It had been 9 hours since Iac had entered the forest. He had been waiting in a tree above a rabbit hole waiting for his prey to appear. His senses were focused to their fullest so that he could get the jump on the monster and kill it without taking any damage himself. A slight noise was heard and Iac's ears twitched listening for the incoming monster. Poking it's head out, a small horned rabbit appeared out of the hole. In that exact second, Iac flew off the branch he was perched on, falling strait towards the rabbit. His knife was pulled from it's sheaf and jammed strait into the skull of the rabbit killing it instantly.
[You have slayed a Small Horned Rabbit LV 0]
[You have gained 2 experience]
Wiping the sweat off his face, Iac looked at the screen in front of him. It was a measly 2 experience but for Iac, it was another step forward. He promised himself that he would get stronger. And so he did, killing off several horned rabbits in the past couple of hours. It was easy hunting for Iac as he had the stealth trait, increasing his chances of not being found during his sneak attack. After one more horned rabbit's death Iac would be able to level up to level 1. So continuing his hunt, Iac decided to wait for the last rabbit to come out. He would end off the day feeling proud of himself for reaching his first milestone.
'This guy's really optimistic isn't he?' Alan had no problem with Iac's hunting method. It always starts with baby steps after all. But the numerous number of monsters existing inside the tower could easily kill Iac. Although right now his biggest predator is most likely slayers. When a slayer enters the tower they gain the courage to hunt monster due to their newfound strength. But as his father had told him, most people don't exactly like the idea of fighting to the death almost everyday. So a majority of beginners settle in the tower until they have enough money to pay for people to bring them up the tower so that they could leave.
Alan would have tried to get stronger either way because strength in the tower gives you multiple privileges. Which would in turn help him save his brother. But for now, with no control over Iac or his actions yet, Alan was left with watching until he gets a chance to act. It wasn't all that bad but this first day does make him feel a little lonely. As far as he was aware of, Alan has only been in the tower for 2 days. Finn should still be alright for now. But time is ticking and he needs to get out of Iac's body. Alan doesn't feel a need to take over Iac's body like a parasite. After feeling his emotions, Alan felt like a connection was born between them. Although Iac has no idea who Alan even is or that he's inside his body. Alan's sure that it could work out one way or another.
"..." After waiting in silence for another hour a noise was heard from nearby. It was the rustling of trees in the distance. Coming closer and closer the noise kept getting louder. Keeping his guard up Iac prepared to fight. When it reached his vison Iac was able to make out what or rather who it was.
A human girl in silver plated armor. She was breathing heavy. It looked like she was running away from a duo of green wolves. Without interfering Iac watched her become cornered by the ravenous wolves. Biting her from her left and right, it looked like this woman had no experience fighting or just didn't have enough stamina left in her to keep fighting. Using the advantage of her armor, she got the upper hand on the wolf on her right. A single hard thrust through it's head was enough for her to kill it. Not wasting this chance the wolf pounced her and started clawing her back while trying to bite her neck from behind.
Alan considered helping the girl. But what could he do? Iac controlled the body after all. It's too bad she fell into this life and death situation. But it was her own incompetence that brought it upon her. Iac wouldn't even bat an eyelash if she just died right then. I mean it is the guy who's whole legion was just killed by a group of humans just like her. Well maybe not just like her... they were a lot stronger and scarier. Alan held no interest towards the idea of saving her, other than the fact that she's a human and can help him find Finn. While Alan felt indifferent towards her death. Iac on the other hand felt angry at the thought of her death. He wasn't able to understand why but Alan had a vague idea of what his plan was.
In the meantime while Alan and Iac contemplated her death. The girl had just barely finished off the wolf and was laying back on a tree. Unfortunately for her, a certain human hating goblin sat upon that tree. Silently jumping from the tree Iac failed to hide his bloodlust as the girl looked up and noticed him falling towards her. But it was too late. Iac sliced her throat with his knife before she had a chance to block it. Grabbing her neck, she swiped her sword at Iac, injuring his left arm as he landed. A brief panic fell upon Alan. But taking a look at Iac's HP counter made him feel less nervous.
[HP - 20/25]
Sadly 4 more hits from that sword will kill Iac. But unlike the girl who was quickly bleeding out, Iac was just fine with only a small bit of blood dripping from his cut. Facing her head on would most likely lead to death due to her panicked state. Alan hoped that Iac was prepared for the option of a strategic retreat. This girl may be weakened to the point of death. But a wounded animal is a lot more dangerous when cornered. His father had taught him the basic rules to watch out for when fighting against a monster. But the same ruleset could apply to killing humans so Alan felt it was no different than fighting another monster.
The girl was shaking, obviously scared of the idea of death. She played defensively but didn't have enough time for that. The right side of her armor was dripping with blood. Her neck already covered in red. At this point nothing would change the fact that her death was secured. Anymore movement from her would most likely only result in a quicker death. Alan felt bad but he needed her to be dead. After all Iac and him needed to get stronger.
