The Forest of Fire Creatures Part - 2

Once the message windows finished opening, Kane was quick to move from the site of his brief battle with the fire-threaded serpent. Besides, he had picked up on the theme of the fragment of the historical void that was the hunter.

What hunter would stay in the same place after finishing off his prey? None, right? Doing so would be stupid and risky, especially in a forest of monsters.

Kane had several plans in this dungeon: to get a trait and reach at least level seven. After resting for a few seconds to catch his breath, he continued his hunt.

Hiss!

Hiss! Hiss!

The more bottomless Kane entered the forest, the more fire-threaded snakes fell from the branches. The situation was so dire that anyone would panic. However, those snakes were just experience points wrapped in gift boxes to Kane.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

Levels and stats are steadily accumulating.

[Your senses are getting sharper!]

Kill, kill, and keep killing.

Slash, slash, and slash again.

It was hard to catch his breath, but Kane was excited for a freedom he had never felt before. That thrill, that ecstasy... Feelings like that couldn't be experienced through a screen.

[The skill "Minor Dagger Mastery" has reached its maximum level. An intermediate-level skill has been created].

[The skill 'Intermediate Dagger Mastery' has been created!]

Kane had been using his skill all this time, so, unsurprisingly, he leveled up after killing so many monsters.

[Your stamina is depleted!]

[You have fallen into the "exhausted" state.]

"Haa..." A harsh sigh escaped Kane's lips, his body drenched in sweat. As was to be expected from a physique that had never received training, his stamina was quickly depleted.

He looked around, noting the mutilated corpses of the red-threaded snakes strewn across the ground.

'I didn't expect to experience this kind of feeling inside me,' he thought, feeling a slight dizziness caused by exhaustion as he remembered how he had relentlessly cut down the monsters that were incessantly falling from the trees.

After regaining strength, Kane decided to move from the place in search of a safe shelter to rest.

After walking for a while, he found a secluded corner in the forest, away from the nest of red-threaded snakes, from where he could see the top of the hill that ended the mission of the fragment of the historical void.

Leaning against a tree, Kane looked down at his blood-soaked clothes and couldn't help but sigh. 'If I had known I would get so dirty, I would have brought spare clothes,' he thought as his breathing slowly calmed down.

Despite everything, he was surprised. He hadn't expected his new body to be so skilled in combat. Even if he had all the information and knew the patterns, if he had transmigrated into one of the main characters' bodies in the game, he would not have been able to perform the same way as he did now.

'It's a real relief to have transmigrated into this body.' Kane pushed those thoughts aside and opened the status window.

[State Information]

Name: Kane Jineman

Title: None

Trait: None

Level: 4

Strength: 11

Agility: 10

Endurance: 7

Mana: 0

Additional stat points: 25

Unique Abilities: Replicate

Skills: Intermediate Dagger Mastery Lv.1, Puppeteer Lv.1

—

"All my stats went up except for mana..." muttered Kane as he looked at the extra stat points that gave him five every time he leveled up. He had planned to reserve them for unexpected situations.

However, the mana stat caught his attention the most, which was still listed as zero. After careful thought, he decided to spend fifteen additional stat points.

—

Strength: 11

Agility: 10

Endurance: 12

Mana: 10

Additional stat points: 10

—

After investing the fifteen points in mana and stamina, Kane felt an energy dormant in his body slowly awakening, coursing through every corner and filling him with a sense of power.

But he knew that feeling was temporary, a product of the awakening of the dormant mana in his body.

'Not bad, though,' Kane thought, clenching his fist with a smile. 

After improving his stats, he finally focused on the skill "Threads," which had been enhanced 10x after being replicated.

[Puppeteer]

You can manipulate the strings of others' spiritual bodies, exerting direct control over their souls and, hence, over the bodies of your targets.

You can use all of the target's original powers under control, although this consumes mana...

Additional note: Once under your influence, the victim becomes a puppet, utterly subservient to the will of his Puppeteer, essentially dead in every practical sense.

Kane looked with surprise at what was in front of him. He hadn't expected that an ability as simple as "Threads" could evolve this way. "It's... really amazing. Amazing!" he exclaimed with excitement but quickly regained his composure.

'Ever since I came to this world, I have lost my cool too easily. Could it be some influence from this body?' he thought as he sighed. Since his transmigration, he has noticed subtle changes in his personality.

Usually, he was quiet and indifferent most of the time, but since he had come to this world, he sensed a slight change in himself, as in the recent confrontation against the fire-threaded serpents.

'I won't worry about that now. First, I need to get a trait and go up a few more levels.' Kane put those thoughts aside and focused on the skill that had been upgraded tenfold after being replicated.

He closed the status window and decided to test the skill. When he activated the "Puppeteer" skill, fine threads, as thin as spider silk, appeared on his five fingers, moving as if they had a life of their own.

He tested the range of the ability, as it was not specified in the description. Kane focused on the threads, but they moved slowly and awkwardly and soon became motionless.

"Hmm... the maximum range of the threads is about five to seven meters with my current level," Kane muttered as he deactivated the ability. "Besides, my control is too clumsy... I need to improve my control."

Ding!

[75% of your stamina has been recovered.]

[Your 'Exhausted' status has been canceled].

Looking at the message windows, Kane stood up from the tree, refreshed, to continue his hunt.