Thalion checked his notifications while continuing his feast on the plant life.

You have killed human Level 31

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You have killed human Level 27

You have reached Level 30

He gained an entire level from killing all those humans. It was quite a lot, even though some were of a lower level than him. He allocated his free points into wisdom for his human form and dexterity as the umbral predator. Additionally, he unlocked two new mythic skills. It looked like those mythic classes gave mythic skills too. A skill selection would have been nice

Heartbeat of the Sanguine Archon (Mythic)

With each heartbeat, the sanguine archon's blood is purified, amplifying their physical and magical abilities. This constant purification enhances strength, speed, vitality, and spell potency, making the Archon progressively more powerful.

The description was brief for a mythic skill, but it seemed to offer a similar function to his sanguine thorn ability, except now, every heartbeat made him stronger until it reached a peak; at least that was his guess. Thalion still had no idea how all the blood skills even worked. Normally he should get weaker using his own blood for the skills, but that was not the case at the moment. All the blood skills were abilities from the sanguine thorn. Even his blood harvest didn't give him the blood but the plant under his heart. The sanguine thorn should have stored the blood, which he then used in his skills. Well, that was the theory so far. He could already feel how he got a little stronger with every beat of his heart. If there were more ways to increase the power of his blood or improve the amount of blood his veins could hold, might empower him to new heights.

He noted this for the next system shop since he didn't want to waste too much time experimenting with his blood when he could just ask the voice of the system when the system shop appeared. Best to improve his skills with the sword and eat more of those plants. He didn't get a lot of stats from the plants like from some of the berries he had eaten before, but he felt so much stronger, and the darkness hopefully helped in more than one way. Eating all those dark affinity plants gave him this strong form in the first place, so he had to be on the right track for the moment. With those thoughts, Thalion moved on to check his other new skill as the umbral predator.

Umbral Predator's Instinct (Mythic)

This mystical skill allows the Umbral Predator to tap into the very essence of darkness to locate its prey. By blending with the shadows, the predator can sense the life force of any creature within a vast radius, no matter how well they hide or disguise themselves. The shadows whisper secrets of the prey's movements, fears, and weaknesses, guiding the predator with unerring accuracy. This ability not only reveals the prey's location but also enhances the predator’s stealth, making it nearly impossible for the hunted to detect the hunter until it’s too late.

This was an exceptional skill for hunting and ambushing. These mythic skills were frighteningly powerful. Thalion hoped they would help him stand a chance against other survivors blessed by gods eventually.

There was still the big question of elves and vampires. He had never encountered an elf in the tutorial, and vampires were equally rare. They probably spawned at higher tutorial stages, which gave them access to more credits. The kind of gear those people could afford after starting in the third stage... he didn’t want to think about it.

The next three days, Thalion focused on devouring as many plants as possible while continuing to practice swordsmanship. Despite his effort, he hadn’t mastered the third attack form yet. Maybe it would have been smarter to hunt down a new beast or try to catch a flying one, but in this new stage, the jungle was a bit more quiet. He hadn't encountered the manta ray from the earlier stages as any other flying creatures. For now he progressed very fast, and he didn't want to leave this spot too soon. He could always hunt for more forms and skills at a later point while such an opportunity to munch on dark affinity plants wouldn't appear too soon. The last time he had to hunt down the blue robes all around their base to get those plants. Well, he also did it to fuck with the people too, but that was not his point. Anyway, enough thinking back to mastering the third technique.

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The technique involved stepping forward, executing a high swing, turning with the motion, then stepping forward again to thrust, which transitioned into a side swing to create distance from the opponent. At normal speed, he could execute the movements perfectly, but as his speed increased, the swings became sloppy, too short, lacking power, or too long, leaving him exposed to a counterattack.

The next day, he shifted his focus to improving his telekinetic dash. He wanted to make it faster. By infusing more mana into the skill and doing it faster, he made some progress, though it was slow and steady. With the system shop opening soon, the hunt for survivors was about to begin again.

He gained two more levels from consuming the plants, which wasn't much. However, when he transformed into the Umbral Predator, the darkness within him grew stronger. Everything felt more aligned, and he could feed faster. When some plants attacked him with spells, he noticed that a small amount of the poisonous gas turned into darkness when it came too close to his skin. The effect was barely noticeable, but it was there. He aimed to improve this ability, imagining how it could make him nearly immune to many area spells while further empowering him. That would definitely be the dream. Now it was time to properly scout the area and find a good hunting spot for the night.

