"Do I look like an idiot to you?", Lilith asked seriously.

She stared at him and asked, "How did you know what type of monster it was?"

Darell's eyes widened in surprised and he said, "I swear I am speaking the truth."

"I can see the stats of beasts and people with my skill that I got from my system.", he told her.

Lilith's expression became more solemn and she narrowed her eyes.

"If you're telling the truth," she warned, "then you should know that people will hunt you down to get that system."

Darell sighed heavily, knowing all too well the dangers of possessing such a valuable tool.

"I know," he replied. "That's why I'm training harder than ever before. If I'm too weak, some greedy bastard won't hesitate to take my life for the system."

Lilith nodded in agreement and comforted him, "Don't worry, brother."

She vowed, "I'll train harder too so that I can beat those bastards who come after your life."

With those words, Lilith embraced Darell in a tight hug, and they stayed like that for several moments, each silently pledging to protect the other.

Finally, they pulled away from each other and, with a nod, continued their training.

Determined to strengthen their skills and gain valuable resources, the siblings continued hunting rank 01 beasts.

With precision and expertise, they killed numerous beasts and collected several rank 01 beast cores.

In this world, the value of beast cores was astronomical.

Only the wealthiest and most influential individuals could afford the higher-ranked beast cores, which were essential for a variety of purposes.

For example, beast cores of Light ability beasts could be used to power lamps, while Fire ability cores served as fuel in restaurants.

The ability to awaken innate abilities was an exceedingly rare trait among the populace.

However, for those fortunate few who could harness this power, mastering their abilities opened up new avenues for growth.

They began to practice rank 02 abilities, which were acquired through dedicated training and had never been seen as innate abilities before.

These rank 02 abilities were diverse and powerful, ranging from Dust to Magma to Mist.

However, the road to acquiring these abilities was extremely difficult.

Only an infinitesimally small portion of the population could hope to master the necessary innate abilities, let alone progress to rank 02 abilities.

Darell plunged his blade into the heart of the saber-toothed IceTiger, a fearsome rank 02 beast.

The creature let out a final roar before collapsing onto the ground.

Darell deftly removed the beast's core from its chest and passed it to Lilith.

She concentrated her mana and absorbed the man from the beast core as her body briefly glowed with a faint blue aura.

"It wouldn't have been of any use to me. As I continue to level up, my mana reserves naturally increase," Darell replied as he turned to her.

"But what about that horn? Why did you take it?", Lilith pointed to the sizable horn in Darell's hand and asked.

"Oh, this?", Darell glanced at the black horn in his hand.

He looked at her and replied, "I used my skill to inspect it and found that it's a rare rank 03 object. I thought we could sell it at the Academy for a tidy profit."

Lilith nodded thoughtfully but suddenly exclaimed, "Brother! Why don't you try absorbing the horn? It could give you some unexpected benefits."

Symbols and words flashed before his eyes, and he felt a rush of power filling his body.

Lilith looked at him and asked confusingly, "What happened?"

"I learned a new skill," Darell said excitedly, "It's a rank 03 skill called Nihility. It allows me to completely negate any attack below rank 04."

Lilith's eyes widened in surprise and exclaimed, "That's incredible! Can you show me?"

Darell nodded and ordered her, "Use your strongest offensive skill on me."

Lilith hesitated for a moment before activating her rank 02 skill Ice Chains.

Several chains of ice shot out from the ground and covered Darell.

He quickly activated his new skill, and his body became transparent, leaving only a grey outline of his figure.

Lilith shouted in disbelief, "What the hell is that?"

The chains went through Darell's body and came out the other side.

Darell smiled and said, "That's the new skill I learned from the horn."

He deactivated his skill and his body turned normal.

He smirked at her and said, "It's cool, isn't it?"

Lilith pouted and said, "That's not fair. How come you learned a rank 03 skill, and I haven't learned any rank 03 spells yet?"

