Mike sat, leaning against the corpse of the panther. Since his hammer didn't cut the beast open, there wasn't a lot of blood pooling around the body like there would be with any kind of sharp weapon, though there was still some. Overall it made for a comfortable back rest while he looked through his notifications.
*Nightstalker (level 9) slain x2*
*Nightstalker alpha (level 10) slain*
*Class level up x4! Warrior (level 9)*
*Race level up x2! Human (level 6)*
*Notable Fragments gained*
*Title gained (Mighty Slayer)*
*Outpost successfully defended*
Mike was sure he wasn't the only one who had gotten the Outpost defended notification. He once more threw all of his free stats into strength, giving them a once over. It had been a while since he had seen his stats, and he was pleased to see the progress he had made.
Strength: 63
Constitution: 31
Agility: 44
Wisdom: 26
Intelligence: 23
Charisma: 20
Perception: 25
Fortitude: 30
Maybe I need to invest in constitution, considering how much I get hit, Mike thought. Looking a moment longer however, he noticed a discrepancy with his stats. They were all just a little higher than they should be. He searched through his menus, trying to find the cause, when he came across the titles portion of his stat sheet.
Titles: Mighty Slayer (Uncommon)
Focusing on it, he read through the description and found the cause of his stat boost.
Mighty Slayer (Uncommon)
Kill a being of a higher evolution than yourself. Gain +5% to all stats.
That was very nice. It was small, but every bit counted. He felt like he may not have entirely deserved the title, considering he wasn't alone in the fight. He did suppose he did the overwhelming portion of the work, but still, it felt a bit unearned. He brushed it off, not wanting to keep bringing himself down over nothing. He looked into his soul next, viewing the supposedly notable fragment he had earned. Turns out, there were three new ones.
*Fragment of Alpha Night Stalker (level 10) (Rare)*
*Fragment of a Mighty Slayer (uncommon)*
*Fragment of Outpost defense (Common)*
None of the fragments had mysterious origins, but he did wonder about the new rare fragment. Why had he gotten one for the alpha, but nothing else he had killed before. He had killed alpha forest wolves, but they hadn't given him fragments. It must have had something to do with the higher level of power Mike felt from the beast. Thinking about it, maybe the mighty slayer title held a clue.
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The panther had apparently been of a higher evolution, which may be the cause behind the fragment. Perhaps killing another at the panthers level of power would solve the mystery. He moved onto using his newfound fragments. The only one he could really use was the outpost defense fragment, since it was the only one that was common. He added it to his hammer, noticing how the head of the hammer had gotten bigger again due to his level increasing.
He pushed it down, also adding the outpost fragment. After it was dense enough to be proportionally sized to the handle again, he left his soul, ready to get to work with the materials he had gotten.
He was ready to get to work on the corpse. He had the wolf fangs still, but he doubted that they would do much against the tough body. As he was considering turning his soul hammer into a soul kitchen knife, one of the mages approached him.
“Hey, I'm one of the cooks here.” The mage said. Mike instantly threw himself over the body, protecting it with his body.
“You aren’t cooking it, I need the materials.” He said.
“We don't need the skin or fur or anything other than the meat. Part of my chef class is also preparing it to be cooked. I can skin it and remove anything that would be useful. We can't just waste the massive amount of meat on this thing.”
Mike was reluctant to let anyone touch the precious materials, but eventually relented when he thought about how the man likely knew far more about how to keep the materials in one piece than he did. He stepped out of the way, allowing the mage to get to work. The mage pulled out a dagger, starting by removing all the teeth.
“Any reason a mage would have a dagger?” Mike asked, watching the blade slice through parts of the panther with surprising ease.
“I didn't want my only defense to be a stick that makes moving magic a little easier.” He said, moving on to cutting the head off the body.
“How are you cutting through it that easily, are you sure you chose the mage class, and not something else by accident? Also, why are you cutting the head off?”
“My class, plus a skill I made, makes it significantly easier to cut through pelts and skins. As for why I am removing the head,” He gave Mike a look, “that hammer of yours didn't leave much of it usable.”
Mike looked away, not wanting to acknowledge the accusation. When he looked back, the head was off, and the pelt was next. He chose to believe that the massive dents on the top and sides of the head were from the man not being careful enough with the dagger.
He watched in silence for a few more minutes as the pelt was soon removed, and as much meat as possible was cut off of the body as possible. What was left didn't resemble the panther it came from in the slightest. It was a pile of cleanly cut meat, a pile of various bones, some teeth, and the claws of a creature. Mike looked over the materials, before looking back at the man.
“So, you are absolutely certain you are a mage.” He asked, only half joking.
The man smirked before holding up the dagger. The edge glowed with mana, making it significantly sharper and giving it a subtle glow. “I am. Also, I got 3 levels as a chef from doing this, so thanks for trusting me with your kill.” He picked up the meat, walking away and towards some of the fires, when Mike called out.
“Hey, mind if I borrow that dagger for a bit?” He asked. “Also, I never caught your name.” The mage tossed Mike the dagger, which his perception and agility allowed him to effortlessly catch.
“I’m Otto, let me know if you ever have another body you need taken apart.” Otto replied.
“I’m Mike, pleasure meeting you.” Remembering something he wanted answered, Mike asked a quick follow up question. “Why were so many mages missing the panthers?”
Otto looked a bit sheepish before replying, “Other than healers, us Mages usually have the least amount of need for higher perception. The Night stalkers had some kind of magic around them that made them harder to sense. Guess the name really fits.”
“I just thought all of you had bad aim,” Mike teased, “guess it was that and poor vision.”
Otto laughed, shaking his head. He called over two more people, walking to one of the fires. The three began cooking the meat to feed everyone. Mike turned to the materials, deciding it was time to work on his own profession. It hadn't been too far behind his class, but that was before the fight of the night. Now it was quite a bit behind his class, and was just stat points begging to be gained.
He knew that if he wanted to work the material as effectively as Otto had, he would need something similar to that mana coating the mage had made. He tried by coating the dagger with his mana, but that didn't work. He had a blob of mana just attached to a knife with that try. He next tried moving the knife through some mana, and that was a bust too.
After a few more tries, he finally figured it out. The trick was to move his mana like a string across just the sharp edge of the blade, and pull it almost taut against the edge. This made the edge both sharper, and infused with mana.
*New skill gained. Mana Edge (common)*
It wasn't much, but it would allow him to cut the materials he had. It wasn't like he was going to use this outside of crafting anyways, as he quite liked his hammer. He held up one of the larger bones, voicing his thoughts aloud.
“I bet Otto would appreciate something for the work he did.” He muttered. With his first idea solidly in mind, he began work on the new item.