Trust the silver. That's was what Miko told him, but Arthur couldn't understand what she meant. Was it because of his name? Does that mean that she trusts him? Arthur didn't know and quite frankly, didn't care.
The next few days were ones where Arthur lived with the blonde short girl. She would rest most of the time and stretch her body at others. Arthur didn't mind her and kept going on with his plans. He had a goal to hunt every primitive creature he found, including the Beras that had once threatened his life.
His stats increased again, but his mana did not. Some species of monsters gave him the mana essence, but they were rare. After three days of hunting, Arthur now had the following stats.
[Scholar Guardian's Legacy]
[Level: 10 (96%)]
[Strength: 49]
[Agility: 50]
[Stamina: 40]
[Perception: 31]
[Mana: 40/40]
[Abilities: Beginner Runes Wordsmith (12%), Useable Runes: 8]
[Skills: Lesser-Mana Breathing Skill (F), Poison Strike (F), Camouflage (F), Earth Manipulation (E)]
These were his stats including those he gained underground. Although he got these stats using Kira's help, he was happy about them nonetheless. However, primitive creatures no longer gave him any stats unless they were ones he hasn't absorbed before. It seemed that each essence was different for each monster or the essence of the same monster had a limit on how much it can strengthen him. In all cases, Arthur's stats have risen greatly.
Today, he was planning on challenging himself. It seems he needed to risk his life to advance further. He realized that his stats were too strong for a primitive monster, and a bit too weak to solo-hunt a mid-tier monster. That's why most people hunted in parties.
Like usual, Arthur gave the recovering Miko her breakfast. He got used to her presence and they talked about stuff here and there, mostly how Arthur got here and his equipment. He lied by saying the latter was found in the pub since he couldn't say he can make semi-artifacts, and told her that he fell here by accident.
"I want to help you today." As he was about to leave, Miko stopped him. Arthur turned around and looked at her with puzzlement.
"Aren't you hurt?"
"Most of my wounds have already healed, and I can't keep sitting around eating like a leech." She stated, with her signature poker face that Arthur couldn't see through. After a short moment of thought, he nodded. Having her by his side was another safety net for him.
"By the way, how did you get wounded, to begin with?" Arthur asked while they walked toward the deeper parts of the forest. Miko kept silent and Arthur waited for her to answer.
"I wanted to prove myself by doing something dangerous, but I failed." Although it was a vague explanation, Arthur nodded in understanding as that happened to him not long ago.
"All is well that ends well," Arthur consoled her. "As long as you're alive, you can always prove yourself." Miko turned silent at his words. After several minutes of silent walking, Arthur heard her say something unexpected.
"It's thanks to you, and I'll forever remember this debt."
He didn't know how to answer that, but it wasn't like he hated it. Although he mostly helped people without expecting anything in return, it was still his policy to always return a debt. Whether it was a debt of hatred or revenge or a debt of gratitude, he would make sure to repay it. That's why he liked people who did the same, so he nodded and the two kept walking until they reached the end of the forest.
"Okay, we should have Kira's help now," Arthur said. Kira seemed to recognize its name as it lowered itself for Arthur to reach. Arthur jumped on its back and reached his hand to Miko. She looked at him before jumping and landing behind him. Arthur retracted his hand in embarrassment and asked Kira to take them deeper toward the tower.
Riding on top of Kira, the two ventured deeper into the trial grounds. They were almost at the swamp when Arthur started using his detection rune in search of prey. As this was the deeper parts of trial grounds, it wasn't that difficult to hunt for prey. However, it was harder not to reveal his ability. He had to do it discreetly by holding his rune next to his chest, where Miko couldn't see.
As he felt the life-forces appear, he tried to find a low-mid-tier monster. Kira kept going as Arthur kept his eyes for any prey. After a few moments, just before his rune disappeared, he found a suitable prey running in their direction 50 meters away.
"There's a monster," Arthur stated as he pulled on Kira's fur, urging it to stop. Arthur and Miko jumped from Kira's back and landed a distance away from the monster.
