Chapter 4 - Skill Orb
Chapter 4 - Skill Orb
Kiel carefully made his way towards the Oasis.
Along the way, he sometimes had to circle around to avoid Gharl packs that were out hunting.
As it got riskier. He decided to wash, ditch the Thabit fur and cover his body with the grass slime. And made some grass cloak like minnows and continued his journey.
This way, it will be harder for him to be detected amongst the sea of tall grass.
Other times he just needed to hunker down and hid in the grass trusting the remaining smell of the grass juice to cover his scent.
There was once a close shave as he saw and heard that a pack of Gharls was coming toward his location.
There was no more time to escape unnoticed or find a suitable hiding spot.
Lacking any other options, he simply laid face down and held his breath to a minimum. Trying his utmost to stay still.
Before long the Gharls were upon him, they passed just mere meters from him. He was so close he could see the gaps between their scales, hell he could even smell them .
There was even one which literally crawled on top of him. He could just lift his hands and touch it.
He felt his heart stop there for a bit.
As they left his area, the adrenaline started to even out and he found he was drenched in cold sweat.
Staying still for another thirty minutes to make sure the packs had left. He slowly crawled up and once again set off towards the glowing Oasis.
He thread carefully till dawn breaks and he eventually came across another burrow. It was common knowledge that these Thabits were nocturnal. Like their marsupial cousins on earth..
Taking advantage that he was covered in Thabit food. He decided to set up an ambush on the Thabit.
Crouching on top of the burrow, he drew his trusty sword and smeared it with the grass juice to hide its smell and shine.
He then aimed the pointed end towards the entrance.
Before long he heard a faint rustling.
He tensed up all his muscles and his body burst forth with all his might to stab at the neck of the Thabit..
Stab.
The sword struck and pierced through its soft neck cutting through its spine, killing it instantly.
"Adult Thabit killed, 20 Experience gained."
Perfect ambush. Clean strike and minimal blood.
He then dragged the Thabit by the tails deeper into the burrow.
This was a much smaller cave than the one before.and was literally empty.but it was made in between tough rocks that lead deeper into the tunnel.
Even the young and skinny Kiel had to squeeze sideways to get in between caves.
Even the Thabit in his hands had to be maneuvered in such a way to pass through the narrow gaps.
Kiel decided to leave the Thabit in the narrow space and proceeded to explore further into the long tunnel. After going about 200 meters of twists and turns he saw faint light at the end of the tunnel.
Another exit. Peeking outside, he saw a meadow. The gears in his head start to turn and then things click into place.
Now, just to set things in motion. First he widens the gap towards the meadow so he can squeeze out in case he is trapped and could not go out from the other exit.
Then he proceeded back to where he left the Thabit carcass. He then started to butcher the carcass and drain the blood to make a groove to the front end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, he did not find any mana core.
After which he left bits and pieces of the Thabit around the entrance of the burrow to draw the Gharls in.
Now, he waits.
Just when he was about to give up, two hours later the prey finally walked into the trap.
Six Adult Gharls, all of them jostling to get inside. Each Gharls could not wait to tear into the tasty Thabit that had been cut down to easy to eat chunks.
Kiel licked his lips, he was not wrong, not a single Gharl would be able to pass through the gap, let alone a whole pack of them.
He walked to the front of the leading Gharl and stopped just about a meter away from the tip of the snout.
The leading Gharl was even more agitated seeing that there is a life prey.
Lifting the tip of his drawn miao dao, he stabbed the hissing Gharl through its mouth into its brain.
"Adult Gharl killed, 35 Experience gained"
As the first Gharl collapsed in a heap. The ones behind did not even care and mindlessly crawled over the body of its pack mate and tried to reach Kiel. All he had to do is basically the same, just rinse and repeat.
"Adult Gharl killed, 35 Experience gained"
"Adult Gharl killed, 35 Experience gained"
"Adult Gharl killed, 35 Experience gained"
"Adult Gharl killed, 35 Experience gained"
Seeing that all of its buddies were dead, the last Gharl was not phased. It struggled to climb up. Kiel looked up and was horrified. The gap was much wider at the top. The last beast would be able to climb in and end him.
