Pok!
"Ugh!"
Myeonghu let out a painful groan as he was sent flying through the air.
Kuoong!
The brown bear let out a fierce roar before charging towards Myeon Hu who had just fallen down hard on the ground. Just as he was about to get up, he saw the bear beelining it towards him and he let out a sigh.
Pok!
He was once again smacked around and sent flying into the air.
'Am I supposed to be some kind of bird….'
Useless thoughts ran through his mind as he arced in the air. He had only suffered two blows but his health which originally stood at 1450, had now dropped to only 500. It had been reduced to almost one third after just two hits.
'I was been too ambitious, there is no way a level 8 like me can solo a bear!'
Myeonghu had charged out of the village gates in high spirits. Searching for bears with a confidence born from his newly distributed stats and weapon, as well as his boundless experience hunting rabbits.
Kuooong!
However it had just been wishful thinking.
'Time to run away.'
Unwilling to suffer his first death in such a uncool fashion, he chose to cut his losses
Kuooong!
The moment he touched the ground he sprang to his feet and dashed away in the opposite direction. The bear roared when he saw that Myeonghu who has previously charged towards him, now escape in the opposite direction. Still, it didn't gave chase and eventually returned to its den.
"Phew…"
Seeing the bear decide not to gave chase, Myeonghu let out a sigh of relief.
"Let's just try to hunt some foxes for now and increase my level."
It was impossible to hunt bears with his current level, so after waiting for his health bar to fill up, he moved towards the area were foxes could be found.
"Am I already here?"
He hadn't walked far but there were already a couple foxes in sight. One of them had given him a glance before turning his back to him, so Myeonghu decided on him as his first prey.
Swoosh!
After stealthily edging his way closer, he swung his sword and slashed at the unsuspecting fox. It let out a deafening yelp as it jumped back in surprise, before turning around and staring at him angrily. It dug its claws into the ground, and then without any indication, leapt forward and slashed down with its paws.
Caught by surprise, Myeonghu couldn't dodge its claws and had no choice but to accept the damage. Luckily his health didn't drop much and he felt that if this was all they had to offer, hunting foxes would be a breeze. Lifting his Solid Iron Sword up in the air, he cast his skill.
"Power Strike!"
With incredible speed the sword came crashing down on the unwilling fox, causing it to slump down to the ground.
"…?"
Feeling that it had died far too easily, Myeng Hu stared at his sword in surprise. Even if he had used a skill, he hadn't expected to be able to bring it down after just two strikes.
"In the end it all comes down to your weapon…."
Reaffirming the importance of equipment in his mind, Myeonghu scavenged through the corpse, picking up all the available items. He then stood up and looked around, spotting five more foxes nearby.
"Power Strike!"
He swung his sword down at the nearest fox. Just like the previous time, it took the exact same actions. First letting out a deafening shrill and widening the distance, before leaping forth and scratching him with its claws.
"Nice try!"
With a small movement he was able to easily sidestep its slash since he had seen it previously, before bringing his sword down upon it.
Kong!
The fox let out a shrill as it was knocked back down to the ground. However, unlike the previous one it didn't croak with just two hits.
"Oh?"
Although somewhat surprised, Myeonghu wasn't completely taken aback since this had also occasionally occurred when hunting rabbits, so he simply swung his sword once more.
Keng!
Still it managed to persist and didn't die after the third strike. Despite them being the same species, it was normal to have a certain variation in their health pools. However, even if it hadn't died in two hits like the other one, it should have certainly gone down with the third.
Kulong!
Ignoring the current inconsistencies, he focused on the battle at hand and after the sixth swing of his sword, the fox finally collapsed helplessly.
Plop!
[Level up!]
-You have acquired a Large Fox Tail.
-You have acquire a Large Fox Pelt.
It was only after seeing the names of the items that something clicked in his mind. Now that he thought about it, the second fox did seem to have a rather larger build than the first.
Looking around at the surrounding four foxes he realised that 3 of them were the same size as the first fox he hunted, while the last was slightly larger.
"So three common Foxes and one Large Fox…."
He spoke to himself as he first approached the common Foxes and swung down his sword.
Kong!
As expected the fox jumped back after suffering a surprise attack, but Myeng Hu had by now gotten used to its pattern and so he stepped forward and immediately followed up with a second blow.
As expected, the fox died after the second hit and after picking up the items he moved on to the next one, officially getting into the groove of this fox hunt.
