Having gotten something in my stomach, I logged in again and Trichia greeted me with a 'Welcome back'. I wanted to get to hunting right away but I was getting hungry again(ingame hunger) and Trichia had something important to tell me. With another tasteless bread in my hand, I listened to Trichia.

"Fight some and get hit enough to bring your HP down to 2."

I choked on the bread that I was eating.

*cough* *cough*

Well, didn't exactly choke since I didn't need to swallow ingame, but the feeling was right there.

"What!? Why!?"

"Just do it!" Trichia did a cute and angry pout, "and then reduce the enemy's complete HP in a single attack!"

I got it. That must be the requirement to attain a new skill. But it was easier said than done. To not hit an enemy at all and get hit enough to leave only 2 HP. Then to be able to kill the enemy in a single strike? It was almost impossible. Well, 'almost'. But I was up for a challenge. If it required such harsh conditions, it must be an awesome skill, otherwise Trichia wouldn't have brought it up.

"Alright!".

"Hihihihihi." Trichia giggled seeing me excited, knowing I was going to do it.

"Tell me something. Do I need to have my HP reduced by the enemy for this to work?" I asked, hoping for a way around.

"Yes. You need to have full HP when the fight begins and then reduce the enemy's HP to 0 from full when you have less than 1% of your total HP remaining."

Hmm. This was going to be hard. With only a margin of 2 HP, it could prove fatal very easily. If I had atleast a margin of 4 or 5, maybe I could.

"Okay. Its decided. I'll go level up till I have more than 500 HP and then do it."

"Do it now!" 

"What?" I was startled.

Trichia made another angry pout face and turned her head away with a stomp on the ground.

(Where'd she learn these things?)

"Umm.. Trichia?.... You don't want big brother to die, do you? Please go easy on me." 

She looked at me from the corner of her eyes. She pretended to consider for a moment and then came closer with her head lowered. She stopped right in front of me and grabbed my left sleeve at the corner with her right hand. Then she turned her face up and looked at me with upturned eyes.

"Only if you promise to come here everyday." She said in a weak tone.

I couldn't hold back anymore and lifted her up in a hug.

"Of coarse!!" I shouted.

She wrapped her hands around my neck and giggled.

I know I'm easy to fool, but when faced with such a cute sister, I'll gladly be a fool!

After rotating on the spot with her a few times, I put her down. I was huffing and my SP was reduced to half. But it was totally worth it!

After that Trichia disappeared again while still giggling and I decided to continue my hunt. I got 2 rabbits with easy sneak attacks. I experimented with a third to see how much damage it could give me. Each hit reduced about 20 HP but I could lower it further by various methods like dodging at the last second so it only grazes me or by bending my body back at the moment of impact to reduce the momentum. Right when I killed the third rabbit, I heard another *ding* indicating my level up. I put all 10 points in agility. I needed HP but investing in AGI in the beginning was better since that meant I could hunt for longer. Also, I used more hit and run tactics, or sneak attacks rather than frontal assaults, so it was all the more wiser for me to invest in AGI.

As I was roaming around looking for more monsters, I saw a group of red rots on my minimap. Some thwacking sounds could also be heard from the place. I quietly went to see what was happening. 

Goblin LVL 7

Goblin LVL 6

Hobgoblin LVL 17

Tusked Boar LVL 25

There were about 10 goblins and a hobgoblin fighting a boar with huge tusks(probably the reason it was called 'tusked' boar). The goblins were in the LVL range of 5 - 7, used clubs and were easily getting beaten by the boar. The hobgoblin was using goblins as bait and slowly working his way on reducing the boar's health with his longsword. The boar's main attack was a straight charge at his opponent, but it was quite powerful and fatal, if hit. 

"So much EXP." I licked my lips at the sight.

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I made my way around to the other side where 2 goblins were lying on the ground groaning in pain. Their HP bar was slowly reducing and they were on the verge of death. As I got closer and got a better look at the creatures, they were ugly. Green skin, bones showing, only a single cloth to cover their nether regions. Yeah, really ugly. With a quick precise stab with the dagger, I made the two disappear. As I heard another *ding*, I smiled and moved again to get a better view of the battle. There were 2 more goblins lying on the ground waiting for death, but I couldn't get to them without blowing my cover. I let them go, hoping to catch the bigger prey: the hobgoblin and the boar. 

The fight went on and the hobgoblin looked to have the upper hand with his minion goblins but soon they all died. The boar had about 1/4th of his HP remaining while the hobgoblin had almost full. With its better weapon, a longsword, it was almost sure to win. From what I had observed so far, it would take 2 attacks from the hobgoblin to do enough damage to completely finish the boar. Now to make those two attacks was incredibly hard with the boar's speed as well as the risk of getting hit. A single hit from the boar could easily pulverise a goblin or leave it at death's door only if the goblin was lucky. If hit head on, even the hobgoblin stood no chance.

I waited in a stance, ready to run at any moment. The boar charged at the hobgoblin. I was to the boar's back so that meant he ran in the opposite direction from me. The hobgoblin dodged at the last second but couldn't get a strike in. This time the hobgoblin was towards me. The boar charged again. 

(Now!)

I threw the dagger at the hobgoblin. It struck him in the back, not enough to do any significant damage, but enough to distract it long enough so the boar's attack hits. And hit, it did. The hobgoblin was sent flying towards me. I ducked and the hobgoblin flew over me and away. I made my way to see its condition while the boar was dancing at its victory. The hobgoblin was lying unconscious with a deep wound in the stomach and its HP was dropping steadily but fast. It probably had only a couple of seconds.

Since I didn't have a weapon I started hitting it with my leg. I wasn't sure if it would count as my kill but I kept at it and was pretty satisfied at the outcome as I heard a couple of dings. I checked my status and added a couple of points here and there. It finally looked like this.

Name : RotaSTR : 50LVL : 10HP : 500/500AGI : 60Race : HumanSP : 572/600INT : 10Title :MP : 100LUC : 10Points Remaining : 0

As I happily closed my status, what came into my view were a pair of leather gloves and a shortsword. They were drops from the hobgoblin. I instantly equipped the gloves. They fit perfectly, most definitely a blessing of the game. I took the shortsword and got ready. I didn't have the appraisal skill but even a noob could tell that it was leagues above my stupid dagger.

(Thank god, I didn't get a spoon this time.)

With better equipment, I got back to the boar. I already had a strategy in mind and it was the same as the hobgoblin: Avoid and hit. The boar was fast, but since it couldn't change directions mid-charge, it was easy to dodge. When I got to the boar, it was still doing its winning dance. I picked up a stone and threw at it. It hit right on its behind. The boar turned towards me and glared.

(So easy to aggro. *smirk*)

I positioned carefully in front of a thick tree and got ready to dodge. The boar charged.

(NOW!)

I jumped to my right and dodged the boar's charge.

(Is it just me, or was it easier than what the hobgoblin made it out to be?)

The boar stuck the tree behind and and I didn't waste this chance to stab it in a vital spot. Atleast I think it was a vital spot, not that I knew anything of a boar's anatomy.

It took 2 stabs and the boar was down. It disappeared and left behind some meat. 

"Is it pork? No, that's pig. What do you get from a boar?  Ah, who cares."

I put the meat in my inventory and went to rest. I got 5 more levels from the boar but I decided to not use the stat points for now and complete Trichia's mission.

I went to rest for a while so all my status bars were full and then went to look for a Rabbit.

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The blue screens make it look so much better. I added some in the previous chapters too. :)