Redd didn't understand what had just happened. It was just so sudden and unexpected. Seeing blood accumulating in the air and then floating toward him before forming a ball there was such an outlandish sight that he was almost tempted to believe it wasn't real.
But, everything was as real as they could get.
"This is… magic." He murmured as he looked at his hand with an amazed look.
Then, his eyes shifted to the dead rabbit. The animal's outer appearance had changed. Its body withered away as if it was a dead flower and its skin turned greyish in color as if it lost its color. He had completely extracted all the blood inside of it.
"So that's the effect of absorbing its blood essence?" Thinking to himself, Redd noted down everything he discovered till this point in his head.
Then, his eyes looked up again as he heard a rustle coming from his left. There, a group of rabbits appeared out of there, jumping around idly. Redd stood there silently for a second before a wide grin appeared on his face.
"Time to hunt." He murmured to himself.
***
For the next 15 minutes or so, Redd chased rabbits around, hunting them down. Since he lost the element of surprise, it was noticeably harder that by the time the 15 minutes passed, he only hunted down 2 rabbits.
Both of them gave him 2 exp points and 2 status points, one for strength and one for healing. The numbers didn't seem to change that much even after hunting multiple rabbits.
Luckily, he was able to level up to level 2 and gain 2 more free points, making the total number 4.
"Hng!" With a low grunt, Redd jumped on a rabbit, grabbing it by the back before he swiftly delivered a killing blow. However, the notification he expected to see didn't appear.
"Hm? Why didn't I get anything for killing this one? Did the Hunter's Dream break?" He murmured. "OOOI, are you there? Or, maybe…." Thinking for a moment, he looked up before he chased after another rabbit and killed it.
No notification appeared this time either.
"Oh, so killing these things does indeed not provide me with points anymore. I guess that eliminates any possible way for me to keep hunting rabbits till I get stronger." Standing there, rather disappointed, Redd suddenly heard another rustle of the bushes around him. This time, it came from all directions.
"Hm?" Redd looked around him with a confused look.
A second later, he heard the sound of multiple creatures grumbling before they finally showed themselves.
"Oh, look who we have here. The 3 grey idiots." Redd said with a smile as he looked at the group of wolves glaring at him.
These three wolves were giant in size, almost as tall as Redd, and with a ferocious look on their faces. Their saliva was dripping profusely.
The reason for their especially angry expressions was the history they had with Redd. For the past few years, Redd had fought against these particular three a lot. He would approach them, then fight them ferociously for hours until he was completely riddled with injuries before he left.
Somehow, they were never able to capture him and eat him and Redd was never able to kill them either. However, the sheer number of injuries he left on their bodies was huge.
In their eyes, Redd was an enemy that should be killed. But, in Redd's eyes, they were just 'The 3 grey idiots'.
However, it seemed that this encounter was different from before.
As the three wolves surrounded the boy, another group of wolves appeared out of nowhere, turning their number into 7 wolves instead of 3.
"Hey! That's unfair! Did you call for help from another pack of wolves? How low can you go?" Redd asked with a disappointed look.
"Grrrr!!!" The wolves growled at him menacingly.
"Oh well. I was searching for a good challenge and you guys seem to be the lucky ones." Grinning, Redd punched the palm of his hand.
The moment he did that, one of the wolves dashed toward him at top speed before it jumped in the air with its mouth opened widely, ready to bite a chunk of Redd's flash upon contact.
The latter however quickly dodged the attack with a careful sidestep before sending a flying punch aimed at the wolf's side.
"Grrr!!" A loud groan of pain escaped from the wolf's mouth as it fell to the ground.
'My strength did increase a little amount.' He thought to himself.
As Redd stood there, two wolves lunged at him at the same time. Redd smiled before he crouched down, letting the two wolves hit each other. Then, as he was about to counterattack, Redd's eyes caught a glimpse of the wolf he just hit close the distance between them before it bit his leg.
Redd's face frowned as he felt intense pain coming from his leg.
"Bad wolf!"
*BONK*
Using his fist, Redd hit the wild beast on the skull, releasing its grip. Blood immediately gushed out from his leg. If he had been a little late, the wolf would've chopped his leg off.
At the same time, another two wolves attacked Redd. One bit his left arm and the other bit his shoulder.
"Hey!!" Clenching his teeth, Redd shook the left one away before he grabbed the other's wolf's mouth. Then, he quickly pulled out his knife and stabbed it right into the animal's left eye.
A loud screech escaped the wolf's mouth as it fell down, twisting and turning. Taking that opportunity, Redd jumped back, creating distance between him and the rest of the wolves.
"Hah… Hah… Hah…" Redd's clothes were completely coated in blood. His injuries were deep and the pain he was feeling was very strong. But, instead of feeling fear, he instead grinned widely.
"You guys… Are too annoying!" His eyes shone with an excited look before he took a fighting stance with the knife in his hand.
"Fine, I will take you all at the same time. Come at me, idiots."
The wolves growled before they attacked him. Redd took a deep breath before he dashed forward, then he quickly slashed down, aiming his knife at the first wolf that approached him. The knife easily sliced through the creature's nose, severing it in half.
Then, he quickly pulled the knife and pierced the monster's eye, penetrating its brain in one swift motion. As a result of years of skinning monsters, Redd learned to skillfully wield a knife and even use it in fighting.
[Ding!]
[You have killed a level 3 wolf.]
[You have gained 4 exp.]
[You have gained +2 strength, +1 agility.]
[Ding!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have gained +2 free points to allocate freely.]
'Not now! I'm fighting for my life right here!' Redd clenched his teeth as he found the sharp teeth of a wolf biting into his side. Using the knife, he pierced the animal's ear.
At the same time, another wolf attacked him which actually failed this time. Redd's speed and reflexes were able to cope along, shocking the wolves.
'My speed and strength increased…' Feeling the strength rushing through his body, Redd's smile widened even more. That feeling was just pure bliss! It was as if life was being pumped straight into his veins with each power-up he got.
"This is getting more and more fun!" Looking at the four wolves that halted their attacks for a second.
"Come on, let's continue. Or… Are you scared?"
In his bloodied state and his toothy grin, Redd seemed to appear like a scary monster to the wolves. Ironically enough, the prey had suddenly turned into the predator out of nowhere.