Using the Essence Stone, Kayen managed to gain 5 EXP. He wants to know how much more he needs to level up, so Kayen immediately checks his level status.
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[Level 1 (5 / 1000 EXP)]
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Seeing that he still needs 995 EXP more to reach level 2 means Kayen must kill 199 monsters similar to the one he just killed.
'No wonder they say leveling up to level 2 within three weeks since completing the trial means you're already someone amazing.'
Kayen now understood How difficult it is in leveling up. No wonder the strongest human at present is still at the Supreme rank even though two decades have passed since the portal that can bring someone to the world of Ivorn appeared.
The power rank of a person in Ivorn starts from Mortal, Awakened, Transcendent, Ascend, Supreme, Celestial, Eternal, and ends with Origin.
Kayen closed his status screen, then looked at the dead rat monster's body. He let out a long sigh, then wiped the monster's blood off his face with the back of his hand. He then kissed the monster's blood.
"Oh my god, it smells so bad... Is it really okay for me to get touch by this blood?"
The smell of the monster's blood was like dirt. Kayen immediately cleaned his hands using the leaves in the forest, wiping his hands carefully. He didn't want any trace of the monster's blood left on his body.
'Next time, I will be more careful when dissecting monsters.'
Kayen also did not forget to clean his axe from the blood stains, although not as thoroughly as he cleaned his hands, but it was still clean. Kayen immediately continued his hunt. He walked carefully, not wanting to attract the attention of higher-level monsters.
Kayen walked deeper into the forest, his steps slow but full of caution. He checked bushes and trees, leaving no place unchecked. Then Kayen heard a sound.
The sound like an explosion hit his ears, and he felt a brief tremor while the sound lasted. Without delay, Kayen went to check what caused the noise, of course carefully.
As he approached the noisy area, a strange smell appeared. It smelled like something burnt mixed with scorched earth.
'What could have caused such a smell?'
Not long after, he arrived at an open area in the middle of the forest. The ground there was burnt, forming a round crater about three meters wide. Thin smoke was still rising from the center of the crater.
'What happened here?'
Kayen stepped forward but immediately stopped, feeling the move was reckless. He then waited in the bushes while still watching the crater, confused about what caused the crater to form.
'Could this be a meteor?'
Seeing the smoke coming from the crater, Kayen thought this was the most likely thing inside it, but he still didn't want to take any risks and decided to continue waiting.
After waiting a long time crouching in the bushes until his back ached, Kayen finally decided to approach the crater.
He walked carefully, ready to flee if unwanted things happened, gripping his axe with trembling hands. Kayen finally saw what was inside the crater.
A black crystal shone from inside the crater, and suddenly a black light radiated from it, blinding Kayen. Unable to see, Kayen immediately ran backward in panic.
'Damn... Damn, I regret being curious, indeed the saying is true: curiosity killed the cat.'
Kayen immediately jumped back into the bushes where he had been hiding. He counted his steps from the crater in case something like this happened again.
Holding his eyes, Kayen wanted to scold himself for making a stupid decision, but he knew it was useless. He felt he would be blind forever.
'Damn... my recklessness caused me to go blind.'
Kayen immediately promised himself to never be careless again and always to make a plan if something like this happened again. He lifted his hand from his eyes. He saw a faint light behind his closed eyelids, so instinctively he opened them.
Seeing the surrounding area clearly, even better than before, he felt a great relief until his legs weakened, and he could no longer crouch and finally sat on the grass.
'Oh my god, I just panicked; I thought I would be blind and have to stay still in the grass for the rest of my trial.'
Kayen immediately tried to calm himself. He learned a valuable lesson today. Kayen stood up and brushed off the leaves sticking to his body.
Kayen left the area where the black crystal was found. If only he had checked the crater once again, he would have found that the crystal was gone without a trace, as if it had never been there before.
Kayen kept walking away from the crater carefully, even though blinded by the black crystal, he was still more afraid of dying suddenly attacked by a monster. Fortunately, the strange crystal only blinded him temporarily.
After some time away from the crater, Kayen saw a bush moving by itself. Without delay, he hid in the bushes, watching the moving bush. Soon, a large tail appeared from the bush, then the body and the head.
Seeing the monster that looked like a white tiger with four tentacles extending from its back and its eyes completely white, without pupils, and a slightly foul smell coming from it, Kayen immediately identified the monster as a parasite with tentacles growing from the tiger's back.
Holding his axe tightly, Kayen quickly devised a plan to face the monster. Without delay, an idea formed in Kayen's mind.
He suddenly stepped out from the bushes, causing the monster to be startled and take a step back. But seeing it was only a human, the monster immediately charged forward with a roar.
Kayen stayed calm, as if he did not see a large tiger rushing toward him.
Suddenly, Kayen fell unconscious to the ground. The monster was confused, scratching its head with its tentacles, but it continued to charge toward Kayen. When only a few steps away, the monster stopped.
It aimed two tentacles at the unconscious Kayen's body, but suddenly Kayen woke up from his faint and attacked one of the tentacles with his axe until it was severed. Immediately, the monster roared in pain and ran toward Kayen.