Chương 10: Chapter 10
When Ben woke up comfortably tucked into his bedroll on the platform of that leaning tree, he felt he had fully recovered from the snake poison. The pain in his arm was now gone leaving behind a slightly stiff feeling.
Standing up on the platform, Ben took out his bow and drew the string back to his chin and only felt a mild pain.
"I think I can continue on again. I just need to be more alert."
'System, please mark any of those damn flying snakes with a bright red icon on the map. I don't need a repeat of yesterday, today.'
*Ding!* [Acknowledged. All red-winged snakes have now been updated with bright red icons.]
Back on the hunt, Ben made his way toward the next closest profound beast icon on the map. When he finally spotted the creature, he thought it looked like it had a dog's form but with scales instead of fur. On its head were also too small pointed horns.
Deciding to change tactics this time, Ben climbed a nearby tree after judging the direction the profund beast was headed on his map. He stood perfectly still on a thick branch waiting to ambush.
A strange looking creature came into view which could only be described as a mix of a lizard and a dog. It walked toward Ben's location and passed by close to the tree he currently hid.
Ben drew back his bow and released his arrow.
*Twang!*
The bowstring let out a quiet snap as the arrow flew the short distance in a blink of an eye. His arrow pierced straight through the creatures neck before it even realized it was hit.
Ben remained in the tree and anxiously waited for about five minutes before he climbed down and followed the blood trail. Approximately 40 yards from his tree he found the creature dead from blood loss.
"Analyze!"
[Scaled Howler]: A profound beast native to planet Victus. These creatures have the ability to cultivate, but they rarely rise above the 2nd stage. They are slightly aggressive but will only attack if they think they have the upper advantage. This creature was a Stage One, Level six before it expired.
Ben brought out the dead red-winged snake that bit him from his inventory and skinned it along with the Scaled Howler. After a little exploration, he was able to extract the cores of each creature. He sold the two carcasses and cores to the system store and received 40 gold coins.
'System, before I begin to sell off all of the cores I get through hunting profound beasts can you explain what they can be used for?'
*Ding!* [Cultivators of this world will use cores to advance their cultivation, but this is not recommended. Cores can help to raise cultivation levels but they also leave behind contaminates. These contaminants can poison the body and clog meridians with extended use. Using cores as a crafting material is the most optimal way to use them. A decent core can sometimes add bonuses to weapons and armor.]
'I see, so if I can hunt the more powerful profound beasts one day I could use their cores to make fantasy type weapons and armor?'
*Ding!* [It depends on the core grade and the creature's ability. If you found a higher grade core of a profound beast who could use a fire attack then it may be possible to craft a sword that will do fire damage. There are a view changing variables and some luck which come into play.]
'That could be fun to have a fantasy type sword that has special abilities! I will need to experiment with the higher-grade cores when I am strong enough to hunt some of the big boys in this forest.'
Ben kept hunting deeper into the forest and gradually started to come across higher stage creatures.
By the end of the day, he had made 145 gold coins and change.
Happy with his last treetop camp he made when he was poisoned, Ben set up another platform in a tall tree. With so many dangerous beasts roaming around, he thought that sleeping on the ground was just asking for trouble.
The night spent in the forest passed by without any troubles. He would hear the occasional distant howls. He would also wake from the sound of a creature running through the darkness close to the tree he slept on.
Ben was safe for the most part due to a being good thirty feet off the ground. The forest is most definitely a lively place during the night and it ended up being a good idea to camp in the treetop.
Using his tree stand tactics, his hunt progressed for the next few days. Hunting creatures from trees, skinning them, and selling them and their cores off to the System Store.
He spent five days in the forest and had a few close encounters. If he did not have the map that showed him where each creature was, he could have died a few times already.
'I can see why none of those scouting parties ever returned from exploring this forest. It wouldn't matter how strong you were when a little snake could take you down in a flash. I am sure there are even nastier things deeper in this forest that will scare the living crap out of this world's top cultivators.' Ben pondered as he opened a system menu to look at his new gold coin balance.
He now had a total of 883 gold coins and was feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Even though he had to take some risks it was possible for him to make money in this world so that he could continue building up his defenses back home.
It had been some time since Ben last checked his status and with all the recent gains he was curious about how he was progressing.
"Status!"
____________________________________________
STATUS
[Host]: Ben King
[System Level]: 2
[Strength]: 39
[Agility]: 30
[Stamina]: 40
[Intelligence]: 31
[Wisdom]: 30
[Vitality]: 34
[Charisma]: 32
____________________________________________
[SKILLS]
[Running, Level 3]
[Spriniting, Level 4]
[Enhanced Hearing, Level 8]
[Sword Proficiency, Level 5]
[Hand to Hand Combat Level 1]
[Pain Tolerance Level 9]
[Chameleon, Level 4]
[Silent Walk, Level 4]
[Archery, Level 9]
[Field Dress Level 9]
[Poison Resistance Level 5]
[First Aid Level 5]
[Analyze: Level 1]
____________________________________________
[CULTIVATION STAGE]
[Stage Three, Level Four]
____________________________________________
[CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES]
[Immortal Strengthening Technique: Stage 3: Level 4]
[Whirlwind Maneuver, Level 4]
____________________________________________
One piece of good news he found out after reaching the Stage Three of cultivation his attribute gains went from +1 to +2 per level. Ben was told as his stages continue to rise so will his attributes awarded per level from now on.
