Chapter 4

Whoosh!

Vivian swung her dagger and decapitated a sunflower monster.

After confirming that it was dead, she immediately opened her Status Panel.

"As expected, still no changes."

She closed her Status Panel and then turned to the side.

"Finally made it."

Up ahead, she could see the edge of the forest and there was a dirt road and she made her way there.

Upon arriving on the road, she immediately swept her gaze around to look for the city or any human settlement nearby.

A couple of miles away from where she was standing, something caught her eye and she shielded her eyes with her hand from the sun to get a clearer look.

There was what looked like a castle and other medieval-like buildings and it was surrounded with grey-colored walls that were around 2-3 stories high.

She turned around behind her.

It was an endless dirt road and forestry by the side.

She returned her gaze to the castle.

"So that must be the city?"

But still…

I was already half-expecting it to be a medieval setting, but I still find myself a little bit surprised...

She looked down and examined her clothes.

"So cliche…" she muttered under her breath and a faint smile appeared on her face before she decided to make her way to the city.

"Haaa~! I can't wait to take a bath when I get there!"

***

A few minutes later…

Vivian found herself stopping in the middle of the dirt road.

There was what looked like a fox crossing the road. Although it looked like a fox, it had abnormally long ears, about 4ft long painted in red along with its tail while the rest of its body was color orange.

The fox only gave her a quick glance before continuing to move on to the other side of the forest.

Vivian watched it calmly as it disappeared into the bushes.

"Should I kill it?"

"I wonder if it can be eaten."

Back in the world she was from, she never heard of anyone buying fox meat. She also never bothered to research about it because she wasn't interested in such a topic in the first place.

But given that this is a medieval period and in a fantasy world, I'm betting that a 60% chance the people here eat that…

But what about rabies...?

She shook her head.

No matter, I'm still going to kill it...

And who knows, maybe it gives higher experience...

I just hope it's not fast and strong...

She prayed inside her heart before heading to the location where the fox disappeared into.

***

Vivian was moving as quietly as she could while trying to find the fox.

Beak! Beak!

She stopped and raised her head.

There was a blue-colored bird about 10 inches tall with a green chest and had an 8-inch long brown tail that looked like some sort of rattlesnake sitting by a branch.

That's one weird-looking bird and its tail looks scary…

An idea popped inside her head. But after thinking about it for a moment, she just shook her head in the end.

I don't even have a range weapon to kill it…

A stone...?

Maybe later...

I'll focus on the fox first...

And assuming my analysis is correct, if I want to increase my dagger skills, I need to perform skills using my dagger…

If there was a Base Level or I knew what parts I could salvage and sell, then it would be a different story... 

I would've killed anything that comes my way…

She continued searching for the fox she encountered earlier.

A few minutes later, she finally found it.

Or at least she thinks this is the one she saw earlier.

Vivian wasn't an experienced hunter or anything. She also wasn't the outdoorsy type and never found such things interesting. She was the type who would rather stay in a high-end place with an air-conditioner and preferably not crowded.

The fox was fighting a group of tiny mushrooms.

It was like the tiny jumping mushrooms that Vivian evaded a while ago because she wasn't confident with her skills.

The fox was munching one of the mushrooms with its bare fangs, while the other mushrooms were tackling its mushroom head against its body with no effect and others were jumping around mindlessly.

Poink!

Poink!

Vivian's eyes turned to slits.

So those mushrooms don't cough out gas...

And the fox doesn't seem to be affected by their attacks…

A pang of regret erupted inside her heart but she shook her head.

How should I know they were weak...?

Anyhow, I didn't know foxes eat mushrooms... 

I always thought they were carnivores…

Nevertheless…

Vivian's eyes gleamed and she stealthily approached the fox from behind while hiding in the bushes.

Chud.

Arw!

When she got to an appropriate distance, she lunged over with all of her strength and immediately grabbed one of the fox's ears, startling the fox.

Chak!

She stabbed the into its neck while still holding one of its ears and wiggling it violently to cause more pain and confusion to the animal before it fought back.

ARRRWWW!

The fox continued struggling and crying out in pain, making Vivian frustrated.

"WHY THE FUCK AREN'T YOU DEAD YET?!"

Aside from grabbing one of the ears and wiggling its head, she decided to twist the dagger inside the fox's neck to inflict even more damage and pain. 

Out of desperation, the fox tried to bite Vivian, but she just pulled its ear even further and pinned it to the ground with the dagger on its neck.