Darell chuckled at her childishness and answered her, "If you want, we can try to find some rank 03 Ice beasts. But we have to be careful."

Darell's face lit up as he whispered, "I think we've hit the jackpot! Let's check it out!"

Lilith nodded in agreement, and they stealthily crept inside, their footsteps muffled by the icy ground.

As they ventured deeper into the cave, they suddenly came upon a sleeping IceSerpent, its long, scaly body coiled protectively around a clutch of eggs.

Darell couldn't contain his excitement as he whispered to Lilith, "We've stumbled upon a gold mine. We can kill the Ice serpent and snatch its eggs to sell them!"

But they knew it wouldn't be easy.

They had to be careful not to wake the beast, or it would be the end for both of them.

Lilith took a deep breath and activated her skill Fog of Dread, shrouding the entire area in a thick, smoky mist that made it hard to see.

However, the serpent stirred, sensing the disturbance, and quickly opened its eyes, enraged.

With a deafening roar, the serpent unleashed a barrage of icy spikes in all directions.

Darell quickly activated his newly learned skill Nihility, to negate the attacks, while Lilith conjured an icy shield to block them.

The siblings were quick on their feet, dodging and weaving between the flying projectiles.

In between the battle, Darell activated Inspect and used it on the IceSerpent

A different status interface showed up.

He then, turned to Lilith and ordered her, "Conjure an Ice sword and throw it to me when I say so."

* CLANG *

* CLANG *

* CLANG *

Lilith blocked the IceSerpent's ice spikes using her Ice shield and looked at Darell and replied, "Go!"

Darell nodded and charged towards the beast.

He leaped high into the air and shouted, "Now!"

Lilith quickly conjured an icy sword and hurled it towards Darell, who caught it mid-air and plunged it into the serpent's head.

But the beast wasn't finished yet.

It quickly covered itself with an icy shield, making it almost impenetrable.

Without wasting a moment, Darell unleashed a powerful punch.

Darell's strength stat was 80 while the serpent's defense was only 62.

This difference in their strength led to the serpent's shield break apart when Darell's punch landed on it.

The punch struck the serpent's head, causing it to fall down on the ground and it struggled to get back up.

Lilith then used her skill Ice Chains, to hold it down, and conjured several icy spikes that pierced the beast's body in all directions.

The serpent whimpered and struggled to get free, but it was too late.

After a short while, it drew its last breath and it's dead body lay on the ground.

A few minutes later, Darell and Lilith sat by the entrance of the Ice Serpent's lair, taking a moment to catch their breaths.

Darell had taken the Ice Serpent's core and stowed it away in his inventory with ease, thanks to his skill Space Arsenal.

Meanwhile, Lilith had managed to nab the serpent's eggs and passed them over to Darell to store away as well.

After they had relaxed, they stepped out of it.

Lilith raised her head to observe the sky and said, "The sun will be up soon. We should hurry back before anyone realizes we've gone missing."

Darell nodded and they quickly made their way out of the forest and waited for the adventuring carriages to pass by.

They found a carriage with an empty slot and slipped into it unnoticed.

A few hours later, they reached the ThunderThorn Guild.

Upon reaching Salvia's desk, Darell handed over the Ice Serpent's beast core.

Salvia examined it and rewarded him with several scrolls.

Darell handed them over to Lilith, saying, "Here are some rank 02 Ice ability spells for you."

Lilith took the scrolls and said, "Thank you, brother!"

Darell dismissed her thanks and said, "Don't thank me. You obtained them through your own effort and skill."

Lilith pouted and said, "But, I want to thank you."

Darell smiled as he shook his head and said, "Then, you can thank me later. Right now, we have to go back."

They left the guild and sneaked onto a carriage heading towards Xena.

Once they reached the town, they carefully made their way back to the mansion.

Darell quickly made his way to his room, disposing of his clothes and taking a refreshing bath to rid himself of any evidence.

Finally, he sat down on his bed with a sly grin and thought, 'It's time to check out the system shop.'