The Marsh Pits was filled monsters ranging from level 28-30, a hunting ground most humans tend to avoid because of the difficulty and the number of casualties recorded. It was located in the middle of the boundary between the cities of Bonums and Malums, clashes with the opposing side are frequent here. The humans that roamed the pits were either confident or stupid.
It was the home of Lizardmen, those green-skinned reptiles that have sharp teeth used for biting. The Lizardmen were highly intelligent creatures that could operate basic machinery and use cold weapons for defense.
"My level's still low to attempt the Marsh Pits," said worriedly by David.
"Don't worry, I know a way to kill them with ease. I've hunted many of them when I was level 25."
"Are we going now? It's nearing nighttime and the dangers in this forest are heightened."
They had just left from the village through a portal activated by the chief with the help of two magicians. The power consumed teleporting others were heavy and a single magician wouldn't be able to bear the cost of activation alone.
Feeling confident, Brook who climbed to the branch of a tree looked for possible creatures they may encounter as they travelled. The grumpy large man below him sat down in both boredom and anxiety. He called his system and checked the amount of experience he needed to level up to 25
"You done there?" David looked up to him and shouted.
"Quiet!" Exclaimed Brook who saw a large bird incoming. "Be ready, a falcon is coming here."
A three-meter falcon who was gliding down at a speed of 320km/s was approaching them. David stood up quickly and picked up the halberd on the ground. He fixed his stance as the bird aimed to peck at him.
Peregrine Falcon
Coming from the family of falcons, the Peregrine Falcon uses its beak to hit, strike, and kill the enemy. It's agile but it has a weak defense.
Level: 26
HP: 86
MP: 21
Skills:
1. Sharpened Peck – it uses its beak to deal twice the damage from its beak. It stuns the enemy for 0.5 seconds.
Merlin's Touch!
Brook jumped down from the branch, attacking the large bird on its head.
-33! Critical hit!
The momentum of Brook jumping down from the branch had dealt more damage due to the gravity acted upon his body, making his speed faster. After landing a hit, he used his sword as a shiled for the incoming attack the falcon was about to make. He was knocked back from the impact the bird had exerted.
-6!
His back was now on the tree after being attacked. The Peregrine Falcon flew up and dove down again to use its beak as its advantage. Its beak had glowed from activating a skill and attacked the vulnerable Brook who was about to cast Unyielding Spirit, to remove his debuffs.
"You should be careful," David said, blocking the bird's attack.
-10 was dealt to David who helped Brook stand back up. Brook ran to the other side, where the right wing of the falcon was, and David kept harrasing the bird. He activated Forward Charge and stunned the bird, meanwhile Brook whose mana was a third of what it was casted Merlin's Touch, draining his mana to half.
Merlin's Touch!
-22!
The health of the bird dwindled down to 10 after the duo attacked it consecutively. The fight lasted for three minutes, where they dealt high damage due to their levels. Finally, it died from a stab caused by Brook.
"I almost got distracted," Brooke said as he picked up the loot they got. "Damn bird was able to push me back."
"There's no shame in admitting you forgot to activate your skills, you know. Where'd you get your flaming something sword skill?"
"From a merchant, it multiples the base damage of the skill to my intelligence, though I didn't know of its rarity because I was in a rush to buy them."
"How much did it cost you, lad?" He asked, and then sat down to heal.
"About 15 gold coins in total," Brook said. "I bought three books."
"Damn, rich," he said out of envy. "You better discard the useless ones someday because you could only have 10 in your arsenal."
The skill system could only allow a human to have access to ten skills only, no matter how much you wanted it to be or how much skill books you have in the future. The upside of it was that you're allowed to recycle the skills you don't need anymore, and the level obtained by the skills would be absorbed into others equally.
"I know," he replied. "I just needed them so that I could do my trial faster. Besides, there are no information about the class change since I'm apparently the first one to take it in the whole world."
"Leveling up is really hard," he scratched his head and leaned back. "How'd ya do it?"
"Perseverance," I answered.
"Yeah, right."
After sitting down for a couple of minutes, their journey to Marsh Pits were back on track. Brook scouted at the front while David got his back for any incoming danger from the sides and behind. It increasingly got darker as they traversed through the deep location in the forest.
"My sight's weak at night," David said to Peter who was about 10 meters away. "I can't see."
Brook stopped on his tracks and went back to David who stood aimlessly. With his survival skills, Brook gathered twigs and branches to start a fire on the ground. The light illuminated their bodies, creating shadows that were seen on the backs as they sat next to each other.
"Let's take a break," he said. "But we have to go somewhere else safe one hour later because the Night cats roam this place."
After sitting for ten minutes, they went east to take shelter in the cave. Brook opened his inventory and brought out the twigs he had not used as a heat source for the cold night they were having.