Continuing my trek, I leave the lake area. So far the highest powered creature I have encountered was a D ranked wolf. I don't like picking fights I'm not confident in winning, so I just left it be. Luckily it didn't follow me.
The biggest problem in this world is that having a powerful skill or ability can nullify a stat disadvantage. For example, take my (Rampage) skill. If I utilize it to it's maximum potential, I could take on enemies a rank above mine, maybe even contend with C ranks. So checking for level or rank is never a certain way to judge an enemies capabilities. Rank does take in effect your whole combat potential, which means all your skills and abilities are included, but it's not like some weird oranisation is going around, constantly assigning ranks on creatures. Things constantly change.
One of the best ways to judge someones power is to look at their race ranking (Low-Medium-High-Elite) except for monsters of course, monsters have grades. A low ranked race doesn't have powerful abilities. I, as well as the other heroes seem to be an exception. Each of us had atleast 1 powerful ability we could utilize from the start. Mine is (Dark phase). I suppose (Elemental magic) could be the 2nd one. (Elemental magic) allows me to use all 8 elements which are Lightning, Ice, Fire, Light, Dark, Wind, Earth and Water.
For example, I used lightning magic to boost my speed, almost doubling it. However even if I can use all of them, that doesn't mean I'm proficient in them. Right now my most used and strongest element is lightning, followed by dark and then fire. These 3 are what I trained in the most. The others I got to an acceptable level. Dual casting 2 elements simultaneously is also increasingly hard. I tried to use both wind and lightning to increase my speed, but even with (Parallel proccessing), the 2 elements seem to fight each other and destabilize when casted together.
So in conclusion, I'm taking a massive risk by walking around in the woods. If an A ranked creature shows up, I might be dead before I can even react. Hell it might sneeze me to death. But I have no other choice. Ideally I could just spend my days fucking untill I reach evolution and it definetly is the best and safest way to become powerful.
However, there are far too many reasons why just doing that is a bad idea. I'm not the only monster out of all the summoned heroes and they made their allegiances very clear. I need outside help apart from myself. I need allies.
I continue to leisurely jog across to woods. Occasionally I come across monsters and end them, avoid the stronger ones, you know, the usual activities while taking a stroll in the woods.
Eventually I reach the end of the woods. Ahead of me is just a massive plane, with green ankle lenght grass, as far as the eye can see. I can also see some monsters walking around here and there.
'There is no way I'm going there. Hmm, what's that'
I spot something highly unusual. Something that isn't supposed to be here. To my left about 50m away, is a little cat. A kitten that looks barely 2 months old, with black puffy fur and green eyes. The kitten is just stumbling around. Now just a sidenote, I haven't seen or heard of a housecat in this world. I am not 100% sure, but there has been no mention that they exist here.
'Did it get summoned as well? How cruel.'
I inspect it.
[Name] -
[Race] - ???
[Grade] - Basic
[Level] - 1
'Hmm?'
Monsters have a grade, instead of a racial ranking. When they evolve, their grade goes up. Monster grades are the same as weapon and armour grades: Basic-> Superior-> Special-> Rare-> Unique->Legendary-> Mythical
While civilised races have racial ranking: Low, Medium, High, Elite. A very simple method to distinguish between a monster and a civilised person ye. Of course monsters may also have incredible inteligence and a human form. So it's complicated. Ultimately they don't distinguish it too much, so a monster can live among humanity just fine. However monsters always have some reason why they are considered monsters and not included in humanity.
I walk toward the cat, it sees me but just stumbles around. I get on my knees a bit away from the cat and take out a bowl, fill it with water and also take out a soft piece of cooked meat. I put them in front of the kitten.
The little cat stumbles toward the water and starts drinking. Then it goes and eats the piece of meat. After that, it lays down, closes it's eyes and nods off.
....
I poke it a bit, but it doesn't seem to care. I decide to take it with me. It may be something dangerous, but it looks cute so it's okay. Plus I mean, it's a housecat. Like it's a housecat. It's a housecat, get it? Enough said. The kitten is so small that it can fit in my hands nicely.
I put on a hooded vest and place the kitten in my hoodie. Once I'm sure that it won't just pop out when I'm moving, I start running again. This time I'm returning to the road.
