Zamel woke up groggily from his sleep. Despite his rest, soreness still spread throughout his entire body. He shook off his drowsiness, blinking rapidly to clear his eyes.
Then, he suddenly remembered the unfortunate news he had received last night. He couldn't help but feel his blood boil, his anger rising as he recalled the letter word for word.
He forced himself to calm down—getting angry now wouldn't change his situation. As he worked to steady his emotions, he finally noticed a new piece of paper in his hand. Curious, he opened it to see what it was.
Surprise, surprise—it was another letter, written in a familiar, sloppily scribbled handwriting that was easy to recognize. Lowering his expectations, he suspected this would be yet another disappointment to add to his week.
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Hey kid, you should probably go and check your Status Tablet to see your progress. I already know you've probably forgotten about it because you're an idiot, which is why I'm reminding you. Checking it from time to time isn't really that hard, and it's actually important.
With love,
The most awesome and strongest Archduke of Lusyria – Lord Vilfred Bisdoma
P.S. Here's a piece of advice, kid—you should train your body more along with that weird gift of yours. They might come in handy next time. Also, whenever you have to fight, don't exhaust all your energy. Always save enough to get to a safe place. You're quite lucky nothing found you in your vulnerable state and took advantage of the opportunity to eat you. Next time, don't do something as stupid as passing out in the middle of a forest—that's probably one of the dumbest ways to die as an amateur.
By the way, I took the corpses of the boar and wolves because I have taken the liberty to skin, gut, and process their bodies to create something useful for you. Don't worry, you won't have to buy them from me, but you will pay for the service.
Anyways, good luck out there and survive.
HAPPY HUNTING!!!
:)
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Now his anger reached a new height after reading the letter; his teeth ground to each other so hard it almost broke, and veins throbbed in his forehead as he put his hands in it to calm himself.
That old bastard was watching him and didn't even bother to help him by just carrying his sleeping body to a safe place, although it was his fault he had fallen asleep in here in the first place. Couldn't that old dipshit show some consideration toward him?
Heck, he even guessed that bastard was watching him at this very moment, laughing his ass off as he saw him read the letter.
He forced down his rising temper with a great effort just to calm himself down as he was reminded of the very thing that any mortal alive shouldn't forget, checking their Status Tablet to keep track of their progress.
He vehemently ignored that the old man was right that he had forgotten about it, making great focus just to shift his mind away from something that he surely knows will start giving him dangerous thoughts.
Once he had felt himself calm down, he focused his mind to access his Status Tablet, he already knew how to do it, and it was quite easy.
"Status." He spoke that one word while projecting his desire to see it.
Then a white marble tablet appeared in front of him, simple in design as glowing words were written on its surface. He put all his attention into it.
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Path of Power: Beastmaster - Level: 1 → 13 [E]
Profession: None
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Skills:
Tame Beast [F] - 10%
Animal Empathy [F] - 20%
Share Sense [F] - 55%
Predator's Instinct [F] - 50%
Predatory Strike [F] - 70%
Prowl [F] - 60%
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[Health Points] 250/380
[Mana Points] 320/420
Might - 12 → 38
Resilience - 12 → 38
Dexterity - 12 → 38
Wisdom - 10 → 36
Willpower - 14 → 40
Spirit - 16 → 42
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"Wow." He gasped in shock when he saw what he had already achieved.
His bad mood instantly vanished as a genuine smile appeared on his face, covered with dirt and soot. He chuckled as he quickly grabbed Ulfram, who was sleeping peacefully beside him, as he proceeded to give the unfortunate sleepy beast a handful of pats.
Dissatisfied, his sleep was interrupted, and Ulfram reacted with annoyance at the affections his master was pouring toward him; he shook his body to get out of Zamel's grasp as he tried to bite his hands to no avail.
His unfortunate situation continued for a while until Zamel finally released him and stood up to stretch his body. Sadly, he must prepare himself starting this day, for this place will be his new home for a while.
As he looked around, the corpses that were supposed to be rotting right now were all gone; their only trace was gouged earth and countless marks in the surrounding that tell the story about what happened in this place.
He swiftly took his bag and reached inside of it; he grabbed himself a new pair of clothes and wore it while keeping his previous clothes as materials or emergency cloth to deal with future wounds.
He also took out the hunting outfit the old man had given him as a reward, and he couldn't help but feel grateful, though he refused to acknowledge it.
He looked at it with satisfaction, pleased at its simple yet effective design while also aesthetically awesome.
It was a set of light clothes made from leather and was completed with a cloak, mask, cuirass, pauldrons, bracers, gloves, belt, greaves and boots all coloured dark brown and black in certain parts.
He quickly wore it without hesitation and moved around to feel if he was stuffy or restrained in certain movements and luckily found no such issues.
Satisfied and energized as well, he was about to return to the forest until he remembered from the note he read last night, that the old man left another clue for his next test or trial, as what the old man called it.
He quickly rummaged through his bag to search for it and found a rough, folded piece of paper. Guessing that it might be another note left for him, he quickly opened it to read.
As expected, he found the clue, but it was a drawing of something that vaguely looked like a fruit or a mushroom. He couldn't precisely guess what it was supposed to be, because it was drawn so badly that any artist who saw it might consider it a curse upon their profession.
Instructions were written below the drawing, and he quickly read them, burning his eyebrows as he focused on the details and imprinted them in his mind. Once he finished reading, he sighed in exasperation and immediately pressed his fingers to his temples to calm his rising anger with effort.
