Bharat was very excited about this discovery, and what it could mean for him because one of the biggest problems he was facing till now, other than his own capability, was the lack of any reliable equipment and resources.

The fact that he hadn’t stumbled onto such loot boxes in the woods during the last five days did intrigue him a little bit but he assumed that either they really were that rare, or were very well hidden like this one.

‘Then, were the three rabbits coming here a blessing in disguise?’, he thought with a strange expression on his face after realizing that he might not have noticed its presence if not for the earlier fight.

‘Regardless, now that I have found this, let's see what it contains. The description looks positive, but the common rarity is not filling me with much confidence.’

But Bharat felt relieved after opening the chest and taking a look at its contents, and a bit excited as well.

Inside the chest, he could see a grey-coloured scroll, along with a wooden bow and a quiver. The bow looked quite ordinary as far as he could tell, but the quiver was anything but as he could perceive several runes on its surface which were emitting very dim light.

Picking up the bow and quiver, he used appraise on them one by one and looked at the results.

*Ding*

<< Weapon: Hunting bow (Common)

Description: A normal hunting bow crafted by an excellent bowyer. Perfect for hunting in close range but bad for longer range.

Remarks: For those who are too scared to brawl like real men. >>

*Ding*

<< Equipment: Magical Quiver (Common)

Description: A simple quiver that is enchanted to produce [Common] arrows when injected with mana.

Remarks: Make sure it's full before a battle unless you want to ‘quiver’ in your boots. >>

‘This…solves so many of my problems. A good weapon along with a method that I won’t have to worry about ammo either. Now I just need to find out how to use this…’, he thought as he held the quiver in his hands.

He wondered for a moment about how to inject mana inside the quiver only to find out a few moments later that it was a very simple task.

He only had to think about injecting it inside the quiver and the next moment, he felt a link form between the quiver and his core, following which a single arrow appeared out of thin air inside the quiver.

‘This is a big ‘fuck you to so many scientific laws that it's not even funny. All those years in college wasted.’, he couldn't help but sigh as he remembered all those hours he spent on memorizing thing like ‘Conservation of mass’ that probably won’t even apply in this new world.

Not that he was complaining.

Opening his status, he saw that creating a single arrow took about 5 mana, which was manageable in his opinion. Next, he picked up the arrow and nocked it on the string of the bow, and drew the string…

…before losing his grip on the string which snapped back into its neutral position, hitting his arm in the process and leaving a red mark there.

Thankfully, before he could embarrass himself further, he decided to use appraise on the ability scroll inside the chest.

*Ding*

<< Item: [Basic Archery] ability scroll (Poor)

Description: an ability scroll

Remarks: Absorb it for more information. >>

‘Well, that solves the issue of my disappointing attempt at archery at least.’

The [poor] rairtiy of the scroll did discourage him a little bit, but it was offset by the fact that he won’t have to learn archery from scratch just to use his new weapon.

Picking up the scroll, he once again received the prompt to absorb the scroll, which he mentally confirmed. After the usual light show ended, a rush of information related to archery entered his brain.

Things like the positioning of his arms, proper technique of drawing and nocking the arrows and how to breathe just to name a few.

It was a very disconcerting feeling for Bharat, as he felt his head throb due to the influx of so much information but he managed to stay conscious throughout the process, albeit barely.

When his headache finally subsided, Bharat heard a series of system notification sounds in his head which caused him to open his status and take a look.

>

<< Ability: Basic-Archery (Poor)

Type: Combat

Description: You have started on the journey of practising the art of bow and arrow. You may not be an expert in this field but you know that to be a bow is to be firm and stubborn in your beliefs, and to be an arrow is to be someone with extreme focus and dedication.

Remarks: You know what a bow and arrow looks like! >>

Status

Name: Bharat Kumar

Race: Human (Tier 0) (Level 2)

Level : 2

Titles: [Pioneer Of World], [Newbie]

Health: 141/141

Mana: 111/111

Stamina: 105/105

Stats

+Strength: 17

+Perception: 12

+Endurance: 13

+Constitution: 10

+Intelligence: 12

+Agility: 11

+Luck: 3

Unspent Points: 3

Abilities:

General:

[Basic Translate (Common)]

[Appraise (Common)]

Combat:

[Basic Archery (Poor)]

‘Slots? So the abilities I could acquire are limited as well? What about the general ones then? So many questions…’,

After cursing the system once more due to the lack of information it provided, he went through the description of his new ability and attempted to shoot an arrow one more time.

