As soon as I killed that monster, a notification appeared before my eyes.
[Congratulations!]
[Level Up!]
[Level: 2 → 3]
[Reward: 3 Free Attribute Points]
After seeing the notification, I immediately opened my attribute panel and distributed the points.
Strength: 6
Agility: 5 → 6
Vitality: 6
Mana: 5 → 7
Spirit: 5
Intelligence: 8
Perception: 7
Luck: ???
The moment I finished allocating the points, I felt the change.
My mana increased.
It wasn’t a massive difference, but...
Every little bit mattered.
In this world, even the smallest increase could decide whether I lived or died.
Unfortunately...
My luck didn’t improve.
Those ugly bastards finally noticed me.
They couldn’t see me, but they had figured out my location.
The remaining two gathered around the tree and began attacking it, trying to force me down.
The entire tree shook violently.
I quickly stabilized myself and gathered darkness into my hand.
A dark bullet formed.
I fired it at one of them before the tree completely collapsed.
The attack hit, injuring it.
Using the moment they were distracted, I jumped down.
However, the moment my feet touched the ground, I realized something.
I was cornered.
I tightened my grip around my sword and looked at the two corrupted beasts.
If I couldn’t run...
Then I would fight.
My mana was almost completely exhausted, so I couldn’t rely on my darkness anymore.
Both monsters were already heavily injured from my previous attacks.
I couldn’t waste this opportunity.
I lunged toward one of them.
With all my remaining strength, I drove my sword directly into its head.
The monster struggled violently, trying to move away.
But its injured leg prevented it from escaping in time.
My sword pierced deeper.
And finally...
It stopped moving.
The other monster attacked immediately while I was still dealing with its companion.
I released my grip on the sword and jumped backward, avoiding its attack by only a few inches.
[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 11 Corrupted Beast.]
[You have gained 200 EXP.]
I looked at the remaining monster.
My mana was empty.
I couldn’t create another darkness weapon.
So I did the most reasonable thing.
I searched through my space ring.
And pulled out the staff.
Normally, a staff would be used by a mage.
But I wasn’t a mage right now.
I had no mana.
So...
Why not use it differently?
I gripped the staff tightly and rushed forward.
Then I thrust it directly toward the monster’s head with all my strength.
The attack landed.
The monster collapsed.
I stared at the staff in my hand.
"..."
Why did people only use these things for magic?
It worked perfectly fine like this.
I gave myself a mental thumbs up.
I really was a genius.
Unfortunately, there was no one here to witness my greatness.
What a waste.
Then another notification appeared.
[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 12 Corrupted Beast.]
[You have gained 230 EXP.]
[Congratulations!]
[Level Up!]
[Level: 3 → 4]
[Reward: 2 Free Attribute Points]
I immediately placed the points into my attributes.
Strength: 6 → 7
Spirit: 5 → 6
After that, I walked toward the corpses and activated my skill.
"Devour."
The familiar notifications appeared.
[Absorbed 1 Agility.]
[Absorbed 1 Spirit.]
[Absorbed 1 Mana.]
A satisfied smile appeared on my face.
This ability...
It was truly incredible.
I retrieved my sword from the monster’s head and cut open their bodies, taking out their cores and storing them inside my space ring.
As for the other parts...
They had no value to anyone.
After leaving the forest, I went to a shop that bought monster materials and sold the cores I had collected.
Each core was worth one silver coin.
After adding the money I already had, I counted everything I owned.
I had roughly six silver coins in total.
It wasn’t much, but it was more than enough for now.
The sword I had taken from the people I "avenged" was already broken after my fights with the corrupted beasts.
I needed a new weapon.
So I walked around the city searching for a blacksmith.
Eventually, I found one.
Inside the shop were countless weapons.
Swords.
Spears.
Shields.
And many other kinds of equipment.
I looked through them carefully.
But most of them were far beyond what I could afford.
After searching for a while, I finally found a sword that caught my attention.
It was a simple one-handed sword.
Nothing special.
But it was sturdy enough and, most importantly...
Something I could actually use.
The price was five silver coins.
It would almost drain all of my money.
But weapons were not something I could be careless about.
Survival came first.
So I bought it.
Before leaving, I remembered something.
A sword wasn’t the only weapon that could save my life.
I searched through the shop again and found a dagger.
The price was one silver coin.
I tried negotiating with the owner.
At first, he refused.
But I didn’t give up.
After a long discussion, the shop owner finally lowered the price.
Clearly, he couldn’t handle my incredible negotiation skills.
In the end, he reduced the total price by one silver and fifty copper coins.
I bought both weapons for four silver and fifty copper coins.
Before I left, the old shop owner looked at me and sighed.
"Don’t come back again. I can’t handle you a second time, kid. Stay away from my shop."
I ignored him and walked away.
An old man who couldn’t recognize my greatness...
That was his loss.
After leaving the blacksmith shop, I went to find a place to eat.
A proper meal cost me twenty copper coins.
After that, I rented a room for the night.
The price was fifty copper coins.
It wasn’t anything special, but compared to the places I had lived before...
It felt almost luxurious.
I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.
Only two days remained until the academy entrance trial.
I had already spent more than a day inside the Monster Forest.
Tomorrow would be my final trip there before the trial began.
At the very least...
I needed to reach Level 6 before then.
Even after awakening, I still didn’t know what kind of trial the academy would put us through.
But one thing was certain.
I had to pass.
If I failed...
I would eventually be forced into labor by the government.
Or worse...
I would become nothing more than a disposable sacrifice for another adventurer group.
That was the reality of this world.
Power decided everything.
The weak were used.
The weak were discarded.
I didn’t want to return to the life I had before.
I didn’t want to spend another day wondering if I would survive until tomorrow.
So no matter what happened...
I would obtain the power I needed to survive.
With that thought, my consciousness slowly faded.
And I fell into sleep.