Starter Pack

Light shine brighter in front of Alex and as the light dimmed down, there was a monster standing there. It was a mantis that was green in colour almost blending in with the grass in the surrounding. The two claws that were hanging in front of it were sharp that Alex could see how sharp the edges were from a far.

This mantis was known for its agility and its ability to blend with the surroundings more so if the place where it is at is green. This made Alex curse at his bad luck. He had selected this terrain because it would be easier to spot the opponents, but who would have thought that his first opponent would be an agility and stealthy mantis?

The mantis didn't dilly-dally around waiting for Alex to continue thinking about the situation. It immediately sped off and swiped one of its front claws towards Alex. Since Alex had improved immensely from experience in the dungeon and strength from his muscles being compressed by the awakening of the system, he was able to react to the mantis' movements. He was even faster than the mantis.

He immediately swung the dagger that he'd been holding in his hand to block the attack. Once the attack connected, Alex could feel the strength from the impact and he knew that the monsters from the tower were stronger than those from the dungeon. The strength behind the mantis'attack wasn't something that he couldn't handle but it gave him goosebumps thinking about the monsters that specialize in strength.

The mantis was an agility type monster and as usual, it didn't have much of offensive power and that's why the mantis usually sneak attack its prey. Alex knew that if he gave the mantis time, it would enter into stealth mode and it would disappear from his senses, he won't be able to see or hear its movements.

It would be dangerous, more than facing a strong enemy that you could see. At least you can try escaping. But how could one escape from an enemy that you can't see. You might as well run into the monster's mouth and become its meal. That's why Alex wouldn't give a chance to use its stealth abilities.

After regaining his footing, he dashed towards the mantis that was still stumbling backwards and swung his dagger at it. Being an agility type monster, it was able to react by using its claw to block the attack. The results this time were unexpected as the dagger cut through the claw disconnecting it.

The reason being that during the first attack, Alex didn't use much force as he swung his dagger. He wanted to test the power of a rank 1 initial stage martial monster from the tower. This time, he put more energy behind the attack and thus the results, cutting the claw that the mantis used to try and block his attack.

The dagger moved forth with no inhibitions and cut the side of the head of the mantis. The mantis let out a pained growl as it once again stumbled back. Again, Alex attacked just after finishing his previous attack and seeing that the attack didn't finish off the monster. This time, the mantis didn't react in time from the pain of one of its claws being cut and also being cut at the side of the head.

The dagger slashed the neck of the mantis and the head rolled down the ground. The mantis was finally out of commission and Alex could relax his muscles. He was really tensed as even though the monster wasn't strong, once it entered its stealth mode, it would pose a great danger to him. Even though he had sharpened his senses during the three years of training in Kravon, he knew that it couldn't help him in this case scenario.

[Rank 1 initial stage monster core acquired....This monster core can be used for cultivation of the master in both magic and warrior path....] Alex heard the system's feminine voice ringing in his head. It had been a long time since he last got a system notification, well, that was according to him as that was the first system notification that he got since he got the notification about the passive system function ability.

"Congratulations on finishing your first battle, You are free to quit or you can once again select a battlefield and type of battle," sounded the voice in the tower but Alex paid it no heed. He focused on the system notification that he had just received.

Alex didn't understand what the system was trying to imply and so, he decided to ask away. 'System, what do you mean by saying that I can use this core for cultivation?'

[Using the right cultivation technique, master can absorb the essence present in the monster core and use it for developing your body and magic....] replied the system.

'Essence? What is that?' Alex asked. This was the first time he heard something like that existed.

[Essence is the purest form of energy found in something....There are different types of essences....They may be magical essence such as water or fire essence or body essence in case of a warrior....]

Oh, finally Alex got the gist of how things were. It seemed that all the knowledge he had acquired while he was still being treated well back at home plus the one that Simon instilled in him was still insufficient. He still needed to increase his knowledge or he would be left out. He may even kick a treasure away due to his ignorance.

Alex then thought of something, 'System, why is it that I didn't get the notifications from the monsters I killed in the dungeon?'

[The essence present in the monster cores found in the dungeon is impure and thus not advisable for usage....If used, it would fill master's body with impurities that may inhibit your true strength....]

After receiving the message, Alex finally saw the importance of the tower to him. Those ten gold coins were indeed more than worth it. If he could improve his strength while also sharpening his skills, then this would be awesome. The only problem was the cultivation technique. How the heck could he get one?

If he had stayed at home, he would have received the family's cultivation technique as every big family in the kingdom had one of its own. But again, if he stayed at home, he would never have received the system in the first place hence there was no reason to mull over it. Furthermore, it was due to the system awakening than also enabled Alex to awaken.

"Please select if you want to quit or continue. If you want to continue, please select the battlefield and type of battle," Alex was brought back to reality by the towering voice of the tower and for some reason, Alex felt as of the voice was irritated. Well, he didn't the reason and thus he decided to continue the battle and then deal with the cultivation problem later.

This time, he selected a desert where he was pretty sure that the monster wouldn't have the chance to hide even with the stealth ability. He could just looked at the sand and he would be able to figure out where the monster was. The stealth ability of a rank 1 monster wasn't that high that it could reduce its weight on surfaces such as sand.

Although he selected this terrain, he wanted to fight against an offensive martial monster. He wanted to test the real strength of an initial rank 1 martial monster. He didn't want to rush things now that he knew that the monsters in the tower were much stronger. After he was done with the selection, he got ready to fight.

As usual, light appeared in front of him for a few seconds before dispersing. After the light disappeared, Alex finally saw his opponent. A desert python! "Are you kidding me or something?" Alex couldn't help but bellow. Desert pythons were known for their ability to easily pass through sand. They could travel in the sand without one noticing and they would usually attack when one doesn't expect. This was a solution that they had incase they were up against an enemy stronger than them.

Knowing this, Alex didn't want to give this python a chance at all. He use his movement technique light steps and rushed towards the monster with the dagger in his hand. When the python saw him coming, it tried to attack him but its reaction speed was low. Alex was faster than an agility type rank 1 martial monster even without using hid movement technique, let alone when he used it.

Alex's speed was incomprehensible to the python and this by the time it was starting to react, Alex had already lodged his dagger in its skull. The python hissed in pain as it rolled on the ground. Alex pulled the dagger from the monster's head not wanting to loose his weapon. He was sure that the attack would be capable of finishing off the python but he was wrong as the python immediately turned tails and dived into the sand.

Seeing this, Alex immediately activated his movement technique and went after the monster. He jumped towards it and grabbed its tail before it sank into the sand. As usual, once the python felt that its tail had been grabbed by someone, it immediately lodged its head out of the sand to attack Alex.

The python's offensive power had greatly diminished from Alex's previous strike and loss of blood. As the head was nearing him, Alex pulled the python off the ground and slammed it back to the ground at full force raising a dust of cloud. The python once again hissed in pain as the blood loss from the wound was increased due its head being smashed to the ground. Alex didn't stop with the first slam.

'SLAM! SLAM! SLAAAM! SLAAAM!'

Alex slammed the python on the ground left and right until he received the system notification that the monster was dead. He threw the monster to the side as he breathed deeply after some physical 'exercise'

[Rank 1 initial stage monster core acquired....]

"Congratulations on finishing the second battle, would you like to quit or would you like to continue?" resounded the deep voice from the tower. Just as Alex was about to respond, he received the system notification that made him pause his tongue.

[Achievement completed....Kill a hundred and fifty rank 1 monsters.....Reward; Starter Pack....]

'What is a starter pack?...' Alex asked the system.