Little devils
Pong! pong! As August and Aurora peeked from behind a large rock, they spotted some white furballs rolling joyfully in the snow. Though unfamiliar with the creatures, August found their amusing behavior adorable.
The furballs eventually gathered around a big tree, forming a perfect circle. Upon closer inspection, August noticed their two big green eyes, small noses, and tiny limbs, making them even more adorable.
"How cute" August couldn't resist the urge to approach them, imagining himself scooping them up into his lap and giving them gentle pats on their heads.
Hiss! Hearing Aurora's warning hiss and seeing her disgusted expression, August quickly apologized. "Sorry, sorry," he said, seeking forgiveness. Then, he decided to use his inspection ability on the furballs.
[ Little snow devil ]
Rank: 1 (initial)
Bloodline: E-
Elements: ice
Ability: elemental bite E1
Status: average, hungry]
"Snow devils?" August questioned, puzzled by the name. He couldn't fathom why anyone would label these adorable furballs as devils. Whoever named them must be crazy to dislike such cute creatures.
Crunch! While August was engrossed in studying the info panel, he was suddenly startled by a loud cracking sound.
He glanced toward the source of the sound, unable to believe his eyes at what he saw. "What a hideous creature," he exclaimed in shock.
The furballs had transformed into miniature devils, their mouths filled with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth as they gnawed on the tree, devouring it greedily.
"Aurora, use ice spike!" August commanded without hesitation, urging his companion to attack the menacing creatures.
Already conjuring her abilities before receiving the command, Aurora swiftly manipulated the ice spike, directing it toward the little devils with precision.
Craa! The ice spike struck one of the furballs squarely in the head, causing it to cry out in pain and stagger before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
Grrr! Enraged by the loss of their companion, the remaining little devils charged at the enemy on their two tiny legs, gnashing their sharp teeth.
Aurora utilized her ability to eliminate them one by one, successfully dispatching six of them. Now, only one remained.
The lone survivor opened its mouth, gathering mana within before unleashing a jaw of ice teeth that shot toward the rock where August and Aurora were hiding.
"Dodge!" August shouted, swiftly moving sideways away from the rock.
The jaw of ice teeth collided with the rock, its sheer force causing the rock to crack under the pressure.
Bang! Bang! August used his gun to finish off the remaining snow devil, firing two bullets that pierced its body.
Fhew! Sighing in relief and wiping the sweat from his forehead, he approached the body of the defeated snow devil, with Aurora by his side.
[What a cruel host I've got, cruel enough to kill those cute little things]
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered in annoyance. 'If those 'cute little creatures' took a small bite out of me, I'd be dead meat' he shivered at the thought of letting those devilish mouths get ahold of him.
He touched the body of the little devil, activating the ability extract.
[Do you wish to extract the ability Elemental Bite E1 of the little snow devil? Y/N]
"Yes," he confirmed, affirming the ability extraction process.
[Ding! You have successfully extracted the ability Elemental Bite E1.]
[The ability has been stored in the temporary ability slot for 24 hours. If the ability is not assigned during this time, it will disappear.]
[Ding! You have received a new quest.]
[Quest]
Requirement: Use the ability extract feature 100 times.
Reward: Unlock the other features of the ability extract]
"Hmm, are there additional features to the ability extract? I'll need to use it frequently to complete this quest, but the 24-hour cooldown is the issue," he pondered.
[Ability Extract Lv 1]
Extracted ability: Elemental Bite E1 (assigned)
Upgrade cost: 5000SP (unlocks 1 permanent slot to store extracted abilities, cooldown time reduction)
Cooldown: 24 hours
"Let's give this ability to Aurora," he decided. This elemental ability can be conjured without the need for a mouth or teeth, similar to Aurora's ice spike ability, which she doesn't need to create physically.
"Come here," August called out to Aurora.
Slithering, Aurora approached him, and he placed his hand on her head, transferring the ability to her. She remained still in her position, absorbing the ability.
After finishing with Aurora, August then used the black blade to slit open the body of the little devil.
"The core should be in the middle of the body," he muttered to himself. Inserting his hand inside the beast, he retrieved a small white crystal from its center.
'Hmm, let's see how many system points I can get from this,' he thought to himself as he summoned the system panel to convert the core.
[Do you wish to convert the rank 1 beast core into system points? Y/N]
"Yes," he confirmed, and the core in his hand disappeared into light particles in front of him.
[You have received 15 system points.]
"So little," he murmured in disappointment, wondering what he could even expect from this stingy system.
[Host should be grateful to me for even giving you points for such low-ranking beasts, which are trash to me.]
Rolling his eyes, he got to work removing every core from the beasts' bodies.
[You have received 30 system points.]
After exchanging two more cores, he now had a total of four.
Aurora woke up from her absorption of the ability, slithering as she climbed up onto his body.
He gave two cores to her, which she swallowed effortlessly, and decided to sell the remaining two.
As he busied himself with his looting, a swift white shadow raced towards him.
Reacting swiftly, he channeled his mana into his hands and blocked the incoming attack with the sheathed blade, but he was still pushed back by the force.
Taking a moment to assess his attacker, he saw a white wolf with his blade wedged between its jaws, slowly freezing the blade scabbard. The wolf appeared skinny, with one eye completely white, and an old injury running past the eye, giving it a menacing look.
"Aurora!" he called out to Aurora, who was on his body, summoning an ice spike to attack the wolf.
The wolf, letting go of the blade, attempted to dodge the attack, but the ice spike was faster, hitting its left hind thigh and affecting its mobility.
[ snow wolf ]
Rank: 1 (peak)
Bloodline: E-
Elements: ice
Ability: Frostbite E6
Status: inferior, old, hungry ]
'So it's a rank 1 peak beast, and it must have been exiled from its pack because of old age' August pondered, considering why it was alone.
The snow wolf began to circle around them slowly, its leg bleeding and its white fur slowly becoming soaked in blood.
"Let's finish it quickly, Aurora! Use ice spike!" August commanded as he dashed towards the snow wolf, drawing the black blade from its scabbard.
The snow wolf, too, ran towards him, dodging the incoming projectiles and zigzagging to avoid them. Then, the wolf jumped, lunging towards them.
Injecting his mana into the blade, August made it leak a black aura before executing a vertical cut. The black aura cast out from the blade, slicing through the airborne snow wolf.
The aura cut the snow wolf in two, splashing blood everywhere and dyeing the white snow around them red.