Chapter 76: A System Defect? Everyone’s Stats

The mountain range had a pleasant wind, but the horrifying screams of multiple creatures added a kind of dark element to this mood. Following these noises, one would come across a scene where many monsters fled in a panic as behind them, a scene no different from a massacre, had unfolded.

Howl! A savage cry sounded as a giant wolf raised its head, leaping towards a silhouette before it, its savage teeth shimmering coldly like peerless swords as it bit down harshly, aiming to end the human-sized being's existence.

A pity, if it were any other man, such a beast would have more or likely succeeded, but sadly, it had met a monster in human flesh.

Bang! The ground ruptured as if the giant wolf crashed into the ground head first, its body twitching as if it had suffered severe injuries from the impact. With a growl, it tried to pick itself up, but all proved futile due to a change.

Observing more closely, one would notice that the man now pressed down the wolf's head with one arm; he then shook his head and spoke in a disappointing tone.

"Tsk, so weak, and here I thought it would have been more interesting. Oh well, time to send you off, friend."

Marius said as he applied more pressure to his palm that held down the wolf's neck, crushing it with a snapping noise. The wolf then lost the light of life in its eyes as it slumped down, turning into a corpse.

"Wow, this uncle sure is a monster," Leya said from nearby as she watched Marius, who was now inspecting the unusual breed of giant wolf.

"Indeed, he took care of so many in such a short time, we would have been in trouble had he not acted," Quon added as he had a bit of fear in his pupils; he glanced around at the vicinity, seeing many other creatures that looked to have recently been killed.

Illiak gulped as he looked at this but said nothing; he kept his hand in his pocket and lowered his head as if hiding his eyes.

Marius soon finished his inspection; his eyes showed a bit of surprise as he read over his system notifications.

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[You have defeated a Giant Grey Wolf, converting creature's life force into EXP.]

[Host body has yet to adjust to mystic power, EXP has been stacked.]

Ding!

[Due to the concentration of EXP, the Hosts body adjustment phase has been accelerated.]

____

With a set of wide eyes, Marius stared at this while thinking to himself.

'Well now, I didn't think this was possible, that old man said that we'd need time to adjust for every major rank advancement, and it was so when I advanced from G Rank to F Rank. However, it might be that the system itself isn't fully constrained by these rules; I wonder, would this be an effect of my special status?'

When Marius thought to here, he glanced at his status Chosen Born with pensive eyes but shook his head soon after as he concluded.

'It doesn't matter; this makes it easier to protect my family; if I can speed it up more, then all would be worth it; looks like I'll need to take more missions and fight more monsters as soon as possible.'

Following his conclusion, Marius then turned his attention to the others and spoke, "Okay, kiddos, you can clean up some of these guys, let's hurry; the night isn't far off, and I need to head back home soon."

'Hmph! As if he's really married,' Leya thought while rolling her eyes, not buying it.

Quon and Illiak made helpless stares but didn't dare to dally; they began to clean up the corpses and source any valuable parts on their bodies.

Marius watched as they picked up a few parts which soon vanished after a light glow of a ring on their fingers; his eyes lit up as he thought to himself.

'Ah, so those are storage devices like those in fiction books, haha, awesome, but not better than my item box.'

With a feeling of satisfaction, Marius didn't bother to look at their actions anymore. Instead, his eyes turned a bit deeper as he inspected their stats.

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[Name: Leya Paltine]

[Level: 23| Age: 18]

[Race: Artiman]

[Battle Rank: 1 Star E Rank Warrior] 

[Stamina: F★ | Strength: F★]

[Agility: F★ | Dexterity: E★]

[Mystic Power: E★]

[Mystical Power Arts: Mystic Magic Arts]

[Inborn Abilities: Mystic Boost]

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[Name: Quon Ranger]

[Level: 24 | Age: 19]

[Race: Artiman]

[Battle Rank: 1 Star E Rank Warrior] 

[Stamina: F★ | Strength: F★]

[Agility: E★ | Dexterity: E★]

[Mystic Power: F★]

[Mystical Power Arts: Wind Aura Arts]

[Inborn Abilities: Agility Boost]

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[Name: Illiak Olon]

[Level: 23 | Age: 19]

[Race: Artiman]

[Battle Rank: 1 Star E Rank Warrior] 

[Stamina: F★ | Strength: E★]

[Agility: F★ | Dexterity: E★]

[Mystic Power: E★]

[Mystical Power Arts: Non-Element Sutra]

[Inborn Abilities: Rage]

____

Marius's eyes flickered when he saw this as he thought, 'Ha, it turns out these kids are even a few levels above me; for them to even battle and defeat that 3 Star E Rank Bird through teamwork, they must be what they call talents in this world. Hmm, those two quirky kids are Fourth Grade, but that emo brat is even higher, reaching the Third Grade. There might be more to him than meets the eye...'

When Marius's thoughts reached here, his eyes glanced at Leya, and Quon, before fixing onto Illiak, who soon glanced at him curiously as if he sensed Marius's stare.

Marius smiled at this and then continued walking up the mountain as he spoke, "Come on, guys, you should have gathered enough by now. Let's go; I can sense a powerful presence a little distance from here."

Leya and the others felt a bit annoyed by Marius's words, especially as he treated them like baggage. But they soon finished collecting enough rare parts and followed.

After a few more minutes of hiking an endlessly high hill, they soon arrived at a region with thick bushes and a wide-open patch of land. The air here carried a bloody flavor, as one could even smell the scent of death lingering nearby.

Illiak frowned at this as he spoke, "I... I don't like this feeling." 

"Me either," Leya added from the side; she started to look around frantically.

Quon narrowed his eyes, similarly observing the area, but soon halted as he saw Marius staring in a direction. Not only himself, Leya and Illiak, saw Marius change and wanted to say something, but Marius soon spoke to answer their worries.

"We've arrived, but it seems we weren't the first to challenge that beast."

"What?" Leya and the others said in confusion, but soon, a startling cry sounded like someone was grievously injured, bringing a dark mood to the field.