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Chapter 54: + 5% XP

  Bernardo scrambled to keep up with Gary and Steven, who were hot on the trail of a Gloomfang. The creature activated its Rush skill, its speed dramatically increasing. It became a blur of motion, its paws barely touching the ground. Gary surged ahead, leaving Steven and Bernardo far behind as if they were standing still. Steven slowed to a stop, watching his brother pursue the creature. Bernardo finally caught up, his breathing heavy, sweat already beading on his brow. "Wha-What the hell do you guys think you're doing? Suddenly leaving me behind like that?" he gasped, wiping sweat from his forehead. Steven, annoyed, retorted, "What do you think hunters do when they spot a monster?"

  Meanwhile, Gary, mid-run, unsheathed his sword with a practiced flick of the wrist. As the blade cleared its scabbard, he muttered, "Sword Wave

  "Hey! Get over here!" Gary shouted to Steven. Steven, hearing his brother's call, started running towards them.

  The Gloomfang howled in agony, struggling desperately to escape the impaled sword. Gary, annoyed by the incessant noise, lifted his leg and stomped down hard on the creature's jaw, crushing it with a sickening crunch. A final, strangled howl escaped the creature's broken mouth before it fell silent, though its body still twitched slightly.

  Steven arrived, panting. "Is it dead?"

  "No," Gary replied. "Remember, you're killing it, not me. I just wanted it to shut up; it could have called for others."

  "Yeah, there's always more nearby," Steven agreed, unsheathing his sword and swiftly driving it into the monster's eye. The Gloomfang went still.

  Gary and Steven withdrew their swords as Bernardo finally caught up. "Woah, so that's a Gloomfang, huh?" he said, staring at the corpse.

  Steven sheathed his sword. "What? You've never seen one before?"

  "No," Bernardo replied. "Only some materials made from them."

  "Well, you're about to see a lot more," Gary said, a grin spreading across his face.

  Suddenly, a chorus of growls erupted from the surrounding bushes. Nine Gloomfangs, their blue fur gleaming, emerged, encircling the two hunters and Bernardo. Bernardo instinctively moved closer to Gary and Steven.

  Gary chuckled. "Looks like it was too late; it already called for the others."

  Steven, slowly unsheathing his sword, asked, "Why are there so many of them?"

  Gary grinned. "Why wouldn't there be? We're headed towards their den."

  Fear edged Bernardo's voice. "You're happy about this? Why?"

  "'Cause this means more monsters for my little brother to level up. Am I right?" Gary said, unsheathing his sword with a grin. Steven looked around; all three of them were surrounded, their backs to each other, facing the closing Gloomfangs. "I don't think we can beat this," Steven said, his voice strained. "Can't you just summon White Fang?"

  Gary whirled around, his eyes blazing with anger. "How *fucking* dare you? You don't think I can take them on by myself? Don't forget I'm here because Father said so!" Steven, unable to meet his brother's furious gaze, looked down at his shaking sword. "Right… I'm sorry, big brother."

  Suddenly, a high-pitched shriek pierced the air from a distance. Bernardo, Gary, and Steven all turned towards the sound. The Gloomfangs, momentarily distracted, also shifted their attention. Then, something extraordinary happened. A blindingly bright white light erupted on the horizon, impossibly far away yet somehow brighter than the sun itself. The Gloomfangs, as one, activated their Rush skills, their speed drastically increasing as they all ran towards the light.

  Bernardo, Gary, and Steven were left standing there, stunned. They watched as the monsters disappeared towards the light.

  "What the hell was that just now?" Gary exclaimed.

  "I don't know," Steven replied, "but it has to be a hunter, right?"

  "That must have been a mage hunter," Gary said, his voice thoughtful.

  Bernardo asked, "A mage hunter, huh? Are they that powerful?"

  Steven nodded. "Yeah, that's the only explanation. I mean, tankers can use their taunt skill to do something similar, but it's nothing like this. This has to be a mage hunter, and a C-rank or above at that." Bernardo let out a sigh of relief.

