"You sure about this?"

Lucius's eyes were fixed on the grazing aberrant nearby, his conscious mind barely registering Tissette's words. He watched the Striped Pronghorn feed with much interest, partly curious as to how a seemingly harmless and peaceful creature was listed as the 7th most dangerous creature below the Vulgaris rank. It looked no less disarming than a common deer, but of course, with the very obvious exception being the pair of sharp, metallic horns that towered over its head and the variety of multi-colored stripes on its brown hide. Its body, especially its legs, was also thicker and more muscular than its non-aberrant cousins.

An open field. Against this one, I should have the advantage. If I manage to land my first strike, that is.

Striped Pronghorn

Vita: 100%

Aberrant Rank: Inferus

•Unremarkable

Exp Given: 480

Items Dropped:

Common - 80%

Uncommon -15%

Rare - 5%

"Hey!" Tissette said in a muffled voice, before tapping him on his shoulder.

"What?"

"Are you really, positively sure about this?" Tissette said with a concerned look. "I dunno about lettin' you have a go at an Inferus yet. You think you can handle it?"

To assure the girl, Lucius grinned, then nodded. "Trust me, I can handle it. I rose a couple of levels when I killed those last two and the TP that I got should be more than enough to raise my stats above an unremarkable Inferus like that one. Besides, let's be honest. I'm not really in any real danger with you around, am I? Just intervene when you think I'm going too far."

Tissette looked unsure at first, but she eventually backed off and let him concentrate. He took a moment to compose himself. His leg muscles tensed as the grip on his spear tightened. With a sharp breath, his eyes widened before charging straight for the aberrant. No hesitations, no doubts. At that moment only his prey and he existed in his world. His focus was impeccable, so much so that he could hear even the slightest parting of the grass and the sounds of an insect's wings buzzing several meters away.

These Pronghorns are one of the fastest land-dwelling aberrants. First, I need to restrain it!

Taking advantage of the element of surprise, Lucius closed the distance between him and the aberrant in a split second. Startled by his ambush, the Pronghorn's legs gave out as it attempted to run but panicked at the first few crucial moments and slipped on the grass, giving him a few precious seconds to press the attack.

"First blood is mine!" Lucius whispered under his gritted teeth as he drove his spear on the startled aberrant's left thigh. Its hide being no more vulnerable to piercing attacks than a regular deer's, his spear drove through the beast's thigh like a skewer through a red hot piece of rare meat. The aberrant gave out a loud, startling cry as he pulled his spear out after driving it deeper inside and wiggling it around, a gush of blood pouring out shortly after. The aberrant limped away before turning around and snarling at him--its menacing, pure-black eyes flaring with fear and confused rage.

"You're not going anywhere," Lucius said as he swung his spear in the air, cleaning off some of the blood in one swipe. He studied enough about the anatomy of several aberrants, especially the ones that resembled mammals. He was certain that he had struck a very vital part on his first strike, and just in case he didn't, driving the spear further in and shaking it around guaranteed he at least did enough damage to neutralize the Pronghorn's most dangerous weapon.

'Pronghorns without mobility are just deers with extra-sharp horns', was it? These Outworlders word things strangely, but they're right.

Lucius allowed himself a sigh as he looked at the limping Pronghorn. With its hind legs hanging limply behind, it was clear that its hopes of ever escaping had been dashed completely. There was only one thing left for him to do.

"Full Assault!"

With a beam of intense, bright light that shone straight for the Pronghorn's agitated face, Lucius dashed towards the aberrant once again, and this time, he had all the time in the world. Through the painstaking process of endless repetition, his Illuminate had already developed enough intensity to incapacitate for a few seconds even under the light of the sun, and unfortunately for the Striped Pronghorn, it became one of the first few unfortunate ones that felt the fruits of his continuous efforts.

