Her gown that was originally golden was now dazzlingly smeared in red, as she danced cheerfully.
Shimmering in the infernal lights of red and orange, as well as the putrid stench of blood.
Warm and red liquid stuck on her long spear, as she smiled gracefully.
Showing her absolute dominance.
"You all deserve this.", she spoke calmly. "You lack etiquette for guests."
With every word, her sinister yet so elegant pressure penetrated even the toughest of hearts.
With every stab, her crimson hair became redder and stickier.
Her fairly white skin was bloodstained, covering all over her body.
The gleam of her eyes reflected deep hatred and loneliness, burning with madness and cruelty.
The shrieks of the people she mercilessly stabbed was considered a music to her ears, making her more and more eager to unleash her ferocity.
"This is surprisingly fun."
Countless lifeless bodies were piling up like a small hill, and on there, she stood proudly.
A symbol of Death itself.
"Humans are also a source of EXP, huh?", she mumbled as if she was talking to herself while touching her glistening lips.
Nobody would believe that a single little girl was the center of all this chaos.
"The Little Demon Queen…"
A middle-aged man with a beard and scary face was kneeling down not far from there, breaking down so hard.
His bulky and masculine stature was in contrast to what he was doing.
He was crying like a baby, and his face was covered in sweat and snot.
His body clad in heavy armors made of metal was shaking tremendously.
He pissed himself.
The girl with the spear slowly walked and stopped right in front of him.
"Noblesse obligé.", the girl with the spear bent over slightly and whispered to his left ear. "I only did what I was supposed to do."
The man stared at her bloodstained face, dumbfounded. He could only stare, without the bravery to even reply properly. His face was full of fear and agony.
"This is the reason why humanity never learns. Your foolishness is beyond saving.", the girl with the spear spoke again while walking away. "Well, I guess it's useless to tell you that now."
She dragged the man by his beard and approached the pile of corpses and smiled widely, ignoring the man's shrieks and pleas.
"Devour."
Chomp! And all the corpses vanished without any trace, along with the ground under them, as well as the man she was dragging.
"Thanks for the food."
***
[What are you waiting for? You are going to waste your chance.]
"Shhh! Shut up, Dea! Don't ruin my concentration!", I grunted.
I squinted my eyes to get a better vision. About 20 meters in front of me, an Imp was idling casually. It did not seem to realize that I was also there. Well, I was hiding behind a boulder though.
"Weaponize: Talons.", I whispered.
A moment later, the chains on my right hand reacted. No matter how many times I saw this, I still couldn't get used to it. In a matter of mere milliseconds, a dark red haze oozed from my body. The haze liquified and spread to my fingers, forming 5 claws on top of each of my fingers. It then hardened right after. Those claws were around 15 centimeters long each and crudely formed, but at the moment that was the best I could afford.
"Here goes nothing…"
I readied myself to launch a surprise attack. And I leaped off, carrying my body's weight as the surplus force. In my past life, I had done this kind of thing numerous times. This method, by far, was the most efficient way to unleash the utmost potential of a human body.
"Urgh…!!! Take this!"
The burden was too much for a child's body to handle, but I knew that nothing would occur if I were to do nothing and just rot away like a certain man in the past. I knew it too well and it saddened me a little bit.
"Kiiiiiiiieeeekk!"
By the time my claws made contact with its skin, the Imp shrieked loudly, indicating that it felt the pain of being pierced right at the back of its head. It then struggled for the last time before it went limp and died.
[Congratulations for achieving your first kill. You have been awarded with 5 stat points.]
"Damn it! I never knew a child's body was this fragile.", I complained. "My hand hurts… Urgh…"
I laid my body down beside the Imp's remains, ignoring that its blood might flow to me.
[How do you want me to distribute your stat points?]
Dea asked me for my confirmation.
"Nah. I'll do it later.", I voiced my disagreement. "By the way, can you unseal [Devour]?"
[Unsealing the skill: [Devour]. Unsealing complete.]
"Thanks, Dea."
[...]
She did not reply. What happened?
[I never expected to be thanked…]
Huh?
[Especially by you.]
"Is it that strange for me to have a normal conversation like before?!", I shouted and raised my body to sit. "Anyway, should I gobble this little shit?"
[I suggest you use [Appraisal] first.]
"Oh! I completely forgot! Appraisal!"
[Imp (Dead). Level: 3. Habitat: Abyss 1st-13th floor.]
Yep, I raised my [Appraisal] to level 3. It was so stressful to look at the pile of stones while shouting all the time. Could you imagine that? But the struggle was definitely worth it. I was getting more and more information from a single use of the skill.
"Now I can gobble the remains, right?"
[Of course.]
"Devour!"