[Level up!]
-You have acquired a Large Fox Tail.
-You have acquire a Large Fox Meat.
After seeing the Level up message, he paused his hunting and took a look at his character window.
Name: Myeonghu
Nationality: Helioka [Empire]
Age: 22
Class: Warrior
Level: 11
HP: 1650
MP: 420
Strength: 45(+5) Agility: 12 Stamina: 15 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 11
Bonus Stats: 91
He had gained three levels throughout this fox hunt bringing him up to level 11, but he had also slightly increased his Agility, Stamina and Wisdom.
"I guess I might as well distribute these…."
Myeonghu spoke to himself while staring at his large pool of Bonus Stats. If he used them right now it would definitely improve his hunting efficiency, but Bonus Stats weren't something you wanted to simply assign thoughtlessly, as it could end up ruining your character in the long run.
It was basic knowledge that that Strength and Stamina were the bread and butter of the Warrior class, but it wouldn't necessarily be wise to dump all his stats in just those two either.
When promoting to advanced classes there were cases which required things like Wisdom, so your growth could be stalled if you had neglected to invest in it.
"Still, it's quite early so I can afford to just focus on Strength for now."
Level 11 was still quite low, so it was fine to invest all the Bonus Stats he had gained into Strength. There were still many levels between now and any advanced classes, so he had plenty of time to account for those deficiencies.
"Let's do it!"
Having made up his mind Myeng Hu dumped his 91 Bonus Stats into Strength.
Name: Myeonghu
Nationality: Helioka [Empire]
Age: 22
Class: Warrior
Level: 11
HP: 3470
MP: 420
Strength: 136(+5) Agility: 12 Stamina: 15 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 11
Bonus Stats: 0
He then closed his character window and took a look at his inventory.
"I've gathered quite a lot…."
It was packed with a wide variety of loot such as Fox Tails, Fox Meat and Large Fox Tails.
"I should probably deal with all this."
He headed back to the village, intent on selling his spoils.
"How much will I earn…."
The quantity this time around wasn't the same as when he had been hunting rabbits, but since foxes were stronger monsters, each item should fetch a higher price.
"I should also stop by the Guild and then check if I can get some new equipment."
Now that his level was higher their might be some new skills which he could learn. Also, in this hunt he had realised the power of good equipment, so he wasn't planning on being stingy with his money.
* * * *
Upon walking into the village, his first stop was the General Store to sell his loot.
"Oh, you're back."
"Hello."
As he walked through the door, Pelun greeted him warmly. Walking up to him, he unceremoniously dumped his items on the counter.
"I'd like to sell these."
"Oho, let's take a look. You have Fox tails and Pelt, last time it was rabbits but now you've moved onto foxes… What!"
With a surprised expression Pelun raised his head and gave Myeonghu a deep look.
"Isn't this a Large Fox Tail and Pelt?!"
Despite his surprise, he had a wide smile on his face.
"Perfect! In fact I just happened to need some Large Fox Tails and Pelt, how great!"
On Myeonghu's end, except for it being slightly larger, he couldn't differentiate between a regular Fox Tail and a Large one. Still, Pelun was smiling from ear to ear as he sifted and organized all the loot into neat piles.
"You managed to get a lot of Superior quality goods this time as well!"
Myeonghu couldn't help but smile at his remark. Superior goods meant that they would sell for a significantly higher price. After some time, Pelun had finished his calculations and he quoted his price.
"A total of 1 gold, 92 silvers and coppers."
In a daze, Myeonghu received the money pouch from Pelun. Despite having far less items than the time he hunted rabbits, he had received twice the price, not to mention that he still had the Fox and Large Fox Meat in his inventory.
"See you again!"
Barely bringing his excitement under control, he walked towards the exit, fantasizing of how much he could make by selling of the meat in his inventory.
"Just a moment Myeonghu!"
Just as he was about to open the door and step out, he stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Pelun.
"Would you be so kind as to listen to a request of mine?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"If you are planning on hunting more Foxes, could you by any chance bring me the Great Fox King's Pelt?"
Ding!
✿Although you don't know the circumstances, Pelun requires the Pelt of a Great King Fox. Provide the Pelt of the king of foxes, a Great King Fox, to Pelun!
Difficulty: F+
Quest Reward: Increase in Intimacy with Pelun and monetary compensation depending on the quality of the leather.
Rejection will result in a slight loss in Intimacy with Pelun