Running out of ideas, he called out: " Status"
######
Name: Kiel Sinclair
Age: 16
Level: 1
Class: -
Health: 11/14
Mana: 14/14
Stamina: 7
Intellect: 9
Strength: 5
Agility: 8
Equipments: Basic Miao Dao
Skills: -
Experience: 195 / 200
Free Stat: 2
Assessment: Fragile
######
#$%^&%$#, Cursing, Kiel was pissed as he was 5 experience points away from leveling up.
Giving another once over to his stat, he quickly yelled:
"All free stat to Agility"
Then he heard a feedback from the operator
"Agility stat has reached 10 points, Climbers acquired a skill:
Fleet Footed: Increase Movement speed"
Once a stat hits level 10, Climbers will get a new skill which will get upgraded every 10 stat levels..
On top of that, the stingy operator did not even say how much the increase was until you reached the second upgrade.
Regardless, this was his best shot of survival given the current situation.
He felt a stream of cool refreshing feeling rushing from his mana core on his left chest toward all four of his limbs.
Automatically, his status windows updated in front of his eyes
######
Name: Kiel Sinclair
Age: 16
Level: 1
Class: -
Health: 9/14
Mana: 14/14
Stamina: 7
Intellect: 9
Strength: 5
Agility: 10
Equipments: Basic Miao Dao
Skills: Fleet Footed.
Experience: 195 / 200
Free Stat: 0
Assessment: Fragile
######
The last Gharl finally managed to climb over the top and as it leaped down. Kiel squatted down and aimed his sword up. Then he burst forth with all the power he had in every single cell in him to thrust the sword into the beast mouth. Hoping he would be able to kill it in one hit or he is in for a world of pain. .
Stab. slash.
He missed but he managed to get his sword stuck to the beast's eye. Meanwhile, he received a large gash from the claw slash.
He dodged back and was glad that Gharls were not poisonous or he would be dead.
Now he had to think on how to survive.
Kiel had no weapon with a big gash on his left arm and was bleeding nonstop. He knew time is critical. The beast was completely fine except for the sword sticking on its right eye.
Taking a deep breath, Kiel rushes forth and as the beast is hissing in pain. He gave a hard kick towards the sword. Then he heard the sweet sweet prompt.
"Adult Gharl killed, 35 experience gained"
And it did not end there
"Level Up. You are now level 2.
You gained:
All Stat +1
Free stat + 2
Intelligence stat has reached 10 points, Climbers acquired a skill:
Wisdom: Increased Comprehension Ability:"
What an unexciting end.
He felt a surge of freshness coursing through his body and heals his wounds.
Then he called out Status to check his final achievement..
######
Name: Kiel Sinclair
Age: 16
Level: 2
Class: -
Health: 16/16
Mana: 15/15
Stamina: 8
Intellect: 10
Strength: 6
Agility: 11
Equipments: Basic Miao Dao
Skills: Fleet Footed, Wisdom
Experience: 30/300
Free Stat: 2
Assessment: Fragile
######
"All free stat to Stamina" said Klien anticipating the best outcome.
"Stamina stat has reached 10 points, Climbers acquired a skill:
Health Recovery: wounds heals faster "
@#$%^ how much faster???
At least the gash in his arms starts to feel tingly, signs that it was now healing at a much faster rate.
Hsi status window refreshed and now show:
######
Name: Kiel Sinclair
Age: 16
Level: 2
Class: -
Health: 20/20
Mana: 15/15
Stamina: 10
Intellect: 10
Strength: 6
Agility: 11
Equipments: Basic Miao Dao
Skills: Fleet Footed, Wisdom, Health Recovery
Experience: 30/300
Free Stat: 0
Assessment: Fragile
######
He then searched for the mana core and out of six, he only got 3. Now he has a total of 4 mana cores
Starting a small fire, he roasted the Thabit and had a hearty meal.
The excitement the past two days had exhausted him. Any climber knows that staying in top form is crucial to passing a level.
Therefore, he spent some effort to make a barricade inside the tunnel in case he got a visit from some late night guest and decided to stay for the night.
The next morning he woke up feeling refreshed. After packing up some meat, he started to head out in the direction he had marked the night before.
The journey was uneventful and Kiel reached the Oasis by the evening.
The place was like a fairy land with lush trees, a beautiful lake with water so clear you could see the bottom.
By the lake there was an altar guarded by two statues. Between them was a pedestal with a green orb.
A 'Skill Orb' to be exact.