Chapter 121: Chapter121-Essence points Hunting

"Ummm, finally..." As I stepped outside, I took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling a surge of excitement and anticipation growing within me. I looked up at the sky, soaking in the warmth of the sunlight on my face. "Oh, so beautiful..." The sky and sun look so beautiful right now. After wrapping things up with Branda, I returned to my mansion with Allen and rested for about an hour. Once refreshed, I changed into more comfortable clothes and headed to the Ambrosia domain gate to get permission for monster hunting. With the paperwork done, I was finally free to leave the association's branch and venture into the outside world. And now I'm here to deal with some monsters. Okay, let's move around now... With that, I began venturing deeper into the jungle. Today was going to be exciting because it would be my first time entering the moderate areas for monster hunting. The air was heavy with the earthy smell of wet soil and leaves, and I could hear the rustling of plants around me. The path ahead was overgrown, and the thick jungle canopy cast speckled shadows on the ground as I walked. *** After ten minutes of walking, I realized I still hadn't come across any monsters. I frowned a little... Am I still close to the entrance area? That seemed like the only reason why I hadn't seen any monsters yet. I remembered mentioning earlier that few monsters stay close to the entrance area since they'd be taken out instantly by the automatic monster-killer guns... The domain's security was impressive, and maybe I had underestimated how far I'd need to go to find any real danger... I sighed... Ughhh... Finding any monsters at this rate is going to take forever... Shaking off those thoughts, I pressed on, determined to find what I was after. The trees around me were getting larger and larger... *** After another 30 minutes of walking, I finally spotted some monsters to test my new rank and power on. They were Iron-Fanged Wolves, their dark blue fur almost glowing in the dim light. There were a total of fifteen wolves. The wolves were about 15 to 20 meters away, their fierce roars echoing through the jungle as they stared in my direction. I activated my appraisal skill to check their ranks... The results were a bit surprising. **Iron-Fanged Wolf** Height: Around 5 feet tall at the shoulder. Rank: Early Common-rank The term "Early Common-rank" was unfamiliar to me, and it caught me off guard. I have never seen or heard it before... I quickly contacted the system in my mind. "System, what exactly does Early Common-rank mean? I get that it's an early stage of the common rank, but how is that determined? And what rank am I currently?" This new information about sub-ranks left me feeling a bit puzzled and curious about my own standing. [Early Common-rank is a designation for creatures that are at the beginning phase of the Common rank. It indicates that they are relatively new to this rank and not yet fully developed in their abilities and strength. This is usually measured by their combat experience and overall power compared to others in the same rank. As for your own rank, you are currently in the Early Gold-rank.] I asked, "How can I tell when I'll advance to the intermediate rank or higher?" [Host, It's simple. If you have one-thirds of the essence points, you're in the early phase. When you reach two-thirds, you'll be in the intermediate phase. Once you've accumulated almost all the points needed, you'll reach the peak phase.] I opened my character profile to check my progress. **Name:** Michael Frostburne **Race:** Human **Current Rank:** Iron **Title:** Netori King, Lust King **Progression to Platinum Rank:** 30% (3800/12500 essences) ... Hmm, so I need about another 3 percent, or 420 essences, for the next upgrade in sub-rank... Lost in thought, I barely noticed one of the wolves charging toward me with a dangerous leap, aiming for my neck. Reacting instinctively, I snapped my interface shut and drew my daggers almost instantly... **SLASH** A body fell to the ground with a heavy thud. It belonged to the wolf. My movements were almost like a bullet: in mere seconds, I had drawn both daggers and struck, cleanly slashing the wolf's neck in a vertical arc... Was my speed always this fast? I recalled that when I first came to this world, I had trouble fighting even one of these wolves. Now, they don't seem like a threat at all. It's incredible how much a person's power and the challenges they face can change with their rank. **HOWL** The remaining wolves let out a collective howl of alarm and, upon witnessing the death of their packmate, retreated in fear, their eyes wide with terror... I turned my attention back to the wolves and said, "Don't worry, my friendseveryone will get their fair chance to die." I flashed them a chilling smile, which was so disturbing that half of them turned and tried to flee, likely realizing they had chosen the wrong opponent. "Too late." I muttered... But it was too late to back out now. *** "Stop resisting, die already!" I yelled as I drove my knife into the wolf's head. The blade pierced through with ease, and the wolf went limp almost instantly, offering no further resistance. I released my grip on its neck, letting its body fall to the ground with a heavy... **THUD** With the last wolf killed, I scanned the area around me. Dead wolves lay scattered everywhere, their bodies still oozing blood... The air was thick with a familiar, disgusting smell.. I