Chapter 31 - 31 - A Lesson In Archery (Part 2)

Crouching in the tall grass, Lucien was now holding his first-ever prey in his hands. Wanting to test a theory, he grabbed the deceased critter with his left hand, wanting to see if there would be any reaction from the system.

However, just as he expected there was no sound, no notification, nothing came up, confirming what he already expected: Only his right arm, the one that was severed and replaced would serve as a direct interface with the system.

With that, he felt slightly better, he just had to be aware of what he touched with what hand, and no problems should arise. Although he was aware that this wasn't a surefire way, and that eventually, he would have to learn how to control these 'abilities', for the time being, this should be good enough.

Picking up the little gray furball from the ground, he grabbed the shaft of the arrow, and with a swift motion he pulled it out from its body. As he threw the arrow to the side, he took another short minute to look at his right hand and calm his rapidly beating heart.

Although he did it already once, he still felt a slight hesitation, he was still wary against what would come next. Still, he had to admit that the empowering feeling while ever-so-slight, it was still intoxicating. His eagerness was gradually overpowering the fear inside his heart.

Taking one last look at his own palm, he reached out and grabbed the body of the dead hare with his right hand.

Immediately, he felt the previously experienced changes. He felt the muscles convulse in his right arm and engorge. The veins swelled and rapidly darkened, carrying the strange charcoal black substance towards his connected hand.

At the same time, the dark, transparent screen appeared in front of his vision. The blood-red letters appeared one after another hurriedly forming the lines that he was expecting by now.

[…::: Forest Hare (Lvl 0 - Category Critters) mass have been found! :::…]

[…::: Absorbing essence… :::…]

The body of the deceased critter abruptly convulsed, he could feel the sucking sensation once more. The body of the hare began to dry up at a rapid pace as all of his mass and essences were rapidly absorbed and merged into the boy's body.

In a few seconds, the small critter, just like the one before, vanished without even a strand of his fur remaining for them to see. As it was merged into the growing sea of bodily mass of Lucien, the system notifications kept popping up.

[…::: Absorbing Essence… Completed! :::…]

[…::: Forest Hare (Lvl 0 - Category: Critters) - Creature Page has been created! :::…]

[…::: Through the absorption, the following updates has been granted to the host:

+ 0.05 Agility

+ 1 EP (Full Consumption Bonus)

+ 0.25% Power Increase :::…]

Following that, the also expected update on his current progress on the task has appeared.

[…::: Task Update: Gather your first Entropy Points ( 7 / 10 ) :::…]

Surprised by the gains, he mumbled to himself, forgetting the blonde woman standing behind him.

"Interesting… I gained much more from this one than the other…" Standing up, he willed the system to bring up his updated status screen. He was interested in his current progress.

After all, although the gain to his 'Agility' attribute was 5 times than before, he still couldn't feel any changes inside him. He was unsure of what he should be expecting. Was he truly getting stronger, faster? How could he even make sure?

As he gave the mental command, the floating screen rapidly reformed, bringing forward his details.

[…::: ℭ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ::: ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????????: 01 - 0% :::…]

[…:::

????????????????: ???????????????????????? ????????????????

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????: 11.03% - ????????????????????????????????????

???????????????????? ????????????????????: ???????????????????????????? ::: * ℜ????????k: 1 ::: 1.35% -> (1 + 0.1 + 0.25)

?҉?҉?҉?҉?҉:҉ ҉?҉?҉?҉?҉?҉

????????:: 7

****

????????????????????????:6.15 / 10 (ℭ???????????????????????? ℜ????????????: +0.01 / 10 ????????????????????????????) -> (4.94 + 1.21 Regenerated)

????????????????????????:5.91 / 10 (ℭ???????????????????????? ℜ????????????: -0.01 / 10 ????????????????????????????) -> (7.43 - 1.21 (Regeneration) - 0.3 (Far Sight))

****

:ђгɭ ฬﻮєฬгɭรภאɭ๔ ђภคɭ ภเ קฬєן קเ. ๓๓ςɭן รгєเɭן єןɭ

????????????????????????????????: 2.01

* ????????????????????????????: 1.17 -> 1.12 + 0.05

????????????????????????????: 2.25

ฬ๔гɭร: ????

