Chapter 10 (2/2)

First of all, there was no recoil from using the skill. If Mind's Eye was so, Dominator would be the same. And although it wasn't detailed, it showed me exactly what I wanted to see.

Its weakness!

'To think it could s.h.i.+ft its organs at will.'

What a preposterous ability1.

How could it even move its brain, this wasn't some manga!

I continued to activate Mind's Eye as I took out three iron marbles from the piece of cloth wrapped around my waist, one of which I quickly loaded onto the slingshot.

Hwiing!

Puuk!

The iron marble pierced its heart.

Gaaaak!

The red squirrel let out a strange scream, but it didn't fall down.

I continued to shoot iron marbles while it faltered.

Tuung!

Puok!

I shot its throat, then aimed for its leg.

Having its heart and brain shot through and its spine broken, the beast collapsed.

It had taken over ten iron marbles embedded in its body to kill it.

”Whew!”

I mopped the cold sweat from my face.

If it wasn't for my previous life experience, I wouldn't have been able to beat it. Not to mention its superior stats, the fact that I didn´t run away after being bewildered by it surviving the piercing shot in the head was already a good thing.

[The battle against the 'golden red squirrel' has ended.]

[100pt has been obtained.]

[Strength and Const.i.tution has each risen by '1'.]

['Lowest-grade ruby' has been obtained.]

My stats rose, and the point gain was pretty good too.

Stats could only be raised in this manner after awakening, by hunting monsters or going through special experiences. There was a definite, low limit to raising stats through pure bodily strength, and more than anything, it was slow. It was a hundred-times better to hunt instead.

”A lowest-grade ruby?”

My mind snapped to attention when I read the last message.

A lowest-grade ruby!

The thumb-sized crimson ruby that floated up from the red squirrels corpse was slowly flying towards me. I s.n.a.t.c.hed it out of the air and smiled.

To think I'd gain a jewel here of all places!

As I held it in my hand and concentrated, its related explanation came into view.

Name: Lowest-grade ruby

Ability: +1 strength if embedded in equipment with sockets

Explanation: A jewel created from the magic power inside a monster's body.

'Ha. It's a good start.'

I exaled without realizing it.

Gems had an atrocious chance of appearing when hunting monsters.

Ruby, topaz, emerald, sapphire, diamond!

These jewels respectively raised strength, agility, const.i.tution, intelligence, and magic power. Regardless of type or grade, these five kinds of jewels absolutely had to be gathered if possible because using them together with equipment that can be socketed maximizes their effect.

By gathering 5 of the same grade jewels and either handing them to someone with a craftsman cla.s.s, or placing them into a 'Mixer' which can be acquired later, a higher grade jewel can be obtained.

But even I had never possessed anything higher than a high-grade jewel. That's just how terrible the chances of coming across jewels were.

'Jewels are goods that are traded at astronomical prices. A bit of a pity that it's not a diamond, but still, it's not bad.'

Although this would only happen in the future, their value was to the point that a single lowest-grade ruby would be enough to buy a pretty good building in the city. Of course, it couldn't be compared to diamonds. The very name of this jewel that raises magic power screams of worth.

Even so, it wasn't a bad reward for defeating a beginner type of monster.

I put away the ruby and once again turned to look at the red squirrel's corpse, waiting for the 'phenomenon' that would soon occur.

Jiiiing!

Finally, the golden red squirrels corpse began to shake uncontrollably. The golden light of its fur seemed to evaporate, rising into the air like smoke, gathering together to form a shape.

It was a round, golden s.p.a.ce. A roughly 3 diameter s.p.a.ce had appeared in midair, s.h.i.+ning a brilliant, pure gold color.

That was a gate, and a golden gate was one of the most special among them.

I walked towards the ‘gate' that had abruptly materialized.

The moment I put my hand on the gate,

Suaaaak!

I was engulfed by the golden light, like it was eating away at me.

[The gate leading to the 'Ancient Altar(Lv1~Lv5)' has been discovered.]

[Only those with stats lower than a total of 150 can enter.]

[You are the pioneer; first to discover this place. 1,000 points have been obtained.]

1: this sentence was originally a pun on the word 장기 which can both mean internal organs or strength/advantage/specialty.

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