  Gary clicked his tongue, a frustrated sound. "The freaking mage hunter stole our prey, huh?" He looked at his brother. "But you're not getting off that easily. I told you before, we're heading towards their den."

  Steven's eyes widened. "Wait, what? You're serious? I'm still only E-rank. We can't go towards their den! I'll get killed. And think about Bernardo—he's not even a hunter; he'll get killed too!"

  Gary grabbed his brother by the collar, lifting him slightly off the ground with one hand. "Well, you want to level up, right? I've been a hunter way longer than you. And you think you can tell *me* what to do? This isn't home, little brat, and Father isn't here. When I say we go, we go. When I say stop, you stop. Got it?"

  Steven, his feet dangling, mumbled, "Yes, of course, I got it."

  Gary released him. Bernardo, sensing the shift in power, felt a chill of fear. *If we're going to a monster's den,* he thought, *I might definitely die.*

  Bernardo spoke up, his voice trembling slightly. "I'm not going to say we shouldn't go, but… can't you at least give me a weapon?"

  Gary and Steven looked at Bernardo. Gary removed a dagger from his belt and threw it to Bernardo, who caught it easily. "Alright, thank you," Bernardo said, examining the shiny silver blade. "Let's go," Gary stated, already turning away. Bernardo and Steven exchanged a look before following Gary.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Meanwhile, Tyler, slumped on the ground, rolled onto his side and pushed himself up, using his hands for support. The system panel appeared before him: User shall be immune to all kinds of poisons and venoms. He looked at Grone.

  "Come on, answer me," Grone urged, "what happened just now?"

  Tyler groaned slightly. "That was the Poison Bond. It just caused me a bit of pain, but I'm fine." He spat out some remaining sour saliva and wiped his mouth.

  "A bit of pain?" Grone exclaimed. "It looked like you were about to die!"

  Tyler grinned. "Yeah, but it was all worth it."

  Grone frowned. "I don't understand."

  "I just got a new skill," Tyler explained.

  Grone's eyes widened. "A new skill? Just now?"

  "Yeah," Tyler confirmed. "When I drank the potion, it gave me a pretty unique skill. I didn't think I'd get something like this."

  "What kind of skill is it?" Grone asked, his curiosity piqued.

  "Poison Blood," Tyler replied.

  "Poison Blood? That's the skill you got?" Grone repeated, incredulous.

  "Yeah," Tyler said. "I can let my blood become poison any time i want.

  Somehow, Tyler's ability reminded Grone of his Younger sister's skill: Blood Explosion. "So you're telling me you got a new skill from drinking from a vial?" Grone asked, still slightly incredulous.

  "Yeah, that's correct," Tyler confirmed.

  "So this alchemy skill of yours… you can get skills just from drinking more of those potions?" Grone pressed, his eyes wide with interest.

  Tyler shook his head. "I'm not really sure. This is the first time I've done it. And as far as the recipes go, I haven't seen any others that promise another skill. I mean, I've only seen ones about MP restoration, life force regeneration…"

  "Honestly," Grone interrupted, "this alchemy skill of yours… it has so much potential. If anyone from any guild were to learn about this, they'd want to recruit you immediately. Tyler, you could make a lot of money from this by joining a bigger guild."

  "Joining a guild, huh?" Tyler mused. "Well, I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet. Plus, you said guilds can be dangerous. And before that, I wasn't planning on joining a group of hunters, not early in my career, anyway…"

  Tyler was cut short by a system panel appearing in the distance, partially obscured by a bush, but still clearly visible to him. He read the words: Ada's Tree.

  Tyler's expression changed dramatically. Grone noticed immediately. "What?" he asked, his voice sharp with concern.

  "Do you remember when I asked you about Adas Tree, and you said it was a pretty rare tree to come across?" Tyler asked.

  "Yes, I remember saying that," Grone replied. "But what about it?"

  "Well, I think I found one," Tyler said, heading towards the location indicated by the system panel. He pushed aside some bushes and revealed a small, slender tree with about forty to fifty light green leaves.