Unfortunately, though his performance was far better than his earlier attempt, as the arrow actually left the bow this time, the information ‘download’ didn’t mean that he was suddenly a master archer capable of winning gold medals.

The limitations of learning an 'ability' through a skill scroll also became clear, as it was less about instant learning a skill but rather getting detailed information about it, and its execution was solely dependent on the user.

Bharat realized that he would need to practice a lot before he could become somewhat proficient in using this bow, but at the same time, holing himself up in this cave and practising all day didn't appeal to him at all.

There was also a slight risk that he might get too comfortable practising in solace for some time, only to mess up in some way while applying his training in the wilds.

What he needed was some method through which he could get better at archery and get some experience in using this skill in combat at the same time.

‘But before all that, I need to make sure that the arrow actually hits something instead of flying in a random direction.’, he thought sheepishly as he looked at his last arrow that was off the mark by a large margin.

He knew what he did wrong of course, but implementing the whole motion until it becomes somewhat familiar would take some time.

So, the next day, forgoing his usual schedule, the only thing he did was archery. He practised his aim over and over on the trees surrounding his camp, and he did it until his fingers started to hurt from drawing the string a countless number of times and his arm was filled with red marks from all his failed attempts.

But in the end, he was finally satisfied with his aim as he was able to shoot the target every 6 times out of 10, which he felt was commendable for someone who picked up the bow only yesterday.

Apparently, Basic archery was less about how to perfectly aim and more about how to not hurt himself while using it, so he didn’t suddenly start shooting bulls-eye at every shot after getting the ability. It did help him a bit in that regard though.

And as Bharat stared at the tree a few feet ahead of his position, and the 6 arrows that were stuck into the wood inside a crudely scratched circle, he couldn’t help but think that he was finally getting somewhere.

Day-11

The next day, he once again went out to hunt but this time more prepared than before with a far better weapon suited for the task. He still carried the dagger though, as he couldn’t use the bow in close combat if the situation demanded it.

He was also on the lookout for other loot boxes that he could find in the forest. Now that he knew that there were chances of finding ‘loot’ in these woods, he wouldn’t let that opportunity miss.

Even thinking of all those treasures he could find was enough to make him excited, especially considering there was a chance of finding more ability scrolls inside the kits if the last one was any indicator. And he needed to do that before anyone else in the forest found them first.

Which was something he seriously doubted as even after 10 days, he hadn’t heard nor seen any hints of any other human inside the forest, not in the rabbit territory at least. Even if some other people occupied this area, he was sure he would have noticed the signs.

Hell, he hadn’t even seen another teleportation altar in these woods apart from his own and considering the size of the city he was in and its approx population, this forest should have been filled to the brim with such altars.

While thinking about all this, Bharat finally reached his hunting spot and set about looking for a target. He refrained from moving any deeper yet, as he still had yet to try his skills on a live moving target.

It wouldn’t do to encounter a Claw-foot rabbit and getting killed just because he was too busy aiming.

After 15 minutes of searching, he found his first target of the day, munching on the berries while being unaware of his impending doom.

[Swift-foot Rabbit - Level 1]

‘Just what I needed.’, Bharat thought as he finally got in position, nocked a single arrow on his bow and drew the string while crouching in some bushes. Aiming the arrow while in a crouching position was a bit hard but there was no way around it as the bushes were too short to conceal him while standing.

He also believed himself unlikely to miss his shot at such a small distance anyway.

Aiming his arrow at the rabbit’s head while holding his bow sideways, he waited for a moment to see if the rabbit made any sudden moves. Not seeing any hints about it being aware of him, he controlled his breathing and let loose the arrow which flew through the air and hit the rabbit right where he intended.

