Chapter 26: Chapter 26 – Skill Upgrade

[You have Killed a Body Refinement(Peak) Monster |Experience Points +6000|]

As his head exploded and his body slumped on the ground, I felt very complicated.

Though I didn't understand what he was saying, I knew he meant something. I could see it in his eyes, the others made no such expressions.

They were either furiously fighting for their lives, or already dead before they even realized what was happening.

With this old monster, I had already killed more than seven Peak and up to twelve High Monsters. I also leveled up two times and almost reached level 24.

Level: 23
Experience Points(Exp): 27250/35000

Before discovering this big group, I met another along the way with two Peaks and several High. I managed to kill them with just my spiritual attack rendering them incapable of fighting.

I've also noticed some trees that I was familiar with, so I know the way back to the nest now.

I ate a couple of the Peak Monsters and rushed back home.

I feel very tired, but more importantly a lot of complicated emotions. I've never felt like a murderer until now, all of the monsters I killed were somewhat nonintelligent so I could get away with just a bit of guilt and move on.

There are dozens of ideas that I could tell myself by now, but I don't want to. The least I could do for them is face the consequences of their death head-on, call it a hunter's honor or whatever. It doesn't sit right with me otherwise.

This is also a form of contribution to the little guy who didn't live past a couple of days, the way he died was horrible.

I carried two more Peak bodies and rushed towards the nest.

It didn't take a long while for me to arrive.

I noticed that the Mama bird was nowhere to be seen, and the three children were asleep.

*Thud* *Thud*

I dropped the two bodies waking them up, the moment they saw the delicious-looking meat they started devouring it.

Kali has grown noticeably bigger, she could use at most a day or two and she'd be able to fly.

As for the cubs, they are already big enough and are almost Mid Stage.

I stayed watching them eating for a while, then I climbed to the highest point in the tree to see the sky.

Although it was only filled with dark clouds, their movement was mesmerizing. I only went there to sit for a while.

I felt like I was in a dilemma but not really, the only way to survive is to grow stronger, the only way to grow stronger is to kill and if you don't kill you will stay weak and be someone's dinner. I don't want to be anybody's dinner, I'm actually enjoying this world. The lack of goals and meaning was something that really messed me up previously.

Even though I don't have any actual meaning right now, I wake up with a clear goal in my mind which is to survive and grow stronger. And in doing so, I don't have the time to lament how messed up I am. It's like finding purpose, however, does it have to be so complicated?
The only thing I could manipulate here is who I kill.

I don't think the Mandrills are innocent, they were clearly intelligent and aware of what their actions do and the repercussions of said actions. You can only say they are part of a game that I've also joined now, of the strong preying on the weak, and I'm aware that one day I'd die just like them.

You can't always expect things to go according to plan, I wake up every day with the full and deep realization of the fact that today I might actually die.

Nothing will change, of course, tomorrow and the day after I will still wake up and go hunt. Sure, I could just sit and cultivate but it's just too slow. Every day that I spent wasted without any real improvement I'm sure I will regret it one day, maybe next week or next month but I will. I've been closed to death several times now, and if not for the fact that I was just a tad bit stronger, faster, and more durable I'd have died.

I also want to leave this forest and go see the world. I can't wait to see what's in store for me out there, whether it's fortune or misfortune I'm alright with both as long as I do my best then there is no failure.

Strangely what inspired this idea in me was Luffy from One Piece. He embarked on the path to becoming the pirate king, and for him, the final result doesn't matter that much. It's about the journey and as long as he doesn't give up on himself his success is untouchable because that is something no one can take away from him but himself. Thus, it's either pirate king or death, there is no in-between.

Maybe as I've said before this is just how things are in this world. Is death that terrible if it's constantly happening? Isn't it a part of life?

I opened my map and removed the filters I did previously, then the map became filled with blue small dots signifying living beings.

Just in this area of 400 meters, dozens of creatures are constantly dying, while others are born.

Of course, I'm not saying that life and death are both meaningless just because they're constantly happening. Life is not something that can be measured, it's something sacred and unique in each creature.

I'm just open to new understandings.

