Ok, the effects of this meat are quite awesome.
While the meal that we had in the previous area was pretty tasty and filled up my stomach perfectly, compared to the meat from the soul hazard level beasts, it was shit.
Taking a look at my status window, I see every single of my attributes having a little (+5) notation! This damn meal just improved my entire strength by a damn 5 attribute points! If I were to raise them manually, it would require me to spend all the points that I gained for the last three level's up!
But why not four? Having a total of seven traits, the cost of raising each of them by five would mean that I need to spend five more points that I stated! And the answer to that is pretty simple.
While even my inteligence trait risen by a said factor of five, the wisdom attribute stayed at its usual level. It would be lovely to understand the logic behind this, but the moment I would even think about it, a certain Donger would…
"Blop!"
"Detected host wish to analyze the attributes."
"Do you wish to purchase a stats checker tool?"
"Cost of the tool amounts to 100 points!"
"Insufficient funds, the purchase is unavailable!"
"xD"
Instead of getting myself distracted by this unreliable and greedy system, I focus on the demonic beast in front of my eyes. Reinforced by the hearty meal that we had about an hour ago, I couldn't wait to test my newfound strength! For the entire last hour, I was just running away and grinding my exp with Eve's help! With just two points lacking to reach the three digits in my strength stat, I'm tempted for a moment to use up my attribute points and check what would happen… But this executioner path… I already realised how great of a help it is for me!
Formerly, when I tried to end the beast life with one hit, I only had about a fifty-fifty chance of success. At some times my prey would detect something is amiss and dodge my attack, at times the target would move randomly and avoid my slash by pure luck. Only after raising the path the second level, did my attacks stop missing.
It was as if someone smashed me in the head, resulting in a momentary coma, after which I woke up with a slight mastery of the way of the sword! Compared to the amount of insiders knowledge that I gained by levelling up the blacksmith profession, I didn't get anything tangible with the development of my path. No fancy moves appeared in my mind, no sure hit strategies ingrained itself in my muscle memory. The only difference lied in fact, that I was suddenly able to execute my moves a lot smoother than I used to!
BANG!
With a single slash, the beast is slain and another bout of experience points is sent to my account. I only need to slay a few more beasts to be finally able to afford the paths checker tool! To hell with the stats, I can make up for them by crafting some armour, side weapons or trinkets. Even if I will need a separate profession for those, I don't need to evolve it into the second grade.
"Where is the next one?"
With Eve joyfully jogging by my side, I can only think about two things. First one is to obviously grind some more and level myself up, with the second thing being tightly connected to two beautiful mounds on her chest, bouncing with every jump that she takes!
I just need this one level more to get what I want! If I'm not mistaken, only two beasts remain for me to kill to fulfil her request. With just the tiniest bit of luck, those two demonic beasts will be enough for me to raise my level as well!
"I can sense a pair of gyuarnas running somewhere between four and five hundred meters to the east. If you manage to slay them at once, I will be sure to hold to my end of the deal!"
Maybe because of all my teasing and even the situation back at the smithy, but with every slain beast that brought me closer to achieving the 'quest' that I have, Eve's expression softened and brightened up. It was as if the perspective of me joining her sect was the most joyous occasion that she couldn't help but anticipate with anxiety!
As we darted to the direction that the girl pointed out, even after jogging for five minutes, my target was still nowhere to be seen!
"Are you sure we didn't miss them already? Even if they were running away from something, gyuarna speed shouldn't let them escape from us!"
With a puzzled expression on my face, I ask Eve. Up to this point, her guide was spotless! She never missed an opportunity to point out a beast location and never lost track of them. But looking at her strange face now, I could say that her lucky streak was over.
"I'm sorry, but all that I know is that they went through this area… I can't sense anything else to the front… Maybe they tripped and died from the impact?"
Even though she was the one to say this, it was plainly obvious that she didn't believe that such a misfortunate accident could happen.
"It's not like we have any other choice then. Let's go have a look!"
Unbothered by the slip of Eve's abilities, I march forward, before freezing in place after just a few steps.
Despite my resistance, I can feel the temperature suddenly dropping, from a comfortable heat to a chilling freeze! If someone had lower resistance than me, he could get frozen in an instant! Oh… That's why she couldn't detect them!
As soon as those thoughts appear in my head, I spot two lifelike ice sculptures, resembling the pair of gyuarna that we were chasing after. Even if they are already frozen, there ought to be some life still in them! It won't hurt to try to get my dose of experience out of them in this situation!
Brandishing my sword, I slash twice at the frozen animals. With just a slight delay, the ice statues break apart in a thousand pieces.
"Blop!"
"Host has levelled up!"
"Awarding 10 attribute points!"
"... =.= …"
Just when I take a single step forward, I feel an overwhelming aura crushing down on my soul. In a single moment, all the confidence that I had in my resilience is broken, as I'm unable to even lift a single finger on my foot, not to speak about moving an entire leg!
"RUN!"
"FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOD, RUN!"
Funny, I never knew that the Donger could speak normally!
This notion of mine disappears completly when I raise my eyes. With just a single look, I feel my eyeballs almost bursting out from the pressure!
But there is one thing that scares me even more than the dire circumstances that I'm in right now.
There is a fucking, insanely huge penguin flying through the air with its eyes locked on me and an intricate, two-handed sword strapped on it's back!