Fire Ape and Blue-Horned Rhino

A good while ago...

''Sigh, why am I even trying so hard to play along with their little game? This isn't like me...'' Jax muttered to himself as he ran into the forest. He wasn't in a hurry although he could see his friends running ahead of him.

When Jajah put a certain distance away from him a while ago, the mana she put on him slowly dissipated. The annoying effect she put on his sandals also faded away at the same time as he was finally able to move freely.

At first, he ran furiously to catch up to them. But later, he asked himself what was the purpose of him getting provoked that easily. He slowed down and he ended up sighing. It seemed like he still needed to improve his mental state a lot.

ROAR!!!

RAWR!!!

But to his surprise, when Jax slowed down, two thunderous roars echoed somewhere nearby. He halted his steps and shifted his gaze in the direction of that sound.

''Are the kings of this part of the forest having a territorial fight again?'' Jax muttered to himself as he recognized the sound. If it was before, then he would have definitely run away in the opposite direction to avoid being implicated in their battle.

But now? Jax felt like every vein of his body was forcing him to come over. A smile suddenly formed on his lips as he headed to the place where the battle was occurring.

Sure enough, the two kings of that part of the forest were battling neck to neck against each other. The Fire Ape and the Blue-Horned Rhino.

Jax hid somewhere safe as he decided to watch the death fight between two huge beasts. He scanned his surroundings too but it seemed like only those two huge beasts were there.

And from the looks of it, the two of them were both exhausted and severely injured.

This was a great opportunity for him to try something!

''Let me help you finish each other...'' Jax muttered, a wide grin formed on his face.

After a moment, Jax spread his arms wide. It was the first time he would do something like that, but this was a good opportunity for him to try and practice it.

That said, Jax simultaneously conjured the four main elements: water, fire, earth, and wind, and formed them into spheres. Multicasting like that was impossible for most Mages, but for him who carried the blood of the Jabat Royal Family, it was nothing but mere child's play.

After Jax conjured the four elements with his great control, he threw all four elements toward the two huge and dying beasts. He made sure to hit them on their vitals.

But with just that attack alone, Jax was certain that it wouldn't cause enough damage. After all, he hadn't used any skill yet.

That was why when the four types of elements were about to reach his target, Jax closed his hand and said, ''Combine.''

Jax intended to use his class-awakened skill, Explosion!

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[Explosion (common)] - (active)

- (Class awakened skill) Combine two types of elements to cause a small explosion, three types for a bigger explosion, and four types if it's still not enough. The more elements you combine, the greater the explosion. But it requires a greater amount of mana and a sufficient state of mind. (note: mana consumption and cooldown will triple in accordance with the number of elements being combined)

- Growth-type. Using the skill frequently, and gain understanding of the skill, can raise its grade.

Mana cost: 10 | 30 | 90 | 270...

Cooldown: 10 sec | 30 sec | 90 sec | 270 sec...

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Jax's Intelligence stat only amounted to 2. That would only give him 200 MP. Using his skill, Explosion, and combining four elements would cost him 90 MP. Meaning to say, he would only be able to use that skill twice.

Such a Common grade skill to deplete his mana that easily, it sure was taxing.

But if this could hasten the death of those two huge beasts, then using this class-awakened skill was worth trying.

With that in mind, and when all four elements got combined near the two confused and surprised beasts, Jax finally used the skill as he said, ''Die, Explode!''

Boom!

A thunderous explosion echoed. Surprisingly, that explosion alone was more than enough to send the two huge beasts flying together in a certain direction. It burned their bodies, dealt one fatal blow, and forced them to take their last breath.

''Oh, wow...'' Jax's eyes widened, he was pleasantly surprised at the result of his explosion. Although it was of Common grade, the skill he inherited from his family was really something.

That aside, now that the two huge beasts finally died, Jax decided to come closer. He halted his steps just before them as a wide smile appeared on his lips.

Then he said, ''Don't worry, you two. I will take good care of your skills and abilities.''

Since he was too excited to try out his Forbidden skill, Jax decided to use it right away. He raised his hand in front of him, focused, and finally said, ''Absorb.''

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[Soul Eater (forbidden)] - (passive)

- (Inherited) Able to absorb the talent, skills, ability, etc., of the soul of the dead that has been swallowed by you. You can stack up to five permanent souls and five temporary souls to use their abilities at your disposal. (note: temporary souls will disappear within a day)

- You can lend one of the temporary souls to someone for them to use its talent, skills, and abilities for a given amount of time. (note: temporary souls will disappear within a day. permanent souls can only be replaced once a month.)

- The soul that has been lent to someone can disappear when the one who swallowed it receives a fatal injury or when you retrieve it yourself.

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With this passive skill of his, Soul Eater, Jax would be able to absorb their souls. And he would be able to obtain their skills and abilities using those souls!

That being said, something like two white and transparent formless lights came out of each of the corpses of the two huge beasts. They flew towards his hands as they entered his skin and disappeared into him.

Jax felt something strange going inside his body. He felt something alien to him, something he couldn't explicitly explain.

But one thing was for certain. Jax gained the skills and abilities of those two huge beasts!

A wide smile then formed on his lips. Those two huge beasts... It wasn't a secret to him that they were both Rare rank beasts. With that said, their skills and abilities must be of the same rank. If that was the case, then he must have obtained skills and abilities that were twice higher than his class-awakened skills.

Too bad, he didn't have a device that could identify his newly obtained skills and abilities and give him the full information that he needed. He was just glad that he was quite familiar with the two huge beasts he killed. At least, he had a rough idea about their skills and abilities. That should be enough for him to learn and study how to use them.

''Sigh, I will just try it later. I should better catch up to them first,'' Jax who was tempted to try out the new skills he obtained, decided to hold his desire in. It had already taken him long enough to stay there. His friends might get worried if he stayed there any longer.

With that in mind, Jax ran in the direction of the town. He ran only enough for him to get not too exhausted. Since he would be the last one to arrive, all of them would definitely pin on him the responsibility to register all of them.

Well, that was something not difficult to do. He could do at least that even if he didn't come last place.

''Since I'm in a good mood, I'll do whatever they ask,'' He muttered as he continued his way to catch up to his friends.

Unbeknownst to him, two yellow dots had now appeared on his left arm. They shone faintly for a short time before they became something like a tattoo.