For Kyle, running was therapeutic. The fear and anxiety he suffered faded under the loud throbbing of his beating heart. Once the fear vanished, rationality returned, and he began taking note of things he had failed to notice earlier.
The first and most important was his stamina. The journey up to here and the running had consumed five points, leaving him with ten. If he kept running, he would eventually run out of strength and get killed!
Swoosh!
A figure flew over Kyle, casting a large shadow over him as the tiger bunny descended like a mountain! Without hesitation, Kyle lunged to the left, narrowly escaping the tiger bunny's death fall.
Bam!
As soon as he rolled back to his feet, Kyle turned and swung the bone club with all his might.
Peng!
The impact rattled his body and numbed his grip, causing the bone club to fall to the ground. The tiger bunny's head jerked to the left from the impact, and text appeared above its head.
{-3 hp}
'It's hard.'
Kyle couldn't help but acknowledge the toughness of the drill-shaped horn. If he had been a second slower, it would have impaled him from behind!
Pushing aside those thoughts, he quickly picked up his bone club and assumed a stance.
The second thing Kyle noticed was the overwhelming advantage he had over the tiger bunny. Even though it was bigger, their strength was matched. Meanwhile, he had scales while it had fur. With these minor advantages, Kyle believed he had a chance of winning.
'You can't keep running forever!' he told himself, mentally prepared to put his life on the line.
{Warning, Horn Charge Activated!}
Kyle's visage darkened upon seeing the system message. His attention snapped to the tiger bunny, whose eyes burned with fierce crimson light while its horn dazzled with rainbow light.
"Not good!"
Without hesitation, Kyle dove left as a rainbow beam of light blitzed past him.
{-5 hp}
Boom!
The collision was intense, shaking the tree the tiger bunny rammed into so violently that flowers and fruits began raining down.
"Aah!" Kyle groaned as he grabbed the right side of his abdomen, where warm liquid was leaking.
If he had tried to block that attack or hesitated for even a moment, he would have been ripped in two by that deadly charge.
"Even a damn rabbit gets a skill at level three. The Greater Kobold better give me one, or there ain't anything great about him," Kyle complained as he watched the tiger bunny struggle to pull away from the tree.
"It's stuck?"
Ignoring the pain, Kyle pushed himself up and grabbed his bone club. He approached while the tiger bunny frantically kicked and thrashed around, then raised the bone club over his head and swung down with all the strength he could muster.
WACK! WACK!
WACK! WACK!
With his eyes shut tightly, Kyle kept swinging no matter how soft or tender the target felt. Even when warm substances splattered onto him, he didn't stop. He kept swinging until the familiar notification sound rang in his head.
{Normal rank One-horned Tiger Bunny Killed}
+100 exp
{New Achievement:} First Kill
+150 exp & +1 talent point
{New Achievement:} First Hunt
+150 exp & +1 talent point
{Talent store unlocked}
{Experience Points:} 565/250
{Host has the required experience points to level up. Do you wish to proceed?}
{Yes/No}
However, the moment Kyle opened his eyes, the gory scene made his stomach churn. He quickly ran behind the tree and began throwing up.
Blegh!
Gasping for air between retches, Kyle needed the support of his staff to remain standing. Several minutes passed before he finally regained his composure.
The tiger bunny's head had been reduced to a bloody mixture of fur, bone, brain, and blood. Its horn had snapped—likely due to the repeated blows—leaving half of it lodged into the tree.
Wiping his lips, Kyle checked his wound. The attack had ripped through his scales and pierced his tender flesh. Luckily, his scales had absorbed most of the impact, leaving the wound shallow.
Hew!
Kyle let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto his buttocks. There was no healer, no medical facility—nothing. In the wild, a deep wound meant a slow, agonizing death.
With the threat of death temporarily gone, Kyle finally turned his attention to the system messages.
"What's a talent store?" he couldn't help but ask.
Ding!
{A talent store is where the host can purchase available skills}
The response was brief, yet it said volumes—and troubled him deeply.
"So I don't gain skills by leveling up?" Kyle asked.
{Yes. The Greater Kobold doesn't accommodate freeloaders. Work for your power}
"Freeloader?!" Kyle nearly spat blood in anger.
He had nearly died fighting this damned rat, and this bastard system—belonging to a lesser race—dared to call him a freeloader?
Kyle was furious.
He was about to curse back, but quickly restrained himself. Being born as an animal did not mean he had to live like one. What would people think if they saw him cursing at nothing in the middle of the forest? Besides, he had already wasted too much time here. The corpse was bound to attract other animals.
"Show me the talents in the store," Kyle ordered.
{Talent store unlocked}
{Weapon Mastery: Blunt}
{Price:} 5 Talent points
{Primitive Trapcraft}
{Price:} 2 Talent points
{Basic Bloodline starter pack}
{Price:} 10 Talent points
"Pricey!" Kyle sucked in a sharp breath.
Seeing the prices, he was taken aback. This meant the only thing he could afford was Primitive Trapcraft.
"Level up first. And please give me some extra talent points," Kyle said, clasping his hands together in prayer.
{Level:} 2→3
{+1 unused stat point}
{Experience Points:} 315/350
BASTARDSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!
Birds scattered in all directions under Kyle's furious cry. He sat there with his hand on his head. At this point, he deeply suspected the system was trying to get him killed.
If he wanted to hunt effectively, Kyle was certain he needed the bloodline starter pack. While kobolds were a lesser race, they were still related to dragons. If he could gain bloodline skills that toughened his scales, fighting creatures like the tiger bunny wouldn't be a life-and-death matter.
"I'll take the Primitive Trapcraft then," Kyle let out a defeated sigh.
He knew he couldn't keep fighting this way. Kobolds weren't built for direct combat. Since he couldn't afford bloodline skills, he would settle for traps. If they could weaken his prey, it would still be a huge help.
Ding
{Primitive Trapcraft Purchased}
{New Trap Designs Available}
– Trip Snare
– Shallow Spiked Pit
– Falling Stone Trap