Red didn't know what to expect from a level up since this was his first time, and he never heard anything about it from the others. If there was a change, it was just his level, from level 0 to level 1. However, he was surprised to see his magic attributes increase.
His Intelligence and Wisdom were at 15. Arcane Perception and Mind were at 13. Those attributes increased after level up. The three Magic Cores were still lying on the ground.
This confirmed his suspicion that he had an affinity or talent for magic. That was the only explanation he could come up with.
He didn't have an interest in magic at first since he knew nothing about it, but this changed his mind. Not just his initial magic attributes were high, but level-up gave him bonus magic attributes as well.
"But where do I learn about magic?"
That was the biggest problem for him in learning magic. However, he quickly put that behind him since it was useless to think about it right now. He should take it slow and figure it out later.
Most importantly, he had not forsaken the Magic Path since he took the Might & Magic Path. He absorbed the remaining two Might Cores and three Magic Cores.
[Tier 0 Might]
Strength: 10.2 Endurance: 10.2 Vitality: 10 Dexterity: 10
[Tier 0 Magic]
Intelligence: 15.6 Wisdom: 15.4 Arcane Perception: 13 Mind: 13.4
"I still have more Magi Cores…" He remembered about the excess Magic Core in his secret stash, "I will make a trip there before going home…"
Red returned to the marget area and used the dead marget as his bait. His prediction about entering the dire lupus' territory was correct. It took a while, but he managed to snatch two more marget to bring back.
By the time he finished the hunt of the day, the sun was gone. It was completely dark, but he had gotten used to the darkness. It no longer intimidated him. In fact, he made a discovery about how his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Of course, it was not as clear as normal sight, but he could see the outlines of the trees, the dirt path, and others. He could mark the tree if he was close enough, easily finding his way to his secret stash.
He kept the Magic Core in his second secret stash, in the rabbon area. There were six extra Magic Cores in his secret stash. He poured his coins while taking out the Magic Cores and absorbed them.
Red quickly made his way back to the marget area before heading home. Bringing back three marget from the rabbon area would make him suspicious.
He was meticulous in taking an extra step to avoid suspicion, especially from the Shaman. He must avoid the Shaman's suspicion at all costs.
On the way back to the tribe, he met a group of three goblins. They were battered, their arms and bodies were covered in blood from the flesh wound. However, one of them was holding a marget.
He didn't know how many were in their group initially, but they were certainly not having a good time hunting the marget. What made it worse was the marget's condition.
The marget's beautiful fur was torn here and there, covered in blood. That was in much worse condition, to the point that the coat was unusable. If they were hunting marget to please the Matrons, then they failed miserably.
They seemed to sense him and halted their steps, turning around. Their eyes met, but their eyes quickly moved to the marget on his shoulder. Their eyes widened in disbelief. It took them so much effort to take one down, yet Red had three in his hand.
Red halted his steps; his right hand was on his dagger. He was not going to attack the wounded, but he would not hesitate to fight back if they attacked him.
The three goblins flinched when they saw his hand. The goblin who held the marget, clutching on it harder as he slowly walked into the forest. The other two followed him, walking back slowly, giving way for Red.
That was them saying they didn't want to fight. Even so, Red was still having his hand on his dagger as he made his way to the village.
He only lowered his guard once the guard was in sight. At this point, most of the warriors in charge of the guardian entrance recognized him. They waved their hands at him at the sight of the three marget in his hands.
Red did the procedure, handing the three marget which earned an approval from the Matron. He ended his night with dinner and a bath at his usual creek before going to bed.
That was his new life right now. When he woke up the next day, he left to hunt and returned with eleven rabbon. He left again after lunch and returned with two marget this time.
Living in the tribe had become easier for him right now. The people in the tribe no longer openly insulted him or pointed their fingers at him. No more insults directed at him
Of course, it didn't mean all people were accepting him. They didn't insult him on his face, but they had not accepted him. He could feel that. The kids in his generation seemed to have developed a deeper hatred toward him.
He never saw the Shaman ever again, not like he was looking for the Shaman. But never truly saw that old goblin since the last time the Shaman came to check on him. The fact that he never saw the Shaman made him more wary of the old goblin.
As for the wound from the dire lupus, it was completely healed, and not even a scar remained. It seemed that he had regenerated his missing flesh. That surprised him because he expected a scar, a hunting scar that he would take pride in.
His life further improved after bringing back food and marget continuously for seven days, the Matron officially appointed him as a hunter. He was granted lodging in the main housing area. A better roof, a better wall, and a better bed.
His main target was no longer marget, but Dire Lupus. He would bring back ten to twelve rabbon before going out to hunt dire lupus. Of course, he always brought back marget with him just to please the Matron.
The dire lupus always moves in a pack of four to eight dire lupus. With the way of his hunting, he rarely encountered a problem against the dire lupus.
Three days after officially moving to his new house, he also reached level 5. He didn't need to look at a different beast because dire lupus' level varied between level 2 and level 5. As he went further into the jungle, the dire lupus' level got higher. That was why he didn't risk it by looking for a different beast to hunt.
He absorbed the last might core, and the notification popped out in front of him.
[You have reached level 5!]
After choosing the Might & Magic Path, he didn't need to choose any other paths each level up. It's always like that all the way to level 5.
Name: ???
Level: 5
Health: 500 Stamina: 500 Mana: 750
[Tier 0 Might]
Strength: 50 Endurance: 50 Vitality: 50 Dexterity: 50
[Tier 0 Magic]
Intelligence: 75 Wisdom: 75 Arcane Perception: 55 Mind: 55
Skills:
Tier 1 Skill: Mana Sense - Level 2, Levelheaded (Passive) - Level 14, Appraisal - Level 11, Bleeding - Level 1
Tier 5 Skill: Infernal Berserk - Level 1
Negative Status:
Curse of the Hunter - Level 1
He didn't lose his bonus for his Magic Attribute each time leveling up. That was the reason why his Magic Attributes were higher than his Might Attributes.
For some reason, his Mana Sense increased to level 2. It went up two days ago, and he didn't know what triggered the level up. Appraisal skill level received a significant increase since he kept using it daily.
He was frustrated with his Bleeding because he only managed to trigger bleeding five times to this day since he learned the skill. The chance to trigger the skill was abnormally low, which is why he could not level it up.
Red shook his head, looking up at the sky. The sun was almost down. It was time to hunt the marget, one or two would be enough.
He was about to go back until he heard movement. His eyes widened in surprise because this movement sounded different. The movement was louder, each of his steps louder, meaning something bigger than dire lupus was coming.
He made a quick decision, climbing the nearest tree. He climbed as high as possible in such a short time, covering himself behind the thick leaves, hiding from whatever came.
It was not long before he found out what kind of beast was coming, as they showed where they had just finished off the dire lupus.