As Bharat was about to fall back into his old habits by doubting his capabilities, he shook his head and slapped his face a few times for extra measure to get out of his funk.

‘Get your shit together Bharat, this is no time to start having negative thoughts. Besides, the fight wasn't that hard, I was just unprepared and careless.’

This was the truth, as this was the first time he faced this new creature in a fight and wasn't aware of its strengths and weaknesses.

He had no idea that the arrows would have so little effect on its thick hide. The only thing he knew about them was they travelled in large groups, which made the sudden appearance of this lone boar all the more confusing.

Also, he was so used to fighting against the soft bodies of rabbits that he forgot that this new creature would have something else that was unique to him.

The concept of builds in RPG games came to his mind, as he realized that the rabbits likely had a build based on agility but lower defence. The boars on the other hand had more defence oriented builds but with far less speed. He also couldn't dismiss the fact that they were far dumber than the rabbits in the way they fought.

‘Maybe the system was right about strength being associated with meatheads’, he thought amusedly as the remark given by the system about strength attribute came to his mind. With that thought, he finally looked at the notification that came up after he killed the boar…

…or maybe it killed itself? He wasn't sure if it died due to the numerous stab marks he inflicted on it, or severe head trauma after bashing its head so many times against the trees.

<< You have eliminated a Level-7 [Hammer-head Boar]. Experience is awarded according to your contribution. Bonus experience awarded due to perks of the [Newbie] Title. >>

Sadly, he didn’t receive bonus experience for the ‘first find’ achievement as he already used that boost when he appraised one of the boars during his days of rabbit hunting. He was curious about the level range of this new creature so he could help his curiosity at the time, an action he was regretting now.

Although he didn't know the exact amount of bonus the achievement provided, he did remember that his levelling speed was far faster with that little ‘tip’ every time he killed a rabbit, which slowed down to a crawl after the 5-day period ended.

Regardless, now that he knew the attack pattern of these boars, he felt he could perform far better the next time he fought one. He just had to choose his targets and area carefully, preferably open areas with only a single target for now, as the number of normal arrows sticking out of the boar’s hide suggested that other than the [concentrated shot], using anything else would be wasteful, not to mention exhausting

‘So it's back to hunting for single targets huh…?’, he thought as the days he used to stalk and ambush lone rabbits were once more coming back, just with different species.

As he was about to start his search though, a sudden spike of pain in his arms and stomach reminded him of his current state, and now that the adrenaline was leaving his system, he finally took note of his injuries.

Looking himself over, he was once more amazed by his physical growth as just a few weeks ago, such wounds would have him screaming bloody murder. Hell, he once cried for an hour after stubbing his toe and breaking his nail before the system came.

But now, even though his ribs were looking slightly bruised from some lucky hits that the boar got in, and his waist was sporting an ugly wound that was slightly dripping blood, he felt it was bearable.

The only thing he was disgruntled about was the state of his pants, which was sure to have a new texture by the next day due to all the blood that spilt over it from the messy fight.

And his health points as well, which dropped by 50 something points.

Thankfully, he decided to carry two health potions today which were placed at the bottom of his quiver. An unorthodox way to carry items, sure, but it wasn't as if he could afford to be picky here.

Downing the bottle in one go, and grimacing in distaste at the metallic flavour that assaulted his taste buds, he watched his HP bar slowly fill up before standing up to his full height and venturing deeper into the forest in search of prey.

But finding single targets proved a far more challenging task than he thought, as these boars actually did travel in large groups. He had no idea why the last one was moving alone so he did not put much thought into it.

The only thing he knew was, if there could be one, there would definitely be more of them in a similar situation. He would just have to work a little harder in his search.

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Something he didn't actually mind that much, as in his search, he came across three more loot boxes, [common] ones of course. New area meant more opportunities to find loot, and he was loving every second of it.

As for their contents, he found another sword, a dagger, and an axe in the weapon department, two health potions and one mana potions, and three more [appraise] scrolls.

He didn't carry them on his person though, as he still had a whole day of hunting ahead of him, and fighting these beasts while carrying all the items on his person was just asking for something bad to happen.

Instead, he marked the nearby trees of their respective areas and decided to pick them on his way back. Following this, he once again went back into his search

And as if answering his prayers, the next boar he found was alone in a small area covered with long grass and filled with abundant shrubbery, which it was grazing on peacefully. He observed the area to see if any other boars were in the immediate vicinity but to his relief, it truly was out there alone.

