-- POV Freya --
Settling into a more comfortable position I watched the moon, as if hypnotized. The cave I had found near the clearing was surprisingly comfortable, there was no noise and it was neither too hot nor too cold. As far as I could remember, it was the first time I had ever slept in such a place. But it felt good.
*Maybe I can make it my home. I don't think I'll go too far for now, I have to figure out where I am first!*
Tomorrow was going to be tedious, because my goal was to get up to lvl 10 in order to evolve into a demon. As I didn't really know the next evolutions, I took the opportunity to ask Kira some questions. She was always careful not to disturb me when it was not necessary, I liked this trait of her...personality ? But somewhere I felt for the first time that she was more available. Knowing that she could never betray me, I found myself as comfortable with her as I was with myself.
[When it comes to evolution you must first evolve your race before you can evolve your course. You are currently a minor demon, i.e. newly born. The evolution of lvl 10 will change you into a simple demon and the one at lvl 30 into a major demon. This is the last possible evolution for the demon race].
*So I won't be able to evolve afterwards? that's not so good for me.*
[No Freya-sama, as I said, once you reach this level, it's your course's turn to evolve, and as far as it's concerned, the possibilities are almost infinite].
*I understand, but why is the evolution of the course blocked before the lvl 30 ? *
I secretly thought I had the answer, but I let her explain it to me, which she did with an enthusiasm that was hard to hide.
[When you reach lvl 30, the "humanoid" skill is unlocked. In order to evolve your "Icy Chaos Wolf Demon" course, you must be able to change its form, which gives you better control over your elements and unlocks your innate skills].
*I can't wait to unlock this skill, I'll be more powerful and I'll be able to start mingling with humans to better destroy them afterwards hehe ~. That said my short term goals consist of two parts: reaching lvl 30 and learning more about this world and especially knowing where I am *.
I wasn't too worried about the future, I would just have to explore the forest a little bit more, kill everything that is alive and find a way to get answers to my questions. Suddenly the idea of running into an intelligent beast crossed my mind.
*Since I was reincarnated in this world mainly to fight against humans, I would not kill intelligent creatures, let alone other oppressed races. I would not destroy them but save them...I would be their Empress.*
[And I will help you with all my will Freya-sama!]
*Hum...thank you! But I will be merciless to anyone who disrespects me, hurts me or even tries to kill me. Whether human, half-human, elf, dwarf, woman, man, child, old man...I will personally open the door to hell for him, making sure he suffers in the process.*
My words may have sounded cruel, but the fact is that I was cruel. If you had had the childhood and the life I had, you would probably be like me today. I understood very quickly that life was not a game and here in this new world where the law of the strongest reigns I have no right to be weak and compassionate.
But I didn't forget that an Empress to be considered as such must have subordinates, trusted people and a people.
*Aaaah it will be hard to learn to trust and gather subordinates when in my past life it was "me myself and i". That said, I just need to be stronger so that nothing and no one can threaten me, then I will save my future subordinates and create a kingdom...my kingdom, where no human can ever reach us! *
It was with unwavering determination that I sank with fatigue, lit by the moon, the stars dreaming of conquest and battlefield.
___________
The day was just beginning to dawn when I was already standing and stretching out on the ground. From the outside you could see a small, one-horned black wolf with dark purple eyes stretching his little paws skyward with a satisfied look.
"Aaawwwrrrrr."
Unable to speak, a slight growl could be heard coming out of my mouth as I yawned as I finally opened my eyes. They were as bright as ever and seemed to be able to read the soul of anyone who looked into them.
As I slowly got used to the sunlight, Kira's soft, monotonous voice rang in my head.
[Good morning Freya-sama, I hope you slept well. Do you feel ready for this new day?]
*Hello Kira. Yes, it was divine! And of course I'm ready, more than ever because today is "road to level 10"!*
Leaving the cave with a determined step, I headed towards the forest in the hope of meeting other living beings that could help me to level up quickly. As I walked through the trees, an animal was hidden 5 meters from where I was standing ready to ambush me. It was hidden in the thicket but I could easily detect its faint and almost imperceptible movements. Blessing my Wolf Demon eyes and my sense of observation, I mentally gave an order to Kira.
*Well, the wait was short. Kira uses analysis on the bushes 5 meters in front of us! *
[ Sharp-tailed snake
Lvl 4/10
HP 550/600
Strength : 50
Defense : 60
Agility : 40
Stamina : 30
Speed : 50 ]
*He lost HP, but above all what a crazy defense ! That's almost double what I have.*
The thing in front of me was obviously a reptilian type, its level was higher than mine and a lot of its stats were also higher than mine. Feeling the urge to fight bubbling up in my body, I was more than happy to have a statistically stronger opponent to fight against.
*Hi there. Would you like to come and give a hug to onee-sama ?*
I used an ice pick to make him come out of his hiding place (-10 MP) and he did. In front of me was a snake of about 2 meters long, it had mostly black scales, but some on its head were red. This time there were no claws or spines, but you could see that its tail was not ordinary. Its tip, unlike the reptiles on Earth, had a blade, the tip of its tail was in fact a sharp blade ready to cut.
*Fiiuu! I wonder if I can keep the tip of your tail to use as a weapon after I slaughter you.*
As I watched him carefully, a new monster appeared from nowhere landing in front of the snake as if to claim it as his prey.
