Short stature like that of a boy who has yet to hit puberty, thin body but above average muscle tone with proper cuts, sparse white hair and an oval face with dull features, pale yellow eyes.
These were the features I saw in the reflection of the flowing water. Along with the ragged clothes, these add up and only one word comes to my mind.
" Weak "
' Though I was able to defeat the direwolf but, that was a close call. I can't go risk my life every time I face a monster.
After carefully going through the status window, I have made some conclusions.
First, this goblin or probably most of them don't have a balance stat. Well they don't have any system guiding them so it's reasonable. Their stat shifts toward what they are most proficient in.
For example, if I talk about myself, the stat value before leveling, for strength and dexterity was +1 to the standard stat of lvl 6.
That can be explained as all they do is swing their club or bite their opponent or maybe throw some punches.
Similarly they have - 2 stat for Intelligence and Wisdom, since they aren't an intelligent species in the first place.
Overall their stat remains balanced at an average of given level. For me it was an average of 6 before.
As for the stat value inside parenthesis.. the change is only for Intelligence and Wisdom, clearly it came due the merging of my human part with this body.
And of course it can't increase strength and dexterity just like that. So all clear till now.
Next thing is the amount of Exp I got after killing the wolf.
As the system said it was a level 8 wolf, I can assume it's Exp was between '800-900' as I have come to understand that Exp increases by '100' for every level after checking my own.
So an influx of 82 exp out of 800-900 makes it 9.75% - 10.9 % exp gain.
For sake of convenience I will take it as 10%.
So it means, killing a monster gives you 10% of it's exp? I can come to an answer only after I kill some more I guess.
Now for the skills...'
" Why I am doing all the calculations.. Isn't it the system's task to explain such things.?"
[ System has received no request from Host for an explanation ]
the monotonous voice replied inside my head.
"...."
"..So, you were waiting for me to ask?"
[ Affirmative ]
' I feel like I have been played by this system, how pathetic'
[ That was not my intention ]
' Stop reading my mind..!'
[ Is that a command?]
' No, just don't read any random thoughts'
[ Understood ]
" So, can you explain things now?"
[ Commencing Request ]
And a bigger window this time popped up in front of me. As I read it carefully, I was happy that most of my assumptions were correct, almost.
Exp gain is only 1% if the kill is on the same level and 5% a level above and 10% for plus two level and 20% for a jump of three levels, and it keeps doubling with every level.
But ofcourse it would become much harder with every level.
Similarly if I keep a weaker opponent, I get less exp. Every level down its gets decreases by 90%, so basically for going from level 6 to level 7, either you kill 13-16 level 6 monster or 130-160 level 5 or 1,300-1,500 level 4 and so on. That sounds logical.
' Now it makes farming hard too!!..that explains why goblins are so weak in games and novels, because they are born weak!!..
So if that wolf was just a level more, I would have got 20% exp huh?'
And about distribution of stat points, it's pretty much the same as I thought.
As for why my arm didn't get fix or why I didn't get a full recovery, that only happens if you cross a level 10 cap.
So, just like your generic fantasy games... every 10 levels are like minor realms, your body goes some minor changes if you cross that..and full recovery is just one of the good things which happen.
But that doesn't mean a single level up has no perks, if not for my wounds closing itself and stopping the bleeding, I would have been dead for sure.
Next is, skills?.. I can understand the active skills such as free hand combat and club mastery, if you call throwing some random punches free hand combat and swinging a small wooden log as club mastery that is.
Passive skill, poison resistance is also a given, as goblins eat any random monster or even human they kill.
' So poison resistance is a must as a passive skill, probably most of the wild monsters have a weak poison resistance as a passive skill.'
" But what I don't understand is why there are only two active skills.. If the INT and WIS stat got a plus due to my human blood, then where are the skills I had as a human?"
[ Answering : Unlike Stat point which can be integrated through the system or can be increased by Host himself through certain actions, skills are purely the experience the body remembers. Even though the Host had many skills as a human, they simply can't assimilate into the Host's body, and are categorised under ' Hidden skills ' which can be unlocked by performing certain actions]
That makes sense now, even if it's in my mind.. this new body of mine hasn't done the similar thing, first there needs to be synchronisation.
"So I can assume that once I unlock the Hidden skills, they'll level up faster than other skills right?"
[ Affirmative ]
" Yeah, now it sounds real. Since I already have those skills in my mind..once this body gets used to those skills then its given they'll develop faster!! "
And all the gloom I had disappeared just like that. For others, some low skills learned by a human may not sound much, but it's different for me!!
The skills I have learned are far from normal, and I am certain if I had one of those skills, the wolf couldn't stand for even 5 seconds against me..!!
I am far from your normal high school guy!
" The last thing, Innate skill : Myriad eyes - Beast, Rank Unknown. SYSTEM? "
[.....]
" Why did you go silent all of a sudden?"
[.....]
" Definitely something suspicious!!.. Say it, what is it?! !"
[...Unable to answer to Host's question]
" I see, so it's similar to what happens in those isekai novels too when the mc gets a too op skill and the System doesn't answer what skill it is because of restrictions!!. It's the same plot! "
[.....]
" Is it not? "
[.. System has no knowledge of the given skill]
"..Huh? "
[.....]
" What do you mean by no knowledge? ".. the plot is not the same!
[ System doesn't know the origin of the skill and it can't be ranked by the system as there are no details ]
" Seriously?!"
[ Affirmative ]
".. Nevermind then. Since it is an Innate skill, means it was present since my birth. Now the question is, does it come from my Goblin blood or the Human blood?"
