[Congratulations! You leveled up!]
The higher average level around this spot allowed me to speed up my leveling process. After killing 2 more packs of the canines, each of them led by a lvl. 12 wolf, The system finally rewarded me with another level.
I opened my status window and assigned points to my physical and dexterity attributes, respectively.
Player : Zane Black
Race : [G - HUMAN]
Level : 9
Health : 200/200
Stamina : 184/200
Mana : 32/50
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ATTRIBUTES
Physical [11] :
[Strength] - 13 [base : 11] [sub + achv : 2] [equipment :0] [bonus 0% : 0]
[Dexterity] - 21 [base : 11] [sub + achv :8] [equipment :2] [bonus 0% : 0]
[Constitution] - 15 [base : 11] [sub + achv : 4] [equipment :0] [bonus 0% : 0]
Mind [0] :
[Intelligence] - 0 [base : 0] [sub + achv : 0] [equipment :0] [bonus 0% : 0]
[Willpower] - 0 [base : 0] [sub + achv : 0] [equipment :0] [bonus 0% : 0]
[Capacity] - 0 [base : 0] [sub + achv : 0] [equipment :0] [bonus 0% : 0]
[Free Main Attribute points : 0 ]
[Free Sub Attribute points : 0 ]
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
Classes :
[]
Skills :
[Shadow step - epic]
Achievements :
[Death’s door(2)] [Big game hunter]
Affinities :
[]
Talents :
[]
I think that’s all the wolves in this area.
Satisfied with my results, I looked around the forest, trying to spot another pack of wolves. A few hours had passed since I began hunting; the red sky was about to welcome another chilly night.
Since there were no wolves left, I found a quiet spot on top of a tree and relaxed after another long day of killing.
The night eventually came. The darkness caused my cloak to exude a thin layer of dark smoke, enveloping my body like a cape. I felt goosebumps as I felt a slight chill from the haze. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but also comfortable at the same time.
The stars and the moon contrasted with the night sky as I quietly embraced the night.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
[Task #1 : Find the 4 keys to open the gate leading to the exit, located in the safe zone (0/4). 87 days left.]
The system message woke me up from my slumber. Rubbing my eyes, I noticed that the dark mist surrounding me had all but disappeared. I stretched and slowly descended, scanning my surroundings at the same time.
A part of me wished to go deeper into the forest and get stronger, but there were a few things that I wanted to do elsewhere.
I looked back to the way I came from.
Should I try to contact the others? I thought back to the conversation Amanda’s group had before, where they mentioned they were several levels behind the others. That meant that they have established some sort of contact with the other players.
Unlike before, I was confident in my strength now, especially after the few bounties I earned from my fights before.
No. Not yet.
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I have to admit, I simply loved the fights I had so far. Especially the challenging ones.
Let’s just avoid the caves for now. And the bear, of course.
My stride into the forest was relatively uneventful. There were a few packs of wolves on my way inside, but I ignored those since their levels were relatively low.
A tiny glint of blue light penetrated the dense vegetations around it and caught my attention. I focused on where the light was coming from and headed in that direction.
As I got closer, the object to which the light came from revealed itself. A rectangular-shaped obelisk the size of a normal human male stood upright, uprooted from the ground beneath it. It was mostly black, with lines of blue light cutting the dark metal apart and a slight glow emanating from them.
[Portal - Blue tier coffin. Enter, and clear the trial to unlock the bounties within.]
Portal and bounties? I thought, stopping my approach, fearing the same sequence of events that happened in the ant cave. That worry was cast aside after a few seconds of nothing happening.
I approached with the full intent of clearing the trial, but a system message stopped me.
[Portal is locked. Acquire a blue key to open.]
Fucking tease… I smirked, partially in frustration.
Whatever was waiting behind it, I should leave it for later.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
The screeches of a monkey alerted me as I sneaked into the trees. I leaned below a bush, attempting to get as much of my body hidden inside as I observed my surroundings.
On top of the trees, a scarlet furred humanoid was swinging wildly along the vines and the branches of the vegetation. Below it, I spotted a blue-ish orb moving about furiously, escaping the pursuit of the monkey.
What the hell is that?
[Lvl. 13 - Scarlet ape]
My eyes followed the movements of the blue light to my best abilities, but it was simply too agile for me to track perfectly. Its erratic movements also confused the ape as it gradually established a safe distance between them.
The furious ape’s hands glowed bright red, and boy, did it jump high. Right as it was on top of the golden object, it rolled its body and torpedoed downwards straight below. The ground and trees around it were blasted away as its fists slammed into the ground, leaving a fiery crater below where the ape landed.
