Blood warning.
For sake of consistency, Miles did not use [Lucky Strike] for the attack he did on the Goose. It is still available to use on current day.
I do know his Luck will reach pretty absurd levels after some grinding, which was why I introduced the Crit Res stat. If you want me to introduce other ways to nerf it later on, let me know!
I did subtly change the title of Vol 1, some of you may or may not have noticed. First volume name: The Wolf Pack!
As always, don't forget to drop some power stones, leave a comment, a review and add to your collection if you like the story!
*****
[Ding! Host has successfully eliminated Goose - Level 2.]
[Current Mission - (Eliminate the Flock of Geese)]:
-Geese Eliminated: 1/10
-Goose Leader Eliminated: 0/1
[Ding! Host has obtained 5 EXP from Goose - Level 2.]
[Ding! Superior Luck has triggered. Boosting gained EXP by 50%. 8 EXP has been awarded to Host.]
Level 1: (8/10)(+8)
The poor Goose couldn't even stand a chance. It got bit in the neck with Fire Fang, and it got singed and burned. The Goose couldn't even honk in agony before its life passed away thanks to Burn being triggered. Miles's tail thumped happily in response as he dragged the Goose's dead body back into the snow.
Fire Fang did leave the wound in a burnt state, but its burn didn't dry up all the blood inside its neck. It left behind a bloody trail on the ice, and the scent of both blood and iron was striking against Miles's nostrils.
For some reason though, Miles wasn't bothered by this smell. If he was still a human, his stomach would have turned queasy just by getting a good whiff of the stench. Yet now, it even excited him a bit. His tail was thumping happily in response, seeing the bloody mess before him.
'That's being a fox for you I guess.', Miles wondered. Just this alone was a new experience for him. On top of that, killing this one Goose granted him 8 EXP! He only needed two more points to get his first Level Up. He was very curious to see which stats would get affected by it.
'I swear, this feels like Pokemon..', Miles retorted, seeing his new EXP Bar raise. He even saw an HP Bar above the Goose's head, and it instantly depleted right after he attacked it.
Miles had another look at his Stamina count.
[Remaining Stamina: 82/105]
He was down 23 stamina points. He did activate [Observe] for the first time, but that counted as a freebie. From here on, it would cost five stamina points to [Observe] a single target, while it would cost more to [Observe] multiple targets.
Right now, it wasn't cost friendly to him. Miles didn't want to find out what would happen should his Stamina reach 0. Would he just pass out on the spot?
As the blood started to seep into the snow, Miles gazed at another Goose still on the ice. The rest were now in the water, not disturbed by Miles's actions just now. It caused him to stare at them for a good moment.
'Do Geese seriously not care about their own? I just killed one of them.', Miles retorted. Thankfully he saw the Geese not bothered by Miles taking one of them. The flock consisted of eleven Geese, and he successfully nabbed one. That meant there were still ten to go.
'This first Mission of mine doesn't seem to have a time limit either. Good. I don't have to hunt all of them now.', Miles mused. He was worried that he would run out of stamina before he hunted them all, but his mission didn't have a time limit. This meant that the Geese were likely going to stay around for a while. Miles could focus on what to do for the rest of the day.
Miles wanted to catch another Goose, but he decided against it. Miles's fur was rather bloody now with the blood seeping into the snow around him.
If he went back to where the Geese were, the stench alone would rile them up. Miles didn't know if a Goose's nose was as sensitive as his was, but the stench of blood was quite strong for him. Miles just stared at the dead body of the Goose for another moment.
Miles would definitely be repulsed by what was present before him, but he didn't. In fact, Miles gulped seeing some part of the Goose's neck before him now spilled out onto the snow.
'There really is a first time for everything...', Miles uttered. He resolved himself. He knew he was no longer human, but a fox. He would need to hunt and eat his prey in order to survive in this harsh Canadian wilderness.
Opening his mouth, a string of saliva appeared over his fangs. Chomppp!
Miles chomped right into the Goose's body, tearing through its feathers in one go. More blood splattered onto his face, but he ignored it. The moment Miles found the fleshy interior of the Goose's body, his eyes lit up. It tasted very gamy, and delicious. It wasn't repulsive to Miles one bit.
[Ding! Host has consumed his first prey. A new Skill has been created. [Bite - Level 1 (0/000)] has been created.]
[Ding! Due to host consuming his first prey, a second new Skill has been created. [Consume - Level 1 (0/100] has been created.]
[Bite - Level 1(0/100)]
-Inflicts a normal bite attack onto a target.
-Special Effect 1: Deals an extra 10% damage upon landing a blow onto a target.
[Ding! Due to using [Fire Fang] and delivering a finishing blow on target, [Fire Fang] proficiency has increased by ten.]
[Due to using a bite attack and delivering a finishing blow on target, [Bite] proficiency has been increased by ten.]
