I spent some time getting a feel for my body and skills, making sure I have a good understanding of what I can and can't do. In this practice session, I learned three things of importance. First, I learned that repeatedly using my [Tail Whip] skill over and over again in succession would quickly make me short of breath and grow sore all along my tail. That led to part of my second discovery, which was just how ridiculous Recovery was. If I tired myself out from excessive and rapid usage of [Tail Whip], it only took a couple of minutes for me to feel rested and brimming with energy. On top of that, I tried out leaving [Light Of Justice] active on my hand for a full minute, which left me feeling extremely drained and turned my crimson skin a dark burgundy from the burning sensation, and it only took half an hour at most for my hand to heal and my fatigue to disappear completely once more. Lastly, this all culminated in my third revelation, the knowledge that I can both learn and improve skills through practice without having to use them on a specific target or in real combat. Yes, I did level up [Restful Touch] before my fight, but I still technically used that on myself, and the skills I improved mainly came from punching, kicking, and swiping at the air with my tail, with only some application of the aforementioned [Restful Touch] on myself when I took breaks to heal up.

[Skill [Restful Touch] Has Reached Level 3!]

[Skill [Tail Whip] Has Reached Level 2!]

[Skill [Tail Whip] Has Reached Level 3!]

[Skill [Tail Whip] Has Reached Level 4!]

[Skill [Enchantment Affinity] Has Reached Level 2!]

[Skill [Light Of Justice] Has Reached Level 4!]

[Skill [Light Of Justice] Has Reached Level 5!]

[Skill [Holy Affinity] Has Reached Level 3!]

Since my practice mainly focused on [Tail Whip] and [Light Of Justice], those two got the most levels, but I still made good progress for what must have been about an hour of messing arou-, I mean, practicing. The nice surprise, however, came in the form of a brand new skill.

[Due To Repeated Actions, You Have Learned The Passive General Skill [Light Ability] Level 1!]

[Light Ability]:

Gives the user increased ability with (Light) Skills and Spells.

I got the skill whilst testing the various applications of [Light Of Justice], such as pinpointing it on something as small as my finger, or covering as much as possible, managing to cover from my fingertip to a third of my forearm. I did cover half my tail’s length though, probably because it is much thinner. The best use I found was actually how I was able to cover both my fists and tail tip all at once with a bit of extra focus.

Getting back on topic, [Light Ability] seems to be another weaker version of an Affinity skill like [Unholy Resistance], with both increasing 1 of the 2 aspects described in my [Enchantment Affinity] and [Holy Affinity] skills. Maybe if I manage to get both Ability and Resistance for one category of magic they combine into an Affinity skill? I don’t even know if skills can combine in the first place, and it also doesn't explain why I have better versions for Enchantment and Holy in the first place.

Anyways, I am currently standing in front of the double doors out, ready as I can be to explore as someone who’s only current possessions include a single article of clothing and a broken sword on its last legs, the latter of which I am just leaving behind since I want my hands free and don't even have a belt to stick it in. I could really use a pair of shoes though, I’m not looking forward to walking around outside barefoot.

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Mustering up my determination, I pull open one of the doors slowly while peeking out to make sure I won't be ambushed by the undead again. Seeing nothing nearby, I step out and shut the door behind me. The sun is still somewhat high in the sky, so I have quite a bit of daylight to explore the town down the hill for supplies. It would be nice if I could find some people down there, but it’s highly unlikely, especially when I consider the few roaming skeletons I can see moseying along the dirt path. None of them are holding anything, and seem to just be aimlessly walking around, which is quite unlike the first three I encountered that seemed to work in tandem and had the explicit goal of killing me for the second time. I spot another discrepancy as I watch one of the closer skeletons, empty eye sockets. Yes, a skull’s eye sockets should be empty, but the three I fought all had silver balls of flame occupying the space.

Spotting four skeletons spread out along the path between the church and the ruined town spanning a few hundred feet, I wait for the closest one to get a bit closer to me before I sprint forwards to engage it while it is still fairly separated from the other three. After getting within a few yards of, the skeleton finally turns towards me and immediately rushes straight towards me with wild abandon, flailing its arms around in front of itself. Welcoming its charge towards me, I slow down to prepare for my interception of my bony target.

Once it gets within a few feet from me, I drop down and slide under its grasping arms and into its legs, knocking it over. Ignoring the scrapes on my legs from the rough dirt, I get to my feet whilst slamming my tail down behind me, only activating [Tail Whip] to see how effective it is in real combat. I turn my head to watch the whip slam down on the skull, noticing the large spider web crack spread out from the point of impact. Unfortunately the skill didn’t instantly shatter the skull, and the skeleton starts to scramble back to its feet, but I just infuse my fist with [Light Of Justice] and blow its head into pieces with a single punch before it can get up. The racket I made must have gotten the attention of the other three, as I turned to see them all running at me in a similar form as the first.

Since they were all spread out from each other, I quickly dispatched the other three one at a time with relative ease, all of them falling to just a single blow infused with [Light Of Justice]. I won't scoff at the easy fight, but it makes me wonder why these were different from the silver-eyed bunch. Well, they were similar to the one who charged at me with the club whilst throwing caution to the wind. As I contemplated, a window appeared in front of me with a few messages.

[You Are Now In Relative Safety, Rewards From Combat Shall Now Be Distributed]

[You Have Destroyed (x4 Skeletons) And Have Been Granted Experience!]

[{Temiskyr Imp} Has Risen To Level 4! (+1 Recovery +2 Dexterity +1 Magic Power +2 Mana Control +2 Stat Points)]

[Skill [Tail Whip] Has Reached Level 5!]

[Skill [Light Of Justice] Has Reached Level 6!]

[Skill [Light Of Justice] Has Reached Level 7!]

[Skill [Holy Affinity] Has Reached Level 4!]

[Skill [Brawling] Has Reached Level 2!]

[Skill [Brawling] Has Reached Level 3!]

I’m a little conflicted about the results. Don’t take me wrong, the plethora of skill increases is fantastic, but really, only one level to Temiskyr Imp? I fought one more skeleton than last time and got less levels! Maybe I should be scoffing at the easy fight if this is what it rewards me with, though I don’t think I’ll be putting myself in life threatening situations on purpose anytime soon just for a bit of leveling. I just got this life, I don't want to toss it away immediately.

Starting to walk towards the town again, I take a peek at my full status after putting my 2 free points into Endurance and Strength.

Name: Chloe Wright

Species: {Demon}

Age: 19

Displayed Title: None (3 Valid Titles Available)

Unused Stat Points: 0

Endurance: 8

Recovery: 33

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 31

Magic Power: 13

Mana Control: 31

Subspecies: {Temiskyr Imp} Level 4

Active Skills (2/5):

-[Restful Touch] Level 3

-[Tail Whip] Level 5

Passive Skills (1/5):

-[Enchantment Affinity] Level 2

Active General Skills:

-[Light Of Justice] Level 7

Passive General Skills:

-[Unholy Resistance] Level 1

-[Holy Affinity] Level 4

-[Brawling] Level 3

-[Light Ability] Level 1

Huh, I totally forgot about that “Displayed Title” part, maybe I should check it ou-

[Now Entering Domain: Rusalka’s Creek]