*Ding*

<< You have eliminated a Level-1 [Swift-foot Rabbit]. Experience is awarded according to your contribution. Bonus experience awarded due to perks of the [Newbie] Title. Additional Experience bonuses from the ‘First Find’ Achievement stacked. >>

The whole process took about 30 seconds. Previously when Bharat hunted, it took about 10 minutes for him to kill his prey, more if the target managed to spot him and ran. So this was already a huge improvement that the inclusion of a single weapon made to his efficiency in hunting.

The fact that he looked like a real hunter rather than a desperate guy wrestling with a rabbit was also a bonus in his eyes.

So, without further delay, he went on a rabbit killing spree inside the forest. Killing any rabbits he could find and the more he hunted, the more proficient he became and the process became more familiar.

And now that he finally had the means and skills to hunt and gather experience, he was actually enjoying the process rather than making an embarrassment out of himself.

It was not all perfect though as he still missed his shot occasionally. One thing he discovered was that weak points were a thing. This should have been obvious as a direct hit to the head meant instant kill in real life but seeing as his life was like an RPG character now, he wasn’t so sure about it.

But he shouldn’t have worried as, different species or not, they still had the same weak point of their brains and heart. Sometimes, when he missed his aim and hit the body instead of its head though, he had to go over to kill it with his dagger.

Trying to kill more than one rabbit at once was also impossible for now as the others always managed to flee before he could take another shot as his draw speed wasn’t very fast yet. But he didn’t mind it very much as he was still getting huge gains by going for lone targets.

The system notification sound was music to his ears as he kept on hunting rabbits one by one. He still hasn’t gained a level yet but figured it was only a matter of time at this rate.

*Ding*

<< You have eliminated a Level-1 [Swift-foot Rabbit]. Experience is awarded according to your contribution. Bonus experience awarded due to perks of the [Newbie] Title. Additional Experience bonuses from the ‘First Find’ Achievement stacked. >>

*Ding*

<< You have eliminated a L-

…

…

…

*Ding*

<< You have eliminated a Level-2 [Swift-foot Rabbit]. Experience is awarded according to your contribution. Bonus experience awarded due to perks of the [Newbie] Title. Additional Experience bonuses from the ‘First Find’ Achievement stacked. >>

By the time evening rolled around, he finally got the most anticipated notification along with something completely unexpected.

>

>

Yes/No? >>

>

<< Ability: Concentrated-shot (Common)

Type: Combat

Description: Shoots the next arrow with increased force and accuracy at the cost of losing more stamina.

Remarks: Someone incompetent is likely to shoot themselves rather than the target leading to a hilarious and tragic end. >>

The sudden offer of a new ability caught him off guard, as he believed that acquiring abilities were only possible through ability scrolls, but it looked like the system provided abilities at certain level benchmarks, which was a pleasant surprise.

He didn’t know on what basis were the abilities provided, but he guessed it was related to the method of getting experience.

Thankfully, he was not completely blind about the ability this time, as the description of the ability was provided along with it, and after reading it, he realized that there was no reason that he shouldn’t accept it, so he confirmed ‘yes’.

This time, the influx of information was much shorter and less painful as well, as the only thing he could glean from it was that the ability was more about intent rather than any actual steps.

Picking up his bow, he once again nocked an arrow and drew the string but this time kept the arrow knocked for a while and mentally thought of activating his new skill. A strange energy, a bit similar to his mana but at the same time slightly different travelled from his body and up the arm by which he was holding the arrow.

About 5 seconds of the energy gathering in his hand, at which point he couldn't keep the string drawn any longer, he released his grip that made the arrow travel through the air at tremendous speed and penetrating far deeper into the trunk of the tree he was aiming at, kicking up dust and wooden splinters from the impact.

A glance at his status revealed that one shot consumed about 25 points of his stamina, which he felt was manageable to an extent. His aim was still a bit off, even with the increased accuracy but he was sure that would improve with practice.

Looking at the results of his skill, Bharat couldn’t help the cackle that escaped his lips at the thought of his upcoming days of hunting. This was better than anything he’d hoped as the attack of that power was likely to blow a hole through those Claw-foot rabbits if he considered the toughness of their bodies.

They were so going to regret pissing him off.