13 {First day in [Emerald Essence Canopy] World Fragment}

Walking for about ten minutes dan finally senses some slight movement from the branches above him , which sets his mind int high alert

While pretending that he didn't hear or sense anything not to alert the culprit , whatever was behind launches an attack.

Dan felt the killing intent with his [Superior Sense] low stage

Once dan felt with his Superior Sense that the enemy was only one sword length away, he sidestepped with his swift movement technique to the right

On his left side, the location that he just dodged from he lays his eyes on a snake's fangs as long as fingers penetrating into the hard cold ground

Not faltering into his movements thanks to his experience and muscle memory dan swings his right hand that's holding the hatchet in full force the moment the snakes head touches the ground and by the time the snake noticed its prey had dodged darken overcame its mind because its spine and neural network was severed proving to be a critical hit killing the snake instantly.

Looking at the snake that was 6 meters and still had its tail wound around a tree branch Dan was very pleased with his reaction time and he continued with scanning the creature.

[Chaotic system]

[Emerald Leaf Snake] beginner Mid-stage

Health:100%

Stamina:100%

[Stats]

Strength: 3

Vitality: 3

Agility: 4

Intelligence: 2

Spirit: 2

A snake that has evolved and adapted in this forest with an appearance of leaf patterns on his emerald scales, where the name comes from, thanks to this appearance the emerald leaf snake can be camouflage themselves on branched in the forest and assassinate the prey that passes in their hunting territory

Afterword he noticed the chipped part of his ax

'Must have happened either when i sliced through the spine or the scale, might as well take the skin and fangs , should be sturdy for armor and weapons making and a snake armor set will protect sis well in the low-stage dungeon or against low stage monsters

Dan proceeded to dissect the snake acquiring himself a mid-stage monster core and the emerald leaf snakes leather scales, the snake was about 6 meters in length and an adult woman's width in size which allowed him to acquire a long strip of Emerald leaf leather scales located on the top half of the snake since the belly of the snake was much softer and not providing strong defense

'A few more of these emerald leaf snake leather scale and i can make a set of leather scale Armour that can cover every part of the body for catalina, which will protect her immensely from the goblin blows, after all , my hatchet got chipped after testing it and that's only because it's being wielded with mid stage strength that it was able to penetrate the leather scales , but with the goblins low stage strength and crappy weapons that shouldn't be possible'

'Hmmm, i'd like to go deeper , but the snakes area also a good opponent to train on, and that mainly because of their sneak attack tendencies'

This way dan will be able to train his reaction time further and increase his response instincts against sneak and surprise attacks

Preceding with a goal in min dan started circling around the entrance of the dungeon on his left side and slightly inclined on going deeper and getting further and further from the dungeon gate with every round of circle he makes

By the time he was three hundred meters away from the dungeon gate and on his eight round , dan had faced sixteen other snakes which were also at the beginner mid-stage

But now what he was observing was a fight between an [Emerald leaf Snake ] and an [Emerald Antler Elk]

Dan observed for about ten minutes before the winner was decided

During the fight between these two creatures dan observed the emerald leaf snake constantly attacking with its tail as if it was a blunt weapon and circling around the emerald antler elk to attack from its blind spot

As for the emerald antler elk , it used its sturdy , sharp, powerful and giant Emerald Antlers to defend against the snake tail attack witch always resulted in the snake having wounds on its tail, when the emerald antler elk sow and opening he would be charging towards the snake when it got the chance with its Emerald antlers as stabbing weapons trying to penetrate the emerald leaf snake and pin it to the ground or a tree trunk.

Every time the emerald antler elk used its emerald antlers to defend , it managed to always leave a wound on the body part the emerald leaf snake used as a weapon, whether it was the tail or its head when trying to grab the emerald antler elk by its neck, witch showed just how powerful and sturdy the Emerald antlers where

'Those antlers sure look good, if i can cut the strait emerald branch of the antler than i could attach it to a metal staff and it would become a good mid-stage spear'

Wile dan was observing the fight he was already planning to create better weapons from the monster parts he will gather

And every time the Emerald antler elk couldn't dodge the tail whip that sometimes came after the failed attempt of the blind spot attack of the emerald leaf snake you could hear crunches from the emerald antler elk's body, proving just how powerful those tail whips were.

By the end both the emerald leaf snake and the emerald antler elk where exhausted, but the emerald leaf snake more so than the emerald antler elk since it was more active in its attacks while the emerald antler elk saved its stamina when defending.

Once the emerald elk noticed the exhaustion of its opponent it went for a final attack.

Putting all its strength in a final charge the emerald antler elk managed to pin down the exhausted emerald leaf snake from its belly against a tree trunk under its Shining and bloody emerald antlers.

And because of all the internal damage it suffered from the now immobile emerald leaf snake that is on its last breath bleeding out , the emerald antler elk didn't even bother to remove its bloody emerald antlers from its opponent and sat down to rest while emerald leaf snake blood kept rippling down its emerald antlers all the way over its head down its neck and dropping on the ground like a small dark Jade river flowing down a mountain.

Once the emerald leaf snake sheds its last breath the emerald antler elk relaxes its vigilance and the exhaustion multiplies making it drowsy.

Unfortunately for it, Dan was not going to let it go so easily.

The moment the elk dropped its guard down, dan aim's with his single handed crossbow at the elks left eye and fires, killing it instantly so that it can have eternal rest.

'That was a nice and easy kill'

With a smile on his face Dan steps out of his hiding place after observing the surroundings making sure that no other monster lies in wait and goes to dissect its new prey wondering how strong his next weapon will be.

Acquired [Emerald leaf snake leather scales] mid-stage material x 6

[Emerald leaf Snake fangs] x 34

[monster cores] mid-stage x 10

[emerald Antlers] mid-stage material

[Emerald elk meat] twenty kg

Looking at the new material dan has acquired from the elk, he was pondering if he should chose the antler branched to be made into a swords but since the emerald antler's branches were quite long and very pointy , and after all the emerald antlers didn't have even a scratch on them , this goes to show just how sturdy they are, witch will also prove very difficult to forge

'On second thought , I might as well cut a few branches to make spear heads and the rest leave for Maya to munch on , after all the emerald antlers are bones, although she might end up breaking her teeth instead, so maybe its a bad idea for now'

By this time it was already 1pm so dan directed himself back to camp, pockets filled with 5 mid stage monster cores, emerald antlers and six bundles of emerald leaf snake leather scales that where enough for two armor sets, and because of the size of his loot dan had to take a while to drag the bundles of emerald leaf snake scales that covered the meat behind him and the emerald antler on his back while the small stuff in his backpack.

After eating and filling himself up he came back to the [Emerald Essence Canopy] dungeon to continue his training and exploration

The good thing about stronger monsters is that there is a higher chance for monster cores to be found.

Which is the result of the bigger amount of spiritual energy they can possess and process , allowing for higher chances for an energy core to be assimilated giving them some abilities.

'With only twelve mid-stage monster cores after half a day of hunting , this proves that it will take quite a while before i can gather enough for a single breakthrough to the high-stages'

"One step at a time" Dan said while sighing and remembering how his first time in this dungeon was like.

And there was a very big difference , one of which is that he only got 5 mid-stage monster cores after hunting for the whole day while in a party.

For the rest of the day , dan continued hunting in the area around the entrance , and since it would take a while to gather a big amount of monster cores he focused on increasing his fighting techniques and by the end of the day he managed to hunt ten more snakes, acquiring himself seven mid stage monster cores, as for emerald leaf snake leather scales, he had enough for the time being

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