Chapter 15: Double Experience!

Author Corner:

Addressing Stamina:

 -It does not fully replenish after a Level Up.

 -Whenever Stamina's max value is increased, it will replenish current Stamina accordingly. +5 max Stamina -> Gains 5 Stamina back.

 -It can only be replenished by using Consume or Resting. Potentially via Items/Missions later on.

 -Actions and Attack SKills consume Stamina. MP has been removed from Status for the time being. Magic will come into play much later. I like having Skills tied to Stamina, so I will continue using this method for now.

 -I am considering a feature for when Miles reaches zero stamina, like what Solo Leveling does.

Skill Change:

 Superior Luck

  -Special Effect 3: EXP Gain boosted by 50% -> Battle EXP Gain boosted by 50%

(You will see why later in this chapter)

 Ice Resistance -> Cold Resistance

  -Effects remain same.

Skill Clarification

Twilit Fervor

 -The +2 and +3 available stat point gains is added to base rewarded available stat point gain. If a Level Up gives 1 free stat point, it gives 2 more. = 3 total. This was shown in the previous Level Up.

Vol 0 is now live with my Status Window!

 -I will frequently update this chapter instead of posting full status windows inside chapters.

 -This will not stop status messages, new skills, or using skills and the like. They will still appear in chapters.

Hope this clears up a few things~

Don't forget to comment, drop a review, and some power stones if you enjoy the story!

*

Miles had an unexpected gain. Steel Claws and Firebending triggered together, creating a new Attack Skill entirely. It resulted in Smoldering Claws. Unlike Fire Fang, it could dish out an extra 50% damage over the previous 150%, making it 200%. And it wasn't just that. It had an added effect of doubling the chance to inflict burn, and even inflicting two stacks of it onto a target!

Miles's Strength was currently 9. That's what Burn damage currently equated to. He could inflict an extra eighteen damage over a period of ten seconds!

It still relied on his Luck to trigger it though, which was at 10% now.

Woosh!

Without needing to worry about such a scenario, Miles bent his body and crouched downward. He activated Ice-Walk again, and a bluish glow wrapped around his paws. He suddenly dashed forward!

With his new Traction Skill now, Miles didn't feel the ice beneath him slippery at all. It was as if he was running through a field of grass. It made approaching the Goose much easier. In no time at all, the Goose entered his view. Miles's desire to eat it grew the closer he got to the Goose. Even his stomach rumbled a bit in response. As he ran on the ice, the cold winds blew against his face. 

With the Goose now in arm's reach, Miles entered his thoughts for a moment upon reaching a conclusion.

'I may regret wasting this now, but it's time to crack it open.', Miles decided. Activating his Inventory, his eyes quickly wandered to one of the boxes that were occupied. It was the remaining bottle that had blue liquid inside of it. He did a tapping motion on its picture, and heard a notification that followed suit.

[Ding! Would Host like to consume Double EXP Bottle - 1 Hour?]

'Yes', Miles thought. Reacting to his decision, the bottle that occupied one of his box spaces glowed for a second, before it vanished from sight.

[Ding! Host has used the Double EXP Bottle. Time Remaining: 59 Minutes, 59 seconds...]

'Good. I should receive an extra 100% boost in my experience. It'll be 150% with Superior Luck...', Miles mused, seeing his EXP Bottle vanish.

The sleeping Goose still had its head tucked away inside its body. Only a part of its neck was exposed, but it was enough for Miles. The Goose was completely unaware that it was about to perish. Increasing his speed, Miles looked down at his claws that were still set ablaze by Smoldering Claws.

Kuuusha!

Miles dashed against the right side of the Goose. He unleashed his claws in full force, and tore right through the Goose's body with ease. It's squishy interior got pierced through, splatting more blood onto Miles's face. Ignoring the blood, Miles continued his current motion until he reached the Goose's neck, and punctured it with a few pokes. More blood splattered onto the ice, but it was less as the wounds immediately got singed with his claws.

The Goose couldn't even honk in pain before its body simply slumped over, dying on the spot.

