Dante smiled as he finally saw the monsters he was going to hunt.
The monster was a huge ape about the size of him. He had encountered a few of them in the past two weeks. They were a bit smarter than goblins and more resourceful.
Dante whistled.
He lowered the mana flow inside his body, trying to appear weaker. After adjusting his mana output, he slowly walked toward the group of apes.
Looking around the forest, he tried not to look suspicious. He remained ignorant of the apes. Soon, just as he suspected the apes noticed him and quietly observed him from afar.
Dante hummed a country song and walked cluelessly.
'Ok. They have taken the bait.' He thought as his eyes scanned 7 apes surroundings him.
One of the big apes gathered mana and lunched at him. Dante dropped to the ground instantly and swung his axe at the incoming Ape with precision.
Due the sharp edge and his mana infused strike, the axe cleanly sliced through the ape in half.
[You have slain Forest Ape.]
[35 points earned.]
'Another generic name.' He scowled.
The surrounding apes immediately went frenzy and lunched at him.
Dante smirked and garbed a pebble on the ground. He then threw the pebble at the nearest ape and dropped the axe.
He took a step backward, dodging the two apes.
The apes were smart but they are still beings of instinct. Once they saw their kind was killed, their mind went blank and only knew about malice.
Dante swallowed the nervousness and focused on the attack.
Currently,he is weaponsless. His punch could hurt the ape but couldn't do that much damage. Nevertheless he was confident in his fighting power.
"Come, you bloody ape." Dante declared.
Maybe because of his voice, the apes hesitated. Until the largest one threw into him.
This large ape was about 2 feet taller than Dante. Dante ducked the violent swung and stepped forward, entering into his striking range.
He then punched directly at the chest, pouring every strength into it. He felt something crack underneath the thick skin.
The large ape howled and backed down. Dante immediately turned to the left and jumped, spun around and threw a back kick at the large ape's throat.
Closecombat skill gave him general knowledge about fighting and boosted his power a little bit.
After stopping the large ape, he turned attention to the other ones. They all growled at him.
He growled back.
They all locked in the place for a few seconds.
'I can't kill them all without taking a little damage. That ape is not dead yet. With its recovery, it will come back.' Dante thought.
He condensed mana in his left arm and used Dash.
Dash skill gave him a boost in short burst movement. He reached at the nearby ape and struck his left arm.
The condensed mana in the left arm blasted the ape, sending it into the tree, crushing it.
[You have slain Forest Ape.]
[35 points earned.]
Dante shrugged the pain in his left arm and used Dash again. This time he went to his axe, grabbing it.
And he used Heal in his left arm.
'I seriously hope Tier 2 covers the natural mana from breaking down my mana.'
The two apes swung their long limbs. Dante ducked down and swung back his axe.
Axemastery allowed him to subconsciously inject the mana into the axe, boosting the strike power and sharpness.
He didn't know the process was given by the skill or his training.
Nevertheless he cleaved the two limbs.
"Haha. That is pathetic." He laughed, swinging the axe another time.
The left arm was now completely healed.
[You have slain Forest Ape]
[35 points earned.]
Dante ignored the next notification and focused on the last two apes.
One of them backed down, showing its belly.
Dante shrugged at that and threw the axe at them. He followed behind the axe.
The two apes dodged the axe with ease.
Dante suspected that to happen. He cornered the other ape and threw a punch at the ape's face.
The ape collapsed to the ground, unable to withstand the shockwave the punch created.
'Nice.'
He then grabbed a rock and aimed at the other one. The ape realized the situation and fled.
Dante aimed at the back of the head and threw the rock. The rock struck the ape.
Dante slowly walked toward his axe and grabbed it. He started killing all the apes, laying on the ground.
After killing them, Dante rested for a few minutes.
He looked at his left arm and sighed. 'Heal drains all my energy.'
He closed his eyes and took out the remaining mana core he had. He absorbed the mana, replenishing the mana.
'I will be transformed in two days.'
He got up from the ground and started taking out the core.
He didn't need to dismantle every part of the body. Because his eyes revealed the location.
After stocking the cores in his bag, he walked back to the cave.
There were a few groups of monsters but he ignored them since their energy was too low for his liking.
As he was walking, his eyes picked up a spice in mana around the cave.
He fastened his walk and reached the cave.
He saw Julius in the tree. He jumped and climbed the tree effortlessly.
"What happened?" Dante asked.
Julius glanced at him and pointed at the source of mana. "Thomas is advancing Tier."
"I see." Dante nodded, focusing his eyes onto Thomas.
He saw mana building up inside his friend, establishing a deep connection with the core.
Dante sat on the tree and let out a long sigh. "Guess, he wins the bet."
Julius shook his head, "I am attempting Tier 2 tomorrow."
"Really?"
Julius nodded, clenching his hand. "Yeah. I have gathered enough mana. I just need to be in perfect condition."
"I see. Good luck. I will follow you." Dante said.
Julius smiled and jumped down the tree. "See ya."
Dante waited for Thomas. Soon, the mana calmed down and he saw Thomas standing up.
He climbed down and walked over to his huge friend. "How is it?"
"I can draw more mana in the air." Thomas explained. "I need to test my power for a while."
Dante nodded in understanding. "Okay. Come back around dinner time. Rest is an important thing."
Dante waved his hands and walked to his area. He grabbed the deer's meat and ate a few.
It was left over from breakfast. He was hungry but his body demanded energy.
He stuffed the meat into his mouth and silently ate.
After that he trained his mana.
Compression inside his veins was the best choice he had for a quick power buff. But it also led his veins to burst out.
Even when his body was now strengthened, his veins couldn't handle the stress.
If he reached Tier 2, he could compress mana outside his body.
'Maybe I can use a mana bolt. I am tired of throwing rocks. Although it is effective, it looks lame.' He laughed.
***
Dante yawned as he looked over Julius's advancement. Unlike Thomas, there was no mana spike. But that was because of Julius's physique.
"Hmm. I will attempt tomorrow." He said to himself.