CH 23: Danger Zone 3

After I defeated the wolf pack, I quickly ran to find somewhere to rest. The fight had emptied out my mana and stamina.

I found a tall tree to lay on for a bit as I caught my breath and used Rex's stamina recovery techniques.

"How'd I do, Emy?"

[Analysis from the fight points to several mistakes in reserving strength as well as missed opportunities for quickly dealing with the pack.]

I frowned. "Not what I meant."

[Sorry, master. You gained 2,470,000 XP in total including the alpha, leveling you up twice.]

…

Name: Kaiser Raijin

Level: 17

XP: 822,600 / 2,500,000

Skill Points: 34

Status:

Health: 100%

Stamina: 9%

Mana: 2%

{Skill Trees}

…

"The XP needed for leveling is going up exponentially," I said. "I'm going to hit a roadblock soon."

[True. But leveling up always comes with a benefit with the amount of skill points earned increasing each time. Even though leveling up later might not be as quick, the reward will be just as beneficial as leveling up multiple times at lower levels.]

"Then the only purpose for being at a higher level is to gain more skill points. It has nothing to do with being stronger."

[That is partially true. Even though it doesn't directly correlate with becoming stronger, the more skill points earned do.]

"I was starting to get worried. If the XP amount for each level was smaller, I'd be way stronger than I needed to be by the time this month is over."

[So, what do you want to do with your skill points?]

"Just upgrade Mana Capacity and Mana Control to tier three. I'll think about what I want to do with the rest after."

[Commencing upgrade of -Mana Capacity- to tier three at the cost of 10 skill points.]

The surrounding atmospheric mana began to converge on me. I welcomed it with open arms and the particles entered from every pore in my body.

When it was over, my mana reserves had doubled.

"Now I could deal with two of those wolf packs," I said.

Upgrading my Mana Capacity seemed to also fill up my remaining reserves. So now I had completely recovered my mana. Stamina would still take some time.

[Commencing upgrade of -Mana Control- to tier three at the cost of 10 skill points.]

I braced myself for the world of hurt that this upgrade seemed to always bring with it.

This time, I was prepared so the pain was only on the level of a bad migraine.

[Upgrades complete.]

"Thanks, Emy. I feel like twice the mage now."

I used -Fire Skin- on my hand. Red mana shone through my veins as it traveled down my arm and condensed together. The strength of it was increased as well as the heat around it. Now, nothing below B rank could damage me with it on.

[What would you like to do with your remaining 14 skill points?]

"It's too bad that I'm one point away from unlocking Fire Proficiency III. How much for a knowledge impartment?"

[With each knowledge impartment you go through, the higher the price will become. Since you have only gone through one impartment, the price now is 5 skill points.]

"Not bad. I was kind of wanting to learn about hunting and tracking. Got anything?"

[There is one path I think you might find interesting. It is called 'Hunting Season'. It deals with precision tracking and tactics on how to deal with large numbers of prey as well as how to dismember prey for eating and equipment use.]

…

Knowledge Skill Trees → Survival → Hunting Season

Skill Path: Hunting Season

[Using the knowledge of animal behavior, environment, and craftsmanship, learn how to become an expert wildlife hunter.]

…

"Sounds good," I said as I stood up after recovering a good amount of stamina. "I'll find a place to camp out and we can do it."

[Yes, sir.]

I found a small area without any trees or bushes and constructed a hut of rock. I gathered leaves for a bed and sat on it with my legs crossed.

"I'll still have nine skill points left. Any suggestions?"

[With the -Hunting Season- path, a higher perception can be useful. It costs 5 skill points.]

"I'll do that, then."

[Commencing upgrade of -Perception- to tier two at the cost of 5 skill points.]

A strong migraine pierced through my head. When it was over, I could hear the surrounding birds and forest within a hundred meters very accurately. My other senses had also increased tenfold as well.

"Alright, start the knowledge impartment."

[Commencing knowledge impartment of the -Hunting Season- path at the cost of 5 skill points.]

I closed my eyes and my consciousness left my grasp.

…

"Demitri, wake up."

My mind awakened and I opened my eyes. Above me was an old man with a shaved head and a beard. He wore a simple terracotta-colored tunic and had a serious expression.

'I forgot this sensation. Being in another person's body is very disorienting.'

The body I was inhabiting, Dimitri, got up from the ground where he had been sleeping.

"What is it, master?" Dimitri asked as he rubbed his eyes.

The bald master grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him up. "The Reysen have left their nest, we need to hurry."

I felt Demitri's eyes widen in surprise and excitement. "Finally!"

Dimitri ran out of the tent they were staying in with his master and traveled through a dense and dark forest. The sun's rays were peaking through the trees at a low angle, signifying that it was dawn.

The two continued to run for a while before stopping on the edge of a small cliff, overlooking a river.

Down by the riverbed were five bird-looking creatures. They had long legs and necks. Their heads held tan feathers that pointed up and the feathers on their body were mostly white with their wings being a bright mix of tan, red, and dark gray.

I got a glimpse of myself as we were running. Dark, curly brown hair with olive skin and a simple tunic similar to what the man was wearing. I seemed to be a young boy around 15.

