Having consumed hundreds of slime cores, Nava's stats have increased significantly, especially his maximum mana, which now exceeds 500 points. This high level of mana will make his skills many times more effective.
However, Nawa still doesn't intend to hunt Pro-level monsters.
Even though the level difference is only one tier, the strength of Pro-level monsters is vastly different from that of ordinary monsters. Not to mention their ferocity and intelligence;
Pro-level monsters are many times greater, some even smarter than humans. Even high-ranked players could be easily killed if surrounded by Pro-level monsters.
Therefore, Nawa intends to find a party first. Even if the loot has to be shared, it's safer. The problem is, Nava is only wearing the complimentary guild outfit, making it difficult to find someone to team up with.
So, Nawa plans to complete the quests in the city first. Once he receives the quest rewards, which include equipment and weapons, finding a party will be much easier.
After resting until his stamina increased to over 80 out of 100, Nava reopened the map system in his system window to check the next target for his quest.
He found that the direction the flock of conch shells was located likely indicated to be the headwaters of the river.
Nawa decided to walk along the riverbank. After a while, he came across a cliff over a hundred feet high, with a waterfall cascading down from the top—a very beautiful sight.
Based on the map's location, the quest target should be at the top of this cliff. Initially, Nawa thought he could complete the quest and return to the city by evening.
But upon reconsideration, he might need to change his plan and find a place to camp in the area first. The cliff was steep and wet, making climbing difficult. Finding his way up would take several hours, or even days.
The map function only shows the general direction of the target, not detailed routes like navigation apps used in the real world. Of course, if the player wanted that, it could be done. Furthermore, the player's equipment system could also indicate the number and types of monsters likely to be encountered in the area, as well as minerals, herbs, and other resources.
These services are, of course, not free. In fact, they're very expensive. Even a single route suggestion costs 3 silver coins to the system. While Nawa hesitated about whether to buy the system's route suggestion option, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
"That's right… with my current power, I should be able to do that," Nawa said to himself, a smirk spreading across his face.
Nawa walked straight towards the cliff. A few meters from the cliff, he closed his eyes and gathered his concentration.
Suddenly, Nawa's body, weighing over 80 kilograms, slowly floated into the air, as if ascending an invisible elevator.
Nawa summoned his status window and looked at his mana bar, frowning slightly. He found that his mana was slowly decreasing, though very slowly. This meant that the mana used for levitation was greater than the rate of mana absorption from nature.
"With my current mana, I guess I can only float in the air,"
Nawa said to himself, recalling his time in the Himmapan Forest. Back then, he could use telekinesis to fly through the sky like a bird, but now he couldn't. Accelerating while flying would drain his mana very quickly.
With his current maximum mana, there was a high chance he'd run out while flying if he wasn't careful.
"Thump!" A sound echoed as Nava's feet touched the top of a cliff.
Looking out, he saw a vast grassland at the top of the cliff, teeming with monsters. It resembled the savanna landscape of Africa, except the creatures before him were unlike anything seen on Earth.
In the distance, there were hordes of monsters that resembled wildebeest from Earth, but with different fur color. Their fur was fiery red, not black, and their horns looked like metal, reflecting light from afar. In the short time he had been here, Nava couldn't count them all.
If Nawa wanted the system to investigate the horde of fiery wildebeest, he would need to get closer. Although they seemed harmless, Nawa didn't want to take unnecessary risks.
At his current speed, if any danger arose... There was no way he could escape them, and among these wildebeest, some were many times larger than the others.
Even without the appraisal system, it was clear they were dangerous and far more powerful than ordinary monsters.
Nawa abandoned the idea of hunting the wildebeest and tried to find the monster that was the target of his quest. Soon, he found it. It was a monster that resembled sheep, but more than twice the size of sheep from his world.
Its thick, white wool made it look like walking cotton candy from afar. Its horns were beautifully curved like seashells.
