Monsters were classified into different classes: The first class was the Rust class which was the weakest of the weak, they were perfect for him who was only a Black crest one liner since he could take them in pure strength, however they didn't give much mana.
Although it was depending on the Rust monster, there were some that were too risky for a One-liner especially one that hadn't trained before.
Most Awakened treated Rust monsters like stepping stones, the kind of prey you warmed up on before your real hunts.
But he wasn't warm neither was he confident.
His heart was literally pounding inside his chest like a metal hammer. And yet… he kept moving.
The reasons Awakened even hunted monsters apart from their skin and mana cores was the mana which was called Experience mana, once one killed a monster… they got a share of the mana from the core which in turn helped increase the power of your crest.
The rest of the mana in the core would do no good; even if you crushed it, it would simply dissipate into the air, slipping through fingers like dust.
After the rust class was the Iron class, for beginners like him… these were equivalent of a regular civilian trying to fight a two lined awakener, it was unbeatable using normal methods depending on the kind of Iron class you hunted, but the Experience mana gotten from an Iron class monster was 50x plus of the ones gotten from a Rust monster, that was how useless they were.
Kōya swallowed as he remembered that. Fifty times the mana… for something that could snap his spine by accident if it tripped... Great.
After the Iron class was the Bronze class, even if you had a four lined black crest, it would be a very close match because they were stronger.
If he was unlucky enough to run into one… he would die the moment the monster set its eyes on him.
'That's why it's such a risk to come out here.' He thought as he began walking into the thick forest.
He was scared as shit… but thinking of this like the usual forest in manga was a bit comforting.
Manga forests always had plot armor. Real ones? Not so much.
He forced a breath into his lungs, feeling how shaky it was.
The branches overhead rattled with the wind, and the scent of damp soil crept into his nose.
'At least it smells normal,' he told himself.
Then…
A piercing screech cut through the trees.
He flinched and spun toward the sound. He looked to the tree where the screech had come from and a dark bird flew away from the branch, its wings beating heavily as feathers scattered.
'What the fuck…?'
「Host, your heartbeat is currently thumping wildly… If you want to be a scaredy cat and a weakling then you can run the other way. I'm sure Nami would think this was very brave」
Kōya rolled his eyes despite the fear.
"Why would I care what Nami thinks?" He asked as he trudged forward. "If I see something that's going to endanger my life completely then I will run of course."
He continued deeper until the forest began thinning. The trees grew sparser, replaced by strange structures.
There was crumbling concrete… exposed iron beams... as well as overturned, moss-covered cars.
The small forest gave way to what looked like the remnants of a ruined city…
There was a clock tower in the center of the city and the hands of the clock had stopped. He couldn't even see any of the numbers on the clock apart from 12, 5 and 6. Everything else was scratched out, melted, or eroded away by time.
He drew closer, and the monster sounds became sharper
He swallowed again.
As he entered the broken city, he immediately ducked into a dark slimy alley while looking forward.
The scent was horrible like mold that had been soaked in sewer water. But he bit his lip and peeked around the edge.
At the corner of a building, there was a monster crouched over three smaller creatures… its children.
It looked very much like a wasp, except bigger and green with tendrils on its hands, the children much smaller but with their own wriggling vine-like appendages.
The creature let out slow breaths, as if trying to keep them warm.
「They're called Twigspire Broodminders and they're of the Rust Class. It's a moss-green wasp monster whose arms end in vine-like tendrils, using them to guard and feed its young. Normally timid, it becomes violently aggressive when its brood is nearby. Its pheromones can summon multiple younglings, making encounters risky in tight areas. The under-chest is its main weak point, exposed when it rears up to defend its children.」
'I see.' He thought. 'What would be my percentage of winning if I fought it?'
According to the manga, Rust-classes didn't have much value in their mana cores but their bodies did.
A corpselike version of this thing could fetch him… something. Maybe enough lunch money for a week.
'Streaming can't be my only way of income in this damn world…' He thought. 'I'm in a manga… why would I need to read multiple mangas to survive?'
The system answered immediately.
「Attributing your current body and performance as well as the Twigspire… Host, you have a 28% chance of winning」
'Yeah, let's run.' He thought instinctively. His soul didn't just say run… it screamed it. Twenty-eight percent was NOT respectable odds.
He carefully backed up, heel lifting slowly…
CRUNCH.
His leg stepped on a rusted can he didn't see, and it flattened loudly under his boot.
Immediate silence.
Then…
S C R E E E E E E E C H!!
The Twigspire mother and her children snapped toward him instantly, all six bright yellow eyes glowing like lanterns.
「Passive Skill: Danger Sense has been activated」
A cold sweat ran through his entire body as he could sense an attack literally shooting through the air and heading for his spine…
He bolted sideways, the instinct ripping through his nerves. His feet skidded across the slimy ground, and with the help of the sludge, he barely slid out of the way.
S H R I I I P…
The attack grazed him, ripping away part of his shirt in a diagonal streak.
He stumbled as his breath hitched. His back burned where the fabric tore. He turned sharply toward the monster.
The Twigspire's right tendril retracted like a whip, pulling back to its original coiled shape.
The mother screeched again as it raised its underchest which was quite different from the whole body… it looked soft and vulnerable.
「That's the weak spot… Hit it if you must surviv-」
But Kōya ignored the text on the screen entirely.
His vision tunneled and his lungs refused to expand for a moment.
He raised a hand to his chest.
'Just now… I… I… I nearly died.'