Taking a step forward the girl slowly took her time making her way to them. Breathing heavily, she dragged her sword across the dirt. Iac prepared to rush her for the final blow. Lowering his body he kicked off the floor. The girl swung her sword from it's lowered position, sweeping the floor where Iac should have been. But why would Iac go for her legs when he could just finish her off right here. Iac had jumped onto her breastplate bringing his dagger down towards her neck. Without any strength the dagger went through and the girl had died. She fell to the floor along with the sword she once held.
[You have slayed a Female Human Knight LV 5]
[You have gained 74 experience.]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have earned 9 TP]
Multiple notifications appeared at one time spooking both Alan and Iac. They weren't aware that the girl had been level 5! She was weakened, but she still had fighting spirit even when she was faced with death. Alan though she had been level 3 at most. Now that reality is happening to him. They got excited at the multiple notifications showing their growth. Alan wanted to distribute the points he earned from leveling up. Unlike Alan, Iac didn't have stats. He wasn't sure exactly how Iac grew in strength, unlike slayers monsters had different growth. 'It must have something to do with those TP that Iac most likely earned.
Alan was about to look at his status but then Iac's nose started to twitch with excitement. Spotting a sack strapped to the girl's waist, Iac grabbed it without hesitation. It was full to the brim with bronze and silver. His eyes shown with sparkles as he counted the amount he earned. In total they both had earned 4 silver and 28 bronze coins. But to them it looked like the girl only had money, armor and a sword to her name. Although it was rude, Iac removed off her breastplate without any issue and noticed a necklace hanging from her neck.
Removing it Iac noticed that it was a key with a unique design. The key was black and the bow was a symbol of a shield with a flower over it. Alan had no idea what it was for. But Iac gladly hung it over his neck, proudly showing it off to no one in particular. Suddenly another notification popped up randomly out of nowhere.
[You have obtained The Key of Nevartan]
Alan realized right away what type of item this was. It wasn't made by humans because the tower recognizes it as a part of itself by giving it an item name. It must have been some sort of vault in a dungeon or she gained it off of a monster. Whatever the reason, now Alan and Iac had almost no use for this without knowing who or what Nevartan was. Since Iac was done with looting Alan finally had the chance to check his status and Iac did the same as well.
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Name: Alan Hutton
Soul Level - 3
Job - None
Strength - 5
Agility - 7
Vitality - 3
Intelligence - 5
Soul Points left - 30
Skills - None
Synchronization rate - 8%
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Name: Iac
Race - Goblin
Rank - F
Level - 3
Attributes - None
HP - 25
TP - 9
General traits - Stealth +1, Thievery +2
Race traits - Night vision +1, Smell for money +3, Goblin common language +4
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Nothing here was new except for the newly acquired points. It looked like Iac instinctually knew what to do with his TP so Alan thought leaving that up to him would be for the better. Alan on the other hand started to think towards what his points should go to. The forest they were in wasn't the biggest threat but this was only the beginning for him. Alan considered lop siding his stats. Alan's agility was his highest stat so putting points in there for now seemed the most logical. But he wasn't exactly sure how stats affected him while he was in Iac's body. For now Alan decided on doubling each stat and putting the left over points into agility.
Iac had used his TP different than how Alan used his soul points. From how Iac distributed it, it looked like the TP could be used to increase the strength of traits or gain new ones. It kind of reminded Alan of skills that slayers could get from their class and level up. He couldn't be sure yet but more and more Alan keeps seeing Iac's status as something a slayer would have. The end result of their status was as shown:
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Name: Alan Hutton
Soul Level - 3
Job - None
Strength - 10
Agility - 24
Vitality - 6
Intelligence - 10
Soul Points left - 0
Skills - None
Synchronization rate - 8%
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Name: Iac
Race - Goblin
Rank - F
Level - 3
Attributes - None
HP - 50
TP - 1
General traits - Stealth +3, Thievery +5, Dagger wielding +1
Race traits - Night vision +2, Smell for money +3, Goblin common language +5
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'Woah, maybe that a bit much?' After Alan distributed his soul points. He was met with a much larger level of agility than he thought he would have. It almost equaled the same amount as all his other stats combined. But Alan didn't regret his choice. Currently as Iac is fighting with a dagger in hand and using his stealth to attack enemies and kill them quickly. It reminded Alan of the rouge job as a slayer so he built the stats towards that in mind. But this was all mostly to test his theory on whether or not Iac is affected by Alan's stats.
It looked like Iac left 1 TP left over for use at another time. Alan considered Iac to be quite dumb, so he didn't think that he would even use his TP efficiently. But it seemed like almost everything he put his TP into was a good choice for now. Other than 'Goblin common language' which Iac put one TP into. Alan probably would have put one more TP into 'Night vision' instead of wasting it on that. But he got dagger wielding so he should be able to fight more competent now. Iac wanted to fight and ty out his newly upgraded traits. While Alan was excited to see if his theory proved to be true. Iac was about to go look for new prey to hunt. But unlike what the two thought it looks like the fight was going to come to them.
*RUMBLE*