Chapter 21 - Little Hunt

The snack that I bought was gone, the simple investigation I do was done, and the third bell... 

"Hmm... I do have, about two hours before the third bell rings. So... what should I do now?" 

I leaned and look at the sky. I saw a flying ship hovering around in the sky for a while before closing my eyes. 

The shadow of the tree that covered my body gave coolness, while the sunlight make the day quite warm. The combination of both made me sleepy. 

"But now it's not the time to take a nap," I said, who then moved from the park bench. I walked towards the west gate. 

Let's hunt to spend time. I need Magic Stone to do a simple experiment. I want to prove whether I truly can get a skill after eating Magic Stone. I have already made a resolve to eat the stone!

"But I can't imagine, what kind of taste or texture Magic Stone have? I hope it's not that bad." 

Time passed and I arrived at the meadow, a place where I hunted Peshroom with Alan before. 

This hunting ground is about five hundred meters from the city wall. And to reach the nearest highway, I have to walk fifty meters from where I stand. 

In front of me is a green ocean made of grass, there are some bright brown circles which are the open soil. On my left side, there are large, dense trees to form walls. Those trees are part of Westwood. Behind the forest, much further away, some mountains stretches from the corner of the horizon to the other end. 

Back to the meadow. 

Dozens of Peshroom roaming around. Few form a group and some are roaming alone.

In Ark Fantasy Online, Peshroom is a rather aggressive monster. They will attack the player if they are too close to them. Luckily, Peshroom is a low-level monster that is destined to be an exercise target and exp resource for Newbie Players. 

They were easy prey.

I drew my short sword and walked to the nearest Peshroom. A monster that roams quite far from its kin. 

The monsters soon discovered my presence when I was quite close. Instantly, the monster took a stance ready to fight

Haa… It seems I don't have the knack to approach a monster unnoticed. 

"Suu Su!"

Peshroom makes a strange sound. It spins its arms like a helicopter propeller. And yes, the monster dashed to me with its spinning arms. 

I didn't move, I waited for the right time to give a counterattack when the monster entered my attack range.

I had fought with a few of Peshrooms yesterday and I have a fighting experience when I play Ark Fantasy Online. I have confidence. Because of that... 

Swus and Tackle! 

I stepped aside to get out of the Peshroom path a second before its attacks hit me. Then, quickly, I tacked the monster's foot. 

The monster fall. 

"Suu!" 

I ignored Peshroom's scream and quickly stomp on its back. I prevent it from standing up. 

What did I do next? 

Of course, I cut the arms and foot of the monster. Then I stabbed its body until the monster died. I used the tactics that I used yesterday. 

"Su~~" 

"Yeah Su~ Please die for me." 

Unexpectedly, the monster was kind, It truly granted my request, It died for me. 

...Okay, let's stop joking around. 

I'm not a cruel or sadistic girl. I just want to make sure, the monster will not fight me back while I stab its body.

"Now." 

I turned the Peshroom's body using my left leg. I want its Magic Stone and If I recall correctly, Alan split open a Peshroom's stomach to take out the Magic Stone.

So... I swung my short sword, I had to do what I had to do. 

"Luckily, the monster doesn't bleed. This makes everything easy for me." 

I split open the Peshroom's stomach. Surprisingly, cutting its body felt as if I was cutting a solid sponge normally used to make a mattress or a sofa. 

And a few more minutes later... 

"Here it is!" I exclaimed at a moment I managed to pull out Magic Stone from the Peshroom's body. 

This Magic Stone at the size of a peanut. It is round, like a glass, and dark red. 

"I can't believe it but… I have to eat it to get a skill!" 

I looked around, hoping no one look at me. My fox ear twitched, my tail make bizarre swings, I feel anxious and doubtful. 

I do still remember clearly the description of Heart of Monsters. And more importantly, that Unique Skill truly works. It's increased my Basic Statistics after I ate monster meats.

Because of that... 

"Bon appetit!" 

I put the Magic Stone into my mouth. At the same time, I closed my eyes as an action to prepare for the unexpected thing I will get.

But, never did I think, the Magic Stone which I eat has a taste like a Rambutan. It is sweet and so juicy. A little ridiculous, it is similar to candy. 

The Magic Stone melts in my mouth. 

< Acquired a skill! SP Regeneration Up |Lvl 1 > 

"Oh!" 

A notification appeared at a moment the Magic Stone in my mouth disappeared into my stomach. 

I do truly get a skill! And it's the hard obtained Passive Skills! This makes me happy.

In Ark Fantasy Online, there are three ways to get a skill.

First, a player can search for an NPC who has the title of Skill Master. Then, the player needs to complete the quest given by Skill Master and foila! A skill was successfully acquired. 

The other way is to continue to do activity within a certain period. For example, if players practices using a sword for… five days, they will get a Skill, Sword Mastery. 

The last way is to use the expensive Skill Orb or the super rare and super expensive Soul Crystal. 

"Let's look at the effects of this skill." 

[SP Regeneration Up |Lvl 1] [Passive] 

[+ Boosts SP regeneration speed by 5% ] 

Perfect! With this, I just need to collect HP and MP Regeneration Up to create an Advance Skill, Complete Regeneration. 

As for obtaining statistics points from Peshroom meat... 

I can't do anything about it right now. I can't eat this monster's meat when it is still raw. As for cooking it, I did not bring cooking utensils, matches, and more importantly, I didn't want to collect firewood in Westwood.

So, let's proceed with the hunt, today. I can think about cooking monster meat next time. 

"Su~ Su~~, Where are you Su~ Su~~?" 

I wandered around the meadow to find preys that I would hunt. And unfortunately, I can't hunt until my level up, I have limited time.

I want to raise and save up money to send messages to Izayoi but... I'm not sure I can kill twenty or more Peshrooms right now because I hunt alone. Much worse, I ate the Magic Stones.

So, yeah, I will handle one problem at one time.

"Now!"

"Su! Su!" 

Again, a Peshroom approached me with its spinning arms. This monster is more heated than the one I killed earlier. 

I use the same tactics to confront this Peshroom. But it's shame, my trick does not work for the second time. Peshroom who lost its balance and fell rolled before finally standing up in seconds. 

What it did make me amazed. "Really? What an agile Peshroom this one." 

Then, for the next few minutes, I experienced a hard time fighting the agile Peshroom.. I got a few heavy blows from the monster before I managed to kill it.