Ch.10 Caution required

After waking up in the morning Cinis felt energized, having regenerated their Hp and MP back to full and was ready to start the day by hunting slimes. It had not been very long since they started actively hunting slimes so they weren't tired of it yet. In addition there were the skills, which were quite useful. This day of hunting was nothing out of the ordinary. Cinis killed slime after slime, actually speeding up with repetition and Aiden Absorbed every single one of them.

During the hunt Cinis also continued to practice the cursed flames but was unable to gain another skill level. A well placed fire-breath every now and again obliterated multiple slimes but Cinis was very conservative with them to conserve mana. In the end they had lost quite a bit but it was partially regenerated with only a loss of ten points. This loss however was made up for by the following notification.

“Stats gained: 1 Magic (MAG)”

In addition Cinis had also gained the coveted “Piercing Resistance'' which led to an interesting change.

“Skills: [Lesser Blunt Force Resistance], [Lesser Slashing Resistance] and [Lesser Piercing Resistance] Have assimilated into Skill: [Lesser Physical Resistance] due to similarity”

Skill: Lesser Physical Resistance:

Provides a slight decrease of damage against all physical sources of damage.

‘That can happen?’

‘Apparently.’

‘So…, is there also a magical version? So if you get enough magical resistances then it will combine into one? That Would be way better than physical resistance just because of how many different types of magic there are.’

‘You’re right, it’s good that we decided to continue hunting slimes.’

They moved on to the rabbits. This time they were lucky and lured only one. The rabbit screeched and wildly shook its body, puffing it up as to intimidate. Cinis of course didn’t care very much and instead attempted to slash at its throat. The rabbit had quick reflexes and turned its head barely missing Cinis’ leg. Instead they got their horn stuck in a tree although shattering its bark. At that point Cinis was able to snap its neck with their jaw and end the fight at no expenditure of mana whatsoever.

Due to this they were able to fight at least another one and went back. There they attempted to pull another one away but seemed to have alerted two others as well. Cinis wasn’t sure what to do about that and conversed with Aiden.

‘How do we beat three?’

‘You only need to fight two, I can hold one off, but I won’t be available to fight the two others then.’

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‘ I am sure I can defeat one but I might get injured like this. I will need to use a lot of mana.’

Arriving at the spot they had decided to take out the rabbits Aiden lew back to stop the last one, swishing around its face and blinding it. Cinis, upon turning around, created a large amount of flaming spikes, a staple in their arsenal by now and flung some of them at the rabbits. They tried to aim at vulnerable parts like the eye but only hit the eye of one rabbit since Cinis was unable to fully concentrate. Most of the others still did some amount of damage and weakened the rabbits yet a few hit the horns or empty air.

The rabbit that Cinis had hit in the eye panicked and missed their first charge giving Cinis the opportunity to attack the other one. Slashing at the rabbit’s side took out a chunk of flesh causing bleeding. In addition cinis was able to launch a few more spikes at it, pinning it down momentarily. Immediately after Cinis spun around, anticipating an attack by the other one, shocked to see nothing. The rabbit had maneuvered to their side, attacking Cinis’ flank instead of their back. Cinis felt a sharp pain as they were pierced by the lance-like horn and involuntarily sacked. This attack had taken a chunk of health away that was not trivial, dealing 58 damage.

While quickly checking their health Cinis also noticed that their MP had fallen considerably, now standing at 41. This was still enough to fight, even as Cinis had to support Aiden who was struggling to keep their foe contained which was a constant drain. They decided to create additional spikes of cursed flame and launched about half of them at the injured rabbit they had pinned down earlier. It was not yet dead but unable to fight. Before they confronted the recently one-eyed enemy Cinis made a detour to Aiden’s rabbit. It was blinded and easy to finish off with a bite to the neck.

‘Thank you, let’s kill the last one together.’

Aiden said but the one-eyed rabbit was nowhere in sight. Cinis guessed they had escaped but was still worried that they might be ambushed, but Aiden was able to swiftly inspect the surrounding area and noted no trace of it.

If Cinis had shoulders they would have shrugged. Now they collected a large leaf to wrap around their wound so they wouldn’t bleed out. Luckily they knew a big-leafed plant that was certainly not toxic. In the meantime Aiden consumed the slain rabbits.

“Level up - 3 free stat points gained”

“Stats gained: 1 Strength (STR)”

‘Strength is useful, but I know what I will allocate my points to. I am still struggling with my magic capacity, it is the limiting factor for our hunts so I will add two of my points to Magic. The last one I will add to Constitution, more health is always good.’

“Confirmed”

‘Today was dangerous, how do we make sure that we never lure more than two, at best only one, rabbit?’

‘I was already thinking that now, with a bit more practice in the cursed flame skill, we can lure them from further away. Possibly even without them noticing us until they enter the forest. That tactic however won’t prevent other rabbits from noticing that one is leaving.’

‘I think we can’t do anything about that, we will just have to be careful. Maybe we will find out something that is of use in that regard but maybe not. We will just have to live with that. Additionally the rabbits are only a threat for now, in the foreseeable future they won’t be a problem anymore.’

‘That actually sounded quite wise, I haven’t known you for long, but you’ve changed.’

‘I have felt different after the Metamorphosis.’

‘As long as you’re still you.’

‘I am.’

‘Good.’