He forced it down and proceeded to plan his next move. The second trial he had to complete this time was to find a D-rank fruit—one whose effects he had no idea about since they weren't stated in the instructions. Once he found it, he had to collect it and proceed to go to a specified location to complete the trial and pass the test. He guessed that someone( The old man) would be waiting there to retrieve the fruit.
The note also stated that at the back of the paper was a map that would lead him to his objective.
The problem was that when he turned the paper over, he found no map, as what he only saw was a minuscule instruction at the top-right side of the paper that said he must use his sight to see it.
Another problem was that even if he saw the map, he only knew the textbook knowledge about navigation which surely is not a great help in real-life scenarios.
He unhesitatingly accepted his fate; grumbling and complaining about what he had to do will surely be seen by the culprit of his situation, knowing full well that he will laugh in schadenfreude.
And he was determined not to give that old bastard the satisfaction.
Thankfully, his time here in the forest wasn't wasted. He now had the experience of using all his skills, with their progress being close to the next level. Most importantly, he was getting comfortable staying in the forest—though he just hoped that it wouldn't become a problem in the future.
He activated both of his perception skills to see the map. It took a bit of concentration, but it didn't take a long time before he saw some changes.
On the paper, vague traces of marks started appearing; he focused his sight on it and was soon able to see the full picture.
He was amazed at the ability of the cartographer who produced this map, who cleverly hid it from untrained eyes, making the back of the paper look blank and normal.
Fortunately, the old man seemed to show some consideration this time because the map was too simple and not difficult to read. He was thankful that he was able to understand the map and quickly memorized it.
Frustratingly enough, he now knew his journey to find the fruit would be too difficult because the distance between his current location and the fruit was so vast while the terrain he needed to traverse to reach it would undoubtedly be treacherous.
He silently prayed for his safety, hoping that the angels, along with their matriarch, would hear his plea and assist him in his journey.
Before long, he and Ulfram were soaring through the air, jumping from branch to branch while Zamel led the way, his three skills activated to help him to detect and avoid any beast that couldn't see through their concealment. Thankfully the branches were sturdy enough to bear both of their weights.
They are now headed northeast, where the fruit was located, stopping time to time to rest, and when the sun reaches twilight and is replaced by the moon, they would search for unoccupied caves or hollow space beneath the trees to stay for the night before resuming their journey.
Obstacles appeared along the way, ranging from terrain they were unable to traverse and primarily beasts with keen senses, which they had no choice but to deal with.
Zamel quickly shifted his position while sailing through the air as his "danger sense," which was what he referred to, flared in alarm. He quickly saw where it would come, dodged it just in time, and followed up with a counterattack, which the attacker evaded effortlessly.
He caught a vague glimpse of the creature that attacked him, and he instantly grimaced in annoyance.
It was the same type of beast that had been bothering them since they reached this part of the forest yesterday.
It was a monkey-like creature with two pairs of long arms, a small and lean body, covered in dark fur with some sort of plating covering their knuckles and upper body.
They have unique, elongated, bat-like ears, which allow them to detect concealed enemies. He guessed that these ears granted them sensitive hearing or a form of echolocation, which bats normally possessed.
He didn't dwell too much on the weird appearance of the monkey in front of him, though he didn't expect to find chimeras this soon, which increased the wariness he had against them.
Thankfully they are quite straightforward; when the monkeys attack, they will always lunge at them with their fist and fight like pugilists, though their small build allows them to move agilely while using the trees to their advantage.
At least he had noticed their major weakness: these annoying bastards were too cocky, always attempting to provoke him to attack.
Just like now—the monkey that had just dodged his attack started laughing and danced around, all four of its hands proudly displaying their middle fingers in mockery.
Instead of falling to its taunts and retaliating like some sort of dumbass whose ego was damaged. He smirked, barely concealing the cruel satisfaction that was creeping across his face.
The monkey faltered in its movement; confusion flashed in its eyes as it questioned why Zamel didn't fall to its taunts before it was answered horribly.
Ulfram swiftly lunged toward the monkey, opening his jaw wide before clamping down on its head with crushing force. At the same time, his tail thrust forward like a spear, stabbing the monkey repeatedly while injecting it with his venom.
The effect was immediate. The afflicted wound of the monkey started decaying as dark blood poured down its head. It panicked, thrashing wildly and using its reflexive arms to punch Ulfram. Unfortunately, due to Ulfram's position, it was all in vain.
The monkey reached the end of its strength as the venom coursing through its body finally weakened it. But Ulfram didn't show any mercy as moments later, his powerful jaws crushed its head in a gruesome explosion of blood and bones.
Zamel didn't bother to assist Ulfram, as he knew that these monkeys never fight alone. His sharp senses scanned the surroundings, his body tensed with vigilance, expecting one of its kind to retaliate and avenge the fallen monkey.
Shortly after, he saw movement to his right.
He swiftly positioned himself in a defensive stance.
He also heard a rustle to his left.
Then another. And another.
Soon the forest erupted with the excited cries of the monkeys, their screeches echoing through the trees like a war cry.
Zamel quickly blamed his luck; he had already suspected that the fruit they were searching for was lying deep within the territory of countless beasts.
And he was right—but that didn't mean he was happy about it.
More monkeys started appearing outside the cover of the trees, quickly surrounding the intruders of their territory with vigor.
For some reason they all bear the same dangerous smirk—the kind of grin worn by someone who had finally found something to play with.
Zamel and Ulfram stood side by side as they communicated through their bond. They saw the monkeys pound their chests like war drums in unison; the rhythmic beat it produced added tension to the air, mixed with the anticipation coming from the monkeys.
Then, without hesitation, Zamel and Ulfram bolted in one direction.
The monkeys screamed in delight, and immediately gave chase.