The bear was growing a little tipsy from the excessive blood loss while the tiger had several fractured bones and was on the verge of death following their violent clashes. It was time.
I jumped down from the tree, my butt landing on the back of the tiger as I swiftly coiled it around its neck and tied a knot.
"GRAAAAAWWW!" The tiger desperately thrashed, but ultimately failed to throw me off, instead with its limited oxygen supply, quickly succumbed to unconsciousness.
Tightening the rope further, I saw the rising of its chest stop. Just as I jumped back, it crashed to the floor, dead.
I looked up. The bear had collapsed. Too much blood was lost. I untied the vine and looped it around the bear's neck. Soon, it too, died at my hands.
The blood from the two animals, just like the man, flowed out and coagulated into words.
[Well done Artemis! You have passed the tutorial with flying colours. Much better than your rival.]
My eyes narrowed in pleasure. It felt rather enjoyable to be praised,"What did they do?"
[He is currently running away from a Vermillion Cockatrice, on the verge of death. Let me grant you a reward.]
Three rings appeared before me, their abilities made themselves known in my head.
The one on the far left was emerald green in colour and scaly in texture. It would grant me the power of flight.
The one in the middle was sapphire blue and crystalline. It granted the mana capacity of a rank 1, enabling me to use magic.
The one on the far right was ruby red and metallic. It enabled me to store items.
[Pick one. As for the rest, they'll serve as rewards for later.]
The storage would serve the most practical use, allowing me to hopefully sell the two beasts, if I ever got to civilisation that was. On the other hand, flight would let me leave this forsaken place for good. However, I was extremely interested in this magic. After all, who hadn't dreamt of commanding dragons or pushing waves?
(A/N: I'm curious. If you were to choose, which one would you and why?)
"Are there other beasts in the forest?"
[Indeed.]
"What process does a commoner go through to become a magister?"
[The awakening of mana and inner potential requires mana stones to artificially increase mana. Much like how the sixth generation CRISPR modifies genes to artificially increase muscle density or combat genetic defects.]
I knew little about CRISPR and was as far away from being a PhD holder as I could be but I understood the concept and the most dumbed down version of it.
"What about flight?"
[Flight is possible above rank nine.]
I let out a low whistle, nodding,"Okay. Give me the storage ring."
The mana ring had lost its lustre in my eyes after understanding the process of becoming a magister. It would be possible without the ring. The ring of flight, while tempting, would be a death sentence. A commoner holding the power to fly? I was asking for death by holding something which would be so highly coveted. If I hid it, then I would miss out on using it which would hinder me more than help.
[Very well. Here is your reward and a symbol of your triumph. Your next reward will come when you slay the forest's king.]
A tattoo appeared on my arm. The skull of a tiger with two gazelle-like horns. It had a vicious look of unrivalled ferocity.
A smile graced my face as I looked at my right wrist, saying,"All to strength."
Nine triangles.
The strength of nine men.
With a single thought, the two corpses disappeared into the ring and with another, they appeared before me once again.
Satisfied, I looked up,"Now then," I heard faint sounds from every direction,"On to hunting, shall we?"
Using my strength, the red triangles glowed dimly as I ripped out a claw from the bear's paw.
It was longer than any of my fingers and as sharp as a dagger's edge.
Keeping the corpses, I held the claw in my hand.
It was rather light but slightly heavier than the weight of the dagger I used to kill in my previous life.
This feeling of freedom, unrestrained by the law and justice—It truly was euphoric! Rapturous!
I followed the river downstream and quickly found an owl perched on a tree, asleep. It was the size of child.
The owl, abruptly awoken by my rude entrance crowed in warning, flapping its wings as if to threaten me.
"I like playing darts." I closed an eye and took aim,"Now!" I stomped down with my leg and pushed my hand forward, claw shooting out from my hand at breakneck speed, slicing through the air with a screech as it shot through the chest of the owl with a sickening crack and embedded itself in a tree several metres away.
The owl's eyes were wide as it fell from the branch and onto the floor.
"Into strength."
Looking at my wrist, there were fifteen triangles,"Eh? The owl was stronger than the two beasts just now?"
The blood from the owl formed into words.
[The Glacier Owl is a glass cannon.]
I understood immediately. The owl probably had strong attacks but an extremely weak defence. I merely got lucky and caught it by surprise was all.
I kept the owl and continued. On my ventures, I found a few more beasts and killed them with relative ease while collecting flint for fire. I invested a few kills into cheat death. Its strength remained unknown to me as I hadn't tried it yet. I was unwilling to just kill myself so I could only wait. I now had the strength of seventeen men and two extra lives, totalling to three marks on my left wrist and seventeen on my right.
It seemed like smooth sailing until I realised—Flint required steel.
"Where the hell am I going to get steel?" I muttered in annoyance as I stripped to clean myself and to take a shit. When nature called, right?
The stench sweat, blood and gruel was getting a little suffocating to bear.
The cold water was freezing to my skin, a far cry of the comforts of heated water back on Earth,"I should've brought some dirty clothes to as towels." I grumbled as I did what I could to dry myself before putting my dress on.
"I swear, once I get back to civilisation whenever that is, I'll pamper myself to death." I had served in the military during the Nuclear Crises between the three main powers of China, Russia and America.
I was serving in an infantry unit when we were ambushed in Russia during the harsh winter. Having escaped with my life alongside one other man, our tails tucked between our legs, I was honourably discharged despite my protests to stay.
The conflict was still ongoing when I had been discharged a few years back so I hadn't expected to be in a jungle so soon after my discharge.
I scaled a tree for a bird's eye view,"Where's that damned king?"
I spotted a large opening northeast of my position, a few kilometres away.
"That might be something," I muttered to myself as a cold drop of water landed on my nose,"Hm?"
Drip. Another drop. Then ten more. It was raining.
"Brilliant. Just brilliant." I groaned as I slid down the tree with practiced ease, the thunder booming as streaks of resplendent lightning ripped through the skies with destructive power.
Even if I manually started a fire via friction, it would be extinguished immediately by the rain. I could only hope the rain was merely a passing shower.
Alas, my prayers went unanswered. The rain only continued to grow stronger, droplets of water pelting down on me like a shower of bullets as I waded deeper into the forest.
I yawned, my eyelids growing droopier,"Perhaps I should stop here." Picking the best spot under a tree, I fell asleep almost immediately, uncaring of the rain or beasts that lurked. I simply wanted to sleep.