Chapter 22: Chapter 21: Wolf Meat

As Consume is going to start playing a big factor with Miles being a fox now, I decided to bring in a food rating system. You all had a sneak peak of it in the last chapter.

It will go as follows:

Grade Rank:

-Common, Uncommon, Fine, Exquisite, Unique.

Rating:

-1*, 2*, 3*, 4*, 5*.

Grade: Increases rate of proficiency gained.

Rating: Increases rate of experience gained.

Higher Grade can also increase the chance of dropping Skills. (Not impacted by Luck).

Higher Rating may provide additional stat points on top of experience (Not impacted by luck).

Miles's tail started to wag into anticipation after reviewing the details of the new item he received. Seeing its effects left him stunned.

[Exquisite Wolf Meat (1*)]

-Grade Effect: Consume proficiency increased by 200%.

-Rating Effect: Experience gain increased by 50%.

"Yip!", Miles happily yipped after seeing what the meat did. His tail pitter-pattered back and forth in glee, knocking up some dust inside the burrow. Its description was straight forward. His proficiency when using Consume will increase by a full 200%. On top of that, his experience gain will increase by 50%. His 100% EXP Bottle ran out last night. If Miles had known this would be the reward from the pack, he would have saved the bottle, but he wasn't salty over using it. His gains from yesterday were already plentiful, and he was satisfied by them.

In regards to the description of the meat itself, it was currently simplistic in nature. Miles assumed that was because his Observe was still at Lv1. If he increased this Skill further, these descriptions could potentially become more detailed.

[Ding! Observe Lv1 10->15/100]

'So that still took effect eh? Just because I looked over what this meat did?', Miles mused, seeing his Observe proficiency increase slightly.

'That means I can use Observe on non-living targets', Miles's eyes lit up, realizing what had just happened. He had only used Observe on the two Geese yesterday, but he could start using Observe on items all around him. This just became a literal goldmine of experience. And to kick things off, he used Observe on his new home.

[Tree of the Divine Fox]

-Current home assigned to Host. Expansion possible. Current Territory: 0.01%.

[Ding! Observe -> Lv1 15->20/100]

'Still simplistic...But still earned proficiency from it. And it's telling me my home can be expanded? How would that work, exactly? Do I just burrow into other trees, and connect them at some point?', Miles wondered. If that happened, it would become an underground network that he could easily traverse.

'I really should change that name...', Miles retorted again, feeling embarrassed setting the name of his home like that.

'And I still need to find out how much 0.01 is to a meter too...', Miles continued, shaking that thought aside. He had some items to tackle today, and wasn't sure which one to dive into first. Be as that may, his stomach started to growl, acting as though it decided his next actions for him. His eyes glanced at the red meat in his Inventory. It was starting to look more delicious by the passing second...

'Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am not the type to hoard items this early. What's the use if they just collect dust?', Miles decided. Doing a tap of his paw, his Inventory lit up. It acted the same way as taking one of his books out last night. Space twisted and distorted before him, and a slab of red meat appeared, appearing very tasty. It immediately struck against his nostrils with a strong stench of blood, but also excitement. His tail wagged again in response, as did his stomach.

"Yip!", Miles yipped. He jumped and pounced right onto it, acting like a cat. The meat immediately tickled his taste buds the moment his teeth started gnawing into it. If he had gone to a five star restaurant in his past life, its flavor was at least a one or two-star restaurant. It was that delicious. Notifications started rolling in as he enjoyed one of the best meals he ever had. His experience started to skyrocket!

[Ding! Consume has triggered eight times during Host's meal.]

[Ding! Consume's Proficiency has increased by 600.]

[Ding! Consume Lv1 -> Lv4 (75/400)]

[Ding! 360 EXP has been obtained.]

[Ding! Consume has granted 20 HP, 15 Stamina 3 STR. 3 AGI. 1 END to Host.]

