After deciding to focus on his skills, Mikael reflected on the system. ‘Is it just me, or is progress with the system becoming increasingly difficult? At first, the XP cost for leveling up a class increased progressively with each level, which made sense. But now, the XP cost is evenly distributed across all levels, making it harder. It’s more difficult because, at higher levels, you would typically have extra stats, which allow for faster killing speeds and, in turn, faster leveling.’

‘And now, it’s become even harder with the race level cap. But when I think about it, it’s not really a surprise. The only strange thing is that it wasn’t shown in the status window, like with the class. Anyway, the real problem is the stat caps, which raise the difficulty of becoming stronger again. If this continues, the difficulty will quickly escalate to an extreme level.’

‘At this point, I’ll need to figure out a way to create a unique power system just for myself and use it to grow stronger. But until then, I’ll stick with the class and stat system, at least until I hit this soft cap.’

After Mikael finished thinking, he decided to try resting. For a while, he couldn’t fall asleep, but after some time, his injuries hurt less, perhaps because he stayed still. The important thing is that he eventually managed to sleep.

In this way, three more days passed before Mikael could no longer stand doing nothing. On the morning of the fourth day, he decided to go outside. It's true that, aside from sleeping, eating, and reading, he hadn’t done much. On the second morning, when he was no longer considered critically injured, he had visited the Records and bought a few books on useful subjects: a survival guide, a first aid manual, and others. He spent most of his time reading but was incredibly bored.

A positive side to these three days of rest is the valuable knowledge Mikael gained and the fact that his condition has significantly improved. All his minor cuts and wounds have completely healed, and his broken bones have mended, though they’re still fragile and could easily break again until he makes a full recovery.

When he stepped outside, he saw a lively city with many people moving toward their destinations. What fascinated Mikael was the diversity in the city—not only were there the usual humans, but also more fantastic races like elves and demi-humans. He continued to look around, enjoying this moment of respite compared to the recent boring days.

As he walked, savoring the relaxed atmosphere, he eventually arrived at a bustling market. He spotted a food stall and decided to buy something.

Approaching the stall, which was selling some kind of sweet on a stick, he asked, "How much for this?" while pointing to the item.

The vendor replied, "It’s 1 copper coin."

Mikael nodded, handed over a copper coin, and took the sweet. He continued his walk through the city, eating the treat.

After spending some time strolling around, he threw the stick in a trash can and soon found himself standing in front of the Hunter’s Guild. Entering the building, he noticed that Ruby was once again at the counter. He was a little surprised to see her working again but didn’t give it much thought as he approached her.

"Hello Ruby, I would like to redeem the Orc Extermination Mission."

Ruby had expected him to return soon, considering how quickly he had completed the quest the first time, so she wasn’t surprised to see him and replied, "Same as last time—I need the ears as proof."

Mikael nodded and handed her his backpack containing all the orc ears and cores. After calculating the total from his first hunt, he had 62 orc ears and 42 orc cores, plus the orc chief’s core, which he kept on him. He didn’t want anyone to know that he had managed to kill a B-rank monster, even at the cost of severe injuries.

He kept it secret in case someone tried to ambush or assassinate him, so they wouldn’t be able to plan around his full strength.

After Ruby counted all the ears and verified their authenticity, she said, "All good, but this time you’ve really outdone yourself—31 orcs killed, which means you’ve completed the mission six times." She spoke with a hint of admiration as she took his hunter card and registered the completion of the mission.

At that moment, Mikael received a notification.

[Orc Extermination Mission completed x6 +200 LP x6 = +1.2K LP]

Pleased with his reward, Mikael continued, "I’d like to exchange 20 orc cores for contribution points."

Ruby took the twenty cores and said, "I’ve updated your hunter card. You now have 9,000 contribution points."

"Now that I have some points, I would like to buy the promotion to a C-rank hunter."

Ruby nodded and made the necessary modifications before handing him back his hunter card, now 5,000 points lighter but with a C replacing the D-rank. She then said, "Your C-rank promotion is complete! If you want to become a B-rank hunter, you’ll need to go to the Hunter Guild Headquarters in the capital. The promotion will be more difficult and will require you to fight a B-rank hunter to prove you have comparable strength. Of course, you’ll still need contribution points—20,000 for the B-rank promotion."

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She continued, "As for quests, we do have some B-rank ones here, but not many. If you want to take on higher-caliber quests, you’d be better off heading to the capital."

[Quest: C-Rank Hunter completed.

Rewards: 1.8K LP]

Mikael took a moment to process what she had said, along with the notification that appeared, before responding. "Okay, thanks for the info. For now, though, I’d like to check the catalogue. After all, I still have 4,000 points left."

Ruby understood and handed him the book.

