'Devour'

The mantis started to glow. The light emanating from it started to gain intensity as Rey absorbed its energy. Little threads of light started wrapping themselves around his body and bracelets.

The threads entered his wounds and soothed them. He could see the wounds close at a quick rate in front of his eyes. This surprised him, it was his first time experiencing this.

'Energy from a strong creature could tend wounds...'

A frown appeared on his face. If the energy was being used to heal his wounds that means he won't be able to absorb all of it.

He opened and closed his fist to get a sense of how much strength he gained. Of course, that didn't help him gauge it at all. Soon, he realized that measuring one's power wasn't as easy as tightening your fist.

He activated one of his spell bracelets. It gave off a faint glow and disappeared. It was his analysis type magic.

'Strength Appraisal.'

His eyes gave off a golden glow and he observed the changes in his body. He had a vague idea of his power appear in his mind. He wanted a more accurate representation of his growth.

He linked the spell to his translucent bracelet to create a numerical value of his current power.

-[Current Energy Reading : 0 ]-

-[Ranking : Quasi-Vagrant Class ]-

He poured energy on the link and the numbers present on the screen started to rise. After a few moments the value started to slow down and stabilize on a specific number.

-[Current Energy Reading : 238 ]-

-[Ranking : Early Minor Class ]-

He had a disappointed expression on his face. The last time he checked his energy reading was two weeks ago. He had a reading of 157 at that time. His growth was considered fast, but to him it was slow. He cut the flow of energy, the screen went blank and his bracelet reformed.

He stood up after harvesting the energy from the mantis. He assessed his current situation. His wounds were more or less healed, his clothes were stained with blood both from him and the mantis. It was also in tatters, one could see his lean body through the openings.

After evaluating himself, he looked around and approached another corpse. It was the Blood Bellied Spider's body. He squatted down as he observed the condition of the body. Deep punctures were found on its body and most of its legs were snapped in an awkward way.

'Should I sell this or Absorb it.'

He was having a hard time deciding. He needed to increase his power, but he also needed the money. If he decided to sell it, he would carry the corpse out of the hunting ground and put it up in an auction.

'The body is in a decent condition. Imagine the credits I could get.'

The prospect of good income enticed Rey. He was currently leaning towards selling the corpse. He wanted to leave the hunting ground for today. Due to the absorbed energy his physical condition was good, but the same couldn't be said to his mental energy.

The sharpened senses fatigued his mind. A lot of information was being processed as he fought the Mantis. He pushed himself physically and mentally to the limits while fighting the mantis. One wrong move could've given him a fatal wound.

"Huhp!"

He grabbed one of the spider's legs and hoisted its body on his back. It was heavy. A faint smile appeared on his face.

'I wonder what they would think If I told them I caught a Blood Bellied Spider and a Ravenous Mantis by myself.'

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

He thought of the bragging rights he earned. He took a step forward, his face filled with triumph.

Shuup.

His pants fell down as he took another step forward. An embarrassed look presented itself on his face. His pants which were barely clinging on to him suddenly fell. It took too much damage from the fight with the mantis.

'Really?'

He was carrying a giant spider on his back while his boxers were showing. The sight was comical. If the party was present he would be a laughing stock right now.

He dropped the spider and pulled up his pants.

Shuup.

It fell down once more. He pulled it up once again, but every time he would let go it would fall on its own. He stood still for a while

He needed to use two hands to carry the spider on his back. It would be unstable if he only used one.

'I wish I had a storage type spell bracelet right now'

He looked at the corpse and sighed. He imagined himself carrying it out of the hunting ground with a proud look on his face and no pants present. It was an embarrassing thought.

'I'd be labelled an exhibitionist If I went out like this.

His boxers were also in a not so good condition, it had a few holes on them which showed his pride as a man.

He squatted down while holding his pants. He placed his hands on the spider's body, a frown present on his face.

'Devour.'

He couldn't just leave this treasure here. He absorbed the corpse and energy wrapped around him once more. He felt the similar feeling he had while absorbing the Mantis. His frown deepened.

'Damned injuries. If only I was stronger."

The amount he absorbed was similar to how much he gained from the Mantis. He imagined the energy that was used to heal his wounds. If he absorbed those instead, he would roughly gain three spider's worth of energy.

'No use in crying over spilt milk.'

'Oh.'

As the body was completely absorbed, a bracelet was found in its place. It had a plain design and no stripes were wrapped around it. A hunter needed to make contact with it before it showed its type.

'Please. Please. Please be a storage type.'

He slowly picked up the bracelet and covered it with his hands. The bracelet emitted a faint glow from within his hands as it sensed his energy signature. He wanted to surprise himself. He suddenly thought absorbing it was a better decision than selling it.

He wanted to take his time in finding out what type it was. He slowly slid down his thumb which was hiding the stripes of the bracelet.

'One. Oh? Indigo too.'

An Indigo colored stripe showed itself. Bracelets were categorized by the color of their stripes. They go by the rainbow rankings with Red being the highest and Violet being the lowest tier. Rey was hoping for two more stripes to appear as he slowly slid down his thumb which hid the answers to his own question.

'Two.'

Another indigo stripe appeared. He was excited. He was one stripe away from his dream, after getting three stripes he would check if it was a storage type. If it wasn't, he hoped for another buffing spell.

'Blank.'

Rey was disappointed. His hope was crushed as he saw the plain surface of the bracelet instead of a third indigo stripe. He was missing an armor bracelet, so he couldn't say it was bad luck.

'I wonder what armor is inside.'

He was secretly hoping for a full body armor. Bracelets were completely random in what they could give. Most armor bracelets gave out one piece of armor so hunters needed to wear multiple bracelets to cover their entire body. Hunters would look like a mix and match of armor. A full set of armor was a rare occurrence.

He wore the bracelet and fed it energy. He felt a bit of strength leave his body. This was his first time activating an Indigo level bracelet. All of his bracelets had violet stripes, this was a new feeling for him.

After a few seconds, the bracelet started to crumble. The pieces traveled to his shoulders and chest. A brownish red material covered the entirety of his torso, it looked like leather from an unknown beast. Thin plates of leather that overlapped with one another covered his shoulders, there were straps that buckled it to the chest piece creating a cross like pattern in the middle of the chest.

'Wow.'

He stood and moved his shoulders around. It felt a bit tight, but he could adjust the strap around the shoulder to make it loose.

'Leather pauldrons and chestplate.'

He was happy. He was scared that the armor bracelet would only give him boots. He didn't feel bad in absorbing the spider anymore, he was thankful instead.

Bwup. Bwup.

He patted his pants which he was holding with one hand. He was looking at it with warm eyes.

'If you didn't fall down, I wouldn't have this treasure.'

He was thankful of the pants. He decided that he would hang it near his bed as a trophy after he washed it. He didn't want it fixed, it was a memento of his fight with the mantis and the treasure it bestowed him. He considered it a hero.

'Phew'

He let out a deep breath. He wanted to head back to his room and sleep. He looked at the direction of the entrance that was far from him and started running.

He was physically fine. The energy he absorbed refreshed his body and removed his fatigue. The energy couldn't relieve the mental stress he accumulated.

As he made his way outside the hunting ground. Instead of heading back to his room, he first made his way to the laundry. He carefully handed his dirty tattered pants to the launderer who was looking at it with disgust. He had a proud smile on his face as he gave the pants.

'The birth of a new hero.'

He thought of the pants as he whistled while making his way back to his room.