— In the depths of the forest located within the mansion territory of the Falazars —
"Let me think," I said as I observed my surroundings. "Bushes there, trees over there, more bushes, more trees… Where are the animals for God's sake!??"
This was a forest, was it not!? Where was all the wildlife??
As I impatiently tapped my foot against the ground, a sudden noise shook me out of my stupor. It was the rustling of some foliage to my left. I squinted, trying to get a better look at whatever was over there.
That was when it jumped out!
*Fiak, Fiak!*
A rabid wolf!
"What the hell, dude!" I said while sliding under its three-meter-long leaping body. "I was going to start small—maybe with a turtle or something—but then here you come. Don't you know how to wait your turn?"
"Grrrr—!!!"
The wolf gnashed its teeth after landing and skidding. It was furious over there not being a scrumptious meal within its sharp, serrated teeth!
"Why so angry, brother?" I asked, grinning. "Someone step on your tail?"
As soon as that question left my mouth, the wolf howled in agony. It rolled around in the dirt while angrily staring at its bloodied backside.
I laughed, swinging around a lengthy fur tail. It was gray and black, perfectly matching the wolf's fur coat. "You want it back?" I asked kindly. "Well, too bad! I believe this tail will make an excellent addition to my future wall of battle trophies!"
The rabid wolf's eyes turned red as vengeful anger filled its heart. This rage brought about a level of adrenaline that enabled it to temporarily void out the excruciating pain it was experiencing.
It then dug its feet into the dirt before…pouncing!
"Woah," I said with a bit of fake praise. "You're quite fast for a mutt. What are you? Rank 1? Rank 2??"
The rabid wolf was a Rank 1 Demonic Beast, but it was at the pinnacle of the stage. This made it substantially more dangerous than your normal Rank 1 Demon Beast. To be exact, it was equivalent to an average 1st Stage Qi Condensation human, making it the perfect opponent for someone of my current power level.
"Hey, have you ever seen a human that could fly?" I asked, taunting it. "Well, I have! But you know what?? If only for a moment, I'll do you the honor of putting you on the same level as us."
"!!!!"
Sensing my killing intent, the rabid wolf paused. It halted its raging rush, warily looking around. However, after seeing nothing that could threaten its life, it realized that it had been conned.
"Heh," I said as I watched a red orb of light drop from the rabid wolf. "You're not going to understand what I'm saying, but there's this system quirk that mine has. It makes it so that the longer my target or targets stay in a high state of emotional imbalance, the higher my chances of obtaining Attribute Orbs become."
"Yeah, I just received this info a little bit ago," I continued as I pulled three red orbs, one green one, and one blue one toward me. "Cool, right?"
[Strength increased by 30 points!]
[Agility increased by 7 points!]
[Endurance increased by 9 points!]
"Slowly but surely, I'm becoming more balanced," I said with a satisfied smirk. "Now then, why don't we see if you'll drop even more goodies if I open you up like a piñata."
Before the stunned rabid wolf could even register what had happened, I used my improved stats to burst toward it with the stick that I had sharpened with a rock on my way over. I passed by the right side of the wolf, and with my eyes glowing a deadly shade of gold, I pierced the wolf. I then took advantage of my momentum to slide the stick deep into the wolf and slice forward.
SPURT!
The rabid wolf's insides became its outsides as it collapsed to the ground. The entire right side of the demonic beast was cut all the way open, its innards bloodily laying outside its body.
While looking at the gallons of blood pooling out of the rabid wolf's corpse, I focused my apathetic eyes on the shining objects that popped out of the corpse.
[A Peak Rank 1 Demonic Beast has been slain!]
[A tiny pile of Attribute Orbs has dropped!]
DING! DING! DING!
Rays of light shot out from the dropped Attribute Orbs, each one matching the color of the orbs they came from. It was like a Diablo game, where the loot could be seen from miles away.
[Agility +23]
[Agility +17]
[Strength +30]
[Endurance +15]
X5 more
"All the Attribute Orbs are in the two-digit range?" I asked, more than a little happy over this realization. "It seems that my speculations were correct. Killing things gives far more than causing increases in their emotions. Unless my target is someone extremely powerful—who drops higher-value Attribute Orbs—then I think I'll just stick to murdering things to improve my stats."
Did this make me a psychopath?
Perhaps. But after 1,314 lifetimes of living miserably, who wouldn't become at least the slightest bit crazy?
I knew I was crazy. I never once denied it.
Was there a way for me to receive help? Maybe.
However, with how much was wrong within my mind, I doubted even the universe's finest doctors or therapists would be capable of helping me.
I was too far gone…
"Oh, well!" I said in a merry-go-lucky way. "Good mental health is for the weak and sheltered anyway. For me, the grind is now the only thing I know!"
That, and the phantom pain which persisted through all my lifetimes…
But who really cared about my pain!? No one has before!
The grind waits for no man! So time to get back to it!
Back to Attribute Farming!