Chomp! The Imp's remains were swallowed by the dark red haze that formed something like a jaw. It was like seeing a big and scary jaw coming out from my shadow.
[You acquired Thin Black leathers x2. Stored automatically.]
As I thought, monsters dropped their materials. It was a gamble whether it was true or not since I accidentally devoured the ground and got some metal ores from it.
[You have gained 3 EXP. EXP needed until level up: 3/10.]
…
"Dea…", I called.
[Yes?]
"Do I need to kill 3 more of that little shit just to level up to 2?"
[Correct. The EXP requirement also doubles right after.]
"..."
[Just as the same as how you level up your skills.]
"Are you fucking with me?! 4 of those little shits just to level up to 2?!", I screamed as loud as I could.
[Correct.]
Damn, I lost all my hopes. I really thought it was easier to level up since my status only stated that I had to level up 29 times until max.
[The lowest rank of Asuras, Imp, only provides 3 EXP. The amount of EXP you get depends on the level of your target. The higher the level, the more EXP you will get.]
"Are you telling me to hunt stronger monsters?"
[If possible, yes. You will grow faster that way.]
"How could I hunt stronger monsters if I struggled to even kill a garbage tier one?!"
[I am not forcing you to do it soon. I only provided advice. The decision is up to you.]
"Urk…"
It was frustrating to know that I wasn't strong enough to kill higher tier monsters. The time was ticking and I got stuck at that point. Then, I remembered Dea said something about stat points.
"How many stat points will I get from leveling up? 5?"
[Correct. You will get 5 stat points from leveling up, 5 stat points from new achievement, and 10 from special tasks.]
Hmm… Getting stat points was much easier than leveling up, that was what I thought.
[Negative. Leveling up still provides better results.]
"Then what should I do?"
[I suggest you distribute your stat points now.]
"How many do I have?"
[Currently you have 5 stat points from the achievement earlier.]
It wasn't much but well, it was better than nothing.
[Adding 1 point to STR will increase your physical prowess by 2%. Adding 1 point to AGI, INT, DEX, and VIT also increases their prowess by the same amount.]
"I see… For now my strength is enough to hunt small monsters, the problem is my stamina.", I placed my hand on my chin. "What does AGI do?"
[AGI stands for your agility. Raising it will provide you with more speed you can accommodate.]
"Hmm… Don't tell me INT actually affects my intelligence?!"
[INT does not work that way…]
"Okaaay… I'm listening."
[It only affects your base MP pool, as well as raises your MP's recovery rate.]
I squinted my eyes again. There was a term I didn't understand after listening to Dea's explanation. She then explained again before I could even ask.
[If you are asking about what MP is, it refers to Mana Point. Using a skill will cost you a portion of your MP.]
"I don't even know what mana is.", I shook my head gently. "As long as I can use my skills, that's good enough."
[You are definitely going to regret neglecting this…]
At that time, I still didn't know that my ignorance would bite me right in the ass.
"How about DEX and VIT?"
[DEX determines your versatility in utilizing your skills and weapons.]
She stopped for a bit.
[VIT affects your vitality, as well as your stamina. It will also increase your HP and SP's recovery rate.]
I found the answer I was looking for. But before that, there was still a stat that hadn't been explained yet.
[LUK works specifically. It increases your luck to a certain point.]
"That's useless if I can't hunt anything, right?"
[Indeed.]
Okay, everything was sorted out nicely.
"I've decided. Put 3 points on VIT, and the rest on STR."
[Affirmative.]
I clenched my fists and readied myself for the next hunt.
"Let's start the grind."
*Farenna's newest status:
————————————
{{{ Status }}}
————————————
Name : Farenna
Gender : Female
Age : 8 y.o
Race : Lv. 1/30 Blood Nymph
Status : Sealed
————————————
Sync. Rate: 10.01%
————————————
HP : 200/200 MP: 90/100
SP : 15/70
————————————
STR: 12 (↑ 2 Up) LUK: 5
AGI : 15 DEX: 10
INT : 12 VIT : 23 (↑ 3 Up)
Unallocated pts: 0
————————————
Equipments:
· Headgear : None
· Armor : Rough Golden Gown (Rare)
· Torso : None
· Feet : None
· Misc. : Sealing Chains of Hell (EX)
————————————
Skills:
· Appraisal Lv. 3 (↑ 1 Lv. Up)
· Devour (EX)
· Bona Dea (Unique)
· Crafting Lv. 1
· Weaving Lv. 1
· Weaponize Lv. 1
————————————
Blessings:
· Blessing of Purity & Chastity
· Blessing of Growth (Inherited)
————————————
Curses: None
————————————
Titles:
· Regressor
· Goddess' Apostle
· Rotten to the Bone
————————————