Chapter 27: New Skill
Jake slowly turned around and looked at a group of ten robed humans. Just like him, they were all awakeners—handpicked by him to serve as his loyal subordinates.
Men and women alike—everyone present had received intensive training from him in their specialty.
"Activate your tracking spells; we should at least see how long ago that damned serpent left." He commanded, his voice full of frustration.
"Yes, sir." At once, a woman and a man stepped forward, joining their hands in a specific pattern.
Placing their thumbs, index, and pinky fingers together, they brought their hands closer to their chests and closed their eyes.
For a brief moment, the pair stood completely still. Soon, a green light began to emanate from the corners of their eyes. Similarly, their hands lit up in a soft glow, the light merging around their hands to form a translucent ring.
Scent Pursuit.
An E-rank skill that allows the user to perceive and distinguish lingering scent traces left within the environment. Fresher trails appeared clearer, enabling one to pursue targets over long distances accurately.
The light slowly stretched out of the ring in their hand, spreading throughout the surroundings with the wind currents.
Jake patiently waited in silence. Although their rank was miserably low, he had personally tested the potential of their skills.
Even as an E-rank, their tracing skill was commendable.
However, as minutes passed, Jake noticed their brows arching at an angle. Not long after, veins began to bulge from their foreheads as a small stream of blood trickled down their nostrils.
He knew that usage of this skill demanded an extreme amount of focus and mental energy. Usually, the pair could find the lingering traces without breaking a sweat.
"S-Someone’s approaching..." Just as Jake was about to stop them, the pair said in unison.
Their voices were bleak from exhaustion—barely audible. Their bodies had started to shiver, while traces of blood had started to emerge from their eyes.
Hearing them, both Jake and the rest of the group became vigilant. Forming a circle around the pair, their eyes darted in all directions, holding onto their weapons.
"Where and who?" Jake asked sternly.
"I-It’s ahead..." The woman spoke first, opening her eyes. Her sclera had turned completely red, while her brown irises had turned a deeper shade.
Her face was partially covered by the robe, with dark patches of blood smearing it.
Raising her trembling arm, she struggled to point towards the other side of the ravine.
"A big snake is approaching!" The man muttered, his condition similar to that of the woman.
Both of them were on the brink of collapse, yet they couldn’t fall.
"Damn it..." Jake muttered beneath his breath, curling his fingers into fists.
***
"System, show me the rewards I received last time," Ethan said, lying comfortably on a makeshift bed of wild leaves.
"It’s happening again..." He frowned, realizing that the system’s response had been delayed yet again.
After traveling deeper into the sparse woods, they soon came to a luscious forest. Unlike Ethan, Eris had been staying in the area for nearly a decade.
Although she couldn’t openly send her soldiers to scout, she was able to gather a plentiful amount of knowledge regarding the area.
From what she knew, this forest was an unclaimed territory. The human population was nearly all concentrated within tightly shut cities. It was to protect them from the monsters.
Many monsters, on the other hand, needed humans as nourishment and thus placed themselves near the human cities.
"My king, I think it would be better not to dwell much deeper into this forest," Eris warned Ethan out of concern. "While many lower-level monsters do tend to live near the human cities, higher-level monsters tend to claim isolated areas as their territory."
Thus, the group decided to settle near the forest boundary. For now, the zombie blood ants were working in turns, creating tunnels and caves to shape their new home.
The blood ant queen had been supervising the work all along. As she was in a state of devotion, she had to ensure every last bit of comfort for her king.
Ethan, on the other hand, was resting in a corner. After a rewarding battle, he wanted to collect his thoughts and plan his next steps.
"If I’m not wrong, I received a reward selection box and a skill awakening coupon. And there are quite a few bloodstones available as well. Should I try to evolve?" Ethan asked himself in confusion.
What was evolution?
What kind of commotion would it cause?
And most importantly, will he be vulnerable in the meantime?
Ethan didn’t know the answer to these questions.
"According to the blood ant queen, the process indeed left her vulnerable and caused quite a commotion. But she’s a monster, and technically, I’m a player designated by the system. Would it be the same for me, or no?" He stared at the cave’s ceiling aimlessly.
*Ding!*
At this time, a familiar sound echoed in his mind.
---
———————————————————
[#/System Notification/#]
———————————————————
[Pending Rewards Detected.]
The following mission rewards have not yet been claimed.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Unclaimed Rewards:]
└ ■ Copper-Rank Reward Selection Box ×1
└ ■ F-Rank Skill Awakening Coupon ×1
---
"Oh, you’re back?" He stared at the system screen begrudgingly.
Confirming his thoughts, he quickly called out.
"Give me the F-rank Skill Awakening Coupon."
Immediately, a light shot out of the screen, condensing into a small, hand-sized white paper coupon.
Its surface was completely blank, with just a single term written on both sides: "F-rank."
"And how to use it?" he asked, grabbing the coupon with his big jade-green hands.
---
[Usage Method]
Hold the coupon in your hand and tear it apart.
The system will automatically identify the F-Rank skill closest to fulfilling its awakening conditions and awaken it immediately.
---
"I see. Well, here it goes." As instructed, he ripped the coupon roughly in two parts.
Instantly, a reaction occurred. The coupon was lit on a bright white fire, evaporating into the air like a cloud of light.
These particles then enveloped Ethan’s body and were gradually absorbed through his pores.
Immediately, a sense of comfort washed over his mind as he felt his body becoming lighter.
Before he could know it, another system window emerged before his eyes, displaying the changes.
---
[Item Consumed.]
└ ■ F-Rank Skill Awakening Coupon ×1
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Searching...]
Analyzing all F-Rank skills closest to fulfilling their awakening requirements...
[...]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Congratulations!]
An F-Rank skill has successfully awakened.
└ ■ Pain Resistance (F)
---