A big damage number appeared over the Goose, leaving Miles satisfied.

[-105!]

It was a triple digit number, which was the reason why Miles was left satisfied. He didn't even have to use Lucky Strike to fell the Goose. The Level 3 Goose simply died. Upon the Goose's death, a flurry of notifications echoed in Miles's mind, which prompted him to view them.

[Ding! Five Stamina has been consumed due to Host using Smoldering Claws. Smoldering Claws proficiency increased by 20.]

[Ding! Due to Host using a Claw Attack, Steel Claws proficiency increased by 20.]

[Current Stamina: 53/110]

[Ding! Host has killed Level 3 Goose. 10 EXP obtained.]

[Ding! Superior Luck and Double EXP have triggered. Recalculating experience obtained...]

[Ding! 25 EXP has been obtained.]

[Ding! Congratulations, Host has risen to Level 3!]

[Current Level: Lv3/10 (15/40)]

[Ding! 5 HP, 5 Stamina, 2 STR, 2 END, 1 AGI and 5 LUC have been obtained.]

[Ding! Due to hunting in the night, Host has obtained 3 additional stat points.]

[Available Stat Points: 7]

"Yip!", Miles happily yipped. The experience he just earned was enough to reach Level 3! Miles felt his muscles grow ever so slightly, becoming tougher. His claws became slightly sharper. Even his vision became clearer, making it easier to see where he was right now. 'Foxes really are nocturnal creatures eh?', Miles mused as he reviewed these notifications. He could clearly see the outlines of the pine trees before him. Heck even the snow appeared white inside this darkness. It really was a weird sensation for Miles to see so clearly.

After becoming satisfied with checking his newfound level up, Miles saw that his Mission updated as well. The count of felled Geese increased from one to two, he only had to kill eight left to satisfy the first condition of his Mission.

He couldn't even see the other Geese nearby, they likely swam further north. Miles didn't need to worry though. The Mission was active even now, and that meant the Goose were still on the radar to be killed.

After looking over his Missions page, Miles glanced at his remaining Stamina once more.

It went from 58 down to 53, and then back up to 58 because his max stamina increased. His max Stamina was 115 now.

Aside from that, it was as Miles assumed regarding the topic of how Level Ups worked. He started out at Level 1. Reaching Level 2 required 10 experience. Reaching Level 3 required 20, and to reach Level 4, it now required 40 points of experience. Miles could now assume reaching Level 5 required 80 points total.

Miles was now almost halfway to Level 4 thanks to Superior Luck and the Double EXP Bottle. Level 5 was still a ways off, but it was within reach. Anticipation appeared in his eyes after recalling that he had a Beginner's Pack he could open to see what goodies were inside once he reached Level 5.

But Miles could only stay happy for a moment. Time was ticking after all. After killing the Goose and checking over his stats, five whole minutes have passed already. He had 55 minutes left. The question to consider now, with Miles's remaining Stamina, should he drag the Goose's dead body into the forest in hopes to attract other animals to it, or should he use Consume, and eat the dead bird now?

The first option was definitely more dangerous. He didn't even get a scope of the land yet, so Miles had no idea what kinds of animals lurked here. He knew he had his Bestiary book, but he hadn't had time to dive into its contents. With such a big risk, Miles was leaning toward the latter.

There was an additional factor to why Miles wanted to use Consume on the Goose now. He used Consume before, and it granted him experience every so often as he dined on its raw meat!

With constant experience gains tempting Miles, he decided on the latter. Recalling earlier, Miles knew that Superior Luck didn't trigger when he used Consume. But there was a high possibility the Double EXP Bottle could affect his gained experience. It was something to test, and now he had a target to test it on.

As if it responded to him, Miles's stomach began to growl again, causing his gaze to land back down on the dead bird before him. It was already starting to look even more delicious to him now than just a moment ago.

"Yip!", Miles yipped again in glee. He jumped right at the Goose's body, and began eating. His tail started to wag happily as more notifications echoed inside his mind...