tried to hold my breath, hoping to avoid the foul odor until the bodies decomposed. After a minute, all the bodies had disintegrated into the air. I finally let out my breath and took in the fresh forest air. Huu... So, good... Anyway, that was surprisingly easy. In fact, it was almost effortless. It took me only about 5 to 10 minutes to take them all down. I wasn't even exhausted, unlike before. This was a significant improvement for me. I checked my notifications to see what rewards I had received. (Congratulations, Host! 17 Healing Potions (Iron) have been added to your inventory!) (Congratulations, Host! 170 Monster Essences from wolves have been added to your Character Profile!) (Congratulations, Host! 17 Monster Cores (Common) have been added to your inventory!) I also got a lot of essences from them... Being a top ranker is great. I can roam around and easily take down common-rank monsters whenever I want But I doubt I won't run into any Gold-rank monsters eventually. I just hope that whatever I encounter is weak, or else I might have to use all my strength to defeat it. I don't mind killing them, but using my one-time skill on something when I have no idea what stronger monsters I might face later is a big gamble. After thinking it over for a few more minutes, I decided to venture deeper into the forest to hunt more monsters. The farther I went, the more I noticed new and taller trees. One of them was a Menara, towering at 331 feet (100.8 meters). These trees, commonly known as Meranti, are usually found in the tropical parts of Malaysia. But this Menara was different from the ones I'd seen in my previous world. Its color was blue, which surprised me since, the last time I studied them, yellow was the usual color. I wasn't sure why these were different. Curious, I approached the tree and touched it. Instantly, I felt a softness under my hand. Hmm... soft. The wood felt really soft to the touch... I hugged the tree for a few moments, enjoying its surreal softness. After about a minute, I let go and continued on my way. That felt nice... *** After a another half hour, I found myself slumped on a rough boulder, panting heavily with my daggers still clenched in my hands. "Huff... Huff..." (Congratulations, Host! 8 Healing Potions (Iron) have been added to your inventory!) (Congratulations, Host! 80 Monster Essences from rabits have been added to your Character Profile!) (Congratulations, Host! 8 Monster Cores (Common) have been added to your inventory!) Countless notifications popped up in front of me, but I ignored them for now and focused on calming my breathing. The forest floor around me was littered with the lifeless bodies of eight rabbit-like monsters, their body parts lying in various directions. Their ears and legs, once so quick and twitchy, were now motionless. Shit... I am tired... I was completely drained, my muscles aching with every breath... When I first began, I thought I could easily handle any monsters that came my way, but it proved to be much more harder than I anticipated. Some of these creatures were incredibly fast, even too quick for a gold-rank fighter like me to catch. The most difficult were these rabbit-like beasts. Their fur was a mix of soft white and pale pink, giving them an almost innocent appearance, but their sharp, steel-like teeth revealed a more dangerous side. Even though they were classified as iron-ranked monsters, their speed was astonishing. They moved so quickly that landing a hit on them was nearly impossible. Their small, compact bodies allowed them to squeeze into tight spaces and hide in the thick underbrush, making them even harder to track down. Because of this, I missed at least five of them, which dragged out the hunt. It took me nearly 30 to 40 minutes to finally finish them off. By the end, I was utterly exhausted... *** After resting for about five minutes, I felt my energy slowly returning. My breathing steadied, and the aches in my muscles dulled to a manageable level. I knew I had to keep moving if I wanted to make the most of my time out here. Rising from the boulder, I brushed off the dirt and sheathed my daggers, then started making my way deeper into the jungle. *** I walked for over 20 minutes, staying alert for any signs of monsters, but the jungle was strangely quiet. I sighed... Damn, it did my luck run out something? Or maybe the monsters were hiding because of the hunters I kept passing by. Yeah, every now and then, I came across other hunters... As I mentioned earlier, most hunters typically hunted in the moderate areas of the jungle. They were all busy with their own tasks and hardly noticed me as I went further into the wilderness. Everyone was focused on their own mission to hunt, and I wasn't interested in getting in their way, just as they didn't care about mine. *** Just as I was beginning to think my hunt might come up empty, I heard a faint cry. "Anybody, Save!" I stopped immediately, straining to listen. The voice was weak, desperate, and filled with fear. "Anybody, save me! Please, is anyone here?" I turned toward the sound as I cautiously approached the source. Pushing through the thick underbrush, I reached a small clearing where the cry for help had come from. On the ground, I saw a skinny, average-looking guy without any weapons, crawling frantically through the dirt. He kept begging, "Please, someone, save me! I don't want to die. Anyone!" His clothes were ripped, and his face was drenched in sweat and fear. He looked completely helpless. But...