Chapter 23: Hunting (II)

Don't forget to drop some power stones, leave a comment and add to your collection if you enjoy the story!

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Miles didn't hesitate another moment. He swiftly ran across the ice as if it was his own playground. Before the Geese could do anything, Miles was already at its backside, causing the Goose Leader to become stunned. It didn't expect Miles to close in so quickly!

Miles spared a moment and made a mental note. Tallying up his Skills, every single one was currently triggered. His Attack Damage was soaring through the roof. It was the highest he had seen yet. And on top of that, Miles learned that Howl triggered after his Skills did. That boosted his Attack Damage even higher than just having it factor into his SKills. Since it was presently night, he scored an extra 375% boost in his Attack Damage. Howl would then trigger, providing an entire extra 30% to that!

If he attacked as it was presently, Miles would still fall short.

'Now would be as perfect as any to use it. I know it's just once a day, but it's already night. Its cooldown will reset in a few hours at most. I didn't use it yesterday, but now is a good time to see how much it will do!', Miles decided. He triggered Lucky Strike, and a golden glow wrapped around his body. His Attack Damage soared!

HONKKKKK!

A loud honk dying a bloody death echoed and pounded against the ice. Unfortunately, all the hunters were still back at Cold Lake, and the rest of the forest remained silent. No one was around to watch Miles finish off the Goose Leader. Miles went straight for the neck, dodging an attack from its wings. Kusshhaa!

[-1930!]

A dark red number appeared over the Goose Leader as it died in a flash. Large splatters of blood painted the ice red. Its corpse slumped over and caved into its own body, startling the two remaining Level 7 Geese. He didn't even trigger Burn. It just died in one blow.

[Ding! Host has defeated Goose Leader - Level 8. Mission updated.]

An outcome Miles wanted to achieve, and his tail responded in excitement seeing it. As his tail wagged happily, a string of notifications followed suit. Thankfully the two remaining Geese were stunned, not expecting the leader of the flock to perish. It allowed enough time for Miles to glance through what he had gotten.

[Ding! 450 EXP has been obtained.]

[Ding! Smoldering Claws and Steel Claws proficiency increased by 370.]

[Ding! Fine Goose Meat 2* x3 has been deposited into Host's Inventory.]

[Ding! 10 Stat Points rewarded to Host for defeating Goose Leader.]

[Ding! Due to defeating Goose Leader in one strike, rewarded Stat Points have doubled.]

[Ding! 30 Stamina has been consumed. Current Stamina: 125/160]

[Ding! Level 7: 505/640]

[Ding! Smoldering Claws Lv1 -> Lv3 (20/300). Steel Claws -> Lv3 -> Lv4 (70/400)]

A/N: If the messages do become longer like in this one, I'll group it together like this)

'Oooh!', Miles excitedly thought, seeing these notifications come through. One thing to immediately point out apart from him almost reaching Level 8 was that by killing the Goose Leader in one strike, he was awarded some stat points. It wasn't just that, the rewarded points doubled thanks to killing the Goose Leader in one blow.

'Perhaps there are hidden criteria of earning additional rewards I may not be familiar with...', Miles wondered.

Additionally, Miles didn't think he'd get to see meat drops plop right into his Inventory. It wasn't just one piece of Goose meat, it was three. and it was graded Fine. No doubt would it have a good taste once he ate it. It already started to tickle his taste buds. He had the taste of Goose meat last night, and with it being Fine grade this time, Miles was sure it was going to taste several times better!

'And since this meat dropped directly into my Inventory, I wonder, can I take the dead carcasses like that with me? It's going to be a pain trying to move all of these dead Geese one by one back into my burrow. It's going to definitely leave a lot of bloody tracks. Hunters will know there's prey to hunt...', Miles frowned.

Before Miles could try that though, his eyes landed on the two Level 7 Geese. A glint of light streaked across his eyes, making a decisive moment. Fiery bursts struck out, blinding the two remaining Geese. Since Miles dumped his points into Agility previously, he now outspeed the Level 7 Geese, and went in for the kill, triggering Smoldering Claws again. Howl only had a minute or so left on its duration while Miles was in his thoughts, so he made sure to make the most use of it.

Even though Lucky Strike was now used up for the day, he still saw two large numbers over the two Geese's heads. They couldn't react in time before their bodies caved in. Their necks slumped directly into their feathery bodies. 

[-664!] [-664!]

[Ding! 90 EXP has been obtained.]

[Ding! Smoldering Claws Lv3 (20->60/300). Steel Claws Lv4 (70->110/400)]

The last two Geese finally dropped onto the ground. The stench of death made the atmosphere around him damp. The sight alone would cause hunters nearby to hesitate, but it did the opposite effect for Miles. His tail was wagging in excitement. The blood wafting around excited the blood pumping through him. He wanted to hunt more, even though all of the Geese were dead now. Thankfully the next notification managed to calm his nerves.

[Ding! Host's Mission - Eliminate the Flock of Geese has been completed. Rewards have been deposited into Host's Inventory.]

[Ding! Level 7: 625/640]

'I am very close to Level 8 now.', Miles concluded. This time, he decided to hold onto his twenty new stat points. He had nothing else to worry about for the time being. The bloody air was still heavy, but he knew he had to do something about these bodies. Even if he did decide to haul off all of them into his burrow, by the time he would bring in the last one, they would likely start decomposing already. Fresh, killed meat does spoil pretty quickly.

'Will it let me deposit these into my Inventory?', Miles wondered. His body turned toward the first Geese he killed. Taking some steps, he approached them. Doing a tapping motion of his paws directly placing them on the dead Geese, he willed his Inventory.

[Ding! Common Goose Meat x2 has been deposited into Host's Inventory.]

"Yip!", Miles exclaimed, seeing the bodies glow for a brief moment, before they vanished from sight. They vanished completely, only leaving behind ice that was now soaked in blood. It was trying to seep into the ice. 'It actually worked!', Miles continued. His tail thumped happily seeing his game disappear. Since it disappeared, Miles could now assume it was stored away in his Inventory.

Miles turned toward the remaining dead Geese, and excitedly tapped each one. The notifications started coming again, and he became satisfied with what he obtained.

[Ding! Common Goose Meat x3, Uncommon Goose Meat 1* x2, Fine Goose Meat 2* x2, Unique Goose Meat 3* x1 has been deposited into Host's Inventory.]

'Perfect. This means I won't need to hunt for a while now. I ate those two Geese on the spot last time, but there's no way I can eat all of this in one sitting. I'm happy at the fact knowing I can store meat away in my Inventory. Since it allows such a function, I bet this system will help preserve the meat too, making sure it doesn't rot. I don't know if I'll get any Skills from the more common drops, but I might get one after tasting the meat the boss dropped...', Miles wondered how much he would get from this batch of meat he had just obtained.

Either way, the battle had concluded, and he completed the first Mission he was tasked with. Now he only had the wolf pack to subjugate, and expand his territory. He wasn't sure if he would obtain any more missions before he reached his first evolution. It was fast approaching based on Miles's current progress, and anticipation appeared in Miles's eyes just thinking about it.

It was still well in the night, and Miles was in an active state. He decided to come directly to the hunting spot first the moment he spotted the flock of Geese further northeast around the lake, but he made sure that he could retrace his steps back to his burrow. Since his hunting was done for the time being, Miles saw he still had plenty of Stamina left. As he made his way back to his burrow, Miles started to use Marking here and there. His current territory started to increase ever so slowly...