58: Species Change
"We're there, Young Master," Bulga said as the Beast came down and landed in front of the forest.
"This place is the one I was talking about. Here you can find the newborn monsters." Bulga said.
"Oh, alright. I'll be going inside. Follow me for a bit. Show me one of those beasts," Ryder said to him. He didn't want to go alone since he wasn't sure how strong would house newborns be.
"Of course, young Master," Bulga nodded his head in affirmation.
They both entered inside the forest, and after walking for around 10 minutes, they indeed saw a monster.
It was a Three Horned Wind Deer that was known for its speed.
'That's a newborn for them? That looks like a full-grown beast!' Ryder thought with a frown.
Ryder used his <All-Seer> on the Three Horned Wind Deer.
'Amazing. Even this weakest category of monster is at level 10. Though it's not bad, I think I can handle that much. This place would be a good place to hunt,' Ryder thought.
"Alright. You can leave. I can handle everything else from here. I'll see you outside the forest in 3 hours," Ryder told Bulga.
After some slight hesitation, Bulga decided to listen to the orders. He turned back and left. Only Ryder was left behind.
"Time for some grinding," Ryder said with a smile on his face as he stepped closer to the Three Horned Wind Deer.
The Three Horned Wind Deer was sleeping, but it was as if it had a sixth sense for danger. As soon as Ryder entered within a fifty-meter range of it, it opened its eyes as it stood up.
"Cheh, I wanted to finish it faster, but whatever," Ryder sighed as he started running towards the Three Horned Wind Deer.
His Moon Scythe was already in his hands.
Ryder saw the Three Horned Wind Deer running away from him instead of coming towards him. Its speed was slightly faster than him as well.
"Flame Blast!" Ryder used his flame spell as he shot a ball of fire toward the Three Horned Wind Deer.
The ball of fire struck the back of the Three Horned Wind Deer and made him groan in agony.
The Three Horned Wind Deer looked like it had lost its sense of reasoning as its eyes turned red. It started running towards Ryder in madness.
"Now that's better," Ryder smiled as he saw the prey itself running towards the Hunter. He gripped his Moon Scythe firmly as he waited for the Three Horned Wind Deer
After a short moment, the Three Horned Wind Deer reached near him.
"Enraged Slash!" Ryder let out as he swung his Scythe. The Scythe seemed like it was burning in a fire as it ripped through the air.
The Scythe sliced off the neck of the Three Horned Wind Deer in one strike.
The Three Horned Wind Deer fell down to the ground.
[+4000 Exp.]
"Nice. If it keeps going on like this, I'll soon get to level 10," Ryder said with a smile.
He started looking for his second prey. After looking around for an hour, he managed to find another monster.
It was a level 9 Ice Rabbit. This battle was much harder since the Ice Rabbit was more agile and clever, but after 10 minutes of battle, Ryder killed it as well.
"Just one more level 10 monster, and I'll be level 10," He said with an excited look on his face.
He again began his search for a monster. This time it took even longer. It took him 1.5 hours to find a Dark Blooded Horse.
Fortunately, it was a level 10 beast as well.
After a 20 minutes long battle, he managed to kill the Dark Blooded Beast as well.
[+4000 Exp.]
[+1 Level]
"Awesome. Too bad that it's so late. I need to go back now. I'll come again tomorrow," Ryder muttered as he turned back to leave.
He had just taken his first step when he heard a notification.
[Reached Level 10. Hidden restriction of Quest of Salem unlocked. Species changed to Demon.]
[Since the 1st hidden Restriction of the Quest of Salem is Unlocked, the first Special Ability of Moon Scythe is also Unlocked. Unlocked Skill: Absorption]
"What the f? Species change?" Ryder was shocked. He didn't care about the skill as much at the moment as he cared about his species.
He hurriedly opened his stats screen, and as soon as he saw it, his mouth remained open.
[Name: Hades
Title: Successor of Salem
Species: Demon
Level:10
Experience: 0/30000
HP: 5000+800
Mana: 2000
Strength: 121
Defense:109
Speed:68
Stamina:92
Dexterity:100
Intelligence: 80
Available stat points: 3
Skills:
Enraged Slash: Level 2 (75% mastery)
All-Seer: Level 2 (29% mastery)
Flame blast: Level 2 (42% mastery)]
"It changed my species? What the heck is wrong with this quest!" Ryder cursed out loud.
He hurriedly checked his head and his body to see if he had grown horns, but fortunately, there was nothing like that. He was still physically the same.
He breathed in relief as he still looked normal.
Though his confusion about this quest only increased even further.
After calming down, he also checked the weapon-specific skill that he had just received.
He was quite surprised to see the skill's description.
[Absorption: When an enemy is killed by the Moon Scythe, the user absorbs 10% stats from any one of the enemy's stats. The stat is chosen randomly.
There's a 5% chance of getting any one skill from the killed enemy. The skill is chosen randomly if the enemy has more than 1 skill.]
"Wow, That's such an incredible skill. I can become so powerful just by hunting by getting their stats. And in the rare chances, I can even get a skill from them," Ryder said as a grin formed on his face.
With a face filled with happiness, he left the forest.
____________________
Ryder left the forest and met up with Bulga, who was still waiting outside for him.
"Welcome back, Young Master. You look quite happy. Did something good happen?" Bulga noticed the happiness of Ryder and asked.
"Hah, Yeah. I got what I wanted; we can go back," Ryder said as he stepped towards Bulga and the flying beast.
'Hmm?'
As Ryder got near him, Bulga didn't know why, but he had a strange feeling. Ryder felt different than before, and he was feeling more intimidating at the moment.