Moonlight Jolt.
What did the skill do? What kind of power was it? What Element was the power?
There were so many questions that he needed answers to.
Emery had time to get those answers.
"One more time?" Elyn asked, causing him to freeze.
She hadn't done a lot of speaking unless he'd spoken to her. Clearly, she was still trying to wrap her mind around the language or something like that. But he tried not to make his surprise too obvious.
"Maybe two more? I'm not sure."
"Okay."
This was a good sign that they were well on their way to a functional conversation if they kept going at this rate.
"We'll go one more time. This time you'll use that skill."
Elyn cocked her head to the side, confused.
"You don't know about the skill?" he asked, perhaps more confused than she was.
"No?"
"Never mind then."
So she didn't get the system notifications? Emery wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing.
"Come on, let's get this started." He said, walking back to his designated spot near the lake.
This time was slightly easier than before, as two beasts were already there, attracted by the blood of the ones they'd killed before.
Both were far smaller than any of the Class Tens he'd seen before, taking the appearance of rodents of sorts. But it would be stupid to underestimate any beast that survived through the initial Awakening.
They would be much more intelligent and stronger than the average animal. It was quite evident just by looking at them.
Neither attacked Emery immediately, instead maintaining a close distance and watching warily.
That was bad, but he still waited.
His bet was a bit successful. In that time, the beasts approached from both sides and two more had come closer to him, making four in total.
It was a great harvest. And none of the four were even remotely close to matching the brown wolf in strength, even when combined.
'After this, I'll only need two more to complete the mission.'
And there were also still the exp requirements for reaching the next level. It had increased exponentially from the fifty he needed to reach level 2.
[Level: Two…Exp:5/300]
One glance over his shoulder told him that Elyn was ready to launch the attack.
So he did what he did best… ran!
He leapt over a protruding root and ducked under a drooping one in his mission to get to the clearing fast.
But it wasn't fast enough. The seemingly cautious beasts closed in on him from both sides, their small sizes granting them the necessary speed.
The first one—a squirrel monster with a tail larger than its own body—zipped forward, disappearing from his vision.
It appeared under him, clawing through the ripped portions of his jeans. Its attack directly struck one of the already injured parts of his leg.
"Aargh!"
Emery resisted the urge to collapse from the sudden burst of pain, but he wouldn't allow himself to fall that far.
'I've survived Carlos so far. I even managed to survive a Class 5 threat. I won't let this little rodent creature be the one to end me!'
So he stopped running and kicked the little shitty creature right in its guts.
[Ding!]
[Host has killed the first creature on his own!]
[30 Exp gained!]
[30 exp awarded to host and summon.]
[Level: Two…Exp:35/300] (Emery)
[Level: Two…Exp:30/300] (Elyn)
He really did it!
In the burst of adrenaline, he ignored the system's annoying message and turned to the second one. He would leave the third and fourth to Elyn. They wouldn't take her long, but it was imperative he finished this one by himself.
Relying on others got old after a while.
The Class Ten beast was a large bunny with red fur and white marks at the tip of its ears. The good-natured buckteeth that he'd grown up to seeing on normal rabbits were gone, replaced by two sharp fangs.
Kicking alone wouldn't be enough to deal with this one.
But there was no time to think. He had to act fast. Fighting was a bit like cooking. The first move usually sets the tone for the rest of the dish and fights.
He reached for his bag of tools and slammed down where the rabbit stood. It jumped out of the way and kicked at his head.
He was wide open, and it was far too close to dodge easily.
'I have to think of something!'
'Duck!'
A rather simple technique, but it worked. He ducked and rolled out of the way before the kick could connect.
It instead landed against the bark of a tree, blowing it to bits.
'Is that what would have happened to me?!'
He cursed and rushed to get off his butt. The bunny creature didn't give him much time to regain his balance, either. It kicked off the ground again and shot down towards him, both legs heading straight for his face.
Emery held the bag in his hands with apprehension, just about to let go from all the sweat all over his hands. But he managed to hold on to it.
'No, not today.'
Tired of speaking in his mind, Emery opened his mouth to get out those last words" I'm…not… dying… TODAYYYY!"
And then he struck once more, bringing his bag against the bunny's feet.
BANG!
Kitchen utensils clashed against the tree crushing bunny feet and the bunny feet won. The bag he'd managed so far tore into dozens of pieces and his belongings went spilling everywhere.
But the bunny feet kept approaching at a speed that made him see the pearly gates at this distance.
He closed his eyes, preparing to be blown to bits, but… it never came.
Was he already dead?
The notification directly disproved that.
He opened his eyes to see the bunny was a few metres away, pinned to the ground by the trusty knife he'd always carried around with him
[Ding!]
[Host has Killed a Class 10 Threat!]
[30 Exp awarded!]
[30 exp awarded to host and summon]
[Host has learned a new skill: Beginner's Instincts]
[Summon has Killed a Class 10 Threat!] (x2)
[20 exp awarded to host and summon]
[Level: Two…Exp:85/300] (For Emery alone, pay attention for Elyn's)
Notification after notification assailed his vision, but he still couldn't believe one thing. The two corpses were enough evidence, and the skill said enough. But Emery still could not bring himself to that belief.
"I killed a Class 10 Threat… on my own?"
More surprising was the hug that came after.
"You did it!!"
***
Author's note: My maths might be a little bad in some parts, so please comment under this paragraph if you see an issue I need to fix. It also doesn't have to be issues with my maths btw, grammar and spelling issues can be commented about where they happened.