“I'm only ten EXP away from leveling up. If only another goblin would show up.”
Taking down the four goblins this time had cost Zoe a total of forty-four points of Mana.
Having adapted to the slime’s style of combat, Zoe was now capable of controlling his Mana consumption during battle.
As he digested the goblins to replenish his Mana, he felt the rate of his Mana recovery and sighed inwardly.
The quality of a goblin was simply too poor; the recovery speed didn't compare to that of the tusk boar at all.
“Still, it's faster than letting it recover naturally.”
“...Maybe I can use the goblins as bait.”
While waiting for his Mana to fully recover, Zoe gathered the goblin corpses together.
He then tore them open to let the scent of blood drift into the air.
Afterward, he climbed up a nearby tree to hide.
From this distance, he could keep an eye on the bait while ensuring he wouldn't attract a monster too powerful for him to escape from.
However, since goblins dared to nest nearby, it meant the strength of the magical beasts in this area was limited.
It was highly unlikely to draw in any dangerous creatures he couldn't run away from.
“...Then again, since I have infinite reincarnations, I could actually be a bit reckless. There's really no need to fear death.”
While waiting for a monster to take the bait, Zoe realized a key element of his abilities.
Right then, rustling came from the bushes surrounding the goblin corpses.
Zoe immediately focused his mind, intently watching the spot where he had placed the bait.
He saw a bearman walking over, standing on its hind legs and carrying a wooden club.
The bearman looked identical to a bear but was far more robust, with forepaws that resembled hairy human hands.
It used its free hand to snatch up a goblin corpse from the ground.
In the bearman's grip, the frail goblin looked like a chicken drumstick. With a single bite, the bearman tore its head clean off.
Zoe hopped down from the tree and crept cautiously toward the bearman, sliding through the shadows cast by the trees.
As the bearman gorged itself, it failed to notice the approach of danger.
“If I had a poison-type skill, I could've poisoned the goblins. That would've been much safer.”
Watching the bearman greedily devour the goblins, Zoe felt a touch of regret.
He then aimed at the bearman and unleashed an Acid Bullet.
With a sharp whistle, the projectile of acid shot through the air, heading straight for the bearman's head.
Caught off guard, the bearman could only turn its head, resulting in half of its head being heavily corroded by the acid.
“Roar!!”
An enraged roar erupted from the bearman's mouth as its wooden club whipped through the air with a terrifying whoosh, smashing down toward Zoe.
Zoe hastily dodged to the side, evading the club.
But immediately after, the bearman's massive, mountain-like body came crashing directly down toward him.
Splat.
Zoe was flattened into a puddle by the bearman's heavy weight.
“You're heavy.”
Though flattened, Zoe began manipulating his body, flowing up the bearman's frame to wrap, corrode, and digest it.
As his Mana began to drain, the bearman frantically clawed at itself, trying to tear Zoe off.
However, the sharp claws slipped right through Zoe’s gelatinous body as if passing through liquid, completely unable to grab him.
“Roar!!”
The bearman roared in fury as it swung its club. Locking its eyes on a massive tree, it charged headlong, slamming its body—and Zoe—violently against it.
Zoe quickly retracted his body to avoid being crushed against the tree trunk.
Seeing that hitting the tree was useless, the bearman bolted toward a rocky wall and began rolling frantically in the loose gravel.
Zoe accelerated his digestion. His body, lacerated by the sharp rocks, was healed in an instant by [High-speed Regeneration].
Both Zoe's Mana and the bearman's stamina were depleting rapidly.
However, Zoe had a way to replenish his resources.
The blood flowing from the bearman's wounds was continuously absorbed, digested, and converted into Mana by Zoe.
On the other hand, the bearman's stamina plummeted due to severe blood loss. Ultimately, it collapsed to the ground, wheezing helplessly.
Seizing the opportunity and giving the bearman no time to recover, Zoe ended its life.
[Killed Bearman Lv.9, EXP +160]
[Your level has increased from Lv.3 to Lv.5]
[Constitution +1, Intelligence +1, Free Stat Points +2]
Having leveled up twice in a row, Zoe's body expanded significantly, and a surge of hunger washed over him once more.
