Chapter 131 - The Hunt 1_2

"[Flash Swings]"

My spear swung to cut off Cross Hound's stomach. I use most of my capability. Thanks to it, the attack was swift.

Cross Hound couldn't dodge it.

"Khaing!" A sound is created when the monster falls.

I who had no mercy, stabbed the monster's head to end its life.

Cross Hound is a dog monster with a body length of one and a half meters. Their bodies are big and stocky. Therefore, they are not fast, they are strong. This monster has dark green fur and a white cross on the forehead.

The monster was ferocious and now, two of them were running towards me quickly.

I'm back to reading my spear. And not only that, but I also slightly changed my fighting stance. Both of those I did to deal with them.

"Bark!"

"Warf! Wharf!"

The fangs of those monsters were glowing, covered by red light. And I'll say, those fangs can tear people's skin easily. Moreover, the monster's bite was strong and it's extremely arduous to release their bite when they managed to bite something.

How do I know it, you say?

Let's say, I've experienced it in person.

No longer did I underestimate those monsters, I used my full speed to dodge and attack them. I didn't want to get any new wounds and I do prefer to kill them as quickly as I can.

I swung my spear and used Arte.

The skin was torn apart, blood flowed, and two monsters lost their lives within dozen seconds.

My fight is over but… the kids' fight hasn't.

"[Shield Ram]" Alan shouted. His shield hit the head of a Cross Hound that pounce on him. The attack pushes the monster back for a few steps.

From the right side, Kimi came. Her Fire Sword was burning, covered by dense red fire. 

"Hya." The little girl made a quick swing from below, she managed to cut off the Cross Hound's front legs and neck.

"Khaing!" Making it last sound, the Cross Hound died.

"[Mana Bullets]" Chloe shouted.

The little girl fired small blue balls to attack the Cross Hound which she caught using Mana Bind.

Blast! Blast!

"Bark! Whimper!"

The spell managed to hit the monster. And yes, Chloe managed to kill the monster after a few blue balls of Mana penetrated the monster's head.

"[Stalwart Shield]"

Alan who is not far from Chloe uses another Shield Arte. He withstood the attacks launched by two Cross Hounds.

Seeing her brother's situation, Chloe raised her Staff and then said, "[Mana Bind]"

The girl tried to tie the monsters using the blue roots of Mana. Unfortunately, she only managed to tie up one of them.

One monster roamed free. It ran towards Chloe after succeeding past Alan's blockade. The monster jumps to pounce on Chloe but...

"[Stinger]"

My sister who came out of the shadow killed the monster by piercing its chest using a burning sword.

The little black fox seemed to have mastered Shadow Dive well.

The kids' fight is finally over after Alan beheads the Cross Hound tied up by Chloe's Spell.

"Good work kids," I said to praise them.

The kids smiled because of the praise and I was happy to see their smiles.

"Please help me to collect the monster's carcasses," Ruciel said.

So, without further ado, we started collecting the corpses of Cross Hounds while Ruciel started butchering one of them. 

As Ruciel worked and the corpses of monsters were already been gathered, I scanned the surroundings. I don't want any monsters approaching when we are occupied by this work.

Where are we?

We are currently in a meadow, not far from the city of Miar, which is one of the three largest cities on the first floor of Uncertainty, a city where our inn is located.

Why are we here?

The answer was to look for Magic Stones or perhaps material from the monsters.

We needed those items to buy the things sold by the Flugels. And okay, buying isn't the right word, I should have used barter.

So, anyway, this is where we are, looking for things to get the stuff we want.

And yes, our money is meaningless in this place. As for the stuff we have in Airship, I let Teria handle it. I ask her to make a good profit from the trade-in here.

"Here, the Magic Stones of those monsters." Ruciel gave me twelve red stones the size of thumbs.

The stones were covered in blood but still, I ate them, one by one. 

Ruciel narrowed her eyes when she saw me eating those Magic Stones. And yes, I ignored her, I didn't stop to put the Magic Stones into my mouth. 

Ignoring Ruciel's reaction, I'll say, these Magic Stones have a taste similar to Strawberry Yogurt! It's quite tasty.

