Forest elf.
That's how he felt when he climbed a tree and pulled the bowstring while aiming at a dark green snake with a black spot, 10 meters long. The width of the snake's body was larger than Tomoya's own waist.
Aiming at the eye, he pulled the string to the maximum.
When he released the string, it felt like a sniper shot. The shot was fast, hard to follow with the eyes.
The beastly snake noticed the arrow, but it was already too late. The beast closed its eyes and the arrow hit the eyelid, piercing it and beginning to freeze around the eyes.
Roaring, the beast raised its upper body with its mouth open while writhing.
Tomoya pulled another arrow and shot. This time he aimed at the beast's body.
Sensing the danger, the beast moved.
The arrow missed the target.
Pulling another arrow, Tomoya predicted the direction the beast would be and shot.
Before it even hit, he had already pulled another arrow to the maximum and fired. He repeated these actions five times before the first arrow hit the bottom of the beast's large mouth.
One by one, the arrows hit the target. He always aimed at the head, making the beastly snake's head look like a bristling porcupine.
[Ice Manipulation Leveled Up!]
A happy event, but he didn't have time to care about that now.
Pulling the next arrow, the moment his intention to place ice on the arrowhead was passed on, he saw that it was at least twice as easy compared to before and at a lower cost.
The corners of his lips lifted and he released the arrow.
When the arrow was fired, it started to spin and hit the beastly snake's second good eye.
The beast roared again.
Seeing the beast's mouth open, he quickly pulled another arrow and fired.
His location was somehow seen by the now blind beastly snake.
The beast crawled in his direction.
Tomoya had a bold thought.
He disappeared and reappeared in his room, but soon chose to teleport back to the other dimension and chose right behind the beast.
When he appeared on the ground, he released the arrow that had condensed a lot of ice.
The coldness in the arrow was visible through the steam it created.
When fired, a crystalline effect left a trail behind the arrow.
At the sound of the whistling fired arrow, the beastly snake turned around.
The moment it turned, before, it was going to hit the back of the head, but now it was headed toward the beast's open mouth which already had an arrow stuck through it.
Even without seeing, the beast lowered its head. The arrow didn't hit the mouth and landed right on the snake's forehead.
When hit, the arrow shattered as the beastly snake's head began to freeze.
Smiling, Tomoya pulled another arrow.
However, before he released the arrow, the snake began to writhe like a car dealership air dancer.
With a shrill scream, the beastly snake fell toward a large tree.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
His spent mana was recovered, even the fatigue he felt was gone.
Retracting the bowstring. He looked at the monstrous snake and began to approach.
Touching the beast's body, an option to sell to the shop appeared.
He agreed.
[+488 Gold Coins!]
It was more than he imagined.
'Maybe it has a core that makes this price worth it?'
Considering that he used almost all the arrows in his quiver and it wasn't purely physical attacks, but also magical, and it took so much time to finally finish the beast, he determined that it was a reasonable price.
He opened the shop and searched for an item and clicked.
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[Item: Mana Ring]: 400 Gold Coins
Item Rank: Lower Medium
Mana: +5%
Mana Control: +10% (Warning: Effect is not cumulative)
══════ •『☯』• ══════
That is, even if he buys two identical rings, it won't improve his mana control.
Even so, he clicked on buy.
[-400 Gold Coins!]
With that, almost all the gold coins he got from selling the snake were gone.
In the option to receive the item, he chose for it to appear in front of him. Soon, a silver ring appeared in his free hand.
There was a small stone the size of a bean in golden color.
Storing the bow, he wore the ring on his left index finger.
When he did that, Tomoya experienced a change in his body being influenced by the ring. The mana in his body began to flow more naturally while growing slightly.
Although it wasn't a feeling as obvious as drinking water, it was still noticeable.
When he tried to create an ice arrow and shoot, the arrow whistled in the air and hit a tree with force, creating a hole.
It was the first time he managed to cause real damage using it.
He kept creating ice arrows and shooting at the tree, until he managed to knock the tree down. At the same time, a new notification appeared on his retina.
[Magical Manipulation Leveled Up!]
With that, it became more comfortable to create ice arrows.
But, he stopped testing. He heard sounds of something approaching.
Without hesitation, he returned home.
...
[Dimensional Jump Leveled Up!]
In his living room, surprise was stamped on Tomoya's face.
He felt that this skill should take longer to level up, he didn't imagine it would level up so quickly.
When he tried to use the skill, two mirrors appeared. One with the number [1] just above and another with the number [2].
When he touched mirror number 1, he saw the same masses of white energy. Retracting his hand, he went to mirror 2. There, he saw only a single mass of energy.
'A new dimension?' he thought.
He clicked on the mass of energy.
When he did that, he saw a totally different scene than what he was expecting.
It was a dark corridor with side pillars and lanterns emitting faint green lights. The place itself seemed to be abandoned, with roots on the walls and pieces of stone on the dirt floor.
'A cat?'
While he was watching, he spotted what looked like an injured cat.