Maimed beyond oblivion, the Pronghorn stood helpless and panicked as his spear bore through straight its neck, killing in a few, miserable moments. Basking in the afterglow of his first successful hunt, Lucius allowed himself a small smile as he wiped off the blood that splattered on his face. With that same smile, he collected the loot dropped by the aberrant before bowing slightly.

You died for my progress. Thank you.

LEVEL UP

You have leveled up. You are now Level 8 (↑1). You have gained [5] Triforce Points.

TP Available: 5

EXP: 0/1,940

He knew it was a strange sentiment, especially as it was directed to something that only desired killing and destruction, but he couldn't help but feel a bit light in his chest. After all, he would have to kill countless aberrants in order to reach his goal. It couldn't hurt to begin his path of slaughter with a little bit of gratitude, could it?

"Uh, what are you doing?" Tissette walked over with a coy smile. "Don't tell me you're polite even to enemies who literally only want to gore you."

Lucius's smile faded and he sighed. "Nothing," he replied, knowing the girl would just make fun of him if explained himself anyway.

"So? What level are you now?"

STATS

Name: Lucius

Race: Halfbreed [Boon Unavailable]

Vita: 100%

Aether: 37/42

Virtus

149

Triforce

Corpus - 27.9

Sensus - 74.1

Animus - 47 (↑10)

Epithets

•Apprentice Luxmancer

Level 8 - (0/1940)

Triforce Points Available: 5

"Eight," Lucius said after confirming it on his stat screen. He still had a long way to go, but he couldn't deny that seeing his level rise up so fast just from killing a few aberrants was beyond satisfying. The degree of progress was a far cry compared to when was doing Student Agent work for months. It couldn't even be compared.

Now he could see why most students these days forego physical and mental training entirely and just slay aberrants for their EXP. Aberrant-slaying was a shortcut to having freakish stats early, and on that note, he wondered just how many young people in Elyssia are left that are willing to train their base stats, especially their Corpus, to 100 first before allocating some Triforce Points on them. Most likely not too many.

"Whaat? Still that low?" Tissette said with her mouth hung slightly open. "Dude, you really needed this huntin' trip. Thank the gods Master Katherine made you go. She could be a bit of a hardass sometimes, but who knew?"

Lucius couldn't hold back a smirk. "Hah, she is, is she not? I--"

*Rustle *Rustle

Suddenly, both his and Tissette's chuckles were interrupted by an abrupt rustle of a bush nearby. His hair stood on end as he remembered how Katherine somehow kept on appearing out of nowhere during comprising moments. He could only imagine what the 'hardass' woman would do to him and Tissette if it really was her behind the bush.

"M-Master? Is that you?"

"She said it, not me. I wasn't even laughing at her joke, per se, I just remembered a pretty funny joke at that exact same moment, Master Katherine" Lucius hurriedly added as fluidly as he could. Prevention is the best cure, after all.

"Hey! I saw you smile--" Tissette's words, along with her fearful expression, faded as the mystery behind the bushes finally revealed itself. Much to their relief, it was just a slime slithering along the grass, leaving a trail behind it as it headed towards them.

Both of them looked at each other with a relieved sigh, then laughed.

"Well, I suppose that is my cue," Lucius said as he walked towards the slime. although this time, he was more sure of himself. The battle jitters were gone, and after steeling himself with resolve and his bottomless desire to become stronger, he felt invincible. "We still have a long day of hunting. We need seven more for the quest, correct?"

"Yep. We're halfway there," Tissette replied, the tone of her voice much lighter and more at ease than before. Hearin g it was admittedly a weight off of his shoulders as well, as he could tell that the girl trusted him just a little bit more to handle himself now. "Oh, and Lucius?"

"Yeah?" he replied as he took a charging stance--his eyes dead set at his opponent.

"Don't miss this time," Tissette teased with a fanged grin and a wink from four of her eight eyes.

Lucius smirked, then nodded. Spurred on by his friend's challenge, he charged the slime with more confidence in himself than ever before.

And indeed, this time, he didn't miss.