Chapter 8 - Level Up

In response to my command, a black mist poured out of my hand and fell over the bloodied corpse of the Rush Rabbit, the mist swirled over it like a vortex before ultimately retracting back into my palm.

Not a trace of the slain Rabbit was left, not even blood.

{You have successfully devoured the Rush Rabbit}

{Rush Rabbit Skill Tree unlocked}

A small icon appeared on the skill menu, displaying the Rush Rabbits' face. It looked surprisingly cute, which made me feel bad for how I obtained it.

Three other bubbles appeared around it connected by a line travelling through them. Out of the three icons, two of them were grey and didn't allow me to select them.

I focused on the remaining skill connected to the Rush Rabbit skill tree and a panel appeared over it.

{Rabbit's Foot} - {Passive skill allowing the user 5% increased speed}

What does passive skill mean…seems there are a few complicated terms I still need to learn about.

I rubbed my head thinking about the troubles that would come along with all of this. It seemed like the more I learnt, the more I realised I knew nothing about it.

{Passive Skills do not require the usage of mana points or energy to be used, they are always in effect}

Mana points…from what I know mana is what magic feeds off of. Sort of like a person's energy that is used for skills.

I sighed deeply at how much I seemed to be lacking in knowledge. While I was absorbed in the large screen in front of me I heard the faint sound of notifications triggering behind me.

{Rush Rabbit Lv2}

{Rush Rabbit Lv4}

{Rush Rabbit Lv1}

{Rush Rabbit Lv2}

I grabbed my Chakram off the ground and looked out at the beady red eyes surfacing from the bushes ahead of me.

"Not even a moment to breathe, these critters are relentless!"

I'm curious to test out this speed boost, let's see just how much of a difference 5% can make.

I darted ahead and turned my back from the closest Rush Rabbit on my right. It was level 2 so it shouldn't be any weaker than the one I had just killed.

Without hesitation the blur of white rushed past me and landed beside me in my blind spot, I glanced over my shoulder and watched as it jumped up into the air and kicked out both feet with tremendous force.

I ducked under the foot only narrowly avoiding it and swung out my arm to slice through the rabbit's leg. A shallow cut appeared over its thigh and the panel of light hovering over its head displayed a small green bar.

The bar dropped down slightly as soon as the cut appeared. The bar looked to be around 80 percent filled so that small cut didn't seem to deal much damage.

Both the rabbit and I bounced back and created a large gap between us.

I can't let it get away, If only I had a ranged weapon to hit it…wait will that work?

As the Rabbit hopped off the ground I threw the Chakram in my right hand like a Frisbee and cut through the air. The blade travelled swiftly and began to curve through the air towards its body, cutting into it dead centre of its chest.

{25 Exp Gained}

{User has levelled up}

"So I can use them as ranged weapons as well." I smirked.

I held out my hand over the body and spoke out as if it were second nature.

"Devour."

Oh right, Uriel mentioned something about a level, that has something to do with the Experience points I've been gaining right?

{Rei Alos Level 1}

Strength – 4

Speed – 8 (+5%)

Vitality – 9

Mana – 5

Defence – 3

The panel of light displayed a detailed diagram of all my strengths and abilities using numbers and icons. There seemed to be a great deal missing that was left blank or greyed out but those aren't important right now.

Everything about me is put into numbers…so this must be what Uriel meant by translating this world's knowledge for me. Still… I don't know how I feel about these low numbers!

"So increasing my level can make these go up?" I asked anxiously with a fist clenched tightly.

{That is correct}

"I want to know more about this system and why it's attached to me, fine then I'll play along." I replied with a subtle smirk forming.

A furry white foot came flying at the right side of my head at an impressive speed, I cocked my head to the side and swung both arms up into a cross to block the attack.

The amount of force behind it was so large that I could no longer feel my feet touch the ground, I was free flying through the air.

"Argh!"

I felt the solid impact of my back slamming against the ruin wall and lost all the wind in my chest. I fell forward onto my knees gasping for air as if it were stolen right out of my mouth.

"Kikikiki~"

"What…was…that?" I looked up at a larger Rush Rabbit hopping in place from where he knocked me away.

