"Hey! Did you just piss in the tent?!" Leon yelled as the little floof in front of him hung her head down.
It had been 3 days now since the fight with the Giant Deer and his not-so-fun fateful encounter with the intelligent wolf pup. During that time, he learned a ton and his brain hurt just as much. He still had many questions about what all happened but probably the easiest one, was the pee-er in front of him.
"You pee outside when you have to go, Kona. The tent is for sleeping." Leon crossed his arms like a scolding parent.
He practically was if you thought about it. Kona, the name he gave for the wolf pup, had an incredibly high intelligence stat for a regular animal. She was named after a dog his grandpa once had and was shocked to find this fluffball had an E rank intelligence stat at level 1!
This pup was smarter than most humans right now!!!
The only issue was that is was still incredibly young, with the mindset of a toddler or pre-teen, otherwise it might be smarter than him as well.
*woo* *woo*
The pup made some depressing woos as it looked up at its master with puppy dog eyes.
"Don't look at me like that, I have no sympathy for you. If you're gonna do something like that again you can fend for yourself."
The pup whined as it looked like tears were going to fall down its face any moment. It had nowhere else to go and the likelihood of it surviving on its own was low. Even with such a high intelligence stat, she had all Fs across the board, most likely with only 1 stat point in each while her mana was also a measly 1.
She couldn't do anything for herself but that was normal considering how young she was. But Leon still didn't like that. There was no such thing as a free meal, especially now that the world had gone to shit.
"You better hope you gain stats from eating meat otherwise you won't live for much longer." Leon said as he went to sit on his log after cleaning up her accident.
Kona looked depressed for a while before sticking out her chest, trying to pump herself up. She went over to a cross section of a log that was on the ground across from Leon where a big piece of meat was lying.
The block of wood was only a few centimeters thick, making it relatively easy for her to get up on it but the large amount of meat was an issue. She had only just barely begun starting to eat solid foods, but now that was all she was able to eat.
There was no more mother's milk and thinking of her mother made her sad, but luckily her mother's soul was now imbedded into the thin wood block so she could lay with it whenever. As the pup attempted to eat the meat and hope to gain stats, Leon began repairing some of his gear while thinking of all of the things that happened over the last couple days.
It was currently day 8 of the end of the world and the last day of the Main Quest. In a few hours once it hit midnight, he would get another system message and the ability to get an F rank item and skill, as well as an E rank item or skill.
The answer to the mystery behind the hidden quest was the Giant Deer he fought.
*ding!* [You have slain the Boss monster: Deer King (E)! You have gained +60exp!]
*ding!* [You have accomplished an impossible feat for your rank! You will receive a special reward (E) x1!]
*ding!*[You have leveled up!]
{ Deer King (E)
lvl: 10 / exp (0/1750)
titles: Ruler of the Forest
stats:
Health (E)
Attack (E)
Defense (E)
Speed (F)
Intelligence (E)
Mana 50/50
skills:
rubber neck (F)
King's Roar (E) }
By killing the boss monster, Leon was able to figure out what that hidden quest was and complete it. During the fight he knew it was much stronger than he was but didn't end up putting two and two together until he got back and looked at all his messages.
There were just so many things going on that all interconnected with each other and it all started after coming across this Boss monster. From the knowledge he gained, he knew boss monsters existed.
They were beings that had a much higher level of strength within their own rank. They were able to exhibit powers beyond what other creatures in its area could ever reach, giving it free reign of said area. They were like some sort of warden that guarded a specific region and killing them was usually much harder to do than a similar monster of that rank but the rewards were very generous.
He had no idea a boss monster was so close to him but meeting it now, when every living thing was still trying to grow was the best outcome.
By beating the beast, he got that hidden reward as well as one of its super tough antlers that was an E rank item. He couldn't work with it now, as it was too tough for him to use his skills effectively on, but hopefully by ranking up his crafting skills he could make something good out of it in the future.
Another thing that really shook him was due to a strange skill that suddenly appeared, consuming the boss monster entirely and gifting him the B rank skill Bone Overgrowth. Even for a B rank skill, it was severely overpowering in his mind when used right. It was a matter of timing but if he got it down, he could literally become Unstoppable, as the attached skill said.
But how did he even get that skill in the first place? A shiver ran down his spine as he recalled the eerie message attached to the skill.
<
It was in the same jumble of letters, numbers, and symbols but he for some reason understood what it said. He was being watched, but by who? Was it a God-like being or was it some part of the Universal Law? And why call him brother? Leon was an only child so there was no blood related brother he knew about.
He did have some 'brothers' from his military days but most of them were dead or crippled and most importantly, human. There was no way it was any of them so who was it? It also didn't make it any more comfortable for him when it also told him not to die.
It was stating the obvious but it felt like there was meaning behind it.
He did find out though, that this Bone Overgrowth was related to a title called <
{ <
- { Thrill of the Hunt }: When you mark a living being as your Prey, you will do anything it takes to kill and devour them. Causes a 50% stat reduction to your Prey, that slowly lets up the longer you take to kill. You are able to sense where your Prey is at all times, regardless of distance.
- { Prey Marker }: By calling out that a living being is your Prey, they are marked for life and feel as if someone is watching them at all times. This effect can only be removed when you, the Predator kill your prey, or are killed yourself.
- { Skill Steal}: Once your Prey has been killed and consumed, you can steal a skill attached to its soul to use as your own. }
The title came with several effects that worked well together, the only issue was that this was not something the Universal Law recognized. According to the brat, this title and the bone Overgrowth skill were both new. There were no predecessors for him and the system couldn't even read the portions that had the strange language he seemed to instinctively understand.
It was also because of this <
How he ended up getting a B rank skill out of an E rank monster, he had no clue. It was all very mysterious and spooky but he could honestly care less as long as it didn't affect his life right now.
Other than the mysterious things that happened during the fight, he also learned a bunch of new skills and titles, some he liked but several he was not very fond of as they seemed to be very self-sacrificial.