'D….tell me how to get Essence.'
[You will be awarded Essence after completing quests. But to acquire them manually, you will have to touch or be within 1 meter distance of the object. The wolf you just killed is perfect for testing.]
Lee looked around and slowly descended. He crouched near the corpse of wolf and asked-
'Now what?!'
[Touch the wolf. The Essence will be automatically absorbed. If you want, you can sell the dead wolf to shop.]
'Got it!'
Lee touched the dead wolf and instantly felt a warm sensation entering his hand. After a second, a notification appeared.
=====
2 Essence absorbed.
=====
Lee decided to sell the wolf. Another notification appeared.
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Sell the Dead Wolf? YES/NO?
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'Yes.'
The wolf's corpse vanished into thin air and Lee received a notification that he got 3 Essence selling it.
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3 Essence received.
=====
Lee immediately climbed up the tree as he was concerned for his safety. Lee brought up the Status panel and stared at his attributes and 105 Essence.
'Let's increase Health by 2, Defense by 5, Agility and Endurance by 4, Vitality by 1 and Intelligence by 2!'
'Now display attributes only'
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Health: 10
Strength: 10
Vitality: 10
Agility: 10
Defense: 8
Endurance: 10
Sense: 6
Intelligence: 7
Resolve: 4
=====
Lee Shen didn't feel any changes happening. But he was curious about the effects.
'D… how do my attributes look?'
[You are now an above average being in this world.]
'Good to know. So, if I kill, absorb Essence and sell a wolf, I can get 5 Essence, right?'
[Yes. It can vary from being to being.]
'Doesn't this mean I can grow powerful as long as I kill?'
Lee had a creepy smile that gave D shivers. He said in low voice-
[I know what you're thinking. But it's a suicide. Those wolves come in packs. You cannot stop it.]
'..... show how much Essence is left'
A notification appeared and showed that only 5 Essence is left.
'Add one point to agility.'
Coincidentally, four wolves were coming towards the tree where Lee hid. They came in search of their lost member. Without much difficulty, they found the blood marks on snow and deduced that it was killed. One among them caught Lee's scent and came near the tree sniffing. Lee, from above the tree, used View.
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Name: Cold Wild Wolf
Age: 1 year
Health: 8
Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Defense: 8
Endurance: 10
Sense: 8
Intelligence: 6
=====
'I'll better kill all of them in one go!'
Lee jumped down on the wolf and cushioned his impact like last time. But now, the impact itself killed the wolf. The other three became alert and slowly stepped towards Lee. Lee brandished his blade silently while one wolf jumped on him. The very moment, Foresight was activated. Lee saw the trajectory of the pounced wolf and stepped to his right to evade. As it came near, the blade cut the wolf horizontally. It fell dead on the ground. The other two were enraged by Lee's action, so they ran at him together.
Lee stood still and observed. With the help of Foresight, Lee deduced that one will go lower while the other will jump on him. As he was expecting, one ran in front of the other to give a foothold to jump. The moment the wolf jumped on the other, Lee had reached their side and his blade came down like a meteor.
It was dead silent. No noise or voice came when they were fighting. Lee didn't dilly-dally and absorbed the Essence from the wolves and sold them to Shop. He knew he couldn't stay on the same tree, so he moved away quickly. After walking in the opposite direction of the pack for a few minutes, he came across a tree that was larger than the surrounding ones. His effort to climb paid off, and he reached a height of about 5 stories. The branch was thick and smooth, so he sat there. Opening the Attribute panel, he invested all four points to Agility. Then he leaned onto the trunk, closed his eyes and sat comfortably.
-----------------------------
He doesn't know how long he slept, but it was night when he woke up. He slept enough, and was feeling refreshed. He climbed and squatted on the highest branch of the tree. He observed many beasts wandering around on the ground. Some beasts that looked like birds were flying at irregular intervals.
Lee was brainstorming to get a solution of earning Essence quickly and stealthily. His thoughts nearly made him lose his footing. He struggled to stay stable while grabbing onto the nearby branches. Then it hit him!
'Why don't I absorb and sell these trees?! D?'
[It is possible, but not at the moment. If you sell this tree now, you'll die from gravity!]
'So it IS possible!!'
Lee was delighted to get a solution for the problem. He happily returned to his position and waited for the twin stars to rise up.
[You should increase your Intelligence. It took you half a day just to figure out that you can absorb and sell trees!]
Lee didn't reply and laid down on the branches. He fell asleep while waiting for sunshine.
----------------------------
Lee jumped up in the morning with only one aim in his mind - Essence! He checked his belongings and made sure that the blade was well in the Inventory. Without further ado, he came down the tree and started absorbing Essence and selling the surrounding trees like a maniac. He was so absorbed in the process that he didn't hear any notifications he got.
By noon, an empty patch of land with a radius of 100 meters was surrounding the large tree. He did come across some small beasts, but they were all killed in one cut. Exhausted, he reluctantly came to the tree and climbed to a sufficient height.
'D, gimme a summary please.'
[238 trees were absorbed and sold. Each tree gave 14 Essence. So you acquired 3,332 Essence points. You killed 14 small beasts, absorbed and sold them. Their accumulated Essence points is 23. Total acquired is 3,355 Essence points.]
'How did trees give me more Essence than those wolves?!'
[These trees are over 25 years old and have condensed more essence. Plus, a one-time boosting from the system is involved. You'll not get this opportunity ever again.]
Lee was euphoric. He sighed and slowly skimmed through all options in the interface. Then he remembered about the 'Upgradable' feature of his blade. He retrieved his blade from Inventory as he asked-
'D, How to upgrade my blade?'
[It is currently at the Lower Mortal grade. You can use 2000 Essence to upgrade to Mid Mortal grade and 3000 Essence to upgrade to Higher Mortal grade from there. Grade upgradation cost increases at a rate of 1000 Essence all the way to top. Remember, you cannot skip grades!]
'Rename 'Damascus Blade' to 'Black''
=====
Rename 'Damascus Blade' to 'Black'. Confirm? YES/NO.
=====
'Yes.'
The panel disappeared and another one popped out.
=====
Name: Black
Owner: Lee
Grade: Lower Mortal (Upgradable)
Strength +1, Agility +1
=====
'D, what's this new set of information?!'
[After dripping blood, it recognised you as it's owner. So it can give you a small boost in Strength, Agility and Endurance. Higher the grade, higher the boost!]
'Upgrade 'Black' to Mid Mortal grade'
=====
Upgrade 'Black' to Mid Mortal grade. Confirm? YES/NO.
=====
'Definitely yes!'
Nothing happened other than an interface opening up.
=====
Name: Black
Owner: Lee
Grade: Mid Mortal (Upgradable)
Strength +2, Agility +2
=====
Lee had 1,355 Essence left. He added 14 points to Sense, 12 points to Defense, 13 points to Intelligence, 16 points to Resolve and 10 points each for Health, Strength, Vitality, Agility and Endurance. He spended a total of 670 Essence to upgrade all of his attributes to 20. He still had 685 Essence left. He didn't feel any necessity to spend all he had in one go. So, he reserved half of it for the future. His train of thoughts was shattered by a notification panel.
=====
Quest!
'Escape from the wilderness and reach a settlement'
Reward: 200 Essence.
=====
"A quest finally appeared!"
Lee brought up Map in his mind. But he couldn't see any settlement in 1.5 miles around him. He was expecting some clues from the system. But nothing came.
[You've to find them yourself. It's not good to depend too much on the system. Use your Sense for once in a while.]
Lee stood up, jumped down through the branches and reached the ground. He slowly walked towards North while keeping an eye on the Map.