Kim had been paying attention to the leaderboard all day, of course, he wouldn't miss the sudden growth of kills she gained. He wasn't entirely sure if killing other humans counted as a kill, but with the disappearance of all her squadmates and a coincidental number match, Kim was too skeptical to disregard it.
She blankly stared at Kim, motionless. Eventually, under Kim's intimidating eyes, she opened her mouth. "They tried taking advantage of me when I was sleeping. Being alone at the start, I was able to amass more XP than all of them, and that allowed me to be two levels ahead of all of them and I gained my first skill called "Eyes". It served as an overall boost to my eyes, allowing me to see farther, observe clearer, and perceive things slower, therefore heightening my reaction times. And they decided to try and rape me when I was level 7; The highest of them being 4.
And well, they couldn't hit me, but I could hit them. After killing them all, I got XP worth 3 wolf kills for a single one. With 4 kills, I was able to get level 9, then after a few kills I got to level 10 which let me unlock "Track". It's basically tracking prints and all that stuff."
Kim was astounded; Not only was she able to fight off four men, regardless of the surprising level. Not to forget, she was now level 10, making her have two skills. In a head-to-head fight, Kim would probably lose. "I'm sorry for that, Angelina. At least that clears it out of the way." He nervously said, trying to dismiss it. The two sat in silence, very awkward silence. "Ima go to sleep. I haven't slept in nearly 10 hours and it's tiring." Angelina suddenly said. Kim nodded, "Alright, I'll be watching over." Angelina smiled and dozed off.
***
A few hours later, the squad of now four traveled through the forest, hunting wolves which now came in packs. However, everyone was competent and strong. They were all capable enough to battle three wolves alone and win a great feat. "Should we just move on? These wolves almost pose no challenge, and I'm not getting enough XP... I'm so close to level 10!" Apollo exclaimed, shouting. Kim himself was very, very close to Level 10, only being 3 kills off. However, just like them, everyone else hunted all the wolves, barely leaving any in such a vast forest.
"Yeah, I was thinking the same. I think it's time we fight stronger monsters." Kim stated, protracting his nails.
"I'm also guessing their blood doesn't give you any more stats?" Apollo asked. Angelina's ears perked, while Kim stood in silence.
"I-I just realized... I forgot to drink the Imp's blood." He said voice rid of emotions.
Ana and Apollo stared at him, unmoving. A few seconds later, a small chuckle slipped through Apollo's lips before he erupted into a full laugh. "Y-You dumbass!" Ana too, laughed, and Kim berated himself for missing such a chance. Angelina, however, was confused and stood alone.
"W-What are you guys talking about?" She asked.
The group started laughing, with only a few giggles coming afterward. "My class, it allows me to get stronger from drinking blood. If it wasn't obvious from my red eyes, sharp nails, and fangs, I'm a vampire. Luckily, I don't burn... Yet." Angelina was amazed, vampires were always a myth for her, but meeting one in real life was amazing. "Wait wait, is Ana one too?"
Ana nodded, "He had to turn me after a fight with a monster, or I would've died." She said in a happy tone, still grateful for what Kim did.
Lewd images of a vampire and someone he turned entered Angelina's mind, causing her to blush and cough. 'Seem's like all those movies might come true.' She inwardly thought to herself. "Well, I say it's time we move deeper into the forest, agreed?" The other three nodded in agreement and began walking in a different direction.
After a few minutes, they entered the same area where Apollo and Kim fought the Imp, although it was a bit different now. Monsters of different types roamed around, some seemed on guard, while others were like wolves. 'They appeared after we killed the Imp... Maybe they were scared of him?' Kim said in his mind. He didn't care that much, but any information was helpful.
"Now we pick. Do we hunt the terrifying ass scorpions, the weird-looking humanoid monsters with scary faces and sharp claws and teeth that look like hunger-deprived humans, or the scary-looking unicorns?" He jokingly asked, peeking at them through a tree. "I don't have a preference, let's just hunt whatever comes at us." Apollo truthfully said. Kim nodded and began walking.
They ventured throughout the forest, eventually coming upon a 'ford', the monster they decided to give a name to until they learn it was a real name.
The monster suddenly was clueless. It slowly walked past trees, skimming its nails on the tough bark. It was tall and lanky, pasty skin with a perfectly round head. Its eyes were equally as round, straight black eyes with no color whatsoever. "It looks like a monster straight from a movie," Angelina commented on the body of the monster. "Not too far off, let's kill it."
Immediately, loud footsteps were heard and the creature turned around, releasing a loud shriek as two humans dashed toward it.
Kim ran forward with his nails, Apollo equipped his silver sword that had a white fire shrouding it. After upgrading his mana, he was now able to hold it for a full two minutes before his mana depleted, double the duration he was recently able to sustain.
The creature dashed back at them, swiping its claw downwards, only slashing empty air. Apollo side-stepped the attack, pulling his sword back before slashing it at the hip of the eight-foot creature, cutting straight through. "Its skin is weak, it also can't regenerate or anything like that," Apollo called out to Kim who nodded in acknowledgment.
Kim slashed at the other leg, only leaving a two-inch cut. While his nails were sharper than Apollo's sword and Ana's dagger, his nails weren't long enough to cut an entire limb off. However, the damage the cut left caused the beast to collapse, both of its legs unusable.
With ease, Apollo slashed the head off the beast, leaving an empty body of a monster. "It has no blood... Unfortunate." Kim sighed, reverting his hands back to normal. Luckily he did get something out of it as the notification he's been waiting for popped up.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked a new skill type: Passive!]
[You have reached level 10! Skill selection coming up shortly!]
"Hey, come here!' Kim quietly shouted. The four joined hands as Kim's skill options popped up.
