07 - 500 Experience Points
After seeing this monstrous skill with bow and arrow, Edward even checked the young man's Rank a few times to make sure of his strength, but every time it was only confirmed that Leo was just an Awakened Bronze 1 Star.
'I found a monster! He is only 17 years old, woke up a few days ago, and is already able to reach this level of lethality! Maybe he can handle Bronze 2 Stars monsters?' Edward thought of the possibility and was shocked.
The concept of stars was something very definitive in humanity. Normally Bronze Awakened 1 Star would need at least one more Bronze 1 Star companion to be able to kill monsters at the same strength level. Talented people might even be able to fight monsters of the same strength alone after a close battle, but seeing a young Bronze 1 Star fighting against 4 Bronze 1 Stars monsters was something shocking for Edward!
"Another $600, hehe," Leo cheered as he grabbed a knife to rip off the vultures' valuable parts after removing the arrows and stuffing them back in the quiver again.
"…" Edward was speechless at the sight of this. While he was thinking about everything this young man could do in the future with a force as powerful as this, the young man was apparently content with the few dollars he received from killing these four monsters, not even being surprised that he could do it and other people couldn't.
But what Edward didn't know is that Leo was already sure that he would be strong in the future. Just with those 7 vultures he killed he received 91 experience points, which he could use to improve Aim-Bot, unlock Wall Hack, or even level up to Bronze 2 Stars, so for him, killing these weak monsters was something natural. The only thing that excited him besides experience was the money these monsters gave him.
After Leo removed the valuable parts of the four vultures and put them in his backpack, Leo picked up the bow again and stood by Professor Edward's side. Edward saw this and was very pleased.
"Your bow skill is very powerful. I can hardly see anyone who can wield the bow as well as you even among Silver Awakened 1 Star. Of course, the difference in strength is very big, but your accuracy with the bow is something unparalleled with your level of strength." Edward openly praised Leo.
Leo didn't pretend to be shy of the compliment and just gave the professor a polite smile in thanks. This made Edward value this young man even more, who, while not being arrogant, also knew how to recognize his own qualities.
"How do you think your bow skill is against Bronze 2 Stars monsters?" Edward asked as he walked.
Leo thought for a while and asked back, "Which kind of Bronze monster 2 Stars?"
"Let's say Bronze Bog Rat 2 Stars monsters." Edward gave the names of the monsters they would encounter in the next zone.
Leo heard about the Bog Rats and was thoughtful for a few seconds. "If it's Bronze Bog Rats 2 Stars, I believe I can handle small groups, but if the group is too big I don't think I can handle them. After all, my arrows are limited, and I wouldn't be able to shoot them all at once."
Leo lied. If he really wanted to, he could put all 20 arrows from the quiver on the bow and the Aim-Bot skill would manage to shoot all 20 vermin at the same time with each of the arrows, but if he said something like that he would just look like an arrogant young man, so at times like this it was better to tell a lie than to tell an absurd truth.
But even though Leo lied to make his skill less flashy, Edward was still shocked by what this young man said.
"You know that a Bronze Bog Rats 2 Stars's agility is much higher than that of a Bronze Mutant Vultures 1 Star, right?" Edward asked uncertainly.
"Yes, from what I've researched, they should be at least 3-6 times faster than such buzzards, but I still trust my bow," Leo replied with a polite smile.
Edward was shocked by this answer. This young man had already shown his skills, and showed that his confidence was not unfounded. At this point it was already difficult for Edward to know if the young man was being realistic or arrogant. But since this young man has shown so much potential and hadn't been arrogant once so far, Edward decided to give him his vote of confidence.
"Then how about we head straight to the Bronze Bog Rat area 2 Stars? I'm tired of wasting time with these weak Vultures," Edward said as he studied Leo's expression.
"Sure," Leo responded with the same polite smile. Leo was even more comfortable now, as he could gain a lot more experience and money, and with a strong Awakened Silver 3 Stars by his side, Leo would have more leeway if he encountered something unexpected.
Edward was pleased that Leo's expression didn't change and started releasing his Silver aura to scare away the buzzards as he started running towards the Bronze Bog Rats area 2 Stars.
Edward adjusted his own speed so Leo could keep up, and within minutes they were near the rats' zone. The professor hid his presence as much as possible and practically disappeared from the monsters' sight once again. Leo, meanwhile, held the bow with two arrows and was very attentive.