[Fire Fang - Level 1(10/100)] (0->10)
[Bite - Level 1 (10/100)] (0->10)
[Consume - Level 1 (0/100)]
-Allows Host to consume the dead bodies of Host's prey. Every time Host uses [Consume], EXP will be obtained. Very rarely, Host has a small chance to acquire a Skill depending on the type of animal or mutated being Host consumes. This Skill is not impacted by the Luck stat.]
Miles' eyes lit up, ignoring the bloody stench assaulting his nose and the dripping blood coming off of his lips as he saw those notifications appear. 'It really did give me the [Consume] skill.', Miles mused. 'Excellent. I've read various stories where this Skill could give experience points, stat points, rare Skills, and so on. It's only Level 1 now and likely doesn't even have a 10% chance to grant me a new Skill. I am curious to see what kinds of Skills Geese can give me too. There were ten left, so there was a decent chance I could get at least one Skill from them. I'm also glad this skill isn't affected by Luck. For now, it looks like it will only give me a boost in experience. The question remains though, does it only trigger once, or does it continue to trigger until I'm done with my eating?', Miles wondered.
At this time, he heard another notification.
[Ding! Host has used [Consumed], consuming part of the dead Geese before Host. Two EXP points has been obtained.]
[Ding! Host's Level has increased to Level 2. +5 HP, +5 Stamina, +1 STR, +1 END, +1 AGI has been obtained.]
[Ding! [Twilit Fervor] and [Superior Luck] have been activated]
[Ding! Host has received 3 free Stat Points to use, two of which came from [Twilit Fervor].]
[Ding! 1 proficiency point has been obtained for using [Consume]. [Consume - Level 1 (1/100)] (0->1)
Miles's eyes lit up a second time seeing this unexpected gain from just chewing on some reddened flesh of a dead bird.
Miles then thought about the two experience points he received from eating the Goose. 'I wonder, is it because of the Goose's Level that I received two experience points instead of one?', Miles wondered. Aside from that though, Miles pondered the fact that his STR had increased by two points. If he were to use the same action like he did before, and the Goose was still Level 2, he could potentially kill it in one blow now while using [Fire Fang], without needing the Burn to trigger!
Just knowing that fact alone changed Miles's next course of action. He had another look at the flock of Geese before him, honking away without a care in the world.
'I was first surprised they let me take one of them to begin with, but now I'm feeling confident that I can hunt another. Should I give it a try, or should I continue to feast on this deliciousness?', Miles pondered again, looking down at the flesh wound he created.
[Ding! Due to Host eating part of a Goose, Stamina has been replenished by 1 point.]
[Current Stamina: 88/110] (82->87->88)]
'This raw meat tastes good, so let's continue to eat for now. I want to replenish my stamina and see if I get any more experience points from doing this.', Miles concluded.
Without him realizing it, his butt pointed upward as he dove his face right into the wound he inflicted with [Bite] a moment ago, and started to gnaw away at the remaining pieces of the dead Goose. His tail wagged happily in response, and as he ate more and more of the raw meat, he started to receive notifications one after another.
"Yip!", Miles let out a cute yelp as he ignored the blood splatters that started to paint the snow red. With his belly getting fuller and fuller as the time passed, he decided to have another look at his status window to see the related changes.
[Stamina has been replenished. Stamina has been replenished. Stamina has been replenished. 2 EXP points have been obtained...]
Sadly, no new Skill was obtained as Miles continued to eat.
That was fine though. He still had ten more targets before him that potentially could!
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Would you readers prefer I keep the status window in a separate section like this instead?
[Status Window]
First Name: Miles Last Name: None
Species: Silver Fox Kit(+)
Age: 1/5 (New)
Level: 2 (10/20) (+18)
HP: 35/35 (+5) MP (Locked) Stamina: 105/110 (+23)
Strength: 9 (+1) Endurance: 9 (+1) Agility 6 (+1) Luck: 10 (+5)
Available Stat Points: 3
Attack Damage: 27 Toughness: 27 Crit: 10% Crit Res: 19%
Evolution Requirement: Level 10
[SKILLS]
======
[Passives]
-[Superior Luck]+, [Twilit Fervor], [Ice Resistance] (Lv: 2 (0/200)+, [Basic Foxfire] (Lv: 1 1/100), [Firebending], [Fire Affinity]+, [Ice=Walk]+, [Burrow]+, [Consume] (Lv: 1 23/100)
[Actives]
-[Lucky Strike], [Fire Fang] (Lv: 1 10/100), [Bite] (Lv: 1 10/100)
[Known Status Effects]
-Bleed, -Burn
[Inventory]:
-[History of Canada Vol 1], [Bestiary of the Northern Territories], [World Atlas - 1800s], [History of the Howlett Family], -[Double Experience Bottle - (1 hour)] x1, -[Beginner's Pack - Level 5]
I tried listing the skills out horizontally this time. Do you readers prefer the skill listed vertically, or horizontally? I might prefer horizontally, as it becomes less cluttered.
And yes, Superior Luck did not affect Consume this chapter. Do you think it should? I am considering battle exp only.
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As always, don't forget to drop some power stones, leave a comment, a review and add to your collection if you like the story!