[Shootable blood]
[Rarity: Gold]
[Type: Normal]
[Be able to shoot out a sharp line of blood out of your nails with blood stored within them.]
[Unlocks: Storage]
--
[Blood burst]
[Rarity: Ruby]
[Type: Normal]
[Conjure a small orb of blood that combusts as your will!]
[Unlocks: Storage]
--
[Level 0. Blood control]
[Rarity: EX]
[Type: Control]
[Allows you to control blood like magic, while you also keep your other affinity!]
[Unlocks: Storage]
The three stood in silence. "An E-EX skill? And based on what I'm reading... You'll be able to control blood while keeping your other affinity... I-I know what it means but this is insane..." Apollo non-stop stuttered as he described the skill.
"What did I do to deserve such a skill," Kim said with a wicked smirk.
[Blood Control chose!]
[Storage granted!]
[0/5L,]
"Heh... I don't think anyone will be a match for me now." He cockily stated, his hand even trembling at the thought of his newly achieved power. "I better get a skill like that," Apollo stated in defeat, knowing well that it was unlikely.
"I need blood... Anyone willing to donate?" He jokingly said, bearing his fangs which made Angelina squeal. The group laughed before they returned to hunting.
"Aha... I got one skill and it allows me to shoot a line of light out of my sword and apparently it's sharp as fuck." Apollo said.
They just finished fighting an orc, most of which was no challenge. Some, surprisingly, were able to somewhat match them, but were defeated quickly. "That's good, but I do have to say the monsters seem to get as strong as time goes on, or the deeper we go into the forest."
Apollo sighed, "Let me have my minute of glory, y'know?" Kim nervously chuckled and apologized.
"Let me try this out," Apollo said with a grin, holding his sword in front of him. With a single deep breath, his entire demeanor changed from the happy kid to a serious soldier, his eyes narrowing. "HYYAH!" Slashing his sword, a dull crescent shape of white light shot out in the arc he swung his sword on, quickly traveling to the tree Apollo aimed at.
Far from what they expected, the slash cut through the tree, nearly cutting through another one before finally dissipating into the air. "Wow... That's really strong Apollo. But of course, not as strong as mine." He taunted, conjuring a small hammer of blood which he struck against a tree, causing the bark to explode into smithereens. "Yeah, whatever." He said with a puff. "Im just foolin', your attack is deadlier. It's faster than mine, I'm not at the level where I can make it as sharp as a blade." He admitted in defeat, releasing the blood hammer back into his storage.
[1.6/5L]
'More and more I'm becoming like my favorite MC...'
"Oi! There's an orc!" Apollo called out, pointing to Kim's right with his sword. Turning his head, there was an orc but with an odd twist. Besides the typical green color, the skin of this orc was a light red, coupled with yellow pupils. "That's surely different," Kim commented, surprised. He peeked at his stats, which after a long day of hunting new monsters that gave him blood he has not consumed, his stats have taken a big jump compared to the fight against the Imp.
[Strength - 34 (Mid-F) | Dexterity - 40 (Mid-F) | Stamina - 17 (Mid-F) | Magic - 15 (Mid-F) | Mana - 14 (Mid-F)]
'It sucks that there're no beasts with magic, I have to upgrade my magic stats using my stat points... But it's not that big of a deal, my other stat's can upgrade by drinking blood.'
The orc stepped closer, faint thumps reverberated from its large feet. "It's slow," Apollo said, the group of 4 standing there as the Orc inched closer. "Sigh... I'll go kill it," Kim stated.
Zipping forward, he arrived right in front of the belly of the Orc, already stabbing his hand forward. However, from the corner of his eye was a black object rapidly closing the distance between the two.
"Heup!"
Bending backward, he barely managed to evade an arrow with a black-colored tip that pierced through a tree. There's no doubt that if it hit Kim, he would've died nearly instantly.
Without pause, a gigantic spiked bat swung down on Kim, but with quick thinking, he used his skill to evade and attack simultaneously.
[Slicing Dash]
The orc couldn't keep up, Kim's speed was simply unmatchable, even to his squadmates. A cut the same length as his nails were left on the hip of the towering beast, causing it to release an ear-piercing shriek. Behind Kim, Apollo and Ana dashed forward, with the swordsman going after the archer from the trees.
Angelina stood in the back, utilizing the bushes as cover as she stepped over to the blind spot of the beast, pulling back the string of her bow as she aimed up for her shot. Kim dashed backwards, dodging the bat which released strong winds which caused Kim's shirt to flap in the air. 'I don't think I'll die but that is some strong ass attacks.' He nervously remarked in his head.
ZIP!
A wooden blur struck the big beast, piercing through its arm before halting within, a green liquid dripping down from the limb.
'Nice!'
The beast, enraged, ripped out the arrow, crushing it in its hands. It turned its head to Angelina who crouched behind a bush, drawing her next arrow. With crimson eyes and a snarl, the beast erupted into a full-force sprint at Angelina, the speed that Kim could only match with his slicing dash skill. A look of panic enveloped Angelina's face as the beast ran forward, already closing half the distance.
Kim was behind the beast, looking at its hunky form sprinting over to Angelina, who in short, would barely be able to match the Orc. Similar to Ana, the class wasn't outright offensive, so attacking head-on would be greatly difficult. Even if she was the highest level, stat's before the tutorial played a part in your strength. So despite her being 2 levels higher than Kim, she still had lower physical stats, and Kim was having a rough time fighting the Orc.
Kim was baffled still. The speed of the orc wasn't that great beforehand, but all of a sudden it's faster than Kim normally? His eyes slightly narrowed, clenching his jaw.
'Don't tell me this has a berserk skill!'