< Acquired a Skill! Sharp Claws |Lvl 1 >

< An identical skill is detected. Do you want to convert this skill to be Exp or do you want to draw another skill? >

< Exp > < Redraw >

Okay, this is new.

Obtaining exp to level up a skill faster was not a bad idea. However, I do remember, all the Skills I had would level up as I evolved. So...

< Redraw >

< Redrawing new skill... >

< Acquired a skill! Strong Bite |Lvl 1 >

[Strong Bite |Lvl 1] [MP -5]

[+ Sharpen the teeth, strengthen the jaws, and increase the damage of biting attacks by 50% ]

< Because a skill has been obtained from this monster, the absorbed Magic Stone will be converted to EXP for the skill. > × 9

< Strong Bite, level up! 1 to 2 >

Hmm... Is it just me or is my mouth getting bizarre? My mouth can spurt fire, inject poison, and now… they are getting stronger.

Not... I don't think my mouths are getting bizarre, they're polished to be better than before.

"Are you okay?" Ruciel asked. Her eyes moved to see me from toe to head.

"Yes, and didn't I already tell you, I got stronger after eating Magic Stones."

"I find it hard to believe it because all I know is that someone will get sick or die after eating Magic Stones."

"I remember you once explaining that Mana in Magic Stones is a deadly poison to people. Which where it can forcibly transform their bodies to become monsters or, make their bodies explode instantly."

"That's right," said Ruciel, who glanced back at me.

She looks doubtful. Therefore, once again, I said, "I'm fine, please believe me. Now, let's cook the meat of those monsters."

"Their meat will also make you stronger?"

"That's right," I replied.

And yes, I re-told Ruciel - I'll be fine after eating monster meat - for the umpteenth time.

< Strength stat up! STR + 2 > × 4

I earned Stat Points and along with that, I also got curious stares from the kids.

"How could big sis eat so much of that un-delicious meat?" Kimi asked with a sour expression.

"They may not be delicious to you but they are delicious to me," I explained. Then, I ate the last grilled meat.

We were on an adventure and I didn't want my stomach full when I had to fight monsters. Therefore, I only ate five kilograms of meat.

"Now, our break is over but our adventure hasn't. The tower is waiting for us." My fox's ears twitched strongly as I pointed at the blue tower in the distance. 

From the story I heard from the Flugels, the tower in the distance was called the Tower of Challenges. 

Yes, the tower will take us to the next floor.

The Flugels also told that on the next floor, there were stronger monsters than on this floor. And not only monsters but the next floor was also filled with more valuable treasures and natural resources than on this floor.

And yes, that pattern keeps repeating until the hundredth floor, the floor where the small castle made of Emerald is located.

The Flugels who wanted to be strong wanted to become knights, or simply wanted a better status and life, would try to conquer the Tower of Challenge on every floor.

They will face dangerous challenges but they will earn such large rewards when they complete them.

And of course, I, who love fighting, challenges, and exploring new places, will try to conquer the Tower of Challenge here.

I wonder how many towers I can conquer before Dishonesty calls me.

Having a purpose, I didn't hesitate to invite Chloe, Alan, Kimi, and Ruciel to create a Party. I invited them to conquer the Tower of Challenge which is two kilometers from the city.

And of course, the material from monsters we obtained would be used on the next floor. That, if we succeed. If not, we'll go back to the city of Miar.

Our adventure continues.

We left the meadow and now, we're in a forest. Here, we meet another monster named Yellow Tail Ape.

The monster had a body size of a twelve-year-old child. They have a long pair of bottom fangs. Their faces were red, their fur was dark brown, and their tails were, of course, yellow.

The ape monster was so nimble as it swung from one tree to another. They're quick and they were irritating because they attack us with stone throws.

We, especially the kids, had a hard time taking down those monsters from the trees.

My accuracy wasn't good enough when I used Spells to fall the monsters. In this fight, we relied entirely on Ruciel's archery ability to get the victory.

In the end, after exploring the forest for three hours, we managed to kill twenty-eight Yellow Tail Ape!

< Level up! 19 to 20 >