Bear Lion

*Yawn*

Tanya turned over to her side, snatching a tired glance at the only clock in the room.

'Not even midday yet?'

The small tip was still aimed at the top of the clock.

"Tanya… mhmm~" Penelope yawned as slouched her arm over Tanya's body from behind.

'I really need to get to work soon… I have not even practiced any real skills since I got into this body. If I stay as I am and only use these basic sword techniques, I can kiss the throne goodbye.'

Tanya slowly eased her way out of the bed and lightly took steps away from it. Without any layers on her body and a few nibbles trailing from her chest all the way down to her waist, Tanya slowly moved her bare body towards her clothes.

On the floor, laid a pile of clothes. She quickly put them on without too much delay, moving out of the room after just a minute of being up.

'Penelope at the very least remembered not to leave any marks on my neck. It would be such a hassle to cover it up when I go outside.' Tanya sighed in relief.

Penelope of course remembered the fact that Tanya attends a prestigious academy. If she were to leave marks where people could see them, Tanya would not be able to live as a respectable noble in the future. Class meant that Tanya needed to look clean.

Penelope knew that Tanya wouldn't feel any pain from the hickeys, but she was more worried for the latter's reputation. She cared enough to restrain herself.

'Goodness, I need to work harder so marks like these won't bother me in the future.'

'I heard that the forest next to the academy is a host for various monsters, so I might as well try there for now…'

Tanya looked left and right to check for any creeping eyes before disappearing into the shadows of the hallway.

From there, Tanya made her way out of the academy by the front gates, citing 'herb collection' as her excuse.

Naturally, the guards were nervous letting Tanya leave the academy grounds, but Tanya convinced them that she just needed some herbs for study.

"Fine, you may go." One of the guards stepped to the side and opened the door for Tanya.

"Thank you, sir." Tanya left through the door and quickly disappeared from sight. As of now, she had become a beast on the hunt.

A particularly unique trait about humans in this world and her previous world is the way they progress. While they could level up various skills and magic by training on their own and studying, they could also absorb skills and magic from killing other life forms. While this way is often very efficient, there is no guarantee that a person can get a certain skill from a being that they killed, it was more of a lottery of fate when it came to these matters.

That is why luck is the defining attribute to consider before going on a hunt. E can give you a chance at looting a 1st tier skill or spell, D can give you a chance at 2nd tier, C can give you a chance at the 3rd tier and so on. The pluses and minuses only served to increase luck in each grade for looting.

Luck usually scales with an individual's intrinsic luck and their overall ascension level. While some people could start with F grade luck, they could eventually gain C grade luck after decades upon decades of training and ascending.

So through this logic, Tanya would already have the ability to gain 4th tier skills and spells from killing. However, it would not be that easy.

"Horned rabbit!" Tanya dashed through the forests until she eventually distanced herself from the academy by 10 kilometres. Being this far, she could hunt smaller creatures in peace.

Tanya drew her sword and rushed swiftly towards her unknowing target.

PUCHI

A blade stabbed into the creature and instantly ended its life without pain. The sword. Stabbed so cleanly that the rabbit's body hung from it like a skewered piece of barbecue.

"I wonder what I will get from this one?"

[Skill acquired: Hop (low 2nd tier)]

CRACK

Tanya squatted down before pushing herself upwards, flying straight into the air like an adrenaline abusing frog.

CHOP

A red coloured bird swooped by with metal talons, aiming to take on this unfamiliar threat known as Tanya. Alas, it was swiftly killed with a swift chop down its torso.

[Skill acquired: Steel Talon (peak 1st tier)]

"These beasts are too weak. All I am getting are the trash skills."

If Penelope could hear her right now, she would punish Tanya quite literally for looking down on 2nd tier skills. Most veteran soldiers could only ever get high 2nd tier skills, and now Tanya had just received a 2nd tier skill on her first kill.

BOOM

Tanya landed on the ground, creating a small crater the size of a wok.

ROAR

"Well, you look at that…" Tanya turned around to see an imposing beast, the bear but more or less a lion. Standing up on its two hind legs, the beast beat its chest and gnashes it's teeth at Tanya.

'This is my territory!' Something like that could be translated from the gesture.

ROAR

The beast lunged towards Tanya with an imposing aura of pure dominance.

[Skill: Shroud of Dominance (mid 3rd tier)]

Tanya instantly recognised this skill, the same as in her last world. A skill that allowed individuals to encase themselves in an aura of dominance, strengthening them as well as dominating their foes.

"Errgh!" Tanya dripped with sweat from her forehead as she attempted to mentally resist the dominating effect of the skill.

'Dammit! This beast is stronger than I anticipated.' Knowing this to be a safe forest, Tanya expected to fight the occasional goblin or orc, but a mysterious bear lion was unheard of. Such a creature seemed so bizarre.

CRACK

Tanya activated [Hop] and propelled herself into the air, coming back down with her sword pointed towards the beast.

'You can't dodge this!'

The emperor's will came down on this beast. But is it enough?