Chapter 3 - Eating a monster?
-Ding!
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[Title Unlocked: {Blazing Heart}]
[Blazing Heart: You have taken the first step into understanding yourself and the passion within your heart is set ablaze
HP Regeneration +100%
Mana Regeneration +100%
SP Regeneration +100%
Grants +100% to all Stats
New Skills Unlocked:
[Fiery Charge(Active): Once activated the user will be set in flames of their own main element for 5 seconds. Deals Intelligence(x4) in damage in a 5-meter radius. Cost (50MP/Second) 1/5]
[Firm Stand(Passive): All Resistances +50%. 1/5]
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Yess! Another Upgrade, it made me feel even more confident. HP, Mana, and Spirit regeneration are +100% great! 100% to all stats even more great!
That skill though! The fiery charge was too overpowered, intelligence x4 in damage coupled with my new stats I can do some pretty hefty damage. 50 MP a second is reasonable if we take that damage into consideration.
I could feel tremendous power inside my tiny eagle bones. If someone were to compare my appearance with the power I held they'd be shocked I'm sure of it.
I opened my status window to check.
[~Status Window~
Host: Zed - Umbra Storm Eagle(Hatchling).
Titles: {Blazing Heart}
Level: 2
Experience Points(Exp): 40/540
Cultivation Realm: Body Refinement(Low)
Health Points(HP): 57/57
Magic Power(MP/Mana): 112/112
Spiritual Power(SP): 190/190
Magical Resistance: 11(5)
Physical Resistance: 4(2)
Spiritual Resistance: 19(9)
Vitality: 16(20)
Strength: 9(11)
Stamina: 5(6)
Intelligence: 22(27)
Agility: 18(22)(5)
Spirit: 31(38)
Available Stats Points: 5
Available Skill Points: 2
Karma Points: 0
[Skills]
[Quests(Locked)]
[Map(Locked)]
[Party(Locked)]
[Shop(Locked)]
]
God, isn't this way too overpowered? I'm still a baby for crying out loud, good for me!
I also noticed that my passive Stats boost is calculated according to my base Stats and doesn't include my title. For example, I had +30% Agility thanks to [Bird of Darkness] which means 5 extra Agility points. How crazy would it be if it's calculated with my title in mind, then it'd have been an extra 12?
This means that with my base Agility 18, The Blazing Heart title +18, The Stranger Passive +4.5, Bird of Darkness +5.4, Zephyr child +9, and Sky Dash +7.2 my Agility can rise up to ... Hmm. Yes, 62!!
I could not wait to test my speed, but 62 is my absolute max if all conditions were met. Being in the dark, having an enemy within 100 meters, and activating Sky Dash.
This also meant that my speed in the morning would be around 40. In the dark it'd be 45, if there is an enemy nearby then 54, and if I activate Sky Dash another extra 7.
Thank goodness, with my speed being like this I feel confident in running if things go south.
My chances of survival jumped up after this boost. I felt so alive, I had not felt this much in a very long while.
I looked up and saw the Mama bird looking at me with a strange glint in her eyes. I couldn't exactly pinpoint what was behind those eyes, but it was different than the last time.
Looking at the corpse she brought, that's one scary-looking deer. It had 3 eyes, dark-looking antlers, and those spots all over its fur making it look very majestic in a demonic kind of way. I was awed by its strange beauty, what a strange world.
The baby siblings started eating the deer. I also felt very hungry. I had never eaten in this life other than the egg yolk I grew up in of course, and the eggshells.
But, I felt disgusted! It was a dead corpse, the meat was raw, there was still skin and fur on it, and I've never seen this monster before.
Wait, does appraisal work on dead monsters? If so it'd be a great opportunity to compare me to other monsters, I looked at the corpse and said
'Appraise'
[Appraised Target: Three-Eyed Cursed Deer(Juvenile).
Cultivation Realm: Body Refinement(Mid)
Health Points(HP): 0/180
Magic Power(MP/Mana): 61/80
Spiritual Power(SP): 0/99
Magical Resistance: 15
Physical Resistance: 19
Spiritual Resistance: 29
Vitality: 39
Strength: 28
Stamina: 30
Intelligence: 29
Agility: 35
Spirit: 45
Description: A juvenile Three-eyed cursed deer, a very dangerous monster below the Foundation Establishment realm due to its high spiritual attacks. They have a very sensitive sense of smell and hearing but they are blind. However, due to their high spiritual nature, they are very hard to catch because they could sense enemies from as far as 500 meters. They can be seen in the Dark Hollow Forest but are not very common due to the value of their eyes.
Weakness: Though its main focus is more spiritual it's a versatile monster their physical and magical attributes are not lower than opponents of the same rank. Not very high magical resistance.
]
I noticed a lot of things, but most importantly
'System, why do I have around the same stats as of this deer but I'm still in the low stage of Body Refinement?'
[Your base stats are still around the upper level of the Body Refinement(Low), so you haven't met the required conditions for breakthrough quite yet.]
I noticed another thing! That was very important.
'Why couldn't I see this monster's skills?'
[Due to the fact that your appraisal still hasn't evolved. The only reason you saw your sibling's skills is that you happen to have the same exact ones as them]
Hmm, I still had some questions but I need to put them on hold for now.