'If I had Wall-hack here it would be much more practical… The Bog Rats are monsters made of plants in the shape of rats. In a forest like this, green monsters like them are very well camouflaged. I have to be very careful not to be caught off guard,' Leo thought as he looked intently around.
It didn't take long for Leo's peripheral vision to notice something moving among the grass. Without a second thought, he pulled the arrows and kept the string taut.
Soon the grass moved again and a very fast figure came running towards Leo. He didn't even have to think and just ordered the Aim-Bot to shoot the Bog Rat.
Swoosh, Swoosh!
The two arrows attached to the bowstring flew at a very high speed. The distance of the two arrows was very small, almost touching as they flew, but still no contact was made between the arrows during their flight.
Pshh! The arrows pierced both of the little monster's eyes.
Of course, calling the Bronze Bog Rat 2 Stars small was only when compared to some other monsters, as this ferocious rodent was almost the size of a cat.
With two arrows going through the rat's eyes and hitting the brain, the monster couldn't even react and fell dead to the ground as liquid dripped through its eye sockets.
[Congratulations, you killed a Bronze Bog Rat 2 Stars. You received 60 Experience Points.]
Leo had a small smile on his face as he carefully walked towards the Bog Rat's corpse to get the arrows back. Meanwhile, Edward's expression was nothing short of absolute shock. At the speed this rat was moving, only proficient Bronze 5 Stars archers could hit this monster on the head with such precision, but the young man shot two arrows at the same time and those two arrows hit both of the monster's eyes!
'This boy's bow and arrow skill is at least Divine level! If he continues to develop his strength for a few years by killing monsters with such ease, he could definitely reach Gold Rank 1 Star in a few years!' Edward made an assumption that not even he could believe.
'I have to report this student to the School Director as soon as I get back! This student has to enter the school's Elite class as soon as possible.' Edward at this point wasn't even worried about the things he came to get for research in this zone of weak monsters. The only thing he could think about now was how to nurture this talent in the best way possible.
Seeing the young man standing next to the carcass with a slightly confused expression, Edward understood what he was probably thinking.
"Bog Rats are valuable, but unlike other monsters, the whole body of these rats is valuable. For a monster this size, it's difficult to carry several of them into town to sell, so I recommend you just get the tail and ears. A tail and ear set retails for around $500; if you take the whole monster you can get $1,200, but you won't be able to carry that much," Edward explained patiently.
Leo soon understood and without any hesitation cut off the mouse's tail and ears and put them in his backpack. He was currently at 231 Experience points, which allowed him to raise the Aim-Bot skill to Level 03. But Leo didn't want to raise that skill to Level 03 yet; he was torn between rising to Bronze Rank 2 Stars or unlocking the Wall-Hack skill.
Initially he was prioritizing raising his Rank, but after dealing with this rat, Leo saw that the Wall-Hack skill was much more valuable to him in this task, as to activate the Aim-Bot he first needed to see the target he wanted to shoot. With Wall-Hack it would be much simpler.
Now that Leo knew that the Bronze Bog Rat 2 Stars' eyes were much more fragile than the Bronze Mutant Cow 2 Stars' body, he proceeded to shoot only one arrow for each rat he killed. Leo didn't have the courage to go deeper into the rat area because he knew it would be difficult to deal with very large groups, so he just stayed in the outer zone while hunting these little monsters.
Edward didn't even care what he was going to harvest earlier, and just stood by Leonardo's side as he guided this young man through things he could do to be more efficient in dealing with these monsters.
[Congratulations, you killed a Bronze Bog Rat 2 Stars. You received 60 Experience Points.]
After another hour of killing Rats, Leo finally killed one last rat and reached 500 Experience points.
[Leonardo Lentz
Age: 17 Years
Rating: Bronze 1 Star [0/500]
Talent: Hack
Experience Points: 531
Quirks: Aim-Bot Lv. 02 [0/200]: In a 20 meter radius around the user, anything the user throws or shoots will hit the target with 100% hit rate. With each level the distance and accuracy will increase.
Available Quirks: Wall-Hack (500 Evolution Points), Speed-Hack (1,000 Evolution Points), ?????? (?????? Evolution Points)]
Leo looked at his Status screen and finally decided where he was going to spend the 500 experience points he had accumulated.
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Author Note:
Thanks guys for all your support. Because of your comments and those you added to the story in the library I'm releasing this extra chapter today! Your comments inspire me to write and post more haha!
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