[You have defeated the Vicious Trapper level 5.]
*Thud* After the Vicious Trapper died, the grip of its mouth loosened up completely, letting Aurora fall to the hard ground, unable to even get up.
'Ouch, it hurts! It hurts like hell!' Blood was gushing out from the wound on her back, showing no signs of stopping. If things continued on like this, Aurora would undoubtedly bleed out and die.
'That stupid plant! Why couldn't it just let itself be killed!? No, I refuse; I won't die here!' Though despair started to kick in, Aurora was unwilling to give up. She just came to this world, she couldn't die until she at least remembered what happened and how she got here.
Amidst all her internal complaints and screams of refusal, Aurora failed to notice that the searing, unbearable pain she felt on her back began to quickly disappear. It wasn't until the pain was completely gone that she noticed the obvious change.
'Huh? What happened? Why doesn't it hurt anymore?' Right at that moment, a set of new system messages appeared right before her eyes.
[You reached level 2.]
[You reached level 3.]
More messages appeared right after, but Aurora completely ignored them, only focusing on the first two, almost identical messages.
'I leveled up?' Subconsciously, Aurora turned her head towards the massacred corpse of the Vicious Trapper.
'Probably because I killed that thing, right? But even then, why am I no longer hurt?' Aurora quickly opened up her status and specifically glanced over at her HP.
[Status]
- Name: Aurora
- Race: Snow Kitsune
- Rank: 0
- Level: 3
[Energy:
- HP: 112/112
- MP: 114/114
- SP: 109/109
[Stats:
- Health: 12
- Intelligence: 14
- Mana: 14
- Strength: 10
- Agility: 12
- Defense: 9
'It really is full. Not only that, all my stats went up by two points.' After seeing her own status, Aurora fell in thought, but she quickly reached a conclusion.
'Based on this, it's safe to assume that leveling up increases all your stats by one point and also recovers all of your HP, MP, and SP. Were it not for me leveling up, I would have most probably died already...'
Aurora didn't really know what to make of it. She was grateful that the system basically saved her life, but for some reason, she didn't feel great knowing that someone had to save her from dying.
'Never mind that.' In the end, she just resolutely shook her head, getting rid of the useless thoughts. She was alive, and that's what mattered.
'Let's rather check these.' After completely dismissing her previous thoughts, Aurora decided to instead check the other system messages she received earlier.
'Huh? Oh, it seems like I got one during the fight.' Other than the level-up messages and the kill message, she received three more messages. Two of them appeared together with the level-up ones, but the last one appeared during the battle.
[Your skill: Scratch reached level 2.]
'So skills can level up too... I guess that was pretty obvious since they have levels. Well, considering how much I used the damn skill, I'm not even surprised it leveled up.' The little fox let out a cute sound, similar to that of a chuckle.
'Anyway, it's good to know that I can level up skills just by using them.' Now that her mood was lifted, though only slightly, Aurora glanced over the other two messages.
[You have obtained an item: Simple Nature Crystal.]
[You have unlocked two new system archive entries.]
'Well, these two are certainly more... intriguing, so to speak.' To be honest, Aurora was quite confused about these two messages.
'I get that I was supposed to have obtained some kind of item, but, where exactly is it? What even is this Simple Nature Crystal thingy?' Since Aurora didn't seem to have the item she obtained, she got up and walked over to the disgusting corpse lying only a few meters away from her.
Though the corpse was truly disgusting and gross to look at, it didn't smell as bad as Aurora expected. This was probably because the creature had no blood, or any other bodily fluid, and it wasn't dead long enough for the corpse to rot.
'Even if it doesn't smell, I'm definitely not planning to rummage through it just to find some crystal.' Aurora scrunched her small nose and reluctantly looked around the dead Trapper, hoping to find the crystal.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for her to spot a small, light green crystal lying right next to the Trapper's severed head. Aurora quickly approached it, grabbed it with her small paws, and scurried away, not wanting to stay close to the corpse for too long.
After she walked far enough from the corpse, which was about 10–15 meters, she glanced down at her paw that was holding the Simple Nature Crystal. Now that she wasn't focusing on getting away from the dead Trapper, Aurora finally got a good look at the crystal in her paw.
It was a small, ball-shaped light green crystal, laced with various, rune-like scribles on its surface. It felt warm to touch and gave off a sense of connection with nature.
'I mean, it's pretty, yeah, but it must have a different use than just being pretty, right?' Unfortunately for Aurora, the system didn't seem to be in the mood to answer her question. In the end, Aurora just clicked her tongue and changed her focus to the second system message.
'Archive... I heard that somewhere, hmmm...' Aurora fell in thought, trying to remember from where she remembered the word 'archives' being mentioned.
'Right! It was one of the system functions. I forgot to even see what it does because I got annoyed over those spells.' After she remembered, Aurora quickly tried to use the system archive function.
[System Archive]
– Welcome to your very own System Archive! Here, you can review all the information that is currently available to you.
After Aurora closed that little welcome message that also gave her basic information about the archive, a new system window opened before her eyes. But before she could even read anything, a new message popped up right after.
