Chapter 12 - Loot the beast
Birds were chirping, as the first sun rays broke through the treetops of a sparse forest. Below, a certain dark elf awoke from his nightly slumber. Graciously he got up, emptied the contents of his stomach immediately and slumped over again as his legs gave in.
'Fuck me. That wasn't a glorious win at all.'
Still feeling sore all over, and especially still bleeding a lot, Cantorn knew that he hadn't won this fight through skill. Sure, he had evaded that thing like a master, but in the end, it would've been far from enough, had the beast not stumbled. Luck obviously was one of the large factors determining whether one would be successful or not, but it was never one that was reliable.
With his left arm now gone, a constant reminder of his own weakness, the elf decided to check on the notifications he had gotten.
[You have killed an 'Alpha Avankh' (Level 14). Additional experience is being awarded for killing an enemy above your level.]
[You have reached level 9. 18 status points are available for allocation.]
[You have earned the 'Giant Slayer' title.]
Quite honestly, Cantorn felt overwhelmed. Three days ago he had been sitting on a mere three levels, doing menial labour and living a humdrum life. Yet, just now he had gained the number of levels he had earned throughout his whole life before, just from killing one beast. Sure, this also came with him almost dying, even losing a limb, but if he had to be truthful, he enjoyed it.
Last night, fear had almost overwhelmed him. But in the face of death, he had fought, he had preserved and he had won. It was something no one would ever be able to take from him again. A feeling of achievement and also pride in himself. Holding this feeling close to his heart, Cantorn was determined to not give up. This was a life worth living, even if it would end sooner than he wanted it to.
Going back to his rewards, Cantorn grew a wide grin as he checked his most surprising one first. A title, a rare sign of recognition from the system itself, only given out to those that had performed extraordinary feats. He knew of not one person in his tribe that had ever gained something like this, further accentuating just how unusual titles were. Gaining one was usually one of the most important indicators of strength, especially since they gave great bonuses to whoever owned them. And this one for sure gave a nice boost.
| Giant Slayer (title, rare) | |
| Description: |
Danger and death are mere distractions to you. Full of bravery and fervour for growth you challenge your foes, not even halting before almost impossible feats. Through presenting such commendable character traits and strength, you have managed to slay an enemy more than twice your level. Grants plus five percent to all stats. Passively makes the owner exude an aura of fear, scaring away weak-minded enemies. The owner can freely retract this aura. This title can only be earned after reaching level five. |
Well, losing limbs does have some benefits. All jokes aside, this was an insanely good title. He had kind of cheated by getting it super early, when 'twice your level' meant a difference in stat points in the double digits, not some hundreds of status points gap. The five percent increase in exchange would take a while to really make an impact, but once he reached level thirty or forty, if he'd ever do so, this would really make a difference in overall strength. It also meant that he was now always slightly stronger than anyone with the same level, even though they might not be able to see it at first glance.
As for the rest of the title, it was honestly nothing more than a small boost. Right now, and especially during the time he was unconscious, the aura was quite nice, but in the larger scheme of things, it probably wouldn't have a lot of practical uses, except maybe sparing him from one or two fights that he would otherwise win anyways. Sure, he wouldn't complain about it, he just wouldn't get excited about it either.
Now all that was left was distributing his status points again, surprisingly having as many as he did just a few hours ago, as well as properly looting the beast's corpse. Since it was an alpha variant, a rare evolution path for most beasts, it was sure to have some nice body parts that could be crafted into equipment later on. Wanting to finish off the stats part, he quickly thought it over and decided to go with a similar approach as last time.
| General Information | |||
| Name: | Cantorn | Level: | 9 |
| Age: | 19 | Height: | 158 cm |
| Race: |
Half Dark Elf (-2 to STR, +1 to AGI, -1 to VIT, -2 to RES, +1 to STA, +1 to DEX, +2 to PER) |
||
| Class: | None | ||
| Status | |||
| STR: | 13.2 | AGI: | 18.7 |
| VIT: | 18 | INT: | 10 |
| RES: | 12 | STA: | 15 |
| DEX: | 18 | PER: | 20 |
| Free Points: | 4 | ||
Distributing his points relatively evenly seemed like a pretty good idea, and modelling them slightly after his needs made this system even better. He didn't invest in strength last time, since he felt like it hadn't been the main issue in him losing the fight. While he was outmatched stat-wise anyways, his agility and perception had done way more for him than strength. As for the big increase in dexterity, he thought it would only make sense. He would be gaining a lot of materials today and hopefully in the near future as well, and turning that into proper gear was one of his main goals for the next few days. Those few points he leftover were just insurance, in case he might need a particular stat suddenly.
Apropos materials, after allocating his stats, Cantorn felt like it was finally time to check on the dead beast. He already had a hunch of what his haul might be, but confirming it was better than guessing, right? Working quickly he properly made use of the Avankh's corpse, skinning it, cutting off its horns, disposing of its inner organs while saving its meat as well as keeping all the other useful stuff like tendons and bones.
Scanning over the loot, he was quickly able to identify what he had already guessed. Something good enough to apparently make his 'Identify' skill level up to level two as well.
| Horns of an Alpha Avankh (rare) | |
| Description: |
An especially durable and sharp version of the horns usually found on the head of Horned Avankhs. To be better suited to fighting, the Alpha Avankh has evolved to make his horns long and straight, contrary to the twisted form found on his lesser brethren. While these horns still stem from a relatively weak being, their quality is superior compared to other low-level monster parts. |
A material from a lower levelled beast, and yet it gained the system's approval, netting it a sweet 'rare' rank. The young elf was overjoyed to see such fine material, one he knew he would put to use soon. His knife was growing pretty dull by now and the blades for a pair of twin daggers were nothing he would ever say no to.
Apart from this great find, there was also the skin of the Avankh. While it was not rated as highly as the horns, Cantorn was surprised to see it listed as an 'uncommon' rank, supposedly due to its heightened durability. This meant, that a light armor would join his other equipment soon as well.
Happy to be able to now grow, even more, the elven man made his way back to his home.
First. Thanks for the chapter.
Yooo, you are f*cking fast. Thank's for the support!