This monster though!
It was very strong! Especially the fact that it can sense enemies from 500 meters. How crazy is that?
I think I can beat it, it has 35 Agility and 180 HP. It can sense enemies from 500 meters but if I activate Sky Dash then I'd have double its speed for 10 seconds, plus [Umbra Hands] to hold it and [Wind Blade] when I'm in a range which is 50 meters that deals Intelligence x2. I have a total of 49 Intelligence, meaning each Wind Blade can deal up to 98 of damage so just two would be enough to kill it.
Sky Dash costs 30 MP while two Wind Blades 40 MP and Umbra Hand 4 MP for every second the moment I reach 100 meters from it, let's assume I'd need to use Umbra Hands for 5 sec to close the remaining 50 meters and launch my Wind Blades...
Which is... Hmm 90 MP and I have 112.
However, there were two variables. First, I did not know its skills or what it was capable of, this was a pretty huge red flag as also how long it'd take me to close the distance. I was not familiar with my speed yet.
When you simply look at our Stats it seems like a very easy kill, but my chances of winning against it are actually slim if we take those variables into consideration. So, a high chance I'd be killed just from this juvenile Three-Eyed Cursed Deer.
All the confidence I gained earlier was immediately washed away.
I must not get carried away, I'm at the bottom of the food chain here I needed to be extra cautious.
Next time, even if it seemed like I had the advantage in terms of Stats I shouldn't get cocky. I need to tread very carefully in this dark forest.
I braceded myself and I approached the neck of the deer.
Sigh... This is a psychological obstacle that I need to overcome to get immediate and actual benefits. Looking at this monster it was really one piece of art, even the three eyes one might think it's ugly due to this but on contrary, there is a harmonious aesthetic beauty to it.
Ughh!! This really wasn't the time to be admiring its beauty, it was only making it harder for me to eat it.
I looked at the area where the throat is and decided to avoid it. I'd just stick to the part where there is just pure meat.
I started moving my beak up and down just to get a better feel about how it works. I'm stalling for time again... Ok, deep breaths...
*Splash*
I bit down with all of my strength because I was distressed, so I completely split apart its neck from the rest of its body.
Shit, this is too gruesome. My beak was fucking sharp I didn't know that, it's completely grey. The Mama eagle's beak however had a light shade of gold but pitch black at the end hook.
I saw the meat from the neck that was split from the rest of the body and I took a bite.
The taste was definitely foreign to me, it seemed my taste buds differ from a human's.
Hmm... It was not too bad, not great but definitely not as disgusting as I thought it'd be. It's almost like a soup with all the blood, to be honest, but it was still disgusting nonetheless the psychological impact was too much.
I can do it!
I started eating the neck until only the head remained. If I could take a guess it'd be around 10Kg!
When I saw the head laying there, I recalled what the appraisal window mentioned, 'but they are not common due to the value of their eyes.'
I definitely needed to eat the eyes, but... those were eyes!!
Maybe it won't be as bad as I'm imagining it to be just like the last time.
I went around the head because I was behind it before, looking at those dead bloody eyes I couldn't help but feel the urge to vomit even though I was pretty sure my vomit resistance was pretty high because I was an eagle, otherwise I'd never have eaten that neck.
One, Two. One, Two... The more you think the more you suffer, drop all thoughts and be free.
*Splatter*
I bit one eye and swallowed it directly! I did not want to taste it...
[You have eaten the eye of a Three-Eyed Cursed Deer. Spirit +2]
I knew it!! Thank god all of this struggle wasn't for nothing. With my newfound motivation, I ate the other two eyes.
[You have eaten the eye of a Three-Eyed Cursed Deer. Spirit +2]
[You have eaten the eye of a Three-Eyed Cursed Deer. Spirit +1]
The last eye was a bit damaged, maybe from the previous fight.
I gained a +5 Spirit attribute, it was huge just like leveling up. I now have 81 Spirit, so far my strongest attribute but I have no way to use it.
Strangely, I feel like my senses have gotten stronger. I could tell that there was nobody behind those trees, I sensed some insects in the branches where the nest was. Super Magical Tingling Senses, fuck yeah!
This feeling of mysticism is too good.
I needed to unlock new skills to make use of my high spirit, but no rush patience is a virtue.
I wasn't hungry but there was still a lot of meat left, and some of it looked pretty neat, not disgusting in any way, just supple red delicious looking meat. I needed all the nutrients and energy I could get!
I ate an almost whole thigh, that weighed around 30Kg! If I could guess how much I weigh it won't be more than 20Kg max, I had no idea how was I capable of eating that much or even holding it in my stomach.
I went beside the siblings and sat down, I've never felt both disgusted and proud of myself. What a strange emotional combo, I like it.
I felt stuffed and warm inside. It just struck me that I really enjoyed this, me actively making an effort to do something I wanted.
What a day really, I was sure that I'd remember it for as long as I live.
Sitting down I felt very comfortable physically, with no back aching, no discomfort, just pure physical bliss. Human bodies are very awkward compared to this.
The moment I relaxed a bit, the sweet arms of sleep embraced me.