After a few seconds, the fox drew its final breath and it finally stopped moving.

But before Vivian could catch her breath, the tiny jumping mushrooms began attacking her, tackling their mushroom heads against her.

Poink!

Poink!

Poink!

Out of reflex, she covered her face with one arm.

The force of the attack of the mushrooms was like getting hit ball the size of an adult's fist made of paper so there wasn't enough force to make her lose her balance, let alone push her.

However…

When the head of the mushroom touched the areas of her bare skin, she started to feel an itching sensation, causing her to instinctively throw a slap.

Pah!

A few of the mushrooms got blown away while the rest just kept attacking.

Poink!

Poink!

"FUCK!"

Pah!

Poink!

Poink!

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

She immediately got up and ran away a couple of steps to create some distance. 

The mushrooms just kept following her, bouncing with each step. And each step covered about 2ft.

She had a strong urge to scratch her bare skin that was touched by the mushrooms but stopped herself and counted the mushrooms. By her estimate, there were around 20.

If I run away, I'll either be scaring away the other monsters or attracting them...!

She made a decision.

When the group of mushrooms got close to her, she thought about a skill.

[Dagger Stab].

An image of how to use it appeared inside her head and she thrust her blade forward.

Whoosh!

The attack looked like a normal stabbing attack using a dagger. However, it felt stronger, as if there was an invisible force, wind or whatever one could call it wrapped around it as she thrust forward.

3 tiny jumping mushrooms that were in mid-air had their bodies shredded into pieces.

Seeing the effect, Vivian was only caught by surprise for a moment. Her mind went back to the itchy sensation on her bare skin and the group of mushrooms jumping toward her.

She pulled back her hand and made a slash with her dagger.

Whoosh!

***

A few minutes later…

Whoosh!

Ding!

A ringing bell rang inside Vivian's head and a short message appeared in front of her before disappearing.

'Unlocked [Poison Mastery] - Level 1!'

Vivian was panting and had her head low as she stared at the corpses of the tiny jumping mushrooms.

She wanted to scratch her bare skin that was touched by mushrooms but stopped herself and she could only grit her teeth.

It also didn't help when sweat grazed her skin.

"SO... FUCKING... ITCHY…!"

Although her skin was itchy, she could feel the itchiness slowly disappearing.

Nevertheless, it was still itchy.

"You fucking mushrooms…!"

Status Panel...!

She decided to open the Status Panel to divert her attention elsewhere.

***

Name: Vivian

Class: Thief

Race: Human

Age: 24

Affinity:

• Poison - x1.4

• Fire - x1.2

• Dagger - x1.2

Stats:

• Str - 11 (+4)

• Vit - 9 (+1)

• Agi - 12 (+4)

• Int - 8 (+1)

Mana: 11/18

Skills:

• [Dagger Mastery] - Level 1 (x6.2) (Max/16) - Dagger Stab (10 mana points)

• [Dagger Mastery] - Level 2 (x6.2) (Max/81) - +2 Str, +1 Vit, +2 Agi, +1 Int

• [Dagger Mastery] - Level 3 (x6.2) (??/161)

• [Body Art Mastery] (Dagger Mastery) (x5) - Level 1 (Max/10) - +2 Str, +2 Agi

• [Body Art Mastery] (Dagger Mastery) (x5) - Level 2 (??/50)

• [Poison Mastery] - Level 1 (x6.4) (Max/16) - Poison Strike (20 mana points)

• [Poison Mastery] - Level 2 (x6.4) (??/78)

Lore:

• Village Girl

• Adventurer

• Zhey/Zhem

• Otherworldly - Grants [Growth] - all affinity x5

***

I've unlocked [Dagger Mastery] Level 2 and I'm now learning Level 3…

I also unlocked [Poison Mastery] Level 1 and got [Poison Strike]…

However…

A dark expression appeared on her face.

[Poison Strike] costs 20 mana points and I only have 18 mana points…

I must've unlocked the [Poison Mastery] because of those mushrooms…

So does this mean I have to expose myself to poison…?

A chill ran down her spine as she recalled her experience with the sunflower monster and the tiny jumping mushroom monsters.

What about exposing myself to physical pain…?

She immediately shook her head.

"Nope, not chance, unless I have access to unlimited heal."

She closed the Status Panel.

All of a sudden, an idea popped inside her head.

"What if I go punching things to death?"