[Hammer-head Boar - Level 6]

Crouching on the balls of his feet and carefully concealing himself behind a tree, he aimed his arrow at the creature and started charging a [concentrated shot] to disturb its peace, or to rest it in peace, preferably the latter. He wanted to find out whether using a far stronger attack from a distance was the best strategy, or using his daggers in close range was a better choice.

After a few seconds, he let loose the arrow while aiming at the snout of the creature. Due to the perception boost provided by this ability, the arrow struck true and penetrated the skull of the beast, barely reaching its brain and killing it. He should be happy about the clean and easy kill he got but he was worried about another thing.

*Ding*

<< You have eliminated a Level-6 [Mutar Boar]. Experience is awarded according to your contribution. Bonus experience awarded due to perks of the [Newbie] Title. >>

This was because, in the case of rabbits, the released arrow didn't lose much of its power even after passing through their heads. As for boars, their high constitution made doing anything else than using his current strategy shot a lost cause.

“Ranged combat it is…”, Bharat sighed out in resignation at the latest discovery. He would honestly prefer to use his dagger at close range, as he really wanted to get better at using them, but he would likely drop dead by exhaustion by the end of each fight if his earlier one was any indication.

And chances are that the commotion would draw more of them to his location, which would be terrible.

So, he went back to his search and started hunting lone boars one by one. By the end of his day, he managed to kill 5 more boars ranging from level 6-8. The level 8 one was a bit tricky as his first [concentrated shot] couldn't kill it one shot, but the distance between him and its position was long enough that he charged another arrow and loosed it at its head once more before it could hit him.

But if he was asked about the highlight of the day, then his fights with this new kind of beast won’t even be considered, not even the first one where he was almost turned into meat paste by one of them.

Because while he was hunting one of the boars, a level 7 one, he came across something that made him delighted and he could barely control himself from shouting in celebrating after using [appraise] on another loot box.

<< Item: Loot-Box (Uncommon)

Description: A common rarity loot box containing items that will be very beneficial for whoever finds it.

Remarks: Everybody likes loot boxes! >>

Different from the [common] ones, this one sported green gems instead of the white ones he was used to and its altar was relatively bigger sized as well. And as Bharat opened the box, he found that the differences didn't end there.

Because instead of three items that each [common] loot box he’d found till now had, this one had four items.

One of which was a mana potion, this time of [uncommon] rarity like he got from his training kit in the beginning. And as for its other contents…

*Ding*

<< Weapon: Pyro Staff (Uncommon)

Description: Weapon of choice for the pyromaniacs, this magical staff is made using the mana core of a powerful fire affiliated beast. Increases the power of fire type spells cast by 5%.

Remarks: A perfect ‘match’ made in heaven. >>

Only one word kept repeating in his head as he picked up the staff and gazed at it in wonder.

‘Magic!’

Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised even if there were literal stars in his eyes right now because as much as he trained with the bow, and fought in close combat using daggers, his desire to use magic abilities never left him since finding out that it was real.

The staff was truly a work of art made of black wood surrounded by black wines that spiralled upwards and ended with a fist-sized, red-coloured stone on top.

He could feel his mana core stirring just by running his fingers over the runes engraved on its body. He was very surprised due to this as only slightly moving his mana threads caused great exhaustion to him but while he was holding this staff, there was no effort involved. It felt as if the staff was helping him in guiding his mana.

Placing it back in front of him, he used [appraise] on the ability scroll.

*Ding*

<< Item: [Fireball] ability scroll (Uncommon)

Description: an ability scroll

Remarks: Absorb it for more information >>

Really, he couldn't help the fits of maniacal laughter that erupted from him after reading the name of his latest ability scroll. Sure, it won't even hold a candle to what that dragon could do but it was still something he desired very much . In his defense, it was every man’s dream who played games or read fantasy novels to have an ability to burn shit up.

‘And now for the last item’, he thought while rubbing his hands in anticipation. He did not get another ability scroll from this loot box, but what he did get was something far better and useful than any ability scroll in his opinion.

*Ding*

<< Equipment: Ring of holding (Uncommon)

Description: An enchanted ring with a small pocket dimensional space inside of it, from which the owner can store and retrieve items with just a thought. Unable to store living things inside of it.

Remarks: You hold the ring, and the ring will hold everything for you. >>