'I now have three [level 9] skills and one [level 8] skill. I wonder what will happen when they level up." Ben mused as he studied his list of skill levels.'
He soon found an answer to part of his question a couple of days later when his
[Field Dressing] skill had leveled up and evolved into a new skill.
[Notice] Skill: [Field Dress has Evolved into Victus Zoologist Level 1!]
[Victus Zoologist]: You are now an expert in known creatural behaviors, classifications, and biology of planet Victus. You can now skin animals with greater speed and precision. You know the vital areas to strike a creature for a clean kill. You know most creature's preferred habitat and behavior.
[Auto_Notice] [The System will now provide the host with all the evolved skill's current information.]
Ben legs suddenly collapsed under his weight. A sudden excruciating pain stabbed into his skull as if someone had just driven a knife into his brain.
At first, he thought that he had been ambushed by a hidden creature, thinking that this was the end. Even with his pain resistance skill, it was a torturous unmanageable pain.
He rolled around on the ground grinding his teeth while holding head waiting for the final strike to come, but after 20 seconds of extreme pain, it vanished like it was never there.
Ben sat up after a moment to check his notices and asked the system what had just happened to him.
The system explained it had just downloaded all the available information about every known creature on the planet into his brain at a high speed. The enormous amount of information being forced into his brain all at once was the cause of crippling pain he experienced.
"System I am grateful for the information it will help me tremendously, but PLEASE do not ever do again if I am in a dangerous situation."
*Ding!* [Acknowledged. The system will from now on ask the host if they wish to obtain the provided knowledge at the given time or wait until a more convenient time.]
Once they were both on the same page, Ben continued to hunt until he gained another level in his Archery skill.
[Notice] [Skill: Archery has Evolved into Bowman Sniper Level 1!]
[Bowman Sniper]: The host can perform accurate shots of any given distance that his bow can allow him to make. A better bow will allow for longer more accurate shots. The host will now deal double the damage to targets unaware of him on the first strike. [Damages will increase with skill levels]
Ben had now hunted 25 miles into the forest and using his map he found it was 150 miles just to the center of this forest. Even though he had only scratched the surface of the forest he made some decent gains and gold coins.
He decided it was about time to head back and began to hunt his way back to his land from another direction. By walking home from a different direction it he could hunt an area he hadn't passed through before. This would allow him to make more gold coins on the way home in these uncharted areas of the forest.
Two days later his Enhanced Hearing skill had reached level 10. It did not evolve like the others, but it did surprisingly unlock a new skill for him.
The system explained his hearing had advanced to such a degree it was evolving to provide an additional ability.
[Notice] [You have learned a new skill! Echolocation Level 1!
[Echolocation]: The host can locate objects, creatures, or people by reflected sound. The host can see his surrounding even when his eyes are closed. A sound is sent out that can not be heard by the human hear to bounce off of surrounding objects and return to the host.
'Um, I just became part bat... I think?'
Ben closed his eyes and used the [Echolocation] skill. A pulse that could not be heard by the naked ear was sent out in a 360-degree circumference around him for 10 yards.
Once the pulse traveled the full 10 yards and returned a black and white image flashed in his mind. Ben could see everything around him in detail from a blade of grass to the largest tree.
'This is a great skill if I am ever momentarily blinded in a fight, this can easily save my life. Exploring a dark cave will become simplistic task with this skill.
'It seems I will need to level this skill to increase its range. It is impressive, but it will only show a ten yard circumference around me at level one.' Ben thought to himself as he continued to hunt his way back toward his build zone.
Finally back home at his keep after a two-week adventure. Ben had saved all his notices to read for when he had made it home and hunted his way back out of the southern forest without any distractions.
Sitting in his chair at the table on the third floor of the keep it felt good to get off his feet. It was nice to relax and not be on guard even though, he did feel a little grubby now.
He had only been able to lightly clean himself up in the occasional stream or creek he came across so he was dreaming of a hot bath as he began to go over his latest gains.
[Notice] [Skill: Enhanced Hearing has increased. Enhanced Hearing Level 13!]
[Notice] [Skill: Sword Proficiency has increased. Sword Proficiency Level 6!]
[Notice] [Skill: Chameleon has increased. Chameleon Level 6!]
[Notice] [Skill: Silent Walk has increased. Silent Walk Level 6!]
[Notice] [Skill: Bowman Sniper has increased. Bowman Sniper Level 3!]
[Notice] [Skill: Victus Zoologist has increased. Victus Zoologist Level 4!]
[Notice] [You have advanced in cultivation! Cultivation Stage Three: Level Six!]
"Not bad, not bad at all. Now that I have 2079 gold coins it time to continue building!"
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