Leveling Up
Victor jumped down.
With a sword gleaming in the dim light, aimed straight at the head of a Crocodile.
Squelch!
The short sword pierced the crocodile's skull, and with so much force behind it, it also stabbed the one it was holding in its mouth and came out from the other side.
Victor yanked the sword back. Another sickening sound echoed as he stabbed its skull again.
Victor pulled his sword out and climbed back on the tree without waiting even a little.
Ding! Ding!
The system's notification sounded in his ears.
Victor slumped on the branch of a tree, high above the corpses of crocodiles. He leaned back against the trunk with his chest heaving up and down.
The Crimson panel hovered before his eyes.
Then something happened!
The motes of white light came out of the corpses and floated toward the System.
It was instantly absorbed into the System panel, and its color became slightly brighter.
Victor opened the notification of the system, reeling back the question that arose in his mind.
[First Kill Reward: +500 experience.]
[Celestial Shop is open!]
[Strength+1, Agility+1]
[+100CP]
Victor nodded at the notification with a satisfied smile. He willed and status appeared.
[Status]
[ Name ]: Victor Hans
[ Race ]: Human???
[ Level ]: 3
[ XP ]: 100 / 1500
[ Blessing ]: Moon Goddess???
[ Core ]: Liver ( New Moon-Beginner)
[ HP ]: 140/ 140
[ MP ]: 70 / 70
[ Str ]: 8
[ Agi ]: 8
[ Vit]: 6
[ Int]: 15
[ Perception]: 7
CP: 990 +100
[Attribute Points]: 1
Victor nodded, smiling at the increase in strength, and clicked on the last tab [Celestial Shop]
A new screen unfolded with neatly listed categories on the left: [Skills], [Weapons], [Potions].
He selected [Skills]. A pop-up appeared.
[Rank D Skills]
Basic Appraisal – 200 CP (usable on monsters below level 10)
Basic Sword Skill – 500 CP
Basic Moon's Origin Magic Cultivation – 1500 CP
"These skills, they are all basic level, but they're so expensive," Victor muttered.
There are two types of skills in the Neero world: growth-type and ranked skills.
Ranked skills can not evolve from their rank.
Victor bought only the basic appraisal skill.
Ding!
[Basic Appraisal Skill acquired]
[Skill learned: Rank-D Basic Appraisal]
[You can now appraise monsters below level 10]
Victor sighed at the notification, muttering, "I'll check the skills again in the future. CP is very important, let's spend on it on the healing potions for now."
As Victor opened the potions tab, his mouth opened wide in disbelief. He only bought 2 low-grade healing potions and instantly closed them back.
Ding!
[2 Low-Grade Healing Potions Acquired]
[-300 CP]
Now he had only 590CP remaining, he exclaimed, " Am I the poorest person here? Everything seems so expensive."
He grabbed his head in both hands and muttered to himself, "Low-grade Experience potion is of 3000 CP – it only gives 1000XP. You can only use it three times; that's the limit for every grade."
Victor stood up and continued his hunt, jumping from one tree to the other.
With increased agility and strength, he found it much easier.
As he was trying to find the monsters, to testing his newly acquired appraisal skill.
Suddenly, He froze.
He lost his balance.
And slipped from the branch!
Splash!
He jerked upward from the swamp water and started to climb again, but as he grabbed the tree, his hands slipped back.
He tried again, but he wasn't able to get a grip on the trunk due to slippery hands. The trunk was slippery and became more slippery from his wet and mud-filled hands.
His heart raced as he looked behind him at the horrible monster with glowing yellow eyes.
It was slowly moving toward Victor.
Monster had a head like a shark, with fins running on its spine and a fish-like tail coming out.
It was standing upright in the swamp water reaching till its knees, and one of its claws was stuck in the tree's trunk.
Its skin was green and shiny with black smoke hovering around it like an aura.
Its mouth dripped with black sticky liquid.
The air in this area was filled with the heavy stench of decay.
Victor appraised the monster, and to his horrible luck, above its head level 10 flickered in red.
Victor gulped, his back sticking against the trunk of a tree, his brain trying to find a way out of here.
GRRR!
Victor flinched back as he heard the growling sound of a monster.
The fish-like monster slowly stepped forward toward Victor.
Its walk was relaxed; it felt like the monster already knew that the prey standing before him was weak.
Victor took out his short sword, and he bit his lower lip, drawing the blood in his mouth.
Pain and the taste of iron on his tongue calmed him a little.
His Mind started racing. I can't win against this monster, I won't be able to run away, even if I turn my back, I will be dead in seconds.
His fist clenched against the handle of his sword.
Monster reached just a few feet away from Victor and stopped.
Its knees bent as it circled Victor, scanning him from head to toe.
Victor's hand fidgeted, unsteady with sweat beads forming and rolling down his face.
Air tensed.
Suddenly, Victor's mind became clear, his heart calmed like a veteran soldier, and his eyes glowed golden.
Monster pounced with its long claws, surrounded by a black ink-like aura.
Slash!
Victor crouched down and slid between its legs, his short sword slashing the thigh of the monster, drawing the black blood.
"Grrrr!"
Monster growled in pain, and it snapped toward him with much more menace dripping from its yellow eyes now.
He can feel it; its relaxed demeanor has vanished. It was now taking him seriously.
It lunged again with both clawed hands aimed at Victor's smaller body.
Victor tried to do a similar trick; he crouched down and tried to pass between its legs again, but
Slash!
"Arggh!"
Its claws changed direction midway in the air and found his shoulder.
It tore his flesh, and crimson blood dripped down in the murky water of the swamp.
Monster grinned with its long, shark-like teeth.
He backed away. And looked at his shoulder wound with claw marks, bleeding, and a black aura circling it.
He gritted his teeth and his mind raced. I can't win against this higher-level monster. I have to think of a way.
He looked around the Swamp Forest, most of it was covered in shadows and other in the fog.
There wasn't much light.
Then an idea clicked in his head like a light bulb.
He took out the wooden stick from his backpack.
Monster circled the Victor cautiously, its claw dripping with his blood.
Victor took out the torch from his backpack and lit it.
Instantly, the cloth soaked in the oil burned up, lighting the forest.
Monster stepped back with clear fear in its eyes as it saw the fire.
Victor took the torch in one hand and in the other hand, he had his short sword.
Victor lunged toward it with a torch, hurling it toward its face. It backed away in fear, then a slash of a sword followed, hidden behind the fire, aimed at its legs.
Slash!
GRRR!
Monster growled in pain and fury.
It tried to pounce toward Victor, but he brought the fire in its face, and it backed away instead.
Victor lunged forward with a fire torch aimed at its face, blocking its vision. It backed away again with clear fear in its eyes, and its feet stopped with its back against the trunk of a tree.
As the torch closed toward its face, it couldn't back away, and it closed its eyes, shielding its face with its arms.
Hidden behind the torch was Victor's short sword.
Crunch!
Squelch!
It stabbed its skull, passing through the gap between the two arms.
Ding…
Victor pulled out the sword and snuffed out the flame of the torch, dipping it in the swamp water.
He climbed on the tree, stepping over the head of corpse and sat with his back against the trunk of the tree.
Then the system notification sound chimed in his ears as he closed his eyes with ragged breaths.
Ding…
Ding…
Ding…
His shoulder wound has turned black, and the skin around it is also turning black.