The 'cat' had yellowish fur with brown stripes.
Blood trails came from inside the area, while on the side with white light—possibly the outside of this place—the yellow cat with brown stripes seemed to have passed out while trying to leave.
His intention to go to this dimension was confirmed and he was engulfed by the mass of energy.
...
Tomoya stopped very close to the cat and approached with caution.
Getting very close, the cat that previously had its eyes closed looked at him with difficulty, but the head seemed to have become heavy and it closed its eyes as it let its head touch the ground.
Squatting in front of the cat, he took its hand. The cat's body was limp.
'Appraisal.'
══════ •『☯』• ══════
Name: No name (Weakened state)
A Local S-Class Monster, Behemoth Cub
══════ •『☯』• ══════
Tomoya's heart pounded.
Who would imagine that a random nearly dead cat would actually be a Behemoth Cub.
The fact that it was classified as Rank S, with the addition of 'Local', possibly for being S-rank of this dimension, he could only estimate the power of this monster.
It didn't matter if it was evil or not, since it was classified as a monster, he didn't hesitate to choke it with his left hand and twist the head with the right.
At the sound of a 'Crack', the neck of the Behemoth Cub snapped.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
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[Warning! You have reached the maximum level allowed without a class.]
[You have unlocked 9 different classes. Choose:
[Warrior] [Magic Warrior] [Assassin] [Mage] [Ice Mage] [Time Mage] [Blacksmith] [Alchemist] [Merchant]
══════ •『☯』• ══════
Hearing footsteps, he first stored the corpse of the Behemoth Cub in the Item Box and returned to his dimension.
After he left, a dazzling young woman with long golden-blonde cascading hair appeared.
Her body is curvaceous and seductive, accentuating her graceful silhouette. She wears a tight white top with vibrant green details that complement her complexion, paired with a matching skirt and elegant straps that skillfully hold the fabric to her body.
Her legs are clad in brown boots that rise elegantly to her thighs, adding a rustic and refined touch to the outfit. Attached to each leg is a sturdy pouch, practical for carrying small essential items, revealing her adventurous spirit.
At the lower back, two long and shiny swords are sheathed in a crossed position, with the hilts almost invisible.
"How strange... I could've sworn there was someone here in this corridor..." she murmured softly.
...
At home, Tomoya was still trying to process the luck he had.
Finding a nearly dead Cub of a legendary S-Rank monster was incredible luck.
Taking the corpse of the Behemoth Cub out of the Item Box, he tried selling it to the shop.
The price left his jaw on the floor.
116 thousand gold coins.
If it were an adult Behemoth, maybe the price would be several times higher, but considering it was a cub that looked more like a kitten, that value still shocked him.
I mean, with that, he could buy high-quality weapons, skills, artifacts, etc.
He wasn't interested in dismantling the monster and sold it directly to the shop.
[+116,831 Gold Coins!]
With that done, he pulled a chair and sat down.
More calmly, he opened the class selection tab.
Among the classes, the one that caught his attention the most was inevitably Time Mage.
However, the Mage class seemed to be a more comprehensive class. He saw that by choosing Mage, he would gain Elemental Mastery. Even at level 1, it would increase all elemental damage by 10%.
The maximum level of the skill was 99 and had an increase of 5% per level. That is, it could reach a 500% increase in elemental damage.
It also had a starting skill called 'Distance Shrinking'. It was a skill that allows teleporting 20 meters forward at level 1.
Although the Time Mage had a better teleportation skill, being able to teleport kilometers away, he still preferred the Mage Class in the long run. Moreover, at level 99, a new class can be chosen.
In the worst-case scenario, he could choose the Time Mage class when he reaches level 99.
══════ •『☯』• ══════
[You Chose the Mage Class!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
══════ •『☯』• ══════
Tomoya closed his eyes as he felt a change happening in his body.
Minutes later, he went to the bedroom and saw his reflection in the mirror.
In the mirror, he saw a tall man, 1.91 m in height.
His striking features included well-defined cheekbones, piercing hazel-green eyes, and a chiseled jawline.
His black hair extended beyond the neck, with bangs reaching the tip of the nose, parted to the left.
'Looks like I grew a little.' He thought: 'The rest is still the same.'
Now that he had chosen the mage class, he felt that he had at least 5 times more Mana than he had before.
And, since he leveled up several times, he had 110 accumulated points to distribute. Thinking a bit, he assigned 25 to strength, 50 to speed, and the rest to intelligence.
'Status.'
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Name: Tomoya Yamano
Race: Human
Class: Mage
Title: None
Level: 4 -> 15
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Attributes:
Strength: 75 -> 100 [+]
Intelligence: 290 -> 325 [+]
Speed: 50 -> 100 [+]
Luck: 55 -> 60
Points: 0
══════ •『☯』• ══════
Attack Power: 750 -> 1,000
Magic Attack Power: 2,900 -> 6,500
Endurance: 580 -> 975
Defense: 150 -> 200
══════ •『☯』• ══════
His magic attack became gigantic compared to before.