I won't be jumping to any conclusion because I'm emotional at the moment, so I won't bother. However, I clearly need to question my concept of life, death, and morality I have as a whole.

Looking at the dark sky slowly turning brighter, I knew it was dawn, so I stopped thinking and just watched it for a while.

After collecting my thoughts and calming down and I climbed down to the nest.

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'Status Window'

[~Status Window~

Host: Zed - Umbra Storm Eagle.

Titles: {Blazing Heart}, {Truth Seeker}, {Dauntless Spirit}

Level: 23

Experience Points(Exp): 27250/35000
Rank: Body Refinement(Mid)

Health Points(HP): 236/236
Magic Power(MP/Mana): 245/245
Spiritual Power(SP): 254/254

Magical Resistance: 22(15)
Physical Resistance: 19(13)
Spiritual Resistance: 27(32)

Vitality: 43(57)
Strength: 36(54)
Stamina: 38(57)
Intelligence: 45(67)
Agility: 50(75), Dark: +14, Nearby Enemy: +12, Sky Dash: +14.
Spirit: 57(114)

Available Stat Points: 10
Available Skill Points: 6

Karma Points: 150

[Skills]
[Quests]
[Shop]
[Map]
[Party(Locked)]

]

After looking at my Status Window for a while, I decided to put all of my free Stats points into Intelligence.
I noticed that my damage wasn't the best, especially now that I need to be able to fight on par with Foundation Establishment to explore outside of our territory.

My Intelligence rose to a whopping 137, 55 base Stat plus a 67 from my +150% Boost. Coupled with my sky-high Spirit Attribute, theoretically, I'm able to fight and kill a Foundation Establishment if they have low resistance.

Now, for the real kicker. 6 Skill Points I've been saving them up, for what? I have no clue either.

I opened my Skill menu to see all of my skills and think what are the best ones to focus on.

[Sky Dash(Active): Grants +30% Agility for 15 seconds while above ground. Cost(30MP) |Intermediate|]

[WindBlade(Active): Creates a magical wind blade that has a range of 100 meters, Deals Intelligence(x2) in damage. Cost(20MP) |Advanced|]

[Umbra Hand(Active): Generates a hand from shadows that can be controlled by the user range 150 meters. Cost(3MP/Second) |Advanced|]

[Bird of Darkness(Passive): Soundless Flight and grants +30% Agility in the dark. |Advanced|]

[Mask Presence(Passive): Masks the presence of the user to a certain extent in the dark. |Mastery|]

[Zephyr Child(Passive): Grants +25% Agility if there are any enemies within a 200 meters radius. |Advanced|]

[The Stranger(Passive): +50% to all Stats. |Perfection|]

[Predator's WarCry(Active): Grants the user the ability to use their Spiritual power through sound. Cost(200SP Max) |Mastery|]

[Dark Shield(Active): The user is able to quickly condense a shield made of Dark elements. The shield's durability depends on the amount of Mana spent creating it. |Intermediate|]

[Fiery Charge(Active): Once activated the user will be set in flames of their main element for 5 seconds. Deals Intelligence(x4) in damage in a 5-meter radius. Cost (200MP) |Beginner|]

[Firm Stand(Passive): All Resistances +70%. |Advanced|]

[Gentle Touch(Active): The skill is activated through touch, the target receives a +300% HP Regeneration for 10 seconds. The user cannot cast it on himself. Cost(200MP) |Beginner|]

[Dao Field(Passive): Creates a field of 20 meters with the user as the center in which the World Mana is attracted. |Beginner|]

[Piercing Gaze(Active): The user is able to launch a spiritual attack that affects the mental state of the target. Cost(75SP/Max) |Intermediate|]

I kept analyzing all my skills individually for more than an hour. My agility is great so far, and if I use my Spiritual attacks I'm confident in running away even from Low Foundation Establishment. High than that, it's useless, they'd be able to kill me easily anyway.

I needed heavy damage. So I directly put 3 Skill points raising Wind blades from Advanced to Mastery.

Looking at the new upgraded Wind Blades I was over the moon, this was exactly what I needed right now! Thank god I chose it!

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