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While Alex was not that good with mana as it was relatively new to him, he wasn't that new to wielding a cold weapon. In his life before he regressed, the only weapon he knew was a sword. Of course, it wasn't the standard double-edged sword, but a katana. He had wielded a double-edged sword before, so he was at least familiar with it. With the sword in Alex's hand, he entered the forest with a steady heart. The Viper Snake lives deep inside the forest near the village. The Viper Snake, while rare, wasn't the apex predator inside the forest. The apex predator was a Sky Wolf, a rare breed of wolf that was as blue as the sky and mostly used the wind element. Of course, if he did meet the Sky Wolf, Alex would most certainly be killed. The Sky Wolf was a tier 1 level 25 monster. Killing something in a higher tier than you is extremely difficult. Of course, the higher the challenge, the better the rewards. This game, while cruel and merciless, always followed the rule of high risk and high reward. Alex would have taken up the challenge if it wasn't for the hidden penalty of death. When you die inside the game, you get resurrected, except for the loss of a few levels. Sadly, for many people, when the game became more than just entertainment, they found out what precious part of themselves they lost. Yes, people had lost a small part of their soul every time they died. This led to many unforeseen consequences and penalties. So, unless he has something that can heal his soul, Alex didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. His first objective right now is to find the Viper Snake. It's a rare monster and also only lives deep inside the forest. With the forest being a level 10-20 area, the monsters are in no way easy to defeat. Of course, the higher the difficulty, the higher the reward. Alex plans on grinding here while waiting for the Viper Snake and getting to level 10. He wants to leave the village immediately after he completes the unique quest. While this quest is important, he has many other quests he wants to complete. To leave the starting village, you need to get to level 10, then take the teleportation array toward a city. Yes, every town and city have a teleportation array connecting each other. The array costs a fee; however, it's super convenient as it can teleport you to almost any settlement for the appropriate price. Players are unable to return to their starting villages with normal means. The villages are really just a basic tutorial in a sense, and the real game starts when you hit level 10. While inside the starting village, you are unable to pass level 10. All the extra exp gets turned into currency, with every 100 experience points being a copper coin. Players are able to choose to go to a town, that costs less, or a city that costs more. Towns have their own benefits, and so do cities; however, most players choose to go to a city immediately. Alex also plans to go to a city right after the village.

Alex entered the forest silently and began to look for any lone monster. After looking around for half an hour, he found a goblin that was alone. The goblin was level 10 and was also injured. It had three deep claw marks across its chest. While they seemed to have been inflicted a few days ago, the wounds were still severe. Alex knew this was the perfect prey; he didn't attack immediately. First, he waited until it stopped to catch its breath. Then, suddenly, he rushed out from behind the trees and stabbed toward its neck. The sword easily passed through the goblin's neck and killed it immediately.

[ You killed a level 10 Goblin ]

[ You gained 550 EXP ]

[ You gained a level ]

[ You gained a level ]

[ You gained a level ]

Alex looked down at the goblin indifferently; he wasn't new to killing. Alex just felt nothing from the act. He quickly hid among the trees, waiting for a monster to take the bait. Alex wanted to use the goblin's body as bait for more monsters. He repeated this for around 6 hours, killing multiple monsters and looting their bodies. This included the pelt of 5 gray wolves, the silk of 3 skint spiders, and a silver coin. Monsters can drop items, money, and other objects after they have been killed. Monsters parts would have to be harvested by hand, while coins and items would appear either on the monster or inside their stomach. The monster parts were either carried inside his pockets or carried on his back. The sun was starting to go down, and he believed it was time to call it quits for today. Alex reluctantly began to head back to the village with his spoils. When a sudden blur rushed toward him, he smiled and quickly evaded to the right, slashing horizontally with his sword. The sword only made a superficial scratch and caused no real damage. He didn't mind the little damage done to the figure. As Alex had been waiting for the beast to finally show itself, the rare Viper Snake. This snake is mostly a hunter; it loves to stalk and play with its prey. Alex had a feeling that he would eventually get noticed by it with all the blood around him. He wanted the Viper Snake to believe he was its prey. The Viper Snake was mostly green with small patches of brown all over. While it was called a snake, it didn't look much like one. Its body was a typical long snake-like body; however, at its end was a part of its body that branched off, making a scorpion-like tail. The stinger was pitch black and extremely venomous. It had two sharp white fangs that were used to poison its prey. Its long red tongue was coated with a paralysis that it used to immobilize its prey to play with them. Their tongue was their most vulnerable part, as when it was cut off, the paralysis poison coated on it fell inside its stomach, paralyzing it. Alex already knew this and was waiting for the time to strike. The battle dragged on with the Viper Snake trying to stab him with its tail, and Alex dodging, waiting for it to use its tongue. Luckily, after a few minutes, the Viper Snake had enough and attacked him with its tongue. Alex sidestepped the attack and swiftly vertically slashed where he once was. In one swift movement, the Viper Snake's tongue was cut off. It hissed in agony and anger, as it knew it didn't have much time. It rushed at Alex with everything it had. Alex was already running by the time it reacted and couldn't reach him by the time it was immobilized. The Viper Snake fell to the ground, looking at the approaching blade toward its mouth. Its only regret was its pride and playing with its prey instead of just killing it.

[ You have slain the Rare level 16 Viper Snake ]

[ You have gained 2900 experience ]

[ You have reached level 10 ]

[ All remaining experience is turned into coins ]

[ You gained 20 copper coins ]

[ You have obtained the title Rare Slayer ]

[ Rare Slayer

Rank: Unranked (Upgradeable)

Effect: Increases NPC familiarity by 1 point. ]

[ You have discovered the NPC familiarity attribute ]

Alex looked at the system notifications with a smile. He looked at the corpse of the Viper Snake and quickly put it on his back to haul back to the village. It was already night, with most of the villagers already asleep. Alex was finally back at the village with the Viper Snake on his back and a small smile on his face. The guards at the gate looked at Alex, drenched in blood again, and with a creature on his back, with annoyance. One of the guards couldn't help his curiosity and asked,

"Sir Lucifer, what creature is that on your back?"

"Oh, this creature is the Viper Snake that has been lurking in the forest."

"Wait, what? YOU KILLED THE VIPER SNAKE!?"

"Yes, I did. Is that such a big deal?" Alex asked with a small grin.

"Of course it is, sir. That beast has been terrorizing us for months!"

"Well, I killed it at the request of your chief. Speaking of the chief, do you know where I can find him?"

"Yes, he's at Elder Roberts' house."

"Thank you. Have a good night."

"You as well, sir."

Now knowing where the chief is, Alex began to head toward Elder Roberts' house to meet with him and the chief.

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A/N

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

If you like this book so far you should check out my other work, A Last Wish!