen the skill Monkey Fist. Monkey Fist – Type: Active. Your fists become powerful weapons, able to strike with incredible force and Dexterity. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
Based on the naming of this skill, she worried that her hands would become like a monkey's. She hoped that wasn't the case because she did not want to walk around with leathery hands. But then again, a monkey's hands were not that much different from human hands. She pondered that for a few moments but, in the end, decided to take it as it could end up being an excellent close-range skill.
*ding!*
[You have acquired the skill: Monkey Fist – Level 1]
She stared at her hands for a long time, and thankfully, they did not change. They stayed as they were. She breathed out and continued to the next notification.
*ding!*
[Class Ability activated. You have stolen the skill Tail Whip. Tail Whip – Type: Active. You can use your powerful tail as a weapon, striking your enemies with incredible force, or use it to constrict them. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
[ERROR! You do not have a tail. You cannot acquire this skill. Hence bonus experience will be added to your main class.]
The next few notifications were all about Tail Whip. Meera sighed in relief as she didn't want a tail-related skill or a tail.
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 10. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]
[Congratulations. Chakram of Echoes effect activated. Upon reaching Level 10 in your main class, you have earned a second Chakram.]
Meera gasped as a second identical sharp circle made of a mirror appeared on her other wrist. She ran her thumb along its edge and flinched. It was just as sharp as the original one. Effectively her weapons had doubled. She smiled from ear to ear.
*ding!*
[Class Ability activated. You have stolen the general skill, Tree Walker. You can walk on thin branches and even hang upside down from them without falling. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
This skill paired up nicely with her Climbing skill, so she quickly accepted it.
*ding!*
[You have acquired the general skill: Tree Walker – Level 1]
*ding!*
[Class Ability activated. You have stolen the skill, Banana Peel. You can drop a banana peel on the ground, causing enemies to slip and fall, allowing for an easy escape or attack opportunity. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
She thought about this one. It could pair up with her Ambush Tactics, but then again, it was very specific about it being a banana and how often she would walk around with a banana in hand. In the end, she decided to pass on this skill. The next few were about this one as well. So, she manually had to say no to them each time. Then came the last notification.
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Reflection has reached Level 2]
[Congratulations. Reflection has reached Level 3]
.
[Congratulations. Reflection has reached Level 5]
Now came the arduous task of allocating her stat points to her attributes. She thought long and hard about this, as this would effectively decide what sort of adventurer she would become. She looked at her skills, and a lot of them were related to Dexterity, and all the running she had done today told her she needed more Endurance. More health couldn't hurt, either. She could effectively split her points into almost all attributes without worry, as she was still quite low-leveled.
She put points in all the attributes aside from Focus, as she had no magic-related skills. Once she acquired them, she could get points in there, but as of right now, many of her skills relied on Dexterity and Agility. Even her primary weapon was a dexterous weapon. Once she was done, her stats looked like this.
Stats
[Health: 170]
[Stamina: 200]
[Mana: 110]
Attributes
[Constitution: 17]
[Power: 12]
[Dexterity: 20]
[Endurance: 20]
[Focus: 11]
[Agility: 20]
[Perception: 20]
She was happy with how things had turned out for the day. It was a tiring day, but she had leveled up quite a bit, gained a few skills, and felt more confident. With all that settled, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.