Chapter 41：Flesheater (1/2)

Trust the silver. That's was what Miko told him, but Arthur couldn't understand what she meant. Was it because of his name? Does that mean that she trusts him? Arthur didn't know and quite frankly, didn't care.

The next few days were ones where Arthur lived with the blonde short girl. She would rest most of the time and stretch her body at others. Arthur didn't mind her and kept going on with his plans. He had a goal to hunt every primitive creature he found, including the Beras that had once threatened his life.

His stats increased again, but his mana did not. Some species of monsters gave him the mana essence, but they were rare. After three days of hunting, Arthur now had the following stats.

[Scholar Guardian's Legacy]

[Level: 10 (96%)]

[Strength: 49]

[Agility: 50]

[Stamina: 40]

[Perception: 31]

[Mana: 40/40]

[Abilities: Beginner Runes Wordsmith (12%), Useable Runes: 8]

[Skills: Lesser-Mana Breathing Skill (F), Poison Strike (F), Camouflage (F), Earth Manipulation (E)]

These were his stats including those he gained underground. Although he got these stats using Kira's help, he was happy about them nonetheless. However, primitive creatures no longer gave him any stats unless they were ones he hasn't absorbed before. It seemed that each essence was different for each monster or the essence of the same monster had a limit on how much it can strengthen him. In all cases, Arthur's stats have risen greatly.

Today, he was planning on challenging himself. It seems he needed to risk his life to advance further. He realized that his stats were too strong for a primitive monster, and a bit too weak to solo-hunt a mid-tier monster. That's why most people hunted in parties.

Like usual, Arthur gave the recovering Miko her breakfast. He got used to her presence and they talked about stuff here and there, mostly how Arthur got here and his equipment. He lied by saying the latter was found in the pub since he couldn't say he can make semi-artifacts, and told her that he fell here by accident.

”I want to help you today.” As he was about to leave, Miko stopped him. Arthur turned around and looked at her with puzzlement.

”Aren't you hurt?”

”Most of my wounds have already healed, and I can't keep sitting around eating like a leech.” She stated, with her signature poker face that Arthur couldn't see through. After a short moment of thought, he nodded. Having her by his side was another safety net for him.

”By the way, how did you get wounded, to begin with?” Arthur asked while they walked toward the deeper parts of the forest. Miko kept silent and Arthur waited for her to answer.

”I wanted to prove myself by doing something dangerous, but I failed.” Although it was a vague explanation, Arthur nodded in understanding as that happened to him not long ago.

”All is well that ends well,” Arthur consoled her. ”As long as you're alive, you can always prove yourself.” Miko turned silent at his words. After several minutes of silent walking, Arthur heard her say something unexpected.

”It's thanks to you, and I'll forever remember this debt.”

He didn't know how to answer that, but it wasn't like he hated it. Although he mostly helped people without expecting anything in return, it was still his policy to always return a debt. Whether it was a debt of hatred or revenge or a debt of gratitude, he would make sure to repay it. That's why he liked people who did the same, so he nodded and the two kept walking until they reached the end of the forest.

”Okay, we should have Kira's help now,” Arthur said. Kira seemed to recognize its name as it lowered itself for Arthur to reach. Arthur jumped on its back and reached his hand to Miko. She looked at him before jumping and landing behind him. Arthur retracted his hand in embarrassment and asked Kira to take them deeper toward the tower.

Riding on top of Kira, the two ventured deeper into the trial grounds. They were almost at the swamp when Arthur started using his detection rune in search of prey. As this was the deeper parts of trial grounds, it wasn't that difficult to hunt for prey. However, it was harder not to reveal his ability. He had to do it discreetly by holding his rune next to his chest, where Miko couldn't see.

As he felt the life-forces appear, he tried to find a low-mid-tier monster. Kira kept going as Arthur kept his eyes for any prey. After a few moments, just before his rune disappeared, he found a suitable prey running in their direction 50 meters away.

”There's a monster,” Arthur stated as he pulled on Kira's fur, urging it to stop. Arthur and Miko jumped from Kira's back and landed a distance away from the monster.