His maximum Mana had increased to 127.
Zoe checked his stats and allocated all of his free points into Intelligence.
Zoe's current stats:
[Strength] 8
[Agility] 7
[Constitution] 9
[Intelligence] 12
[Experience] 0/180
He then began to feed. The energy contained within the bearman's corpse was even richer than that of the tusk boar. After consuming just one arm, Zoe's level-up hunger subsided, and most of his Mana was restored.
His maximum Mana had also increased by one point.
“The rest will serve as my training rations for today.”
Zoe hoisted the rest of the bearman's corpse and made his way back to his lair.
Upon arriving at his lair, Zoe didn't start his training immediately. Instead, he retraced his steps to erase any tracks he had left along the way.
Even though he possessed infinite reincarnations, it didn't mean he could squander his life needlessly.
Every reincarnation had to maximize benefits as much as possible.
Having erased his tracks, Zoe returned to the cave, conjured a flame of Dragon Flame once again, and commenced his training.
The searing Dragon Flame burned him, training [High-speed Regeneration] and [Elemental Resistance].
He followed this up by eating to train [Devour] and [Digest] to raise his total Mana.
After repeating this cycle twice, the proficiency of both [High-speed Regeneration] and [Digest] was finally maxed out.
[High-speed Regeneration Lv.1 (C-grade) proficiency is full. Level has increased to High-speed Regeneration Lv.2 (C-grade)]
[Digest Lv.1 (D-grade) proficiency is full. Level has increased to Digest Lv.2 (D-grade)]
[High-speed Regeneration Lv.2 (C-grade)] Proficiency: 0/500 (Mastered)
[Digest Lv.2 (D-grade)] Proficiency: 0/500 (Mastered)
As the two skills leveled up one after another, Zoe's body seemed to boil, with bubbles continuously rising from his core to his surface.
His coloration also grew noticeably darker and more profound.
[The skill High-speed Regeneration Lv.2 (C-grade) has affected your body: Constitution +1, Max Mana +50]
[The skill Digest Lv.2 (D-grade) has affected your body: Constitution +1]
[Constitution] 10
[Mana] 180
Sensing his body's improvement, Zoe felt a surge of vitality, a sensation of being completely brimmed with life force.
“Upgrading skills can actually affect my physical attributes!”
Reflecting on his past life, Zoe recalled that whenever his skills broke through to a new height, his body had also felt significantly lighter.
“So the more powerful the skill, the greater the physical boost when its level increases.”
An increase in a C-grade skill clearly yielded far more physical enhancement than that of a D-grade skill.
Zoe proceeded to test the enhancements of both skills.
“Dragon Flame!”
A tiny cluster of Dragon Flame was conjured by Zoe, engulfing his body in flames.
In an instant, the searing fire enveloped him completely.
[High-speed Regeneration Lv.2] activated immediately, and Zoe's burning body began to heal at extreme speed.
The healing speed was visibly faster than before, while the Mana consumption remained comparable to his previous rate.
By the time the Dragon Flame died out, Zoe's body had quickly restored itself to its original shape.
The total Mana consumed was eighty-four points, which included twenty points used to conjure the Dragon Flame itself.
He could even withstand another blast of twenty-mana Dragon Flame.
Zoe conjured another burst of Dragon Flame and activated [High-speed Regeneration] once more.
The consecutive training runs with the two Dragon Flames drained his Mana down to a mere eleven points.
He skillfully lunged at the bearman's corpse beside him and began to eat, testing the efficacy of [Digest Lv.2] at the same time.
The most noticeable change was his increased speed of eating, as well as a faster Mana recovery rate.
While eating, Zoe kept a close eye on the changes in his maximum Mana limit.
[Max Mana +2]
His total Mana had increased by two points directly—double what it used to be!
No, I have to find a way to level both of these skills to the maximum.
The ultimate purpose of this reincarnation is to master these two skills so I can carry them over into my next life!
Rate on N.U.