[ Spider-monkey
Lvl 6/10
HP 800/800
Strength : 43
Defense : 40
Agility : 70
Stamina : 35
Speed : 45 ]
A spider the size of the spiny rat I had met the day before was standing in front of me looking threatening, ready to pounce on one of us. It was hairy and its 8 legs were of light brown color which contrasted greatly with its body which was of yellow color. It looked like a small monkey had been transformed into this horror.
*Oi ! I know I wanted to level up quickly but still, enough is enough....That's what a sane person would have said in this situation, unfortunately for you I'm anything but sane!*
[ * Did Freya-sama really just call herself crazy? * ]
My eyes glowed with excitement and murderous desire, the thought of turning them into EXP and food made me salivate with envy. Although they were both technically superior, it wasn't enough to make me back down. However, I was not suicidal and I knew only too well that one mistake, no matter how insignificant, could lead to your death.
*I'm going to observe a little bit what's going on, I need to gather some information before I jump into the fray.*
As I stepped back slightly to make room for these two monsters, the snake began to slide across the ground at a speed that was not at all ordinary. Its tail split the air in an attempt to reach the spider, but it was already disappearing on the branch of a nearby tree. It wasn't called a "spider monkey" for nothing, judging by its statistics it outstripped both of us in agility. It was quite logical if we assume that it got its name from this particularity.
Suddenly, a thread came out of the back of its body to hinder the snake's movements, it was wriggling on the ground while twirling its tail cutting threads and some trees in the process.
The tree in which the ugly spider was located fell, letting it crash violently to the ground as it was hit and pinned by a branch.
[ Spider monkey - HP 734/800 ]
Immediately, taking advantage of this opening the reptile swung its tail and in a flash a blade could be seen cutting 3 legs off the spider.
[Spider monkey - HP 620/800 ]
Red with anger, the spider once again used its threads to restrain the snake. While he was busy cutting them off again, 3 ice spikes appeared above their respective heads (-60 MP) and shot down at the same time and with lightning speed on their restrained bodies. I had finally started to enter the fight after having gathered all the information I needed.
[ Spider monkey - HP 420/800 ]
Two spikes could be seen coming out of the abdomen of the insect, its blood was green, sticky and had a pungent smell. The high-pitched cries of suffering of the beast could be heard for miles around. Impaled on the ground by my spikes, the spider was desperately trying to get out of this situation as its blood flowed profusely causing it to lose precious HP with every passing second.
[ Sharp-tailed Snake - HP 400/600 ]
The snake was slightly luckier, hitting one of my spikes with his tail (breaking it in the process) he managed to dodge it and using his flexible body he only received an impact to the neck. He was luckier but his wound was still serious, his scales had been torn off and the skin was torn.
In the blink of an eye I had managed to turn the situation to my advantage without even moving a finger.
*Good! Now it's my turn! *
Keeping the spider at bay while making sure it didn't die before I got to it, I cautiously moved towards the still immobile snake. Not wanting to replicate what had happened with the rat, I conjured up 1 ice pick which I used to literally nail it in place before I got too close to it.
"Ssfffflffslfsssf"
Leaving him screaming in pain, I noticed that his HP had now dropped considerably.
[ Sharp-tailed snake - HP 200/600 ]
*Kufufufu! Saa..gēmu hajimemashou! (Well..let the game begin) ITADAKIMASUU!*
Still wearing that scary smile, I started to bite the snake while it was still alive. It had no bones and its scales were hard, but that was no big deal for my jaw which was small but very powerful. Activating the "bite" skill, I plunged my teeth into its viscera, making sure to tear them out with violence and cruelty. Seeing him struggling, suffering and helpless at my feet gave me this feeling of superiority that I couldn't even describe.
*That's it! Keep fighting, it will only increase my pleasure!*
Crunching again and again this body which was alive only according to my good will, I felt once more the shivers running down my spine. This feeling of cruel domination was divine!
On the ground lay the half eaten body of the snake. I then turned to the spider who, despite her diminished intelligence, knew what was going to happen to her. When I reached her, I decided to use another method. Since she had lost a lot of blood and was about to die, I opted for a more immediate death.
*I prefer to kill her quickly rather than let her bleed to death. Aaaah what a pity, you're lucky spider-san !*
Raising my left paw, I struck the hairy body of the monster without stopping. Flesh and blood could be seen flying in several directions and before I knew it she was a pile of unrecognizable mush.
-- PING --
[Congratulations! The host has killed two higher level monsters +300 XP ]
[ You killed a lvl 4 Sharp-tailed snake ]
[ You gain 1300 EXP ]
[ Condition met to advance to next level (4) ]
[ Condition met to advance to next level (5) ]
[ Condition met to advance to next level (6) ]
[ You have killed lvl 6 spider monkey ]
[ You gain 2700 EXP ]
[ Condition met to advance to next level (7) ]
[Condition met to advance to next level (8) ]
[ Condition met to advance to next level (9) ]
[ Condition met to advance to next level (10) ]
The notifications just kept popping up one after another, but it was the last one that made me smile.
[The host is currently on level 10 - Would you like to evolve? ]
[ YES/NO ]
___________
N/A: There is no Freya status at the end because she has not yet seen all the important changes that have happened. All the notifications are not shown, this is only a part of it. If you want to know, you will find out in the next chapter ;)