"Do you wish to keep the marget's carcass, or do you want to exchange it for loot?" Red repeated the notification word by word to ensure he didn't misunderstand it.
He didn't need the general knowledge of the awakening to know what it meant. It meant the marget's carcass would disappear in exchange for something that he didn't know of. It didn't specify what the loot was, which made it hard for him to decide.
Deep inside, he just wanted to tear the coat part and eat the meat. He was hungry and hadn't eaten since awakening. If not for the fact that he was used to being starved, he would have complained nonstop.
However, his rational thought told him to keep the marget and present it to the Matrons. The head was gone, but the body was intact. His stick didn't touch the body, just the head. The Matrons could get good-quality leather from his prey.
But his curiosity gave him a different idea. His curiosity told him to exchange the marget with the loot. He had no one tell him anything about this. The best way to learn was to try it and find out for himself.
He was in a dilemma because in his head, all three options were equally important to him. The first option would fuel his body to continue the hunt. The second option would give him a chance to raise his status in the tribe. Gaining the Matrons' favor and impressing them gave him that chance.
Or the third, it was to gain knowledge of what this loot was, whether it would be beneficial for him or not. He needed to try it to find out because the Warrior in the tribe would not tell him anything, even if he asked.
The fact that his stomach was making noise right now didn't help him at all. When his frustration almost got him again, he felt a smarting pain in his chest. That came out of nowhere; he jolted, thinking he was getting attacked again.
He jumped out and stood, still holding the broken stick. At the same time, he subconsciously made his way to the part of the spear with the blade. That was when he realized the pain didn't subside, which caused him to look down at his chest.
He found a four-line bloody mark. That was when he realized it was the marget's ambush earlier. However, he didn't lower his guard as he picked up the other part of his spear and made a run to the tree.
He leaned against the tree and sat down there. He didn't even care about his first prey, as the first thing he did was to check his status.
"Status!"
Name: ???
Level: 0
Health: 15 Stamina: 49 Mana: 100
[Tier 0 Might]
Strength: 9 Endurance: 6 Vitality: 3 Dexterity: 4
[Tier 0 Magic]
Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 10 Arcane Perception: 8 Mind: 8
Skills:
Tier 1 Skill: Mana Sense - Level 1, Levelheaded (Passive) - Level 10
Tier 5 Skill: Infernal Berserk - Level 1
Negative Status:
Curse of the Hunter - Level 1
Red's first reaction was to check his health. His heart raced when he saw how much health he had left. He lost 7 health from one strike from the marget.
His heartbeat was getting louder when he realized that he might die if the marget landed its second attack on him, if a single strike took 7 health. The marget would deal another 7 damage, and when he fell to the ground, it would finish him off.
The realization that he almost died froze him. He didn't feel the pain in his chest anymore because his head was going wild. This was his first near-death experience. It was a lot to process, and that was when he realized Levelheaded, a skill he deemed useless, saved him.
He was in panic right now, shock, a feeling he had never experienced before. But when he recalled what happened during the ambush, he realized how calm he was in that situation. He didn't panic, released his grip on his spear, and held onto the branch with his nails and fingers. That helped him to land on the ground safely and ended up killing the marget instead.
His irregular breathing slowly calmed down. The smarting pain returned, but the pain was nothing to him. His main concern was how to get his health up again.
His head was quite chaotic; his thoughts were everywhere. He slowly calmed down and organized his mind, thinking of the next step.
"How do I get back my health?" His eyes are still locked on the status screen. The moment he uttered that question, he saw his health go up by 1.
Red's eyes widened in surprise, and this was the best surprise for the last few months. His heartbeat calmed down, relieved that his health naturally went up. He came to the conclusion that a rest might help him get his health up.
He wiped out the blood on his chest, revealing the cut wound. It was not that deep, and it might have been because he managed to react. If he didn't react, that claw might leave a deeper wound.
There was nothing he could do with the wound. He would just let it heal naturally. Then his eyes fell on the dead marget. He needed to decide what he should do with that dead marget.
"Can I increase my health by eating?" That was a good question.
If he could get his health back by eating, then he would not hesitate to eat that marget. However, he could not confirm that unless he tried it.
Red let out a sigh and leaned his head against the tree. He wished that he had another prey, so he could experiment with them. As if his wish was heard, he heard a rustling noise.
His body tensed up, his eyes widened, and his pointy ears perked up. He tried to identify where the noise came from. He heard the noise again, and it was coming from the other side of the massive root where the dead marget was.
The dead marget was exactly next to the massive root that reached his waist. He could not see what creature was behind that root. However, he figured that this creature came because of the noise he created when he killed the marget.
"Or maybe because it smells like blood…" He heard from the warriors how some beast had a sharp nose and would be attracted by the smell of blood.
Red slowly came down to the ground, lying down facing the ground, trying to hide. He hoped this creature was coming for the dead marget instead of him.
The rustling noise was getting louder, then it suddenly stopped. It was quiet for a moment, and Red kept his breathing stable and did his best not to move even a little. His patience was rewarded as the creature jumped onto the root.
Red's eyes shone brightly because a second marget appeared. He didn't try to run or plan to hide from it. After the first kill, he gained some confidence that he might be able to hunt another marget.
The marget was sniffing around and finally looked down at another dead marget. It didn't immediately jump into the carcass. It was looking around, checking the surroundings.
'Go for it!' Red screamed inside.
His plan was to ambush it when it tried to eat the dead marget. That was his chance to get his second prey. He waited and waited, and finally the second marget jumped off. It landed next to the dead marget, sniffing the fresh meat and blood.
'Not now!' Red reminded himself, 'Wait until it starts to eat.'
His patience paid off as the marget started to eat from the bloody part, licking the blood and ground meat.
Red slowly got up, trying his best not to make any noise. The distance between him and his prey was around eight meters. As he tried to get closer, he picked a stone that fit in his hand. A broken spear in his left hand and a stone in his right hand.
He only managed to cut off a meter distance before the marget heard him. It turned its head toward him, and Red didn't hesitate to throw the rock in his hand.
'Head!' 'Hit its head!'
Swoosh!
The rock hit the marget's cheek, causing it to tumble to the side. Red immediately leaped the remaining distance as the marget was staggered. He was holding the broken spear upside down and jabbed it at the marget's body. He didn't care about ruining the coat. He just wanted to kill it as quick as possible.
The broken spear pierced the marget's body and pinned it to the ground. It was struggling and scratching his left hand with its hind legs. He was caught off guard by the marget's fierce struggle, even with a spear on its body.
Red's reaction was to punch the marget's head, not just once or twice, but many times. He only stopped punching the marget when he could no longer feel the movement from it. Even when he heard the cracking noise, he kept punching until it completely stopped moving.
Red let out a sigh of relief and fell on his body. He looked at his left hand, full of scratches. The first thing he did was to check on his health. He was surprised and relieved that the scratch didn't bring his health down. It remained at 16 Health.
Red finally managed to let out a grin as he looked at the two prey. That solved his dilemma as he grabbed the marget he just killed by the neck.
"I want to exchange this one for the loot!"