In the dead of the night, the moon was exceptionally bright, accompanied by countless stars. It almost felt like daytime, the only difference being that the moon and stars were the source of light.
This beautiful moonlight radiated across the western region of the Human Continent. It had been like this for two days now.
From his research over the past few years, Arian knew that this was a phenomenon which happens in this world once every ten years and during this time the moon would be unusually bright but, it only lasted five days every night, and this phenomenon was called the Sun—Moon Event.
It had already been two days, and this was also the reason he chose tonight to act, especially after receiving Solthrix, the double sword his father had given him.
Originally, Arian had planned to visit the night market to buy a sword. However, after receiving Solthrix, he decided there was no need to wait any longer. He going to visit Giaya Forest.
After quietly leaping out of his room, Arian ran quietly through the courtyard of the mansion. When he was only five feet away from the wall surrounding the estate, he flung his bag over to the other side, then used the same momentum to leap after it.
Thud!
Arian landed awkwardly and fell on his butt.
"Oow—my butt!" he muttered, rubbing the sore spot as he stood up.
He quickly grabbed the bag he had thrown earlier and rushed toward the town.
Though it was nighttime, many people were still awake. Clubs, casinos, brothels, inns, and motels were open, including the infamous Guadantam Night Market.
Arian had learned that, Guadantam Night Market was not an actual market. Instead, it was a place where one could buy information, hire mercenaries to kill or kidnap someone, purchase stolen base-core weapons from thieves, and conduct countless illegal dealings. What surprised him the most was that the king did nothing about it, it was almost as if he accepted it or something.
Two days ago, Arian had hesitated about coming here. Someone of his age could be robbed, kidnapped, or sold into slavery without resistance, and he knew he couldn't fight grown men with his current strength, especially those with active Bases of grade one.
Receiving Solthrix from his father had saved him from those worries.
His destination was Giaya Forest, located to the east of the kingdom of Guadantam. Luckily, there was a side gate on the eastern side of the kingdom.
He managed to hitch a free ride in a cart heading toward a neighboring kingdom. Though the roads were often filled with thugs, mercenaries, and bandits, adventurers were usually hired by merchants to guard their cargo.
After successfully leaving the kingdom, Arian made his way toward Giaya Forest. Upon entering, he unsheathed the single sword he brought with him and stayed on guard.
After what felt like ten to thirty minutes, he finally spotted a creature about a mile away under the bright moonlight. It looked like a rabbit, and it was nearly two feet nine inches tall.
He immediately activated his active skill [Identify].
『Active Skill Identify Activated
Scanning target...
Identification Complete
INFO:
Tier 1 Mutant Ground Rabbit
Lives in underground burrows but comes to the surface for food
Can jump up to 4 feet high
Razor-sharp front teeth
Easily aggravated
Sensitive to sounds』
Arian stared at the information in amazement. This was the first time he had used Identify on a living creature.
'So it doesn't lock information of a creature or human that is one level higher than mine.' Arian thought in realization.
'With this information, I obviously can't charge in like a fool,' Arian thought.
"Unless…" he murmured as an idea struck him.
He quickly picked up a stone nearby and hurled it toward the Tier 1 Mutant Ground Rabbit.
The rabbit instinctively dodged, but as the system had described, it became immediately aggravated. That reaction was exactly why Arian had targeted it with the stone.
The rabbit turned toward where the stone had come from and spotted a small child—around five years old—who looked weak and harmless. This only enraged the creature further.
Although mutant creatures were not intelligent or reasonable, they still possessed animal instincts. They were once ordinary animals, but after their Bases became corrupted, they underwent mutations and developed corrupted base cores.
Sensing Arian's weakness, the rabbit decided he would be its prey.
It leaped nearly four feet into the air and launched toward him, mouth wide open, revealing its razor-sharp teeth.
Seeing the creature fall into his trap, Arian scoffed.
"Dumb rabbit."
