Leo checked his Stats page as soon as the Leveling system finished speaking.
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Leo:
level:
1
[0/110] XP
Stats:
Strength: 1
Defense: 1
Agility: 1
Stamina: 1
Intelligence (mana capacity): 1
Mana strength: 1
Skill points: 6
Skills:
Hunter's Presence
Balance:
306 coins
Inventory:
7 normal quality steaks
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Leo focuses on his new skill trying to see its details.
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[Hunters Presence]
Description: Prey fear you when you activate this skill. Prey that are weaker than you will be overcome by fear and they will have weaker neuromuscular control causing them to be sluggish.
The weaker they are compared to you, the better it works.
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'This is going to help so much while hunting, the rabbits won't be able to run away and maybe I can even hunt a dear' Leo thought.
"Victor, I got a new skill! Do you mind if we tried finding a deer so I can test it out" Leo asked.
"Sure, why not" Victor responded then he used his scouting skill to find a deer.
Leo followed Victor as they approached the location of a deer. He stalked the deer and instead of acting stealthy he used his new skill [Hunter's Presence].
The outcome was perfect, the deer was frozen in fear, it could not move. It's eyes focused on Leo , following his every move as he got closer to it.
Leo placed his paw on the stiff deer. With a quick swipe his claws slit the deer's throat, blood gushed out of the open wound while the deer's body swayed and fell onto the ground. Blood gathered as if it was a pond around the deer.
"You have gained 15 XP and 4 coins" The leveling system informed.
"Wow this skill works really well! Victor did you see that?" Leo exclaimed happily.
"It's amazing, you are a lucky lion" Victor replied with a smile.
Leo gave Victor the deer as a gift, and they both shared a laugh when they Victor shared past events.
When they were returning to the pride they noticed something off about the air, it was dry and warm, and it had a unique smell. It was the smell of burning permeating through the air.
Crackle
The sound of a crackling fire echoed through the jungle, as they ran toward the pride's territory.
Everything was on fire.
The dens, the commercial area even the towering clock tower near the lake was on fire.
Bodies were littered on the ground while the ground was stained red, the pride was being attacked by demonic beasts.
The beasts had dark red fur, Leo didn't know if the colour was due to the blood of the lions being massacred or if that was their natural appearance. Their horns were slightly curved towards the back of their head, the horns were used a weapon by some or used as a wand[1] by others.
Leo and Victor rushed to help, however they were attacked by one of the demonic beasts. Leo tried to use his newly obtained skill but it was of no use, the demonic beast was not even amused. It looked straight at him and charged while pointing its horn at him.
Was this really how his second life was going to end?
Leo closed his eyes while bracing for impact.
Clash
The horn of the beast was deflected by the sword of a human. 'A human?' Leo looked at the man in confusion.
Leo remembered that lion could unlock a human body after reaching a certain level, so this meant that the man infront of him was a high ranking lion from the pride.
The man was clad in a heavy armor, it's shiny surface reflecting the light from the blazing fires. His sword was magnificent, it was glowing faintly while it was casting an oppressing aura on the demonic beast.
"Run away. Now!" The man commanded.
Leo didn't give it a thought, he started running away while Victor closely followed.
They ran and ran until they had no Stamina left to run. "We should make camp here for a while" Leo suggested.
"That's a good idea, but deep can't stay in one place for too long, after we rest we should go south, there we can find a pride at the southern shore" Victor recommended.
They leaned against the trees, as they took deep breaths trying to regain their Stamina. According to Victor, they had already passed half of the distance so it shouldn't take them long to reach the shore.
Even though they were trying to rest, they couldn't let their guard down. The jungle was dangerous, and Leo had just witnessed it. Those savage beasts hunting Lions for fun, they weren't doing it to eat like Lions did, for them killing was a hobby, and they would kill anything in their path.
Dreading the demonic beasts, Leo kept scanning his surroundings. He made sure that he and Victor would not get ambushed.
Thankfully, they didn't meet any of the beasts again, and they started moving again. Victor took the lead as he knew the way to the southern shore.
Thump
A giant snake dropped from the trees above, it was a weak variant of the demonic beasts, but it was still strong, way too strong. Leo was weak, he was too weak to even think about defeating it, but he had to try.
"I'll try to distract it, you try to damage it" Victor explained.
Leo nodded before dashing to the side trying to get behind the beast. Victor on the other hand used a skill to taunt the beast causing it to focus on him, then he used another skill to move quickly so he could dodge any attacks.
The snake hissed at Victor, it's forked tongue slithering out of its mouth, then it suddenly lunged towards him. Victor dodged using his skill, he then used a skill that gave him fire breath and he blew at it.
The fire swarmed the snake, Victor thought the snake would be severely damaged however the snake's scales seemed to be fire resistant.
While this was happening Leo was sneaking up behind the snake, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
The snake, relentlessly attacked Victor making him go on the defensive. In one unlucky moment, Victor slipped and fell on the ground. This was the perfect time for the snake to strike.
Victor closed his eyes, waiting for the snake to hit him.
But it never did.
He opened his eyes and saw Leo attacking the snake's eyes, he had managed to blind it.
Leo had flipped the tables and started the attacking the snake from different directions so it couldn't predict his location.
His claws swiped at the snake, even though he was weak compared to the snake he could damage it still, even if each slash of claws only lightly wounded the snake.
Small wound after small wound the snake lost alot of blood, it was starting to get dizzy and wasn't going to be able to stay upright for long.
With a last deciding swipe of his claws he defeated the snake.
"You have received 525 XP and 50 coins
You have leveled up 4 times" The leveling system said.
"You have completed the requirements for unlocking the reincarnation system; Defeat an enemy stronger than you.
You have unlocked the reincarnation system." The familiar voice of the reincarnation system echoed in his mind.
[1] They cast spells, or skills from them.