[Ding! Consume has granted a new Skill to Host, [Danger Sense](+)]

[Ding! Host has risen to Level 6. Related Skills have triggered.]

[Level: 6 (225/320)]

[Available Points: 4]

(A/N: Future Consume messages will likely look something like this. Some messages will be less or some will be more, depending on how much is given. What do you think?)

"Yip!", Miles exclaimed, seeing these flurry of notifications. He had obtained so much from just one piece of extremely fine meat. He savored each bite as it guzzled down his throat. As he savored the taste that was still tickling his throat, he felt his body get stronger, and his claws became tougher again.

There was one thing to point out right off the bat. He obtained twice the amount of stat points reaching Level 6 compared to the points Level 5 gave! 'Level 5 might have been the first threshold of sorts...Will there be another before I reach Level 10?', Miles wondered. And that wasn't all, he obtained quite a few stat points just from eating a piece of one star meat. Would Miles get twice the amount points if he ate the same grade of wolf meat at a higher star rating?

Anticipation appeared in his eyes just thinking of the possibilities. He used his stat points right away. It was daytime, which was unfortunate. But it still gave him an extra two points to use. And to his surprise, he obtained two available stat points from the level up! That meant he had four points to freely use this time.

A satisfied look appeared in Miles's eyes as his tail wagged thrice. His eyes glanced toward it after shaking his head to how easy his tail can be swayed. After checking over his stats again, Miles decided to place all points in Strength this time.

HP: 80/80 (+30) Stamina: 150/250 (+25)

STR: 36 (+11) END: 24 (+5) AGI: 19 (+4) LUCK: 30 (+5)

CRIT: 30% CRIT RES: 54%

Attack Damage: 108 Toughness: 72

[Available Points: 0]

'I now have a one in three chance to land a critical blow...', Miles uttered, wanting to suck in a cold breath of air. That probably wasn't the biggest gain though. He had a giant boost to his health and stamina. His health almost doubled! And that was just by eating one piece of this wolf meat.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Miles's tail started to wag more fervently in excitement. He knew he had that mission to hunt or submit the wolf pack nearby. If he could just get another piece of their meat...

Miles immediately shook that thought. It was a tempting desire, but he had no idea the strength the wolves had. He wouldn't wander into a tiger's den with zero information. That would just spell death.

'You really do react to a lot of excitement, don't you?', Miles retorted, seeing his tail grow out of control for a moment. 'Or maybe it's just because I like to see my numbers increase?', Miles retorted again.

'Either way, I will need to get this tail thing down eventually. I don't have that function that some gamer-like systems have. The one that can control their emotions just by system interference...', Miles thought.

'I don't know if getting such a Skill is possible. Hopefully it will be. I am in the X-Men Universe after all. Having Skills that help protect the mind and thoughts will definitely be sought after. You never know how many bald men might be lurking around the corner~', Miles teased.

He shook that thought away too. His stomach was satisfied, and very full. He couldn't eat another bite. It might have only been one piece of wolf meat, but it was very savory. He had woken up not long ago, but Miles was already getting tired again. His mouth widened, revealing some leftover blood inside, before his yawn closed his lips again.

'I don't have to wake up for work anymore. I can do what I want out here...', Miles's thoughts drifted. A smile appeared on his face thinking that.

'I will go back to sleep for the time being. Once it is time to hunt again, I will see if I can find those remaining Geese and hunt them down. Depending on how much I traverse, I'll see If I can complete the newest Mission given to me, the one to expand my Territory to 10%. It might be possible to kill two birds with one stone...', Miles continued.

It didn't take long for Miles's eyes to close, and his body curled back up into a little ball of fluff. With a full stomach, he didn't have a need to wander out immediately. Miles could do what he wants now. If he wanted to sleep more, he could!

And so he did. Miles fell back asleep, leaving behind a satisfied smile after going everything his status has reached to. In the back of his mind, he looked forward to upgrading his Steel Claws to a higher grade...