Unable to find any clues after thinking so hard for minutes, I left it for later.
' I will get the answer when the time comes.'
[ Would Host like to use extra System points right now? ]
I heard the monotone voice again inside my mind as I was getting ready to dismantle the body of the wolf.
" Oh, there was that too..how do I use System points?"
[ System points can be used to increase status points or to level up skills ]
" Can skills be upgraded with SP?"
[ Affirmative. Both Stats and Skills can be upgraded using SP and by one's own effort. But unlike stat, skills upgraded with SP does not gets assimilate well with the body and needs the Host to use the skill repeatedly and increase his proficiency ]
" Fair enough. Then, which one is more difficult to upgrade by myself, Active skills or the Passive skills".. I asked even though I knew the answer, to confirm my guess.
[ Passive skills such as Poison resistance, Heat Resistant, Pain resistance, Breathing and others are more harder to upgrade by yourself ]
' I didn't spend hours playing MMORPG games in vain!!..' and a sense of pride welled up inside me after confirming that my gaming knowledge was being so useful!!
" Then show me the Skill Tree ".. that's what it is called in games.
[ There is no such option ]
the monotonous voice of the system, which sounded a little empathetic too shattered the little pride welling up inside me.
"Then how do you view the Skills in detailed form?"
[ By using command ' Skill display ' ]
Not wanting to prolong the moment of my shame, I quickly used skill display command and got a new floating window.
____________________________________________
----SKILL DISPLAY---
< INNATE SKILL : MYRIAD EYES : BEAST >
- RANK (???), NO DETAILS
< ACTIVE SKILLS >
- FREE HAND COMBAT (LVL 1) : RANK D
NEXT LVL : ( 2/3 ) SP
(Increases the damage caused by bare hands)
-CLUB MASTERY ( LVL 1) : RANK D
NEXT LVL : ( 2/3 ) SP
(Increases proficiency to wield a club)
- STABBING ( LVL 1 ) : RANK D
NEXT LVL : ( 1/3 ) SP
(Increases damage caused by stabbing actions)
< PASSIVE SKILLS >
POISON RESISTANCE ( LVL 2 ) : RANK C
NEXT LVL : ( 1/8 ) SP
PAIN RESISTANCE ( LVL 1) : RANK C
NEXT LVL : ( 1/4 ) SP
____________________________________________
" Looks like this guy had been eating more than fighting, his poison resistance is level 2 despite being ' Rank C' but both his active skills are only level 1, even though both are ' Rank D' and given that it's easier to upgrade active skills than passive skills..!! "
" And it seems I got ' Pain resistance ' and ' Stabbing ' after the last fight.
So the difficulty of getting Pain resistance might be higher than that of ' Poison Resistance ' or he really was a glutton."
' Now the question is, where should I invest my extra SP, as the system said the difficulty for upgrading Passive skills is higher than the Active skills, the answer should be obvious then '
" System, put three points in ' Pain Resistance', one point in ' Free hand combat ' and one in ' Club mastery '".. since the SP requirement for Poison resistance can't be fulfilled and as it is already level two there is no need to put SP there.
And right now I want fighting skills more than the Poison resistance, which is surely for gluttons..!!"
[ FREE HAND COMBAT : LVL 1 >> LVL 2 ]
[ CLUB MASTERY : LVL 1 >> LVL 2 ]
[ PAIN RESISTANCE : LVL 1 >> LVL 2 ]
[REMAINING SP : 0 ] ( System Points: Every kill gives you 1 SP and an above level kill makes it 2 SP and doubles with every level. killing lower level monsters doesn't give any SP.)
Soon I felt the residual pain inside my body suppressed , as the Pain resistance showed it's immediate action after leveling up.
" Now that it's done, let's go have some wolf meat. And as I can't be sure that I will grow a new arm after becoming level 10, I have to first preserve the detached arm "
First thing I did was dig a big pit near the stream and draw some water from the stream into the hole through a small connection.
After making sure there is enough water, I closed the connection and let the water inside the hole settle. By doing this, most of the things would settle down at bottom including salt.
This took nearly 1 hour and the water was evaporating fast thanks to the two stars hanging in the sky.
Just because there are two Stars doesn't make it a fantasy setting.. I am not naive like those Isekai protagonists.
There are many Binary star system that I know of. And the closest star to the Sun, Proxima Centauri is part of a triple star system!!
But just because it's two stars doesn't mean the temperature would be scorching hot.
I can feel the same moderate Climate as the Earth. There's nothing much difference, yet.
After drinking the leftover water and saving some inside the bladder of the wolf which I had finished dismantling meanwhile, I take out the little salt left.
" This might preserve a finger but surely not an entire arm. I have to repeat the same cycle minimum 10 times it seems.".. that's what I thought after looking at the tincture of salt I got.
Well it won't rot as long as it's not exposed to oxygen.
Using my Science knowledge that's the conclusion I reached.
" So I have just to keep it air tight until I get some good amount of salt ".. and my eyes land on again the dead body of the wolf.
" I am not doing this because I have some weird fetish..! It's for survival ".. justifying my actions I shove my arm inside the hole in the abdomen of the wolf which was made by me for taking out it's bladder, and reseal it using some muddy soil which hardens in a few minutes under sunlight.
Picking a sharp stone and using stabbing skill, I detach one of his legs from his body, then I gather some scattered dry twigs and branches and dry grass from ground and prepare for a fire.
' Now let's see if it works '