Alexia Knight

That is not a spider.

I frown as I hide behind a large rock while staring at the even larger bat hanging from the ceiling.

{Lesser Vampire Bat – Level 6}

It is also too strong for me to kill.

The creature is an entire meter tall and it’s just hanging by the ceiling upside down with its eyes closed. It has black fur, with two large wings wrapped around itself. Oh, and two fangs pointing out of its mouth which are not normal on bats, marking it as a vampire bat.

Hmm. Okay. Yeah.

Bye bat, I’m just gonna go the other way now.

I slowly begin walking backwards while occasionally glancing down to make sure I don’t step on anything.

Just gotta get away without waking it-

A loud screech echoes from the other side of the cavern it’s in, marking the arrival of another lesser taracht.

Shit.

I quickly glance at my status to find my soul at fourteen points. Then I focus on the vampire bat to find it screeching while flapping its wings, the spider clearly having woken it up. And, of course, the spider runs back down the tunnel after realizing its blunder.

And the vampire bat focuses on me instead.

Okay, now that’s just unfair.

The creature flaps its wings once with a loud screech before detaching from the ceiling and beginning to fly over towards me, but I roll out of the way right when its claws are about to strike where I am. Then I jump forward with my sword, only for it to swipe its wing towards me and knock both me and my sword flying into a wall.

I let out a grunt of pain before quickly trying to climb to my feet while looking around for the sword that was knocked out of my hands.

“Damnit,” I mutter when I find the sword a few meters away from me, but I quickly raise my head at the sound of wings flapping, making me find the bat as it shoots towards me with its mouth wide open to reveal its two sharp fangs in all their glory right before they dig into my shoulder.

A scream echoes throughout the cavern as I feel pain radiating out from the wound, meanwhile my soul very slowly begins to drop. But I don’t let it end here as I physically grab the bat’s head and try to yank its fangs out with brute force.

The creature turns out to be too strong though, and I barely manage to budge it at all.

So I place my hand over its eyes, making it let out an annoyed sounding screech before I use quantum bolt, making me feel incredibly tired as the bolt manifests directly into the creature’s head.

The bat lets out a loud screech for just a second, only for the upper part of its head to suddenly glitch apart and explode in a purple flash, shooting its insides and fur all over me. It then loosens its grip to practically nothing as the pulling sensation on my shoulder vanishes, marking that it’s no longer drinking my blood.

I collapse to the ground while checking my soul and finding it at only three left. Then it ticks down to two.

Then one.

And right when I’m closing my eyes expecting to gain the crippled status and probably die to blood loss from my shoulder wound, a System Message plays out in my head.

[Level 6 Lesser Vampire Bat Defeated – User’s earned EXP has been increased by a large portion due to killing a being whose level is five levels above their own.]

[Six points have been earned for killing a creature five levels above you.]

{Congratulations! You have leveled up to level 2! Your Species has awarded you +2 VIT, +2 DEX, +2 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN. Your Class has awarded you +1 VIT, +1 DEX, +1 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN.}

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{Congratulations! You have leveled up to level 3! Your Species has awarded you +2 VIT, +2 DEX, +2 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN. Your Class has awarded you +1 VIT, +1 DEX, +1 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN.}

[The leaderboards have been updated. You are now #1 on the leaderboards.]

{As a reward for reaching the top of the System’s leaderboards, you will now be given the General Skill, Forerunner!}

[*New General Skill* – Forerunner: Passively increases the effects of the user’s stats by three percent. Skill is automatically slotted due to free open slots.]

I gasp while feeling strength filling me before I let out a grunt and push the vampire bat off of me, its fangs ripping out rather painfully in the process. Then I just collapse on the ground in exhaustion.

Alright, maybe I should’ve waited for longer before going out to hunt more. But at least I got the Forerunner skill.

Didn’t know there was something rewarded to you for reaching the top of the leaderboards, but I kind of suspected it. After all, everyone who has done so before has had a significant increase in their power afterwards.

I pant in exhaustion for a few seconds, the pain of my shoulder still throbbing along with the bruising from being sent flying and what feels like a cracked rib from the wing hitting me earlier. But I’m still alive. And that’s all that matters.

I’m also not going to go rushing to find more monsters to fight next time. Not till I recover enough soul.

Speaking of soul, I open my status to look.

Name: Alexia Knight Species: Quantum Reaper(T1) Level: 3 Class: Quantum Reaper Soul: 174/200 VIT: 7 DEX: 7 STR: 7 MAG: 9 MEN: 9 Racial Skills Active Skills Passive Skills General Skills

A shiver runs down my spine at just how close to dying I was. Because if that level up had come any later, I would’ve died, my body most likely not able to handle my wounds without my soul enhancing it.

In fact, my soul is still going down.

I move my head to look at the wound, finding it slowly closing up thanks to my soul that’s dropping at a steady pace of about one per every two or three seconds.

At least it looks like I regenerate quickly.

Although… what’s with my blood? It doesn’t look like it’s leaving my body very quickly. In fact, some of the blood that is flowing out of the wound seems to just glitch back inside somehow. Not all of it, but a small amount of it.

The rest just glitches wherever it goes, but not going back into me.

That’s just… off putting.

Either way, I look up at the ceiling of the cavern, just waiting for the wound to close.

I hope Astrid’s okay.

A few minutes pass in silence.

[The leaderboards have been updated. You are now #2 on the leaderboards.]

Well that didn’t last long.

Whatever. Doesn’t matter.

Already got the skill after all.

I continue staring up at the ceiling for a while before the sounds of skittering enters my ear.

Ugh.

I glance at my wound, then begin to get up from the floor after determining that it’s healed enough for me to move. And right when I get to my feet, I find that very same taracht from before that had woken up the vampire bat reentering the cavern.

Without any hesitation, I raise my right arm, since my left shoulder is still in pain, and send a quantum bolt at the thing, followed up by a second.

[Level 2 Lesser Taracht Defeated.]

Stupid spider.

I glance at my soul again to find it at about one hundred and twenty one before turning around and heading to a corner of the cavern I’m in to recover.