Okay.. So it’s able to do that… I made a mental note to myself.
The ape smirked, believing that it had caught the blue orb. Its expression quickly soured, however, when the blue orb poked its head with a gleeful twirl. It shrieked and swung its limbs wildly to catch it, but none of its flailing worked. Amidst its frustration, a dark shadow converged behind it with a spear aimed right at its torso. Its eyes widened from the sudden attack as a spear grazed through its right shoulder, nearly tearing its shoulders apart.
The ape rolled away while the blue orb took off, leaving the scene.
I’ll deal with the other one later.
Looking at the hole in its body, the ape scratched its wounded area with fury while it yelled, thrashing on the ground with its legs.
I took another good look at the ape now that it was close. The features of its face and body were mostly normal, aside from its almost-glowing scarlet fur. The other peculiarity I spotted was the long tail attached to its back with a bulbous end, which was approximately shaped like a light bulb. Its tail thrashed like a madman before it glowed brightly as it charged at me.
The ape’s speed was beyond my predictions, as I witnessed our distance reduced within a second. I saw a blur appear in front of me; it was the ape swinging its healthy arm across my head. I ducked backward, nearly getting my head ripped right off as the ape jumped and rolled its body forward, a streak of red light following its tail as it smashed into the ground.
SHIT!
The same explosion that happened before erupted, throwing me in the air and I crashed into a nearby tree. The ape leaped towards where I fell, continuing its barrage of attacks.
Another blast erupted while I barely managed to shadow-step away, sending the tree nearby tumbling away in pieces as it turned its head around to locate me. I gripped my spear. Now that I understood its attacks, I can-
The ape’s relentless attacks continued. This time, it rolled and swung its tail right at my legs. I jumped high, avoiding its tail swipe, but not before it bounced upwards, grabbing on a branch with its tail, and swung at me with its glowing fist. I couldn’t parry this attack since it would explode upon contact.
Shadow step is still on cooldown… I can’t avoid this one!
Desperate, I pointed my spear right at its fist, starting the contact further away from my body. I felt my spear puncture its hand before another blast sent me barreling away. Since it wasn’t direct contact, I averted a lot of damage, but damn it still hurt.
Crashing on another tree, I quickly checked my status for my health.
[96/200]
The tip of the iron spear I held in my hand was bent from the explosion. While it wasn’t broken completely, its state was now nearly unusable. According to my rough estimate, I have one or two good attacks left.
Another high pitch yelp resounded in the forest, the ape grabbing its bleeding fist while making its way towards me.
It was hurt too. I have a shot.
The ape leaped high in the air. The memory of the previous attack it used against the glowing light played in my head, as its tail glowed furiously.
Gritting my teeth, I waited until it began its near-instantaneous descent.
Not yet…
Not yet…
Now!
Right when I was about a few inches away from its glowing tail, I shadow stepped as far as I could from the point of impact. A thunderous boom exploded from the impact point, and the tree I leaned on burst into pieces.
The ape wasn’t getting out of its attack Scot-free either, as it failed to land properly because of its injured limbs. It was just about to stand when the bent tip of a spear ravaged its insides, creating a massive hole in its body. Its life quickly drained away from the wound, leaving a battered ape corpse behind.
[You killed Lvl. 13 - Scarlet ape]
[Congratulations! You gained a level!]
[Level 10 reached. One talent point gained.]
[Congratulations! You gained the achievement: the first of many. Be the first to reach level 10 in your sector. +5 sub-attribute points. +1% all stats, rounded up.]
Phew… I wheezed, staring at the bombardment of messages coming from the system. While it would be nice to open my status page right now, I’d rather find a safe spot and avoid any other monkeys in the vicinity. I could hardly fight one as is.
Running from the scene of destruction and broken trees, I left the area without looking back.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
A few minutes later, I returned to the secluded spot where the [Onyx Hyacinth - ???] was. It remained untouched when I returned, the only difference now being the large streaks of chrome-like substance appearing thicker. I didn’t approach it this time, instead; I climbed a nearby tree and assigned my new attributes.
The ape was stronger than I expected, despite only being two levels ahead of the highest-leveled wolf. Its speed and creative usage of the environment made it a very unpredictable foe, and the blasts of explosion required a special method of evading, as simply dodging the attack would not work if you were still inside the blast radius.
Also, that orb. I suspect that it’s related to the portal.
“Status,” I said, but instead of the familiar status page appearing, the system gave me a different message.
[You’ve acquired a talent point. Please select your talent from one of the following. The talents you’re able to choose are filtered based on your accomplishments and your performance during combat.]