At The Exit...

"The hell I won't!"

Kleon strengthened her stance in indignation. The dagger she had used to slit open the throat of the Dog-head Bat was still in her hand and still bloody.

"Our agreement stood in case of One Gate Ranker, in case you're too blind to count old man, there are two now!"

Aidan took a deep breath.

"These were unforeseen circumstances. You know a Forest Gate by standard should have only one Gate-Ranker"

That piqued Vincel's interest.

"Why is that?"

All eyes went to Vincel after his question but Aidan answered nonetheless.

"Because Gate-Rankers are territorial.

If it were a labyrinth or a Tower Gate, there is a possibility of multiple Gate-Rankers all separated by the Gate and never crossing one another but that's not the case with a Free range open space like a Forest Gate.

In a Forest Gate, the Gate-Ranker is free to roam and make sure there is no native to threaten its command of the territory. Once that fact is made sure of, it will retire and wait for the foolish hunters that aim to take it down.

We were never supposed to find two. My guess is they were each other's mates. That's the only way I find that they can coexist"

As he listened to Aidan's explanations, Vincel remembered how the voice of the Dog-head Bat had sounded like a weird mix of male and female.

'So was the one I killed the male or the female?'

Aidan walked over to the dead beast and with a precise slash of his sword, he cut open a section, reached in, and pulled out a Greyish Orb that certainly felt more powerful than the ones they had gotten from the E-rank beasts so far.

Knowle approached the one Jilan and Lea had dragged over and he cut it open with his dagger.

The archer was not as swift as Aidan but he eventually got the core out.

Kleon had her eyes on the Orb in Aidan's hand but he ignored her and addressed the rest of the group.

"We have been fortunate to reap not one but two D-rank beast cores. I shall take this one, as was agreed already and you all can share the profits gained from selling the other one along with taking whatever else can be sold from the body of that Beast.

Vincel should have a share too, of course"

Vincel nodded.

"Okay"

He had no idea what the cores were useful for or why anyone would want to buy them but he was not going to deny himself the benefits of his contribution to their hunt.

Aidan looked away from the others as Knowle began to wipe blood and grime off the Orb in his hand and then Kleon's words caused Aidan's head to snap back at her.

"I am not leaving this Gate without a Core."

Aidan sighed.

"Be reasonable. How about this? You can take whatever part of the Dog-head Bat you think will have value." He said while gesturing to the beast he, Kleon, and Knowle had battled,

"Any other part besides the core."

Kleon took a step towards Aidan.

"I don't think you understand me. You could not have brought it down without me and the danger was more than I bargained for.

The group had to be split up because there were two of them which meant I had to pick up the slack and exert more effort than I should have.

I don't want a share, I don't want a 'part' of the beast. I. Want. That. Core!"

"Well, you're not getting it."

Aidan put the bloody, grimy core in his pouch and then addressed the group.

"Take what you can of the beast. We shouldn't spend more time than we have to within this Gate."

The group went about taking things from the beasts. From claws to canines to Blood. Whatever they thought could be of value, they took.

Kleon, for all her indignance, took what she could from one of the Dog-head Bats as well.

As he had promised, Aidan did not lay a hand on any of the dead beasts. The core he had was apparently enough.

The Core the rest of the group, excluding Kleon, was supposed to share was left in the hands of Lea.

"The moment we are out of here, we are getting that thing valued. I want my share" Jilan said which was a bit funny since he himself had admitted that he had not been able to help much.

While the group went about their harvesting, Vincel called out his status screen for an update.

<User Status Screen Updated>

[Name: Vincel Grey]

[Race: Human]

[Job: Arcane Initiate Lv.2 {101/200 Arcane Shards}]

[Specialization: None]

[Title: None]

[HP: 13/75]

[Arcane Mana Reserves: 125/125]

[Strength: 5]

[Stamina: 5]

[Agility: 5]

[Resistance: 1]

[Job Skills: Arcane Augmentation Lv 1]

[Stat points: 8]

-

'So an increase in the limit of my Arcane Mana reserves refilled it but that's not the case with my HP?