Switching to his human form, Thalion climbed into the sky in his mist form. From the air, he observed griffins flying toward the mountains, and castles had appeared everywhere, likely bought from the system store. In contrast, the makeshift camps had almost entirely disappeared, either wiped out or assimilated into larger factions. One large wooden fortress lay beneath the mountains, but it was too far away to tell who occupied it. Well, those griffins would be a welcome flying form, but they were so far in the distance it would take days to get there. So nothing he could accomplish at the moment, but getting a flying from would definitely be high up on his list. When discarding his glowhorn form, it was clear to him that he wanted to create a beast that stood on the absolute apex. The power of the umbral predator proved him right, as so far he hadn't encountered a beast that could rival his might. The only negative part about the umbral predator was that it took a lot of time and resources to get him there. Thalion was not sure how many forms he could empower at the same time without falling behind in levels. A flying form was definitely important for traveling, but the trip to the mountains was long, and he had better things to do at the moment.

He planned to go hunting when the night grew darker, hoping for a big credit boost. The system shop would open tomorrow, after all. Killing survivors would never be more rewarding than it was now. He even considered invading one of those castles.

Currently, he had 14,910 credits, which wasn't much compared to the last time he entered the system shop, but he didn’t need much this time. His primary interest lay in ways to store more blood in his body and potentially use the purified blood in his attacks to support the sanguine thorn. He also wanted to explore ways to upgrade or create skills. Another option would be blueprints for advanced gear, as the basic equipment he could make so far wasn’t enough. Enhancing his robe or mask was also long overdue.

The sun was slowly setting, and Thalion continued with his routine until nightfall. Then, the hunt would begin.

<--

Steven prepared his attack groups for the night ahead. Since Thorwald had joined him, his army had steadily grown. He had everything, from warriors to smiths, alchemists, enchanters, and healers. His plan was taking shape. The only problem was the competition. This week, several camps had sprung up, along with many castles, palaces, and fortresses, making straightforward attacks much more complicated.

The most irritating obstacle was Kael and his group. The man must have spent all his credits on his fortress, which made any assault a suicide mission. He had even managed to attract people by offering protection from Steven.

Even that teenager and the Orc had taken refuge there now.

The other castles weren’t as well fortified. Steven's strategy was to assimilate the remaining camps, and tonight, the night before the System Shop opened, he planned to raid the weaker bases to maximize his credit gain.

His first target was Michael's castle. The guy was a joke, with only minor enchantments to support the defenders. The only issue was leaving enough warriors behind to protect his own base, even if it was a fortress designed by his god. The water, which was a powerful enemy, along with her followers, who kept abducting people from Earth. Then there was the Orc clan under the mountains.

The distance was too far, but Steven wouldn't take any chances. There was still that umbral predator lurking in the dark. Despite their efforts, they hadn’t located the beast in days. Moreover, a man in a black coat had recently killed a group of ten humans from Veridara.

He wouldn't take any chances. With fifty of his warriors leaving, while the rest stayed behind, he set off for the night. It would for sure be a bloody one.

<--

Kael watched the surroundings from the walls of his newly bought castle, now home to over seven hundred people, protected by powerful enchantments. Tonight, he wouldn’t risk hunting. The other camps, like Steven's, the Orcs, and other humans, had warriors over Level 40 who could slaughter most of his forces, and he wasn’t about to risk losing anyone.

The third stage of the tutorial had been tough, but the fortress had saved many lives. However, progress had stalled as, from time to time, griffins swooped down to attack groups of people who were out hunting, and the challenges were getting more intense by the day.

Kael wondered about Thalion. He doubted the man had died. Three days ago, two missing slaves had arrived at his gates, telling a tale of a speaking shadowstalker that had freed them and helped them infiltrate and kill many of the blue-robed people before they escaped through evolution.

It was a strange story. Why would a beast take the time to help slaves? Something didn't add up.

Then, an orc and a teenage girl joined his group, telling an even more unbelievable story of an umbral predator that had slaughtered Steven's men with little effort at Level 25.

They insisted the beast wasn’t a threat to Kael. It claimed to be from Earth and had insinuated that it would assist them again if they crossed paths. None of it made any sense. Why would such a creature even think of assisting them in the first place?