CHAPTER 11: HARPOONHEAD

Ray opened the character panel to check the changes.

Ray

Level: 1

EXP required to level up: 20

Rank: Awakened Beast Tamer

Beast Taming Seal: Eclipse Devouring Seal — A unique seal that can devour other seals and perfectly replicate their abilities.

Stats:

Strength: 1

Stamina: 1

Agility: 1

Soul Quality: 10

Magic Power: 100

Debuffs: None

SP: 2

To reach the next level, he needed to earn twice as much EXP, but he believed it would be easier as he had 2 stat points to help him.

Curious about how much a single stat point could improve him, he ran from one tree to another at the top of his speed, before investing a point in agility. He ran the same distance again, and was surprised as he covered it in half the time.

"A single stat point doubled my base agility!" He concluded, before investing another point into agility. The more agile he was, the easier it would be to dodge blows and escape when things gets tough.

[-1 SP]

[Your agility has increased from 2 to 3]

Now, he was three times faster compared to an ordinary person. His speed could easily rival a physical type initial stage iron beast specialising in speed!

"This rate of improvement is ridiculous," Ray thought as he realized that, while most beast tamers had weak, frail bodies, he could harden and strengthen his own to a level rivaling demonic creatures using stat points.

[A new quest has been issued]

[Tame your first beast!]

[Reward: 100 EXP, Basic Rune Creation Manual!]

Ray smiled.

The system quest aligned perfectly with his plans, as his next goal was to raid the grave of a Battle Master.

However, without sufficient strength, he knew he wouldn’t be able to overcome the graveyard’s guardians.

He decided, then, to hunt and level up a few more times before attempting it, venturing deeper into the wilderness.

Kuaaaa!

A bestial cry, resembling the caws of a crow, echoed from above.

Ray’s head snapped up just in time to see an aerial beast with wings so vast they looked like the sails of a galleon, and it was so massive it blocked his view of the sky as it passed high above the treetops, moving toward the dark line of mountains on the horizon.

From its size alone, Ray guessed it could pluck an ox from the ground without much effort, yet its head never turned his way. Perhaps he was too small to notice or simply not worth hunting in its eyes. Anyway, he felt lucky he hadn’t attracted the attention of such a fearsome beast.

As it went away, the view it had been blocking became visible.

The night sky was adorned with a sea of stars and a radiant full moon. Raised in a village before moving to the city to earn money, he had seen this scene many times in his previous life.

Ray felt a strange sense of solace. Though Earth had changed greatly, and though the skies themselves now harbored monsters he had only ever seen in movies and comics, at least some things remained unchanged.

He stopped only for a few moments before continuing his search.

The roars of beasts rose and fell in the distance.

The deeper he went into the wilderness, the denser the foliage became.

Moonlight filtered through gaps in the dense canopy above, casting dappled patches of light and shadow along the path that stretched before him.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he felt like he was being watched.

He looked around vigilantly, taking in his surroundings, and saw something that prompted him to act instantly.

A faint shimmer, like moonlight sliding over steel, flickered between the trees. In an instant, it magnified in his gaze, reaching infinitely close to piercing through him.

Luckily, at the sight of it, Ray had swept his dagger across the space before him in a ruthless, horizontal arc.

Clang!

Sparks erupted as the blade met something equally hard. Ray was forced back a few steps while the thing that struck his hastily swung dagger flew sideways, slamming heavily into a tree.

"HarpoonHead..." Ray’s eyes narrowed as he saw what it was.

It was a lizard covered in scales like granite plate, as if it was the manifestination of the true meaning of an iron beast. Its head was like the tip of a spear, sharp, metallic, and triangular, and bore jagged horns. A deep crack ran across one of them where Ray’s strike had landed, and blood flowed out of it.

Its yellow eyes burned with hate as it looked at him. Not only did the lethal technique it had used to kill thousands of preys with ease proved completely ineffective against him, it was also injured by him. So its hatred for him was true and deep, like the ocean’s depths.

Ray matched its intensity, staring at it like it was dead meat.

If he hadn’t increased his agility to a level comparable to demonic beasts before being ambushed by it, he would have certainly died!

So he hated it just as much.

Skiek!

"Come!"

It crawled on all four while he charged valiantly. They rushed at one another like wild beasts.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

They clashed dozens of times.

With his daggers, Ray blocked all the attacks aiming for his vital points. The majority of the attacks that were non-lethal also failed to land on him. Only a few managed to graze past him, cutting open his skin and drawing blood.

The HarpoonHead wasn’t as fast. It couldn’t block most of Ray’s attacks and ended up wounded, with some of its most vital scales forcefully struck off its body.

Clang!

With a strike that landed on its chest, it was thrown to the ground like a discarded toy.

Skiek!

With a scream, it exploded towards Ray with a menacing glint in its eyes.

This attack carried all its strength; it wanted to end his life with it. With a single leap, it bridged the nine meters gap between them in an instant, attempting to bite his neck.

Ray sidestepped, letting its snapping jaws close on empty air.

Right after, he brought his dagger down on it.

The cold blade slid across its neck mercilessly. Blood spurted as its head was detached from the rest of its body.

[You’ve killed a Mutated HarpoonHead. You have gained 20 EXP.]

[Congratulations, Host. You have leveled up. You have gained +2 stat points.]

"Another level up?"

Ray was taken aback by the unexpected surprise. Although the HarpoonHead was tougher than any opponent he had faced so far, he hadn’t expected getting 20 whole EXP for killing it.

A smile crept onto his face as he added, "Great!"

This was just what he needed.