The location I have to report to is just outside a town. I forget the name of the town, but between it and me are 2 villages, so I can probably spend my nights in an inn. I am sure as hell not confident enough to sleep in the woods. There are of course camp sites on the main road, but camping alone outside is never a good choice. If I had a bunch of people with me, then it would be fine.
I keep running toward the road and after a while I stop again....
....
'Nani?'
[Name] -
[Race] - ???
[Grade] - Basic
[Level] - 1
This time I see a similar picture as before, but now it's a kitten with white fur and red eyes. I follow the same actions as before. This one is a bit more wary, but ultimately also drinks, eats and passes out. I include the new addition to my growing collection of cats in my hoodie and move along.
I reach the road and continue my journey toward my destination. The road also crosses the plains, but it is far safer here, then in a random spot on the planes. The roads are usually defended with a deterrent of some form. So the risk of getting attacked by monsters is exponentsially lower than off the road. Bandits don't care though.
I keep running, until I eventually reach a village. I go and reserve a room in a local inn and then go past the village until I hit a forest again and start hunting for monsters. The 2 cats in my hoodie are still sleeping, which is great for me. I keep killing monsters until night fall and then head back to the village. I hit level 36 today, not bad.
Right now my status looks like this.
[Name] - Valia Raid
[Race] - Nymph
[Racial ranking] - Low
[Class] - Euphemia
[Level] - 36
[Exp] - 10,297 [385,700]
[Body condition] - Elite
[Mana Core condition] - Elite
HP - 15,820
MP - 19,850
Strenght - 1622
Defence - 1220
Agility - 1620
Vitality - 1582
Magic power - 1985
Mana capacity - 1985
Demonic power - 848
Status points - 74
[Abilities] - (???*) (Demonic darkness*) (Haze eyes) (Dark phase) (Claws) (Infared vision) (Tail) (Sexual thirst) (Tongue extension) (Ultra flexibility) (Elemental magic)
[Class Skills] - (Murder) (Rampage)
[Skills] - (Parallel processing B) (Accelerated processing A) (Bloodlust B) (Stenght Z) (Agility Z) (Vitality Z) (Defence Z) (Magic power Z) (Mana capacity Z) (Broadsword Z) (Acrobatics A) (Greatsword S) (Dagger C) (Throwing Z) (Elemental magic S) (Spacial magic C) (Sexual technique B)
--------------------------
'Decent I suppose'
I head back to the inn, have a quick dinner and go to my room. Once I'm in my room, I take out the two cats in my hoodie and shake them awake.
The kittens look at me and each other, but they don't have much reaction. They just stumble toward me with funky steps, nuzzle against me and let out a meow. I pet them and check their condition. They're both skinny and weak and they look like ordinary kittens. I give them some soft meat and milk in a bowl.
"I suppose I should name them."
"Ari and Ricky? Dingo and Dongo? Hmm? What gender are they... How do you even check kittens."
"Fuck it. You're both getting female names. Cmaan, brain work now..."
I use my Parallel and accelerated proccessing power to it's maximum and go through any kind of name I have heard or seen. I want to name them something awe inspiring and fearsome, that goes together with their appearance.
"Got it. The white one will be Aurora and the black one Hecate. No way I'm naming my cat meowgi or something."
[2 ??? have accepted names]
[???*???]
[Establishing bonds...]
[Host is now bonded with ???, Name Aurora]
[Host is now bonded with ???, Name Hecate]
[Establishing soul bonds...]
[Soul bond established due to ??? innate ability]
[Soul bond established due to ??? innate ability]
[Host has unlocked soul attribute. Soul attribute will now be shown in your status screen]
[Mutual gifts have been given and recieved]
[A piece of soul has been given and recieved]
[Host can now view the status of it's bonds and they can view hosts]
[Upon the death of either bonded party, the other will lose a piece of their soul]
A bunch of crazy shit goes down. I just wanted to name my 2 cute cats. The system is saying a bunch of stuff about bonds and question marks and I feel like something is draining all my energy out of me. I get a huge migrane, but try to focus on what the system is telling me. As soon as the system quiets down, I pass out.