Evan woke up after a long time.
He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them to clear the dizziness he was still feeling.
But as he looked around, all he could see was darkness, with not even a spec of light in slight.
Evan’s dizziness instantly faded away upon seeing such a strange environment and he remembered what had happened before he fell asleep.
He still remembered falling asleep on a tree branch after his fight against the Forest Tiger, but now that he looked around, all he could see was endless, gloomy darkness.
"Just what the hell happened after I fell asleep?" Evan muttered while looking around for clues to determine his location.
ROARR!
Suddenly, he heard a loud roar, and his heart almost stopped beating because he thought it was the roar of the Forest Tiger.
But after carefully hearing the roar, Evan confirmed that it wasn’t the roar of forest tiger. At the same time, he finally understood where he was and couldn’t help but curse his own stupidity.
"Damn! How could I forget that I am inside the Dark Forest? Although this is only the Outer Zone, the trees here are still pretty thick and enormous, so very little light from the moon and stars can enter this place."
In the Dark Forest, it was difficult to see properly even during the daytime, so it was understandable that Evan had reacted this way upon waking up in complete darkness.
After realizing that he was still on the same tree branch where he had fallen asleep, he finally calmed down.
’It must already be around midnight.’ He thought inwardly.
He had started his journey into the forest in the late afternoon and had spent around four to five hours searching for the Ratman.
By the time he fought against the Forest Tiger, it had already become evening, and he had fallen asleep shortly after the battle.
Considering that he had slept for at least five hours, it should currently be around midnight.
Just as Evan was about to stand up, he suddenly felt severe pain in his legs and immediately remembered that his legs had been badly injured during the battle.
Although he had consumed a Healing Potion, it would still take at least a week for his legs to fully recover.
However, Evan soon noticed something strange.
Although he was still feeling pain in his legs, something about his body felt different.
His leg bones and muscles seemed to be healing at a much faster rate than before.
Evan was confused at first, but then he remembered that he had killed the Forest Tiger.
His stat points must have increased after killing it, and considering the level of the Forest Tiger, he should have leveled up at least five or six times.
Evan wanted to check the skill he had obtained from killing the Forest Tiger, but it was currently too dark for him to see properly.
Therefore, he decided to wait until morning.
He took out some food from his Storage Ring and ate it to recover his energy.
After finishing his dinner, Evan took out another Healing Potion and drank it.
After eating and drinking, he fell asleep again.
Although he had already slept for five hours, he was still exhausted from his battle against the Forest Tiger.
When Evan woke up again, it was already morning.
He looked down at his legs and was surprised to see that they had mostly healed.
At this rate, he should be able to walk normally again in just two days.
After seeing his incredible recovery speed, Evan couldn’t wait any longer and immediately checked the notifications he had received after killing the Forest Tiger.
[You have killed the Unranked Forest Tiger, Level 15. You have acquired +20 Agility, +17 Strength, +16 Health, +15 Stamina, and +9 Mana.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 1. You have received +2 Stat Points to distribute freely.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 2. You have received +2 Stat Points to distribute freely.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 3. You have received +2 Stat Points to distribute freely.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 4. You have received +2 Stat Points to distribute freely.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 5. You have received +2 Stat Points to distribute freely.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 6. You have received +2 Stat Points to distribute freely.]
[You have leveled up and reached Level 7. You have received +2 Stat Points to distribute freely.]
[You have killed an opponent whose level was much higher than yours while being at Level 0. You have acquired the title "Slayer."]
---) Slayer(Title): When fighting against an enemy who is at least fifteen levels above you, your attacks deal 10% additional damage.
After seeing the notifications, Evan couldn’t help but suck in breath of cold air.
"My stats increased tremendously just by killing my first magical beast, and I even got a title that will help me fight against higher-level opponents."
Evan opened his status window and looked at it.
====
---) Name: Evan
---) Race: Human
---) Level: 7
---) Health: 31
---) Strength: 30
---) Agility: 32
---) Stamina: 27
---) Mana: 107
---) Magic: 90
---) Title: Slayer
---) Class: None
---) Free Stat Points: 14
---) Skills:
---) Active Skills: None
---) Passive Skills: Level Appraisal — Allows you to see anyone’s level that is not 10 levels above you.
After checking his status window, Evan was genuinely happy and felt that all the pain he had suffered while fighting the Forest Tiger had been completely worth it.
"And now, let’s see what reward I got from killing that big cat."
Evan took out the items he had obtained from killing the Forest Tiger.
And the moment he saw the items, he became even more convinced that killing higher-level opponents while being at a low level provided incredible rewards.
There were three items in total.
Two were Skill Scrolls, while the third was an Uncommon Grade treasure orb.
One of the Skill Scrolls was emanating a faint green aura, while the other looked like an ordinary scroll.
Evan was almost certain that the scroll radiating the green aura was his first Active Skill.
"Let’s save the main dish for last and look at these two things first."
Evan placed the Active Skill Scroll to the side and decided to examine the Uncommon Grade treasure orb first.
He crushed the treasure orb in his hand and it instantly disappeared. In its place, an earring appeared in his palm.
Evan examined the earring and checked its details.
---) Bloom Earring: Increases the Agility and Magic of the wearer by five points. Twice a day, the wearer can use the skill Blaze Barrier.
---) Blaze Barrier: When the wearer is ambushed by a sudden attack, Blaze Barrier automatically activates and creates a barrier made of flames around the wearer to protect them from incoming danger.
After reading the details of the earring, Evan couldn’t help but remember the Forest Tiger’s final attack.
If he had possessed the Blaze Barrier skill at that time, his shoulder wouldn’t have been wounded so badly.
However, it couldn’t be helped.
He had learned his lesson and understood that he should never lower his guard until his enemy was truly dead.
Evan put the earring on his ear, and his Agility and Magic immediately increased by five points.
"Now, let’s see what this skill is."
Evan picked up the second Skill Scroll and examined its details.