Chapter 178 - Shape-up

"Why are we here?" Ruciel voiced her curiosity as she looked around, looking at the dozens of trees circling us.

That's right, we're in the woods, we're here too, "exercise! We or I come here to do some exercise, some shape-up things? Well anyways, I'm going to take part in a fighting tournament held by the Shadow Elves so, as soon as possible, I want to grasp and adapt to my… out of control strength?"

"Don't ask me! If you want to do this stupid exercise, why should I come with you? You don't need me here," complaint out of Ruciel's mouth as she walked behind me.

"Of course I need you. Tell me, who will process the monsters I hunt?"

"Right, I forgot that you are a spoiled girl who didn't want to touch the corpses of the monsters you hunt down."

"I'm not a spoiled girl!" I protested. "It's just that, I can't and don't know how to process a corpse of a monster." 

"And you have no desire to learn to do it."

"I tried to learn it once but in the end, I couldn't contain my appetite. The delicious smell of blood tempted me, make me hungry."

Ruciel makes a sigh then grows silent. Turning around, I found her emitting a don't want to talk aura. It's useless to invite her to chat when she is in that mode so, I focus on my hunt.

Exploring this forest, I relied on Heat Perception to search for prey, a target for my exercise. Without that skill, I'm sure, I would have a hard time finding monsters in this dense forest.

We had to walk for dozens of minutes before finally, I felt a heat of a monster. It's pretty close! The heat is also quite huge so I'm sure I found a pretty powerful monster.

I raised my hand to warn Ruciel. In a whisper, I told her where the monster was. Both of us suppress our steps, trying not to make any noises as we approached the monster hidden behind the trees.

I unsheathed my spear. I also muffled the sound of my footsteps more than before. Yes, Ruciel did the same. It was all to ambush the monster.

Thanks to it, we managed to get close to the monster without being noticed. We hid behind the bushes, waiting for the right moment to launch a deadly attack.

The monster we found was Devil Bear. A three-meter tall brown bear monster that had a pair of sharp black horns. Its red eyes, sharp teeth, ripped muscle, and long claws look so menacing. 

I'm certain that the monster can kill normal people easily in seconds. He's dangerous and that's a good thing for me. That means it's fit to be my punching bag.

"Don't interfere, Ruciel," I told the Fallen Elf. 

"Then I'll keep an eye on the surroundings."

I nodded to her words and we parted ways. Ruciel walk away then vanished behind the trees. As for me, I approached the monster silently.

When the time came, I jumped from my hiding place. I approached Devil Bear quickly but I was too fast. I miscalculated the strength I had to use to run and thanks to that, I couldn't control my speed.

My ambush failed, I can't land my attack. In exchange for it, I have to try my best to avoid the monster. I will crash into it If I didn't take a dodging maneuver.

I passed the bear. A moment later, "RAWR!" It roared. It notice me, then in an instant, the bear approached me with the desire to kill. 

I prepared myself, went into fighting mode. 

Once again, I realized that the big boost in my Stat after my last evolution brings big changes! In this mode, I was so fast, so powerful, and maybe so tough. But, it's hard to control this strength.

I have to keep reducing my output until I found the right amount.

And yes, in the fights along the way to the Shadow Elves village, I also encountered the same problem. At that time I wasn't trying to control my speed or strength. I followed the flow of that explosion of power and thanks to it, I launched overly destructive attacks. Several times, I hit monsters with my body and my spear just for me to kill them accidentally.

I managed to kill monsters brutally but it's not to my liking.

So, here, by taking a breath and relaxing my body, I'm trying to figure out how much energy I should use but...

Bam!

"Gah!"

"Grawrr!"

I crashed into the monster's stomach because I using too much energy.

It's quite hard but I won't give up until I do it right!

Our fight continues. Claws and a spear clash to made a spark of fire. Wounds appear to decorate our bodies. Thankfully, this fight refined my control over my strength.

Minutes passed, the spear in my hand pierced through the monster's stomach, giving it a severe wound. I shed so much blood and this doesn't mean that our fight is over. Our fight has just begun!

"RAWR!" With a roar, Devil Bear caught my arm then threw me into a tree.

I twisted my body in the air. So, thanks to that, I didn't hit the tree. I landed on its trunk before I fell to the ground.

My feet moved. This time, I used a little energy. The result? I can say not bad. My movements were still awkward and I still didn't get the speed I wanted but hey, it's better than before.

After I made some awkward steps...

"Grawrr!"

"Hya!"

I and Devil Bear exchanged attacks again.

The monster's sharp claws came swiftly to tear my body apart. Frequently, its mouth moved to bite me off. And of course, the monster used its horns to launch piercing attacks into my body.

The monster tried its best to hurt and kill me. But, unfortunately for it, the bear never land a severe wound on my body!

Having a high AGI means I... Well... Can move quickly. That stat also improved my reflexes. So, with all that, I have no problem avoiding the Devil Bear attacks that look so slow. My high END made my skin hard as steel! So, the light attacks of the Devil Bear didn't hurt me at all.

Noticing that the Devil Bear is on the verge of death, I launch an Arte.

"[Impale]"

Swosh! Splat!

My spear pierces the heart of Devil Bear.

I kill it and our battle was over.

Controlling my new strength is a must. It won't bother me if I can't control it when I fight monsters. But, when fighting against people, especially in a duel, this is bad news!

I don't want to kill people accidentally! So I have to make sure, I can use my strength properly after today's hunt.

"Ther is very upsetting!" I said as I made a huff.

On the other hand, Ruciel's long ears jolted. "You did your best as you put yourself in danger but still, look at that," she ordered, pointing to the corpse of Devil Bear. "There's not much I can take if the carcass is in this horrible state!"

As she said, the state of the monster's corpse was a mess because when it was alive, it receive many of my out-of-control attacks. Its skin was torn in various places, dozens of holes adorned its body, and most of its bones were shattered.

"I apologize to you and the monster but, I can't do much about it. Controlling my strength turned out to be harder than I expected."

Ruciel waved her hand after hearing my words. she wasn't interested in listening to me and started skinning Devil Bear. 

"I will say this, you need to know, controlling my power isn't the only reason why I'm doing this hunt. I also want to raise my level."

"For a high-level person like you," she said without stopping her hands and knife. "Hunting the monsters in here is a fruitless act. You won't be able to raise your level even if you hunt for two weeks."

"Of course, my level will go up. Didn't I tell you, my level down to zero for every time I get a new tail?"

"Did you ever tell me about it?"

"Yes, I believe I have."

Ruciel nodded. "Then I must have forgotten about it along with all the stupidity you did and showed to me."

"Hey! That's rude!"

"But that's the reality. Haa... You know, I have a wish and I want it to come true but I know, it's impossible."

"What kind of wish is that?"

"Repeatedly, I wish your Intelligence Stat to increase."

"But there is no Intelligence Stat."

"Exactly!"

"Wait a minute," I said then stood up, leaving my stone chair. I approached that Fallen Elf girl. "Did you just insult me?"

"Don't be ridiculous and no," she said after moving her head to look at me. With a smile, she said, "I'm not going to insult my love one."

My loved one! My loved one! My loved one!

"Okay... That's good! Hehehe...."