{Rush Rabbit Lv8}

So a big one finally showed up then, I guess I'll have to devour him too!

I only had one Chakram remaining and he seemed fast, if it came down to a battle of speed I would die instantly. But that's not the problem right now…

In the corner of my eye was a fixed bar similar to the ones over the monster's heads displaying my health.

"So I have one too then, I thought as much."

My health bar had shot directly down to yellow, leaving only a small fraction of the bar remaining. I hadn't gotten hit by the other Rabbits so I had no way of measuring the damage they could do, but if a level 5 took out over 70 percent of my health then another hit from this guy would surely kill me.

A subtle rustle in the bushes behind me caused a nervous panic in my legs as I jolted around toward the figure.

{Rush Rabbit Lv1}

There's more popping up now, I don't have time for this!

I jogged away from the path trying to escape the Rabbits surrounding me when a pair of eyes burned into the back of my neck.

I frantically pulled my body around to look behind me and noticed two more rabbits hopping towards me.

{Rush Rabbit Lv3}

{Rush Rabbit Lv3}

"There's just no end to them."

I ran as fast as I could and peeked over my shoulders, only to see a group of white blurs rushing behind me.

One managed to catch up to me before I could get away and dove in for an attack. My body retaliated with a slash to the neck and sliced the rabbit through its neck.

"Kyaaaaa!"

{25 Exp gained}

My eyes lit up as the notification opened up in front of me, filling my head with an idea that just might save me.

I scanned the area, looking back and forth between the trees and the littered stone wreckage.

Where is it…somewhere there, I dropped it…there!

My eyes locked onto the faint glint bouncing off the Chakram I had thrown before. It lay in the grass wedged upright not too far away from where I was standing.

"I'm not fast enough to face that level 5 bastard, so I'll just need to increase my stats. I'll be depending on you guys!"

If they only attack when I look defenceless then I'll need to make brash moves…right now I should look pretty pathetic.

"Kya!" I threw my arm out to the right and felt my blade hit something solid, it cut through a lot easier this time.

{30 Exp gained}

Woah~ So killing stronger ones will deal out more Experience than weaker ones.

I grabbed the Chakram out of the ground and felt a presence approaching me from above. My eyes flicked up to see a Rabbit dropping down with its leg aimed at my head.

I hopped back and threw the Chakram at the spot where I had jumped from, as the rabbit landed on the ground my Chakram pierced through its chest with a solid strike.

{20 Exp gained}

{User has levelled up}

So once I level up the amount of Experience I obtain from the same monsters goes down…I guess I'd need to hunt stronger monsters.

"The plan worked! As long as I run and retrieve it after throwing it, I can use them at a range."

I ran up to the approaching Rabbits and baited them into attacking, at the very last second I ducked down and jumped up again with a cross slash.

{25 Exp gained}

{25 Exp gained}

"Can't let these go to waste, Devour."

I extended out my hand and absorbed the two Rabbits with ease, triggering a new notification after.

{Proficiency for Rabbit's Foot skill have increased}

"Oh? Did it go up because of absorbing these two? What's my stats say…"

{Rei Alos Lv2}

Strength – 5

Speed – 12 (+10%)

Vitality – 15

Mana – 7

Defence – 4

"It doubled in proficiency?!" I praised while gawking at the screen.

My overall stats went up slightly but the biggest jump has to be my speed. Does that mean that my stats only increase depending on how much I use them?

If that's the case then to increase my weakest stat defence I would need to take a hell of a beating…I don't relish the idea but I'll keep it in mind.

"Uriel, how do I increase my proficiency?"

{Users Skill's level up from increased consumption of Monster specific to those Skills}

So the more I devour monsters the more I can upgrade their skill trees…it's a pretty balanced idea. Physical stats increase from usage while skills increase through absorption.

"Kikiki~" A high-pitched whimper sprouted from across from me.

"What's with this one…?"

The Rabbit stomped its foot heavily on the ground and created a loud Thump as it glared at me. It was slightly larger but the aura that it emitted was completely different from the others.

{Rush Rabbit Lv8}

He's definitely the strongest one here, he must be the Boss then.

"If I kill you I can clear this Dungeon, too bad for you."