[Detected two new entries. Would you like to review them?]
'Huh?' Aurora was quite surprised, as this was probably the first time the system asked her on its own. Neither way, she quickly regained her composure and answered positively.
[Vicios Trapper]
- Rank: 0
- Grade: Common
- Threat level: F-
– A low-level monster of the lowest grade. They are not considered to be a big threat, as they hardly manage to evolve.
'Information about the Trapper? So by defeating monsters, I also get information about them?' Though this came off as a bit of a surprise, it was a welcome surprise. Though the information may seem useless, in Aurora's eyes, any information is useful.
'Still though, threat level F-? That's most probably the lowest level there is, but it still almost managed to kill me.' This was something that annoyed Aurora a lot. She was weak—too weak!
Just as Aurora was starting to get angry, she took a deep breath to calm down.
'Calm down, idiot. Being angry won't help you; rather, you should focus on getting stronger.' Aurora spoke to herself in her mind as if she were reprimanding a child.
'Focus, fight, kill, level up, and get stronger. It's as simple as that.' Aurora once again glanced down at the crystal in her paw and then back up, looking at the other new entry.
'Besides, it seems like leveling up isn't the only way to get stronger.' Aurora's small lips curled up into a dangerous grin as she read through the information.
[Attribute Crystals]
– These crystals are a proof of one's determination and unyielding spirit. They are only given to those who overcame a great trial.
[Usage:
- Upon consumption, they will directly strengthen a soul vessel corresponding to the crystal's attribute.
- They can be obtained by defeating enemies that are stronger than the user.
- The crystal is soulbound to the one who obtained it, meaning it can't be consumed by others.
Indeed, it was information about the crystal in Aurora's paw. Even though she had no idea what a soul vessel was, she was almost 100% sure it was something helpful to her.
'Whatever it is, if it can make me stronger, I'll use it!' And so, Aurora crushed the small crystal without hesitation. Crushing it was an instictive action, as if she knew it was the way to use the crystal.
Right after she crushed the crystal, multiple light green streaks of energy momentarily circled around Aurora's body before they moved towards her and disappeared inside her. Instantly, Aurora felt warm, nature-like energy coursing through her body, and soon after, two new system messages popped up in front of her.
[You have absorbed the energy of the Simple Nature Crystal. Your nature soul vessel grows more powerful.]
[You have unlocked a new system function: Soul Vessels.]
Aurora slowly opened her eyes, which she subconsciously closed when that light green energy entered her body, and stared at the two system messages.
'My nature soul vessel grows more powerful... Moreover, I unlocked a new system function.' For some reason, Aurora felt strange. She didn't know why, but after the nature energy entered her body, she could feel her soul for a moment.
'It wasn't mine, at least not completely.' That's right; even if it was for a moment, she could clearly tell that her soul, or a part of it, wasn't hers. It was weird, and all of this was basically just an instinct—a very strong one. But she was sure; she felt something foreign inside her soul.
'No... whatever. This won't help me in any way. L-let's just focus on the new function.' At the moment, Aurora's emotions were very turbulent. She felt as if she saw or felt something she shouldn't have, something that should have stayed hidden.
Deciding to bury those feelings and quickly divert her attention, Aurora directly used the new system function. The next moment, a system screen in the form of a list opened up in front of her eyes.
[Soul Vessels]
- Fire vessel: Level 1
- Water vessel: Lvl. 1
- Air vessel: Level. 1.
- Earth vessel: Level 1
...
There were about twenty more of these vessels, some even only labeled as ???, but one of these vessels stood out the most:
- Nature vessel: Level. 1 (Exp.: 50/100)
'This must be because of the crystal. It increased the vessel's exp. by 50 points.' Though Aurora still didn't know what these vessels did, she at least knew what the crystal did.
Aurora closed the system window and was about to continue exploring the forest when a new system message appeared right after she closed the system window.
[You have unlocked a new system archive entry.]
'Huh? Maybe...' Aurora focused on the message, and soon, the new entry opened up.
[Soul Vessels]
– A part of the user's soul that symbolizes their affinity with a certain attribute. They can be strengthened by consuming affinity crystals.
[Upon level-up:
- Increases the user's affinity with the corresponding attribute.
'It sure is, and for some reason, I feel like the system is enjoying teasing me like this.' Aurora's eye twitched when she realized that she only received the notification after checking the function. It felt as if the system was intentionally making fun of her.
'Tsk, whatever. At least now I know what the vessels do.' In the end, Aurora just clicked her tongue and closed the system archives. Though she was annoyed, it was true that the system just helped her forget her previous thoughts.
'Right, the plan hasn't changed. Find monsters, kill them, level up, grow stronger, and repeat.' Aurora nodded her head resolutely and set out, continuing her exploration of the forest.
And so, two weeks pass by in the blink of an eye. During this time, Aurora only focused on leveling up and becoming stronger in any way possible.
Not only did her stats become higher and her skills have leveled up, but she also learned a lot of new things and received a lot of useful information.
But perhaps most important of all, Aurora changed bit by bit...