Mikael took his time browsing through it before deciding to purchase a C-rank sword for 3,000 contribution points. He thought, 'That’s the only item that’s really worth it. Sure, the C-rank body refining technique is somewhat interesting, but not only is it too expensive at 5,000 points, it’s also of limited use for now. On the other hand, a better sword will be extremely useful. If I had a C-rank sword against the orc chief, I might have been able to cut through his skin, and the fight would’ve been much easier.'

Mikael pointed at the C-rank sword and said, "I would like to buy this sword."

They followed the same procedure as last time, heading to the secured room, before Ruby returned with his sword. Mikael took it, said goodbye to Ruby, and left the Hunter Guild. He then found a quiet bench, where he took the time to examine his new weapon. To his surprise, it looked almost identical to the D-rank sword he had recently bought, except for the darker blade.

After this brief moment of surprise, he began to think about his next move. 'I now have 3,000 LP, which is enough to either buy the Training System or the Basic Race Gaining System. Both are the most useful at the moment, but the issue is that I've decided to focus on my skills, and consequently, on body refining. For that, I’ll need both systems if I want to be efficient. After all, I’ve always had the habit of working smarter, not harder.'

'For example, if I buy the training system and train in body refining for a week, I might achieve the same results in a single day if I had a better race, like the natives of this world. So yeah... if I focus on my skills, the best path would be to get the Basic Race Gaining System first, then farm LP to buy the Training System, and have enough left for training with Kiara. The problem with this plan is that I need LP, and the ways to earn more in this world are limited.'

'I think I'll leave this world. After all, I’ve already gained a lot here, and while further progress is possible, it would inevitably be slower. I’ll do one, maybe two quick worlds with the sole goal of farming LP.'

After making this decision, he immediately purchased the Basic Race Gaining System, reducing his total LP to a whopping 0. His new system works by allowing the user to gain a new race by killing someone of that race.

Mikael decided to kill a human because he wanted to keep his original appearance. It would also be easier to blend into a modern world if he wasn’t an elf or a similar fantasies race. He chose to target a bandit—not because he wouldn’t dare to kill an innocent person, but because, if he could avoid it, he preferred not to.

Mikael exited the city and followed the road leading to Onissa City, hoping to encounter some bandits. After searching for several hours, he finally heard something.

"HELP, HELP ME, PLEASE!" a woman's voice screamed.

He moved toward the sound, suspecting it was what he was looking for.

Mikael arrived at the scene and perched himself in a tall tree. Below, he saw three rough-looking men in worn leather armor and dirty clothing cornering a beautiful young woman. She appeared to have just reached adulthood, with Twintails styled black hair and tear-filled black eyes.

One of the men stepped forward and slapped the woman hard, causing her to fall to the ground. "Shut up, bitch! It’s useless to scream—we're in the middle of the forest. Be a good little plaything, and maybe we'll let you go," he said with a cruel smirk.

Seeing this scene didn’t faze Mikael. After all, it wasn’t the first time he had witnessed something like this. In the place where he used to live, things like this could happen. For example, when a woman was in debt, it wasn’t uncommon for her to be forced into prostitution, which, if that isn’t rape… So, he was pretty much indifferent. It's just that Mikael had never liked rape or even understood it. He always thought, if you want to sleep with a woman, just seduce her. To him, rape was the solution of the weak.

Seeing this scene, Mikael decided to intervene—not because he had a savior complex or anything like that, but simply because killing the bandits would benefit him. If it didn’t, he would either have passed by or maybe interfered; the odds were 50/50.

As he observed, the situation changed slightly.

One of the men spoke, "Boss Roger, can we have our way with her after you?"

The man who had slapped the young woman replied while unbuckling his belt. "She's a pretty one. It’s been a while since I’ve had a girl like this, so I'll take my time enjoying her. But once I’m done, you can have her."

"Thanks, Boss."

The woman, hearing their words and seeing Roger’s actions, turned as white as a sheet. She began pleading, tears streaming down her face. "Please, don’t do this!"

Sobs

"Mia don’t want to be raped. Think about the women in your family… please, don’t do this to her."

Roger responded to her, "But that’s what makes it better. I mean, if you don’t resist, it’s less fun. So, do your best to fight back." He ended with a sadistic smirk.

Hearing this, Mikael thought, Oh, so that’s why! It’s a mix of a kink for rape and being too lame to get a woman honestly. And they seem weak, so no danger there. I can make my move.

As soon as he finished his thought, he moved at such a speed that it seemed like he disappeared. He reappeared behind Roger and, with a single slash, decapitated him. Roger's head flew into the air, spraying blood all over the nearby bandit.

One of the bandits turned his head in the direction of the blood splash and was immediately horrified to see Roger’s headless body. He began to scream, "AHhhhhhhhh!"

The second bandit turned around and said, "Why the hell are you screa—"

He didn’t have time to finish his sentence before Mikael swiftly decapitated the both of them.