He knew that because he appeared weak, the mutant wouldn't hesitate to attack. That was where it went wrong.
Though Arian was physically weaker than the creature, he wielded Solthrix a base core weapon which its blade were forge from the Corrupted Base Core of a tier three mutant creature. He had brought only one sword for better mobility, but that was more than enough.
As the Tier 1 Mutant Ground Rabbit lunged, Arian swiftly unsheathed his sword and, in one clean motion, sliced it in half, from its open mouth straight down to its body.
*ding!~*
『Master has killed a Tier 1 Mutant Ground Rabbit』
『Master has acquired 2 Free Stat Points』
『Corrupted Base Core Located — Forehead Region』
Hearing the system notification, Arian froze in surprise. This was his first kill which was also successful.
"Okay… Status," Arian said.
*ding!~*
『BASE SYSTEM』
『STATUS
NAME: Arian
RACE: Human
SKILLS:
ACTIVE SKILL: [Identify]
PASSIVE SKILL: [Instant Learning, Comprehension, and Understanding]』
『PHYSICAL STATS
STRENGTH – 5
AGILITY – 5
STAMINA – 7
VITALITY – 8
HEALTH – 25
FREE STAT POINTS – 2』
『BASE CLASS – Mythic Master Base
BASE POTENTIAL – 100%
BASE REGISTER – 100%』
『CURRENT BASE INFO
BASE CLASS – Unaligned State
BASE STATE – Dormant
FLOW SKILLS – 0/10
EVO POINTS – 0/50』
"It seems the system adds point to all my physical start very year," Arian murmured. "From that kill earlier now my Free Stat Points has risen From zero to two."
His gaze shifted to his Base information.
"Still dormant…?" He frowned.
"Oh—right. I haven't consumed the Corrupted Base Core yet."
He turned back toward the rabbit, to his surprise it was gone.
Arian scanned the ground and soon noticed a strange unfamiliar footprints of what looked like an animal but longer, under the moonlight.
He followed them carefully.
After about two minutes, he heard howling.
Arian immediately knew what was making that sound. From his sun-moon research, he knew there was a group of creatures that howled under bright moonlight every night during the event.
Hybrid Sun-Moon Wolves.
They resembled werewolves, but were far more unsettling. They stood about three feet tall on all fours and nearly five feet tall when standing upright.
Arian stopped in his tracks.
The footprints led directly toward the howling.
"There's more than one…" Arian said.
Realizing the danger, he decided to retreat. It was already late, and he had only planned to scout the area and kill some tier one mutants or hybrids creatures. Staying any longer would worry his parents, especially if his father noticed he had missed his usual practice.
He quietly left Giaya Forest and returned to Guadantam, sneaking past the guards.
This time, when he jumped back into the mansion, he didn't land on his butt.
He climbed into his room through the window, set his bag and sword aside, changed into his night clothes, and went to sleep, he kept on cursing the Hybrid Sun-Moon Wolf that had stolen his kill, until he fell asleep.
The next night, Arian returned, this time carrying double daggers—that his father, Benoth, had given to him—instead of Solthrix.
He had prepared a plan.
He brought meat from home, mixed with a plant known as Paralyzer, it was a herb capable of immobilizing anything that consumed it for one minute.
After reaching the same spot, he heard the howling again.
"It seems like their usual spot," Arian whispered.
He unwrapped the meat and cut his finger, letting a few drops of blood fall onto it to attract the tier one hybrid sun-moon wolves faster, he then threw it on the ground and then he hid in a nearby bush.
Moments later, eight Hybrid Sun-Moon Wolves emerged.
Arian swallowed, silently thanking himself for not rushing in the night before.
As the wolves finished eating, they collapsed to the ground. Arian rushed forward, targeting the nearest Tier 1 Hybrid Sun-Moon Wolf, but to his shock, the wolf lifted its head.
Their eyes met, Arian's face went pale.
The wolf snarled, and charged straight at him.
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