Arrow streaked forward, searing the atmosphere as it whistled and broke the sound barrier.
The arrow struck the Deer's body in the back. He had aimed at its head.
But that didn't matter.
The moment his arrow struck that level 30 Water Spirit Deer, it pierced it instantly and exploded, blasting it into pieces.
[You have killed a level 30 Water Spirit Deer.]
But before Ainen could do anything else, he saw the other level 30 Water Spirit Deer looking straight in his direction, even though he was hidden in a tree.
The deer opened its mouth, and in the next moment, a jet of water, glistering and sharp, shot at him. This content belongs to noᴠelfire.net
Ainen quickly flew up and escaped using Flight, moving towards the periphery.
That attack destroyed not just one tree, but two thick trees, and still shot forward in the sky.
Ainen couldn't help but sweat as he saw the power. If he had been hit by that attack, there was no doubt he would've died.
[You have reached level 22. You have acquired 30 stat points.]
[Congratulations. You have acquired a level 20 Mystry Box.]
'Cross-level killing is boosting my leveling.' Ainen blinked.
He landed on a tree, having retreated two hundred meters towards the periphery of the forest.
Without further ado, Ainen opened the level 20 Mystery Box.
[Congratulations, you have acquired a Rare-grade Moonveil Leather Armor]
[Moonveil Leather Armor]
Attributes: Shadow, Water
Requirement: 20 Stamina, 20 Strength, 30 Arcane.
—> +50 Water resistance.
—> +50 Darkness resistance.
—> Physical damage is reduced by 5%.
—> You can freely move in the water like a fish while this leather armor is equipped.
—> Moonveil Shadow: You can enter into a shadow at the cost of 5 Mana per second.
'Eh? I got stats in the armor, but the bow didn't give any stats. Maybe the quality in Rare-grade also differs from item to item.'
Well, now that his defense has gone up. It was time to go back.
He sneakily went back and entered a tree's shadow near the pond, with only his eyes out, so that he could observe. It felt like he was in water inside the shadow.
Looking at the pond, Ainen saw that the deer had vanished.
Fortunately, the deer he killed was still there.
Although it was blasted apart, this level 30 water spirit deer was three meters tall and four meters long.
It had plenty of big chunks of meat with an Ingredient Rating of C.
Ainen stored them in the inventory.
'Now then…what mystery does this pond have?'
He just got an armor that allowed him to swim easily, so there was no reason for him not to dive into the pond.
The surface of the pond rippled gently as Ainen slipped beneath, his body gliding through the water with uncanny ease thanks to the Armor's perk. The weight of his gear no longer dragged him down—it was as though the water embraced him, carrying him forward like a favored child.
'This armor is ridiculous. It really feels like I've become a fish.'
The pond wasn't deep at first. Sunlight speared through, scattering into wavering pillars of light that illuminated mossy stones and schools of small, translucent fish darting between the weeds. But the further he swam, the darker and stranger it became. The bottom sloped steeply, leading into what looked less like a pond and more like a submerged ravine.
Bubbles escaped his lips as he narrowed his eyes.
'This isn't a normal pond. It's connected to something larger.'
The water temperature dropped sharply as he swam down. Shadows stirred among the jagged rocks, and a faint hum reached his ears—like the pulsing breath of the world itself, but it was actually the fish.
Level 6 to level 10 fish. But they didn't attack him, so he didn't bother with them.
He had already found out that killing lower-level monsters didn't give any experience.
Still, he tightened his grip on the bow slung across his back, remaining wary in case stronger monsters arrived.
Then he suddenly saw something glowing.
Nestled in a crevice of the stone wall, swaying with the current as though it were alive, was a stalk of glowing flora.
Its petals shimmered like liquid crystal, shifting from silver to pale blue, each layer of leaves releasing trails of luminous motes that drifted lazily upward. It pulsed faintly with mana, as though every beat of the pond's silence was its heartbeat.
Ainen's innate talent identified the flower plant.
[Glasstide Aqua Lotus]
-Attributes: Water, Glass
-Ingredient rating: A
This Epic grade flower had an Ingredient rating of A, which was the same as that level 20 Warhog's meat.
Ainen decided to save the good ingredients for when he acquires the reward of the main quest.
Awakening: Mystic Chef.
He stored the Glasstide Aqua Lotus in Inventory and swam out of the pond.
Ainen roamed around a bit more, hunting monsters, collecting herbs, and other stuff for two hours and reaching level 24 before moving towards the periphery and setting up a campfire.
It was time to rest, cook, eat, and increase stats.
First, he cooked the meat of that level 16 wolf.
He wanted to confirm if he could get more stats from higher-level wolves.
After cooking a slab of meat, Ainen devoured it.
He got a temporary Fire Resistance and Fire Potency boost, but didn't get the stats.
'Well, let's try other stuff.'
Warhog meat was a lot. That monster probably weighed a ton, and excluding its bones, its meat was still half a ton at least.
Ainen started cooking a palm-sized slab.
'Eh? It looks much fire is not enough to cook it.'
As Ainen was cooking the meat, the bushes rustled a bit.
Startled, he looked in the direction of the sound.
Suddenly, three little creatures stumbled out, falling on the ground as they rolled out.
There were three little cute foxes with snowy white fur, barely longer than a palm's length.
Ainen was overwhelmed with their cuteness.
Their clear lapis blue eyes looked at the meat prepared with pastes and seasonings as they couldn't help but drool.
Ainen grinned, "You want to eat?"
He put the meat on the floor beside him.
The foxes looked at him and blinked.
They looked strangely intelligent.
A moment later, the three of them rushed at the meat slab and began nibbling on it with their small mouths.
However, when Ainen inspected them, he was shocked.