"Leave this one to us," Arthur told Kira, and the latter stood back. It has been a while since they were together and Arthur realized Kira understood basic instructions. He had no idea why it was so attached to him, but Arthur couldn't help but grow fond of this.
"Can you let me deal the final blow to the monster?" Arthur asked as Miko took out her two daggers and got ready to battle. Arthur had slight anticipation for her strength, but he decided this should be his prey since he needed to get strong faster. Miko simply nodded and didn't say much.
"GAAAAAA!"
It was then that the monster arrived, with a screech that came from different directions, Arthur finally saw its species and found it to be a Flesheater as big as a horse. It had the body of an Anteater and four tentacles-like snouts with each having a row of sharp teeth that seemed especially deadly.
Arthur's heart had a sliver of fear as he saw how it looked, but he still felt assured by the allies he had gathered. He picked up his weapon and used his enhancement runes. He tried to conceal the runes from Miko, but he couldn't do anything about the glow.
"You take the right side and I'll take the left." Arthur crouched down and his mana drained as he activated the runes on his boots. Timing his dash with the force pushing him forward, Arthur bolted toward the monster with his sword in hand. He was by the monster's side in an instant and he slashed at the side of its abdomen.
He didn't feel Miko move at all, but she was already there by the time he slashed the monster. She also attacked its abdomen with one of her daggers before using the other to inflict wounds on it.
Arthur couldn't maneuver as skillfully as she did and ended up clumsily halting his steps before attacking as well. The monster was shocked by the sudden ambush and the damage it sustained, and it used its tentacles to attack the two.
Arthur couldn't focus on Miko's battle anymore as he had his hands full with protecting himself. Using the protection runes at this moment, he was granted with a defense that negated double his strength. That meant it was almost a hundred points.
However, since the runes were two layers each having 49 points, they broke down as they sustained the monster's attack. They were enough to deflect them allowing Arthur to slash using his mana, Poison, and Force-II rune to get a more powerful strike.
The strike landed cutting deeply into the monster's tentacle, almost cutting it off completely. It dangled as it bled out with the poison making the skin turn greenish.
The Flesheater roared in agony as it used its skill to attack the two, firing its teeth toward them like arrows. Arthur was quick to jump using his boots. As Arthur was mid-air and descending, he was stunned to see Miko suddenly appear beside him out of thin air, and the two slashed at the monster's neck from the sky each landing a blow on a different side.
Dark blue blood sprayed out from its neck as it started to stumble before it fell to the ground, bleeding.
"You can finish it." Miko started wiping her daggers as she gestured to Arthur. The latter nodded and walked toward the panting monster. Blood kept flowing from its many wounds, and Arthur realized how much Miko has helped him. Her wounds were a lot deeper than his, and he saw that most of them were under the monster's tough skin. He didn't know how, but she was able to slash its insides. Now, it seemed that most of the work was done by her.
Arthur raised his sword in the air as he looked at the dying eyes of the monster. Usually, the killing happened in an instant and Arthur had no time to think about it. However, everything paled in comparison to one thing.
'For my survival.' Arthur struck the wound, ending the monster's life.
[You have leveled up. 2 Stats points have been gained.]
Arthur sat down next to it pretending to pray. However, he used his legacy at this time to absorb the monster's essence.
[Strength has been increased by 1.]
[Strength has been increased by 1.]
[Strength has been increased by 1.]
[Strength has been increased by 1.]
He saw these messages and felt relieved. Although it was a shame that he didn't get a skill or a rune, Arthur knew he would have to kill one on his own to gain these benefits.
"What are you doing?" Miko asked with confusion as she saw his posture and the light surrounding him.
"Praying for its soul, and healing my body." Arthur lied with a straight face.
"But you weren't wounded…"
"Oh, some internal injuries due to my amplification ability," Arthur said some bullshit about his ability, but Miko simply nodded. There were a lot of abilities in the world, and one with a price wasn't rare.