ROAR!!!
When Evan heard the roar of another bear, his heart sank.
Just from the power behind the roar, he was certain that the other bear was much more powerful than the one he was currently fighting.
In fact, it was quite possible that the other bear was a Rank One magical beast.
The moment this possibility entered Evan’s mind, he didn’t hesitate for even a second and began attacking the bear’s head even more aggressively.
From the roar he had just heard, the other bear was very close to his location, and it wouldn’t take more than a minute for it to arrive.
As Evan increased the intensity of his attacks, the bear began running wildly in every direction because of the unbearable pain.
Evan gripped the bear’s thick fur even more tightly with his left hand while continuing to attack its head with Black Star in his right hand.
"Damn, just go in already!"
He stopped holding back his Mana and poured it into Wind Monarch, greatly increasing the power behind his attacks.
Twenty seconds after the roar of the other bear, and after using more than half of his Mana, Evan finally heard the sound he had been waiting for.
CRACK!
The skull protecting the bear’s brain had finally begun to crack.
With only a few more attacks, he would be able to break through the skull, penetrate its brain, and kill it.
The bear also realized that its skull was beginning to crack and if nothing changed, it would die soon.
ROAR!
It began roaring even more desperately and even started running in the direction from which the second bear’s roar had come.
Hearing its desperate roars, the second bear also roared.
ROAR!!!
Evan could already hear the sound of trees falling one after another, as if a terrifying beast was rapidly approaching their location.
He gritted his teeth and, instead of running away, continued attacking the bear’s head without slowing down.
Thirty seconds had passed since the second bear’s first roar.
CRACK!
A cracking sound that sounded heavenly to his ears finally reached Evan and the Black Star successfully broke through the bear’s skull.
Without hesitation, he infused all his remaining strength into Black Star and thrust the sword directly toward the bear’s brain.
The green glow surrounding the blade suddenly became brighter and the next instant—
CRACK!
Black Star pierced through the broken skull and struck the bear’s brain.
ROAR!
The bear let out one final, painful roar before its massive body immediately collapsed to the ground.
THUD!
Evan didn’t even bother checking the notifications appearing on his Status Window and immediately jumped down from the bear’s back.
He didn’t have time to store the bear’s corpse inside his Storage Ring.
Instead, he simply grabbed the Skill Scroll that had appeared after killing it and immediately began running away from the battlefield.
He knew that if he didn’t escape right now, he would definitely get into trouble with the other bear.
The green aura around his legs became brighter as he pushed Wind Monarch to its limits and fled from the battlefield as quickly as possible.
He pushed both his body and Wind Monarch to their limits and, in just a few seconds, ran nearly one kilometer away.
Just then—
ROAR!!!
He suddenly heard an enraged roar that seemed to shake the entire forest.
Even though he was already one kilometer away from the battlefield, Evan couldn’t help but shudder in fear.
"That second bear is definitely a Rank One magical beast..." He muttered in a voice filled with lingering fear and immediately began running again.
Even though he was already one kilometer away from the battlefield, he still didn’t feel safe.
Luckily, the bear didn’t chase after him.
Ten more minutes passed and after confirming that the monster really wasn’t coming after him, Evan finally stopped.
The green aura around his legs slowly disappeared as he stopped using Wind Monarch.
To be on the safe side, he climbed onto a nearby lush tree and sat on a thick branch to rest.
After catching his breath, he finally opened his Status Window and looked at the notifications he had received.
And as he looked at them, a smile appeared on his face.
[You have killed the Unranked Steel Bear — Level 20. You have acquired: +20 Strength, +19 Health, +15 Stamina, +13 Mana, +10 Magic.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 8. You get +2 Status Points to distribute freely.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 9. You get +2 Status Points to distribute freely.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 10. You get +2 Status Points to distribute freely.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 11. You get +2 Status Points to distribute freely.]
He had leveled up four times and had also received a considerable number of stat points for killing the Steel Bear.
Evan clenched his fists and could feel that his strength was far greater than before.
However, to properly adapt to his increased strength, he still needed some time.
"Killing monsters that are higher level than you really is the best. Not only did I receive a lot of stat points, but it also dropped a Skill Scroll," Evan muttered, completely unaware that most people couldn’t kill higher-level monsters while being at such a low level.
He was able to kill high-level magical beasts because his Mana had been exceptionally high even when he was at Level 0.
He had been able to kill the Forest Tiger because he could use Mana Coating to greatly improve his attack power and speed.
However, ordinary people who didn’t possess such a large amount of Mana at the beginning couldn’t use Mana Coating.
Therefore, they couldn’t easily hunt high-level magical beasts during the early stages of their evolution like Evan could.
Taking a deep breath, Evan took out the Skill Scroll that the Steel Bear had dropped earlier.
---) Hardening (Unranked Passive Skill, Level 5): Upon learning this skill, the defense of your body will improve greatly. Health +20.
After reading the skill’s description, Evan’s eyes lit up and without hesitation, he crushed the Skill Scroll.
The scroll transformed into countless fragments of light and entered his body.
The moment the fragments were absorbed, Evan felt his entire body becoming sturdier and stronger.
It was as though his physical defense had been reinforced simply by learning a single skill.
His Health also increased by twenty points.
Evan immediately opened his Status Window and looked at his new stats.
====
---) Name: Evan
---) Race: Human
---) Level: 11
---) Health: 72
---) Strength: 50
---) Agility: 35 (+5) [Bloom Earring]
---) Stamina: 45
---) Mana: 125
---) Magic: 100 (+5) [Bloom Earring]
---) Title: Slayer
---) Class: None
---) Free Stat Points: 22
---) Skills:
---) Active Skill:
Wind Monarch (Rank One, Level 5)
---) Passive Skills: Level Appraisal, Night Vision, Hardening.
====
After looking at his Status Window, Evan couldn’t help but smile as most of his stats had increased by at least three times since he entered the Dark Forest.
And he had only killed two magical beasts.
Evan was particularly happy to see that his Magic stat had finally reached 100 points.
The higher his Magic stat, the more powerful his attacks would become.
After taking one last look at his Status Window, he closed it and leaned against the tree trunk.
Although he wasn’t injured and the battle had been relatively short, he still felt exhausted after the intense fight.
While resting, Evan began thinking about the Wind Aura he had used during the battle and couldn’t help but shake his head.
"I am still far from using it properly."