  Grone followed Tyler, his surprise evident as he saw the tree. "Well, I'll be damned," Grone muttered. "That's an Ada's Tree, isn't it?"

  "Yeah, it is," Tyler confirmed.

  "I don't know if this is luck or something else," Grone said, shaking his head. "People hardly run into these trees, but there are a lot of them in humanoid monster zones. This is pure luck."

  Tyler examined the Ada's Tree. He uttered the word, "Extract

  Tyler turned to Grone. "Finally, I've got them. Shall we continue with our hunting?"

  "Well, yeah," Grone agreed.

  As they started walking, Grone asked, "What were you going to do with the Ada's Tree leaves?"

  "I told you earlier," Tyler said, "it's an ingredient for my alchemy skill. I'm going to have to create another potion." He touched his chin thoughtfully as they walked. "But I wonder where I'm going to get holy water…"

  Grone chuckled. "Holy water, you say? Well, you're in luck if you're looking for holy water. The water I offered you earlier… that was holy water."

  Tyler's eyes widened. "Huh? So you were just carrying holy water with you the whole time?"

  "I don't *just* carry holy water with me all the time," Grone explained. "You see, my wife, Lisa, always goes to the Fiona Church to get holy water. I've always used this waterskin, but she started using it to get holy water. She told me to buy a new one for her, but I always forgot. Today, I instinctively grabbed this waterskin, and I only remembered it contained holy water when we got to the crossroads base—it was already too late. So I decided, why not just use it? I'll get more water when we return and buy her a new waterskin."

  "Huh," Tyler said, his eyes gleaming. "Can I… can I have that, please?"

  Grone stopped, removed the waterskin from his bag, and handed it to Tyler.

  "Thanks," Tyler said, opening his palm. A Vial materialized from his inventory. He carefully poured the holy water from the waterskin into the vial.

  Tyler examined the holy water in his palm. *So this is holy water… It looks just like the stuff from my old world. Is there really much of a difference?* he wondered.

  He looked up at Grone. "So, what does holy water even *do*?"

  "Well," Grone explained, "holy water is made by saints. If saints pray over water, it becomes holy water. They say if you drink holy water regularly, for a very long time, you can get rid of curses placed on you by mage hunters."

  "Wait," Tyler said, surprised. "Mage hunters can give people curses?"

  "Yes," Grone confirmed. "It's not like the curse from the Demon God; this is totally different. It's more like a skill, sort of like 'Silence.'"

  The word triggered a memory in Tyler's mind. He recalled his hunter registration, a man using Silence on someone about to attack him. The victim's mouth had vanished completely.

  "Oh, I know about that skill," Tyler said. "I saw it once. It was very strange—the person's mouth was completely gone."

  "Oh, but it's not just their mouths that are shut," Grone added. "Their abilities are also shut down for a short time. You see, if 'Silence' is used on another mage hunter, they can still use skills, but not advanced ones. They can use smaller skills like weak fireballs or light heals and so on, but nothing else."

  "Oh, so the Silence skill doesn't last for long," Tyler said.

  "Yeah," Grone confirmed. "But if you're an S-rank mage hunter, you can use another skill called Dead Silence. That one can permanently shut down a mage hunter's advanced skills. Sometimes, it can even completely block someone's mana waves—their body won't be able to produce any mana at all."

  "Mana waves?" Tyler asked, tilting his head.

  "Haven't I taught you about that?" Grone asked, surprised.

  "You taught me how to circulate my mana," Tyler admitted, "but you never taught me about mana waves."

  "Ah, yes, mana waves," Grone said, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You see, in a sense, mana is all around us, and our bodies absorb it constantly. That mana gathers in the center of our body—the abdomen—and you release it the way I've taught you. It's been absorbed constantly since the day you were born."

  "Really?" Tyler said, impressed. "That's kind of fascinating, Grone."

  "Yes, it is fascinating when you hear about it," Grone agreed.

  Tyler's vial of holy water vanished into his inventory.