When they were in a flock, they looked like clouds. Nawa crept closer. They seemed harmless, but when he got too close, dozens of sheep turned to look at him simultaneously.
This forced Nawa to stop all movement and activate his player device's monitoring system. This time, Nawa didn't hesitate. He willingly paid 5 copper coins to the system to activate the monitoring function immediately.
"Ding!"A sound rang in Nawa's head, and a message window instantly appeared before him.
(Spiral-Horned Sheep: High-Rank Common)
(HP: 100%)
(These sheep are commonly found in grasslands. They tend to live in flocks and will not harm humans unless attacked. They also have poor eyesight and cannot see far.)
(When attacked, they will charge directly at the enemy. Their spiral-shaped horns create extremely high destructive power. Regular armor will be damaged beyond repair after just one or two charges. They are also monsters that attack in groups.)
(Price: 30-45 copper coins. Their wool can be used to make clothing.)
Luckily, this time the system checked the information of these sheep before acting. These sheep are monsters that attack in groups, similar to the one that almost killed him.
Not only that, they are high-rank common monsters, many times stronger than regular common monsters.
A Rank E player could die instantly if hit by just one charge from these sheep. Even a Rank C monster might not survive if surrounded.
Nawa slowly stepped back, his gaze still fixed on the nearly ten sheep, all staring at him intently. It was as if the slightest aggression or insecurity he displayed would trigger an immediate attack.
Once more than 100 feet back, Nawa was certain the flock had lost interest. The next moment, he extended his palm and activated his Fireball skill, creating a fireball in his hand.
"Zoom!"The fireball whizzed through the air like an arrow as Nawa flicked his hand, sending the blazing ball forward.
This fireball was twice as fast and powerful as the ones he had used to hunt hares.
"Foom!"
The sheep were instantly engulfed in flames upon impact. Nawa had initially thought he might need to attack again, considering them high-level common monsters, but in reality, a single fireball was enough to deal with them, as evidenced by the current situation.
Beside the charred carcass of the conch shell sheep, five copper coins appeared as energy crystals.
Because Nawa attacked from a distance beyond the sheep's defensive range, the flock could only panic and run around, unable to retaliate. Everything seemed to be going well, but in reality, Nava still had an unresolved problem.
When the sheep were hit by the fireballs, their wool burned black and became unusable. Therefore, although he got the meat, he couldn't get the wool to take to the clothing shop in town to receive the quest reward.
Nawa tried shooting fireballs at two or three more sheep, and the same result occurred, even with reduced firepower. When the wool came into contact with the flames, the result was the same. It seemed these sheep were excellent fuel.
Nawa began to lose hope in getting the wool for the quest and focused on dealing with the carcass he had hunted. Nava fed the charred carcass to White Snake. After the entire sheep was in White Snake's stomach, his status window showed that he had gained 5 points in Defense (Def).
Nawa was very pleased with this gain. While maximizing mana was his greatest asset, other stats were equally important. Defense, in particular, was crucial, as survival was sometimes more vital than hunting monsters.
Nawa shifted his goal from hunting for wool to feeding the White Snake. After the White Snake devoured over ten sheep, Nawa's Defense (Def) increased by more than 50 points.
It was getting dark, so Nawa decided to set up camp near the flock and observe them, hoping to find a good way to obtain the wool needed for his quest.
He took out the camping equipment he'd bought from a player in town from his dimensional inventory. Using his telekinesis and his camping experience from his school days, he quickly set up his tent.
In the human world, after setting up camp, one would usually build a fire to ward off wild animals at night. But in The Oneness, doing so was tantamount to suicide.
In the human world, wild animals tend to run away from light, but the monsters in The Oneness weren't afraid of it. Conversely, the lights serve as a signal to the monsters that there is delicious prey available for them to hunt at night.
For this reason, even high-ranked players wouldn't dare risk camping alone outside the city like Nawa is doing now. But the reason Nawa dares to camp alone outside the city is because he possesses something that provides him with a sense of security far greater than the city walls of Matterhorn.