"So what now?" Dimitri asked.

The man reached behind him and grabbed a crossbow from his belt that I had noticed on the way here. He handed it to me and I could feel Dimitri's nervousness increase exponentially.

"Since you are still a beginner, just aim for one. Don't worry about getting more than that," The man said.

Dimitri tried to give back the crossbow but the man refused. "B-But you've been tracking them for months! I don't want to ruin it!"

The man grabbed Dimitri's shaking hand. His expression softened and he smiled. "You have a gift for hunting, Dimitri. The forest is connected with you. I know you can do it."

His words calmed Dimitri down and firmed his resolve. "Then I won't let you down, master!"

Dimitri then turned to face the group of birds and aimed the crossbow. His aim was steady as he locked on to the closest bird to the cliff they were on.

He took a deep breath and pressed the trigger. A small bolt shot from the crossbow and flew down toward the river.

*THWACK*

The bolt struck the bird right in the chest, causing it to drop into the shallow water beneath it. The other birds immediately took flight and escaped the area, leaving the dead Reysen behind.

"I did it!" Dimitri exclaimed.

The man patted the boy's back with a smile on his face. "Great job, Dimitri!"

…

After returning to my body, I opened my eyes.

"Such a fascinating planet. The landscape and wildlife on Leía were stunning."

[Dimitri was a very interesting man.]

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it when he caught that giant bear with the spike trap."

[He was very in tune with nature and animal behavior.]

I bowed and put my hands together. "Thank you Holden and Dimitri for letting me learn from you."

I found out later on that Holden was the name of the man who taught Dimitri how to hunt. He found Dimitri in a village orphanage and took him as a son to teach him his ways.

Leía was the planet that I had traveled to. It was a small planet but had a very dense landscape of multiple different biomes and wildlife.

The knowledge impartment had taken most of the afternoon, so I laid down and went to sleep.

…

The next morning, I woke up with renewed vigor. The impartment had made me want to hunt and test my skills, so I quickly caught something to eat and set out.

I'd decided to stay around the area of the snow wolves because anything stronger might overwhelm me. If it was too easy I would go deeper.

As I jumped from tree to tree using my enhanced perception to find any signs of mana beasts, I came upon some broken branches of low-hanging trees.

I followed the trail of broken branches and eventually found some faint prints in the dirt. They were a print I didn't recognize but resembled a cat's.

More tracks converged with the first pair I had found, signaling a group of them. The further I followed the signs, the fresher they became.

Eventually, I came upon a large clearing with multiple giant piles of leaves. In and around the piles were hundreds of feline-looking creatures with intricate patterns of black and orange spots on their fur. Half of them had a large, white mane of fur and were bigger than the others without manes, who I assumed to be the females.

But what caught my attention about the cat creatures were their tails. All of them had three tails. The tail on the top of the other two was significantly longer than the others and had a barbed ending. It hung over the bodies of its owner and waved back and forth.

'They have very pretty coats. It would look nice for a coat.'

As I was scanning the camp, I saw a larger hut of leaves in the center. Inside, were two very large mana beasts that resembled the others except for their eyes. Their eyes were a bright red just like every other alpha I had seen.

'Two alphas? It shouldn't be a problem.'

I repeated the same tactic as before and spread a large dome around the area, but with my upgraded Mana Control, it was a lot denser and more durable.

The camp immediately broke into chaos and I used my -Flamethrower- and wind explosion to get rid of the weaklings.

*FWOOSH*

Everything in the path of my attack was instantly vaporized. Around 75% of the cats were killed in one attack. The remaining ones either were far away and could prepare or were covered by other beasts who took the brunt of the attack.

Immediately after, I cast it a second time and the already burning pack was bombarded again.

*FWOOSH*

All that remained now were the alphas, who had their hut completely destroyed and were charging toward me.

With my mana vision turned on, I could see a massive amount of fire mana build up at the tip of their longest tail.

I conjured a water shield in preparation as they whipped their tails back and forth, sending many torrents of flames in my direction.

*HISSS*

My water shield and the flames collided. The water evaporated on impact but I kept supplying it with mana and it eventually withstood the attack.

Fire was the easiest element I could deal with since it was the only one with an obvious disadvantage. By using water magic against the two B-rank beasts, their magic could be nullified.

The two alphas reached my position and stabbed with their tails. I didn't even budge from my spot as two large shields of dense rock shot up from the ground and intercepted the attack.

'Maybe I should have moved further into the forest.'

*BOOM*

When their attack collided with the shields, the rock morphed and climbed up their tails, trapping the two beasts. I also sent out my -Chains of Hell- and wrapped them around the two cat's bodies, causing them to roar in pain.

They quickly realized their mistake and tried covering their bodies in flame armor, but I used -Rocket- to get above them and conjured two massive water javelins. As the cats squealed and tried to wiggle out of their bindings, I dropped my hands and the two water javelins flew toward them.

*BOOM*

Their fire armor didn't stand a chance as the javelins broke through and into the two alpha's skulls, ending their lives.

I dropped to the ground next to their bodies and examined their pelts. The fur that was burned was only a small percentage, so I was satisfied.

'Yeah, I definitely need to go further in.'