Am I right to think this is unfair?

I mean, I get that they are not the same; Arcane Mana reserves are an already naturally refilling resource while HP can only be refilled by consuming rations and healing injuries.

I get it... But I still feel cheated.

Anyway, which stats should I improve?

First off, I need to get my resistance up. I won't last long if it stays at 1 especially when I've only got 13 HP left.

I'd like strength and Agility to be balanced at least for now. I don't want to devote too much to any one stat just yet.'

In the end, Vincel decided to dump 4 stat points into Resistance to get it up to Five and then he divided the remaining four points evenly between Strength and Agility.

[Are you sure you wish to allocate your Stat points this way?

Once it is done, there is no going back]

'I'm sure'

Vincel affirmed to the system mentally and he immediately felt the difference. His muscles became denser, strengthened and he could also feel an increase in fluidity from every movement he made.

'Such an improvement from just two stat points each to strength and Agility? Interesting.

Status screen'

<User Status Screen Updated>

[Name: Vincel Grey]

[Race: Human]

[Job: Arcane Initiate Lv 2 {101/200 Arcane Shards}]

[Specialization: None]

[Title: None]

[HP: 13/75]

[Arcane Mana Reserves: 125/125]

[Strength: 7]

[Stamina: 5]

[Agility: 7]

[Resistance: 5]

[Job Skills: Arcane Augmentation Lv 1]

[Stat points: 0]

-

For all the time the group spent harvesting the carcasses of the Dog-head Bats, Vincel was busy flexing his hands and getting attuned to all the changes that had come as a result of his stat increases.

Soon, the harvesting was over and the group began their collective journey to the exiting portal.

Aidan and Kleon led the line, and Lea and Vincel followed walking side by side while Jilan and Knowle brought up the rear.

As was expected, the group encountered attacks from E-rank beasts within the Gate on their way out.

*Swish*

Vince moved and avoided the claw strike of the E-rank beast that came at him. He felt the combative advantage of an increase in agility but even though he reacted early, he still only barely avoided getting cut.

*Bam!*

He delivered a well-placed blow that knocked the beast away but unlike how it had been when he used Arcane Augmentation to fight a Grim wolf before, he did not kill this beast with a single blow.

The Beast stood up from the ground, shook off the blow, and got ready to attack again only to be crushed by Jilan's club.

*Bang!*

*Squish!*

No notification.

No Arcane Shard recovery...

... Vincel was faced with a realization that despite his stat increase, he was not yet able to one-shot E-rank beasts without Arcane Augmentation.

The journey continued and during every altercation, although Vincel did his part, he never delivered the killing blow and never got any Arcane shards.

'I'm usually fast enough to hit them, just not strong enough to kill them. A weapon will probably help with that.' Vincel thought while eyeing Jilan's club.

Eventually, quite some E-rank beast killings later, the group arrived at the portal.

It was oval-shaped and constantly swirling with energy. Being close to it, Vincel could feel otherworldly energy from it like it was shifting between one reality and another or more accurately and likely, between one dimension and the next.

Knowle and Jilan exited first to wait for Lea who exited almost immediately after.

Vincel's eyes went from Kleon to Aidan and then back.

"So I just step through it? There's nothing I have to do first?"

Aidan chuckled.

"Nothing at all. There's no reason to be worried. It's Ea- Ack"

Vincel's eyes widened in shock as he saw the smile on Aidan's lips get frozen in shock while he looked down at the blade that was thrusting out of his chest.

Kleon leaned closer to whisper into Aidan's ear while she twisted the dagger in his back.

"I told you, Old man. I'm not leaving here without a Core"

"Kl-Kl-Kleon... You-- bitch--"

Aidan's voice sounded raspy and forced as blood strained down his front but it all just made Kleon's smile grow wider.

"Shh shh shhhhhhh. Just Shut up and die!"

Kleon pulled her dagger out, turned Aidan around, and stabbed him in the heart.