The fluttering of wings can be heard within the cavern. Rin is busy searching for monsters. Now that she has a wide variety of skills, she is now on the move to earn herself some precious experience points. She used her sonar skills to scout the area. A high-pitched clicking sound can be heard, bouncing off the surroundings before returning to her. In an instant, in her mind, she can see a picturesque layout of the area in black and white lines.
"Ohhhh! This 「Sonar」skill sure is handy! No need for a flashlight with this bad boy," she said. She spammed the skill until she finally saw something move from behind one of the stalagmites.
"Ohh! The first prey of the mighty [Vampire Progenitor]. You should feel honored, little mousey," she said.
Using her 「Shadow Manipulation」skill, she transferred her consciousness into the realm of the shadows, then made herself reappear behind the mouse. Surprised by her sudden appearance, the mouse can only let out a squeal as Rin used her 「Poison Fang」on it. After receiving the attack, the mouse managed to slip away from her. But Rin has no need to pursue it because the notification just now told her that the mouse was inflicted by the [Poison] Status ailment.
"Now, now. Look's like I'll have a mouse to track," she said. All of a sudden, her vision turned black and white all of a sudden. Within this monochrome-colored world, she could vividly see trails of red, perhaps blood, from the wounded mouse.
"Oh? This might be the effects of the「Blood Seeker」skill that I've got. Very handy indeed," she then followed the path like a detective looking for clues. In just a few moments, she found the mouse, writhing in pain as the poison quickly make work of its small body.
"「Poison Fang」 might be an overkill after all," she said as she looked at her prey. "Okay, time to end your misery, little one".
With a single bite on its neck, the mouse breathed its last. Soon after, a notification popped out.
[You have slain a [Cave Rat (small)]
[Gained 5 EXP]
[Remaining EXP = 45 PTS]
"Nice! Just need to hunt 9 more of these things! But first, time to use 「Pick Pocket」skill!"
The familiar dice appeared in front of her. After choosing, she was once again lucky enough to guess it right. She immediately used it on the mouse. She repeated the entire process until the system said that all the target's valuables are already plundered.
"Is that it? Well, time to check the spoils of my hunt,"
[Cave Rat Fur x 1]
[Cave Rat Fangs x 2]
[Cave Rat Bones x 10]
[Cave Rat Tail x 5]
[Stat Points = 2pts]
Obtained skill [Escape]
Obtained skill [Detect Heat]
Obtained skill [Dig]
"Ohhhh! New skills, and two STAT points! Now, these will go to LUC"
Notice: 「LUC」= 2 (+2)
"Sweet! Now 「Pick Pocket 」will have a higher success rate.
Rin started to furiously hunt for these rat-type monsters. Cave rats breed quickly, so there is a multitude of them inside the cave. Rin wasn't stopping until she can get her hands on all those precious EXPs.
"Wait, will I mess up the ecosystem in this cave if I take out all of them?" she asked herself that question as she was now on her hundredth rat hunted.
"Guess I'll stop at the next level up then,"
After hunting a multitude of cave rat monsters, Rin finally reached level 5.
"Whew! Finally, halfway through my first evolution!" she said as she swiped the sweat off her face, or she would if it weren't covered with fur She checked her status.
「STATUS」
「STR」= 5 「STM」= 5 「LUC」= 20 (+15)
「INT」= 5 「MP」= 5 「CHRM」= 5
「AGI」= 5 「HP」= 5 「SPD」= 5
REMAINING STAT POINTS = 0
"If it weren't for my 「Pick Pocket」skill, I would only be able to get 1 stat point per level. But, what a bummer. The other stats only increase by 1 point each level!" she said as she looked at her STR and STM, together with the other skills.
She decided to broaden her hunting area. She went further inside the cave system, eventually reaching an area where there is a puddle of water. Peeking through it, she can see small fishes as they wade through the clear water surface. As typical of cave fishes, they are either blind or can only faintly detect the faintest of light in the cave. Thanks to her skill [Light Hypersensitivity] and [Sonar], Rin was able to effortlessly make her way inside the caves.
"Fish, huh? Are they considered monsters?" she asked. Ung her clawed feet, she dove down and scooped up one of the fishes. With a bite to its neck, the fish moved a few times before finally taking its last breath.
[You have slain a [Cave Fish (small)]
[Gained 1 EXP]
[Remaining EXP = 99 PTS]
"Oh? So even fish would grant me EXP? Such joy!"
Learning this, she started harvesting as many of those fish as she can. Soon after, she has a mountain of fish with her.
"Oops! Didn't expect to catch that many. Oh well, at least I've gained a level from it,"
「STATUS」
「STR」= 6 「STM」= 6 「LUC」= 35 (+1)
「INT」= 6 「MP」= 6 「CHRM」= 6
「AGI」= 6 「HP」= 6 「SPD」= 6
REMAINING STAT POINTS = 0
"Now then, I don't have any other option than to eat this, right?" she pondered as she looked at the number of fish she caught. "I don't know if this will fit in my inventory, oh! It did, so convenient!"
She checked her inventory and saw that the fish are indeed stored within. Seeing the multitude of fish made her feel hungry, so she took out one of the fish from her inventory.
"I don't suppose that fishes have skills too, right?" she said. But her gamer instincts are telling her to try her「Pick Pocket」skill on the fish.
"Here goes nothing!"
Her gamer instincts won over, making her use her skill on the fish.
Obtained skill [Aquatic]
Obtained skill [Detect Water]
Obtained skill [Scaled One]
"What? So even fishes have these skills? Then that means-"
Rin started taking out all of the fish from her inventory one by one. It took her about 6 hours to completely exhaust the valuables from the targets, but the harvest was worth it.
Obtained skill [One with Water]
Obtained skill [Fish Skin]
Obtained skill [Create Water]
Obtained skill [Slippery Skin]
Unlocked Title [Master Angler]