  "I really didn't know that mana was all around us," Tyler said, "but it does make sense. It's similar to what you said about how the Demon God's aura spread across the earth and how the Goddess gave people mana. So I'm guessing the Goddess's mana and the Demon God's aura are all over the world."

  "Correct," Grone said.

  "Oh…" Tyler said, a thoughtful pause. "Anyways, thanks for the holy water. It's time to craft one more thing."

  Tyler opened his inventory, his thoughts drifting. *Mana waves, huh? I'm starting to think this is somehow related to Grone's wife's secret. She said she can only use preservation magic, but she's level 141 and didn't want to tell me anything. Did someone use Dead Silence on her? It's probably better not to think about it too much. I don't want to meddle in their business. They've helped me, but they don't want my help in those situations. I can help them in another way—a way that helped me.*

  Grone spoke, breaking through Tyler's thoughts. "Oh, there was also a rumor that holy water could help someone level up quickly. But people soon realized it was just a rumor. No matter how much you drink, your leveling up stays the same. I've tried it myself—no difference."

  "Oh," Tyler murmured, checking his inventory. He then said aloud, "Craft Necklace of Growth."

  The system panel appeared: Craft Accessory? Yes/No.

  Tyler selected "Yes." The system responded with a new panel: Crafting Accessory

  The loading bar completed. A new system panel appeared: Crafting Complete! Craft Accessory: +5 STM.

  Tyler opened his palm, and the necklace materialized. It had a delicate golden copper chain and a round silver pendant featuring a concentric circle pattern. Tyler examined the necklace, then he put it on.

  "So you crafted a necklace?" Grone asked.

  "Yeah," Tyler replied, "it's an accessory. I'm guessing it's supposed to give some kind of effect."

  A system panel appeared: User has equipped Necklace of Growth. User will receive an additional 15% XP upon killing an entity.

  Tyler's heart pounded as he read this. Then, another system panel appeared: User's XP gain is reduced by 25% due to lack of Goddess's Blessing. Necklace of growth has countered the system handicap. Only 10% is cut from killing entities.

  "Wait a minute," Tyler muttered, "only 10% now?"

  "What?" Grone asked, his voice sharp with concern.

  "Wait, wait, hold on a minute!" Tyler said, quickly removing the necklace. He opened his other palm, revealing an enhancement stone.

  Grone's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What is that?"

  "Wait, I want to see something," Tyler said, his voice hushed with excitement. "If this works… this is going to change everything."

  "What are you talking about?" Grone asked, his curiosity piqued.

  Tyler carefully placed the enhancement stone on top of the necklace. A system panel appeared: Merging…

  The enhancement stone and necklace floated in the air, emitting a bright blue light. Grone and Tyler watched, captivated, as the necklace slowly descended back into Tyler's palm.

  "What was that just now?" Grone asked, his voice filled with wonder.

  "It's an enhancement stone," Tyler explained. "It doubles the effect of any accessory or weapon I have. I wanted to see if it worked."

  Tyler noticed the concentric circles on the pendant now glowed faintly blue before fading. He put the necklace back on, fastening the clasp at the back. Something astonishing happened.

  A system panel appeared: Accessory Enhancement Successful. User will receive +30% XP upon killing an entity.

  Immediately, another system panel appeared: Due to the user not receiving the Goddess's Blessing, their XP gain shall be reduced by 25%. The Necklace of Growth has countered the system's handicap. User shall receive +5% XP upon killing an entity.

  Grone looked at Tyler, a question in his eyes. "Did it work?"

  He didn't need an answer. Tyler's wide, excited smile said it all.

  Suddenly, they heard sounds in the distance—the unmistakable crunch of twigs underfoot, the rustling of bushes. It sounded like a large number of creatures were approaching.

  Grone was surprised to see Tyler's smile hadn't faded as a shimmering Axe materialized in Tyler's hands. Then, system text boxes shimmered into existence all around them, listing various monsters and their levels. For some reason, despite the impending danger, Tyler felt nothing but exhilaration.

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