ђ๓รг๓ς: ????

****

????????????????????????:

???????????????????? ℜ???????????????????????????????????????????? (???????????????????? - ℜ????????????: 1)

*???????????? ???????????????????? (???????????????????? - ℜ????????????: 1)

:::…]

The gains from his first two hunts were reflected in his details. Additionally, he could see how his health was being passively healed as his Viral Regeneration Trait was passively restoring it at a slight cost to his Energy.

Although the cost now was 1:1, he didn't mind it. He continued to get better, to heal up without doing anything. This was an incredibly powerful ability to have.

He himself could feel its effects, he felt the pain in his muscles and body gradually lessen, each step he took felt more and more comfortable. Although there was the slight weariness that crept up, he credited that to his lowering energy reserves. After all, it was continuously used up for everything he did.

He needed to find a way to increase his currently quite limited pool, as even though this was okay for now, it did severely limit the range of his actions.

Reading through the screen, he dismissed it with a thought as he turned around to look at the gently smiling Sera.

"What's next?" He asked, with a forced calmness on his face. Still, by now, he was looking forward to his next game. He wanted to continue their excursion and gain as many points to his system as he could whilst learning the art of hunting in the process.

Sera could easily see through the mask the boy has presented to her, but she didn't say a word. She retained her gentle, warm smile on her face as she responded, reminding him of the task she had given him just a couple of moments ago.

"You will try doing everything on your own for your second shot. The only thing I will help is to spot for you, but you will do all the aiming and shooting this time around. We will keep using the bow for now, and only switch once you feel accustomed to using it."

Lucien nodded, taking the bow into his left hand whilst reaching for a new arrow with his right.

However, before he could do so, Sera came with another warning.

"Don't waste your shots, Lucien. The last arrow you fired should still be good for use. Remember: The capacity of your quiver is limited, you should always try to gather your fired arrows and see if you could use them again."

As she spoke, she stepped closer to where the arrow was laying on the ground and crouched down to pick it up. Apart from being dirty with a bit of grime from the blood and gore of their last prey, it was still in perfect condition.

She grabbed her milky white silk handkerchief and began cleaning the head while turning to face Lucien. A few seconds later she presented it to him, with her earlier warm smile.

"Here. Try using it again, don't mindlessly waste."

"Yes, I will remember it… Thank you… Sera." Lucien thanked him, not aware that the hint of a smile began to curve his straight lips. The beginning of a smile started to make its appearance on his face, a clear indication of the gradually closing distance between them.

Obviously, Sera was keen and didn't miss this change of expression on the boy. Still, she didn't show anything, but stepped to his side, began to look to the distance once more.

Her eyes lit up, glowing with the same brilliant light as the last time. Her piercing gaze slowly scanned the forest, in search of a suitable critter for the boy to train upon.

A couple of seconds later, spotting a similar ball of gray fur she pointed to the east.

"There. Another hare." She exclaimed. "Try to get it on your own this time. Still, if you feel you need help, don't hesitate to ask, I will be here and ready to assist." She added, stepping a step away, to give the boy space.

Lucien did not respond to her but turned to the direction she was pointing at. He readied an arrow into the bow's arrow rest and grabbed the string ready to arm for his shot.

He focused his attention towards the direction Sera pointed at. This time, he was prepared as his vision began to magnify and zoom towards the distant point he was focusing on. What was a hindrance before, slowly, gradually vanished as several ticks went by before he could finally spot the little ball of gray fur in the field.

"Got it." He muttered as he slowly pulled on the string, stretching it out, getting ready to fire his shot. He was getting ready to fire the shot.

He could see the tip of his arrow as he lined it up with an imaginary line to the unsuspecting hare.

Seconds continued to pass, as he gradually calmed his breathing, and steadied his aim.

Just as he was about to release his grip on the bowstring and fire his shot, something unexpected happened. From the upper corners of his honed-in vision, a blurry, dark blob appeared and lounged at the little critter.

Surprised by this sudden change, he released his grip and fired the arrow.. His target, however, had abruptly changed.