Dan remained perfectly still, staring at the list of notifications that suddenly assaulted his eyes.
[You have slain a Level 6 Monohorn.]
[You have leveled up from: Level 1 → Level 3.]
[Strength +1, Spirit +2, four allocatable stats gained.]
[Your darkness grows.]
Your darkness grows. What does that even mean? Dan frowned upon reading this message.
He had expected some kind of reward for killing the Horned Wolf, but the wording of the final notification was different from the others.
Unfortunately, this was neither the place nor the time to ponder about such things.
Thud–! A heavy impact shook the ground.
Dan’s attention immediately snapped forward.
The Jade Serpent had finally released the Horned Wolf. Its enormous coils slowly loosened, revealing the battered corpse trapped within its crushing embrace. The wolf’s body hung limply between the serpent’s coils.
Honestly, such an outcome wasn’t too surprising.
Despite the Horned Wolf’s superior speed and agility, the Jade Serpent simply possessed too much durability. Once it managed to catch the wolf, the outcome had been decided.
Even without his intervention, the serpent would have emerged victorious.
But it wasn’t the true victor.
How could it be the victor when its hard-earned prey had been stolen right from under its nose?!
Perhaps that was why the dreadful creature was now swinging its enormous head from side to side, searching the surrounding area for the little critter responsible.
Of course, Dan had anticipated such a reaction and remained perfectly still behind the tree, barely daring to breathe as the serpent’s golden eyes swept across the clearing.
’Please don’t look this way.’
He had no doubt that the creature was searching for him.
The problem was that he had nowhere to run.
The forest behind him was far too open, and the slightest movement would probably be enough to draw the serpent’s attention. So, he had no choice but to remain in the same position and wait for the fellow to leave.
...Alas, the Jade Serpent didn’t seem particularly interested in going anywhere.
It remained in the clearing, its enormous body coiled around the corpse of the Horned Wolf as it continued scanning the vicinity with evident suspicion.
Minutes passed.
Eventually, Dan’s legs began to ache from remaining crouched in the same position for who knows how long.
’Damn it. Is that thing planning to stay there all day?’
He resisted the urge to sigh.
Perhaps this was his punishment for being too greedy.
Although jumping from Level 1 to Level 3 could certainly be considered quite the feat considering his peculiar situation, it would all be meaningless if he didn’t get to enjoy the spoils of war.
Naturally, this was completely unfair for the person who had actually done the work.
After all, wasn’t he the one who had risked his life waiting for the perfect opportunity?! The serpent had merely been lucky enough to survive!
’...Actually, I suppose that’s not entirely fair either.’
Dan quietly corrected himself.
The Jade Serpent had fought the Horned Wolf to the death and earned the right to claim its prey. He was the one who had shamelessly stolen it.
Even so, finders keepers, right?
There was no need for the hateful bastard to be such a sore loser about it!
’Ugh. Forget it. This sucks.’
Clicking his tongue, Dan decided to check his information.
There was no better opportunity than this. The serpent bastard didn’t seem inclined to leave its position anytime soon, so he should be relatively safe as long as he didn’t move too much.
Besides, he had just gained a considerable amount of experience from killing the Horned Wolf.
It was time to see exactly what had changed.
Dan leaned his back against the tree and focused his mind.
"Status."
A system interface appeared before his eyes.
Name: [Darian Lee]
Level: [3]
Class: [■■■■■■■■]
Personal Attributes:
[Strength: 11], [Dexterity: 10], [Vitality: 10], [Spirit: 12]
[Allocatable Stats: 4]
Everything was mostly the same, with the exception of his Strength and Spirit, which had increased by one and two points respectively. His allocatable stats had also increased to four as well.
From his observations, it seemed that every level-up granted two additional stat points, which explained why his current total was four rather than two. If that pattern continued, then simply leveling up would allow his overall attributes to grow considerably.
Of course, four points weren’t enough to make a dramatic difference right now. But if he accumulated them over time, he would eventually become a monster himself.
Putting that aside,
’Hm. Now that it has come to this, which stats should I invest in? Or should I save them until I have more than enough?’
It was an important decision that needed to be considered carefully. The dangers he was likely to face from now on would only increase, leaving little room for reckless decisions.
Strength would obviously increase his physical power.
Dexterity would likely improve his speed and reflexes, which would come in handy whenever he needed to evade an attack or make a drastic retreat.
Vitality should affect his endurance and capability to withstand deadly blows.
Finally, there was Spirit.
Dan had no idea what this attribute actually did. Yet, strangely enough, it was already his highest stat.
’And the system gave me two points in Spirit when I leveled up. It can’t be a coincidence!’
His ability to create and manipulate darkness was clearly anything but ordinary. If Spirit had anything to do with his supernatural abilities, then neglecting it could prove to be a serious mistake on his part!
Perhaps each stat had diminishing returns and raising one attribute too high would be less effective than maintaining a balanced distribution.
Simply put, no matter which stats he invested in, he would be taking a risk either way.
Closing his eyes, Dan spent a few moments considering his options.
There was no way to know what the future held.
He could spend hours speculating about the optimal distribution, but without understanding how the system worked, it would ultimately amount to nothing more than guesswork.
Soon, Dan made his decision.
Without further hesitation, he allocated all four of his free stat points.
[Spirit: 12 → 15.]
[Dexterity: 10 → 11.]
He placed three points into Spirit and the remaining point into Dexterity.
The moment he confirmed his choices, a strange sensation suddenly washed over him.
It wasn’t particularly intense. There was no surge of strength or dramatic transformation.
But he could feel something strange stirring within him.
More specifically, it seemed to originate from the very core of his being before spreading outward through every part of his body like a gentle current pathway. The feeling felt more like a subtle pressure moving through his veins, except it wasn’t traveling through his "body."
For a brief moment, Dan felt as though something within had "increased" and "expanded."
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the sensation faded.
’W-What was that...?’
Confused, Dan looked himself over but felt nothing out of place. Everything seemed exactly as it had been before, which left him even more dumbfounded than he already was.
Before he could question the strange sensation any further, however, he abruptly noticed movement in the clearing.
The Jade Serpent had finally grown tired of remaining idle and began to slithering across the ground with a heavy scraping sound as it wrapped itself around the Horned Wolf’s corpse.
It then began dragging the carcass deeper into the forest.
’Probably wants somewhere secluded.’
That was understandable considering the commotion caused by their battle had undoubtedly attracted the attention of other creatures. Leaving its hard-earned prey out in the open would practically be an invitation for greedy scavengers to come and steal a meal.
Staring at the enormous serpent as it slowly disappeared between the trees, Dan felt a faint sense of relief.
’Finally.’
He had been sitting here long enough for his legs to go numb. More importantly, he had no intention of waiting around until the serpent finished its meal!
Dan remained still for several more seconds, not wanting to take any chances.
The Jade Serpent’s enormous body continued disappearing into the depths of the forest until only the very tip of its tail remained visible.
...Then that, too, vanished behind the dense trees and bushes.