15 Off to Hunt
Wearing an intricate golden sword and a golden armor, countless wings of light sprouted on his back.
In front of him, was an endless void, giving off the feeling of futility and despair to all who bare their eyes on it.
With a thundering warcry, he charges in front.
Slashing his sword towards the sinister shadow spawns of the void, he carves a path for the sake of his ideals.
To protect the balance... To protect those he cares about...
Behind him was an army of golden warriors that follows his every will and idolized his strength. Every single one of them was a hero of their own story, and with him on the lead, they were united on a single will.
Charging together, they broke through the defense of countless dark minions. They all knew that they wouldn't be able to return alive, but even then they still continue to move forward step by step with every bit of their strength.
And as he rips apart countless dark generals of boundless might in the very front, he then raised his sword up in the sky and slashes through the void.
A bright light that seems to erase everything on the area exploded... then it got compressed and turned into a single overpowering sword light.
A deafening explosion...
Dried out of all his power, a crack was formed in the void.
Then something came out.
A sinister blue insect with beautiful wings...
...
Marcus opened his eyes and saw that the sun is already rising up.
The night was gone, and it was now a new day.
Surveying his surroundings, Marcus realized that he was still in the foreign world.
The majority of his followers are still currently asleep while a few could be seen loitering around.
Feeling his mouth's dryness, Marcus stood up while trying not to make noise as much as possible. However, as if noticing him either way, those currently asleep started waking up one after another.
'Are they some kind of esper?'
Marcus was looking at his followers in doubt. And here he was trying to be silent to avoid disturbing their sleep. Now behold, they all awaken.
'So much for trying to be discreet'
Not minding them anymore, Marcus then began looking for some dews of water to drink, with his followers behind imitating him.
After satisfying himself, Marcus then checks his current status.
_______________
[Stage Completion] 19.1%
[Stage:] 1
[Name:] N/A
[Potential Points:] 40
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Remarks:
A carnivorous tiny bipedal lizard.
You are the leader of a small group of carnivorous lizards.
_______________
Stage completion at 19.1%. It seems that he had already made considerable progress.
Marcus then checked his body.
Using the strands of grass as a measure, it seems that he had grown considerably when he had fallen asleep.
His body was taller and bigger than it was last night.
If he was a third short on reaching a goblin's knees before, then right now, he would be over that height until he could reach the half its thighs.
After a successful kill, he had always felt himself grow a little. However, even then, he would somewhat feel that it wasn't finished. He couldn't explain it better but it somehow felt like even after such growth, there was still some energy for growth left in his body.
And now after seeing his body's change, Marcus now knows why.
His body has grown bigger and more powerful during the night. If he were to compare the changes from before, it was like he became 2 times stronger than it was yesterday.
And that too after considering all of the enhancements he had bought from the system.
It was like he was given another [Mascular Vitality] 2 times, [Agility] 2 times, and etc when he fell asleep.
It was like he had just enhanced most of himself.
Free enhancements.
More importantly, he had a higher reach right now and his jaws can even attack a wider area. Such are things that he couldn't even buy from the system.
Still, it seems that growth should stop there. He felt like he didn't have any untapped growth energy left in his body.
'Growth energy... I should call it potential energy for now, since that's more fitting.'
If he would like to have more, then he has to hunt more creatures.
Marcus then looks at his current stage completion rate. He is thinking that that 19% in it should be the cause of the growth.
That means the more it was increased, the more he would receive potential energy.
Marcus is really curious about what would happen when he reached 100%.
'Would I evolve and turn into a T-Rex?'
Considering that there is a stage written on the status. There should also be the next stages waiting. Stage 2, Stage 3...
He could turn into a T-Rex then... a what? a Dragon? a T-Rex with wings???
Dismissing such thoughts, Marcus then checks his followers for their changes.
All of them had already passed the 10% Mark. They had also grown bigger and their scales could be seen noticeably darker than they were yesterday.
The two with the highest rate next to Marcus are the variant and the one-armed follower. With the variant at 16%, and the one-armed at 14.1%.
There are then 5 more followers at 13%, while the rest at 12.9% and below.
Looking on the ground where they were sleeping, Marcus could see a few old scales. Resembling the aftermath of upgrading his scales once.
On the other hand, he couldn't see any fallen teeth on the ground when he tried searching for them.
'Are Jaw sharpness not included in the growth?'
It seems that there are things that his System couldn't buy and also things that only his System could do.
Marcus checked his status once again.
He still had 40 potential points available. But although it was very tempting to spend them all right now in enhancements, Marcus is currently really curious about the [Pack Leader] skill.
Considering how the [Attack Sense] skill worked, the [Pack Leader] skill might give him a considerable boost, and his followers might also gain something from it.
[Pack Leader] - Boosts positional awareness of the group you lead and adds a minor boost to personal charisma. Adds bonus basic racial leading knowledge.
He only needed 60 more potential points in order to buy it from the system. If they hunted goblins, then they would only need to hunt 4 more.
Considering how successful they were from yesterday, killing 4 more shouldn't be much a problem as long as they are careful.
'It would be good if I could lure another group in this place. But I wonder if I'm lucky enough for that to happen twice'
Marcus then thought of the Goblin cave. Right now, he had already filled the minimum requirements he had first thought of in order to try raiding the goblin cave.
[Attack Sense], [Night Vision], and [Goblin Cave Map].
He even had 40 extra points that he could use in case of any emergency.
Marcus was only worried about the goblin's numbers...
However, there is one thing that Marcus knew for certain.
The goblins are slow!
No matter their number, they could still outrun them anytime. So, guerilla tactics and harassments might work really well.
And if there is some kind of danger available, then they could just escape anytime.
And the more numbers they had, Marcus could gather more potential points, and at the same time, the rest of their group would grow faster.
Right now, thinking about how much stronger he and his followers could get, Marcus is slowly getting excited.
He then looks at his followers and roared.
"Gather!!!"
And after Marcus gathered everyone, he then immediately set off.
"Follow!"
'Let's off to hunt!'
...
Goblin Cave...
On the cave's entrance, a number of goblins could be seen coming out.
A group of goblins had sneaked away yesterday and ever since then still hasn't yet returned. And this current group was just tasked by the old goblin head to search for their current whereabouts.
Wearing some kind of leather armor, 9 goblins could be seen equipped with short swords, piked shields, and bows. And these bunch of goblins was being led by someone.
A creature that resembles a goblin. But unlike a normal goblin's skinny and small stature, it had lean muscles and build that resemble a human athlete. This creature is currently wearing a set of armor made of iron. And on its hand, is an iron long spear.
A stage 2 creature, Hobgoblin...
...
