"Mark, what happened out there?" Leo couldn't contain his curiosity anymore and asked.
For him to have this much of an increase in stats, he had to fight at least twenty beasts or a pretty strong monster.
"Let it go; you know I won't talk... You seem okay. Where is Anne?" Mark ignored Leo's questions.
He saw Anne sleeping soundly and walked towards her.
"Wait, we're not done talking. What's with that evolution?" Leo moved towards Mark, who had now sat beside Anne.
He felt dizzy as his vitality was almost depleted causing him to wobble in his steps.
Mark noticing his friend's state spoke, "Hey, you've still not recovered. Come and sit," gesturing for Leo to sit down. Leo complied as he sat next to him.
Mark took out drugs from his bag: antivertigo, antivenom, antibiotics, penicillin, and other drugs that they needed.
Leo calmly looked at Mark as he took the drugs out.
After taking the drugs out, Mark got up and removed his blood-drenched clothes, revealing his scarred back, torso, and forearms. The scars looked like imprints of fangs and claws with a long whip-like line across his chest.
"Man, stop ogling and get me that towel," Mark said, pointing to a towel peering out of one of the bags. Mark poured a bottle of water he had brought with him on it as he started to wipe his body.
Leo shifted his gaze from his friend's scarred body as he paid attention to Mark's status screen, which still hovered before his eyes as Mark had permitted him to view it.
"All his stats did not grow at the same time as last time," he thought to himself, noticing the uneven distribution of the stat points.
"In that situation, he needed more strength, endurance, and speed than intelligence. I believe that should be the case. His endurance stat is the highest, and now he has a skill," Leo mused, his assumption on point.
Skills are like titles given when one trains in a particular trait or overcomes a peril where a particular trait was tested. The skill evolves as its host continues to train it. Unlike attributes, the skills cannot be increased with soul energy and oevolvesolve when the skill is honed and tempered.
Leo continued to muse as he tried to understand why Mark's evolution was unlocked but could not think of anything unless he gave it a try himself.
Mark had finished cleaning himself as he gazed at his friend, who seemed completely lost in thought.
"What happened?" Leo exclaimed when Mark's status screen disappeared from his sight.
He turned to Mark, who gave him a mocking smile.
"Man, get some medicine before you enter that rabbit hole of yours... After you're done, help me bandage mine and Anne's wounds," Mark remarked.
Leo took antivenom drugs along with some supplements, causing his vitality to rise. He could feel his body regaining its strength.
They were now far from normal humans, and their metabolism was also different – faster and more efficient.
"How did you get a dry bandage?" Leo inquired as he took a bandage from one of the bags.
"It was kept in this tight drawer; I guess they didn't want it to get wet," Mark explained.
Leo nodded as he proceeded to meticulously wrap it around Mark.
After a couple of minutes, Mark was wrapped up, looking like a buff mummy.
"Anne... Anne... wake up," Leo called out as he gently shook her.
Her long eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes, waking from her slumber.
"I told you to take care of him, and you ended up sleeping," Mark teased, letting out a light chuckle.
Anne felt as embarrassed as she had failed to do her job.
"Sorry, you took so..." She paused when she noticed the way Mark was wrapped up.
"Are you cosplaying as some kind of mummy?" She teased.
Leo reached out his hand giving her a bottle of water to clean her wound. She had not noticed him, and after noticing her pulled him into an affectionate embrace.
An embrace from such beauty should have brought joy but instead brought more guilt as Leo felt he did not deserve this because he had almost taken her life.
With a sorrowful expression, Leo spoke " I'm sorry, I almost cost you your life"
" No need to worry about it, that spider was weak and we also found a new hideout," Anne said trying to cheer him up.
Leo gave her an understanding smile as he helped her treat her wounds.
********
Leo stared at the corpse of the spider monster an idea brewing in his mind.
Mark and Anne had gone to sleep after Leo injected them with anesthesia hoping they could rest up.
He walked towards the spider, broke off one of its legs, and started chewing it. The spider leg was hard with a bland taste. He winced in disgust but continued to chew it while looking at his status screen for any change.
But there was none.
He continued to chew on the legs but still had no change in his status screen and thus went for the torso.
With a dagger, he cut out a chunk from its body. Unlike the leg that spewed blue blood, the part he had cut out had a tinge of green.
He placed it in his mouth, after which he felt a sharp pain in his throat; he had been poisoned.
Noticing no change in his vitality he continued to chew ignoring the pain he felt.
After about three mouthfuls, his body felt numb as his vitality began to dwindle. He immediately stopped and took an anti-venom drug.
" It worked " He smiled as he noticed that the proficiency of his skill; poison resistance had risen by a percentage.
With a smile, he continued to eat the spider occasionally taking the antivenom drug when he noticed his vitality dwindling.
" It no longer affects me, " Leo thought to himself as he noticed his vitality was increasing when he ate the spider and the sharp pain he felt at the back of his throat was no more.
He looked at his status screen and noticed his skills proficiency had risen to fifteen percent.
" Really man, are you that hungry... you should have asked I got some supplies on my way here " Mark said as he noticed Leo eating the corpse of the spider.
Anne who had also woken up looked at Leo with a mixture of disgust and pity on her face.
Leo, with greenish-blue liquid on his cheeks and lips, spoke, 'It was an experiment, no need to give me that look." He paced. "By the way, we have rested enough. We must amass enough strength before we leave here. Who knows what could be out there? So, I say let's hunt until we feel we are strong enough before going out."
" I think that's a great idea," Mark said agreeing with his friend.
They both looked at Anne, waiting for her response.
" ok I agree but we must leave when the chance presents itself, our families are still out there," Anne said bringing a smile to the boy's face.
" Then let the hunt begin"