‘System, please bring up the notifications that had appeared during combat’, a blue light enveloped him, showing him of the notifications he had missed during battle with the Gray Wolves. He smiled in delight as a small glint of blue became evident from behind his visor as he stared at his rewards.

Kills

Alpha Gray Wolf x 1

Gray Wolves x 2

*Congratulations! Upon the absorption of mana from your fallen foes you level up!*

*Level up*

*Level up*

*Level up*

Agility has gained two points through strenuous movements of great speed

Intelligence has gained a point through great exertion of the mind

Dexterity has gained a point through nimble movements performed throughout battle

Skill Shadow Footwork has been obtained, lvl has been updated to lvl 15 through past knowledge and experience

Skill Sword Mastery has been obtained, lvl has been updated to lvl 3 through past knowledge and experience

Skill Combat Knife (Dagger) Mastery has been obtained, lvl has been updated to lvl 9 through past knowledge and experience

Skill Assassination has been obtained, lvl has been updated to lvl 12 through past knowledge and experience

Nicholas was overjoyed at the sight of this newfound power unlike at the times where he had his limiter active. It was times like these that Nicholas wished he had emotions such as these! The sense of accomplishment and joy filled him with glee as he bathed in the emotions that seemed so foreign to him.

‘So certain actions and movements I’ve done in the past can be turned into skills? Seems like I need to try this out later’ Nicholas speculated that if he were to use something such as a firearm, if there were any in this world, that he would perhaps be provided with a skill revolving around the use of firearms, something he would definitely try soon after.

His attention then fixated on the status that appeared at his very thought, skimming over the new visible information that began to excite him.

Status

Name: Nicholas Gray

Class: None

Race: Shadow Demon

Titles: The Last of the Shadow Demons

Level: 3

Health: 67/110

Health Regeneration Rate: 0.12 per second

Mana: 74/200

Mana Regeneration Rate: 0.11 per second

Strength: 10

Constitution:11

Vitality: 12

Agility: 15

Dexterity:16

Perception: 12

Charisma: 5

Intelligence: 20

Wisdom: 11

Luck:4

Unassigned Stat Points: 15

Active Skills: Identify (Active) lvl 2 (46%), Shadow Manipulation (Active) lvl 1 (37%), Mana Manipulation (Active) lvl 1 (43%), Assassination (Active) lvl 12 (7%)

Passive Skills: Sword Mastery (Passive) lvl 3 (9%), Combat Knife (Dagger) Mastery (Passive) lvl 9 (4%), Shadow Footwork (Passive) lvl 15 (2%)

Affinities: Shadow element

As he finished reading through his status, what had caught his eyes were the Unassigned Stat Points. He was about to place them into the stats as he willed, before remembering the increases in stats during his fight. At that time, a thought came into mind.

‘What if I were to increase them through exerting my body past its limits before increasing them through the status? Wouldn't it be easier to surpass my limits if they are smaller?. If it's like this, I’ll get at least 4 - 5 levels of stat points. In addition to that, I need to find the exact details behind how each stat point affects my body. Intelligence however seems like it won’t be able to grow anymore as of now… perhaps it would be worth stacking my points into intelligence as of now?’ Nicholas began to inquire, his logical and calculative based mindscape taking control as it processed the new information, aiming to find what seemed like the most optimal route for potential growth.

After taking a small breath of air filled with the smell of bloodshed, he decided to leave this area in search of somewhere more safe as of late. The sun already beginning to set as he set off in pursuit for a place to rest.

After walking for more than around 11 minutes, he came by a massive cave cut into a mountain of rock. Stalactites jutted out from the ceiling above whilst the cave walls were rough and covered with moss. The moisture becoming apparent through the drops of water dripping from the stalactites towards the ground, as they created puddles at their base eroding the ground.

It was perfect. There was no time to be stingy considering the danger of the night. Although, it may be more of a positive outcome considering his change of race as a Shadow Demon, ambushing prey in the dark seeming like something a Shadow Demon would instinctively do.

He began to walk towards the safety of shelter which was the cave with long strides as he came to a stop at the sudden appearance of a blue light appearing from the back of the cavern. Curious, he walked over to the faint blue light to see a small blue rock embedded in the side of the wall.

‘Now what’s this?’ he stared further at the rock before using Identify in hopes of finding out something behind its origins and if it were to be useful in some way.

Lesser Mana Stone

A material used to create mana potions through the use of Alchemy, a material sought out by apprentice alchemists in the name of research and growth! It is of a lesser quality due to its size, poor purification, and condensation of mana. But, it may be useful for those who aim to begin their journey on the road of an alchemist or to just dabble in the arts if they wish.

Nicholas was never one to create things, more like one to destroy them instead, so alchemy didn’t hold much value to him as he believed, incredibly so, that if he were to even try, it were to turn out more like a poison in comparison to the mana potion he dearly wished he could make.

But, before he stood up to leave, he remembered a saying a once close friend of his had mentioned.

‘Nothing worth having comes easy’

That one sentence echoed through his mind, which lead to Nicholas having second thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be too hard to try his luck at brewing a mana potion, would it? But then once again, he realised he would need alchemy equipment, the creation method, and some sort of storage compartment to bring the mana stone with him. Although, he could perhaps create a bag from shadows thanks to his skill shadow manipulation and bring it with him until I found the right equipment. But he still needed to look into its specifics, such as whether there was a limit to the amount of shadows he could condense, or whether it affected him in some other way.

Coming to the conclusion that he would think about it later in the morning, he scavenged for materials such as vines and the like which he began to mesh together to create a surface at which he would lay upon for the night. Although, he decided to not create things such as blankets for warmth, as he barely felt the cold breeze or hot rays of the sun anymore due to his body not being affected by the temperatures at all, he was practically immune. In some cases, he began to miss the feeling of the sun touching upon his skin as his body enveloped the warmth it radiated.

But apart from that, it seemed like he would not need sleep as much, although it did appear that he would need it from time to time. So, as he lay down onto the cold rough floor of the cave covered with a quick made mat of vines, he slowly, bit by bit, fell into the great abyss that was sleep. Drifting off into its slow embrace.