The speed delta between the two approaching monsters proved vital in the next few moments.

The closer turrl didn’t straight up lunge for Kent as he had expected but tried to ambush him from above by climbing a tree. He had learned from past mistakes though, letting an opponent get an advantage could prove dangerous, and escalate a situation.

That was why he moved to intercept the turrl. Yet it dodged his slightly accelerated strike and continued dashing up the tree.

Having his first attack so utterly ignored didn’t prove well for the fight. Quite contrary in fact. Now out of reach, it would be a needless risk to try and reach the elevated turrl. Climbing should not be a big issue with his stats and physical condition. But fighting would be out of the question.

So he just ignored the turrl out of his reach and dashed towards the injured while not sparing another glance for the one behind him. With any luck, his cloak would offer sufficient defense to his back, at least until he could dispose of the turrl ahead of him.

The pace at which his other opponent was approaching now left much to be desired – which was exactly what Kent had hoped for when he switched opponents. At least two of the monster’s legs were crushed and its tail was just being dragged on the ground. It also didn’t look like the turrls he was familiar with. The coloring moved from a solid dark-brown or black to a black with white strikes along its body, and size was slightly inflated to the other monsters of its kind with the exception of the canine-sized turrl he had seen outside the dungeon.

The halfway immobilized opponent had no chance from the moment the encounter started. Movement and attacking simultaneously were straight out of the question. Three quick jabs into the monster’s hide were enough to vanquish it from existence. It was still uncomfortable to do so, but in the face of having to complete a dungeon to survive, it was a necessary evil.

Kent looked for the other turrl but it hadn’t left the trees yet, following him in the branches above him, but not quite in reach.

New Notification Log Entries:

You have slain “Somniferous Agitator” Level 11! Experience has been awarded.

For slaying a monster above level ten while below level ten yourself, you have been awared a new skill slot!

You have reached level two. You have three free stat points available!

“Yes!!! Praise to the system,” Kent squeaked. Good that I’m able to the free skill point as well. That gives me options. So I can take a Daggers skill before level ten.

Your Praise has been heard and was deemed acceptable.

Your Sacrifice was found wanting, and you shall receive no boon.

Only the death of a true enemy is anything besides execrable.

It is what you shall seek in an effort to attune.

The notification was a shock. There had been no accompanying ‘ding’, it had forced itself upon him.

Though not as much as the dead turrl simply vanishing in front of his eyes.

Shit. That’s too much to think about. I need to fight and maybe pick a skill.

His thoughts raced, his mind was in turmoil. He stumbled over a larger root protruding from the ground, one he could have sworn wasn't there moments before. Cursing he moved back towards the pond, keeping a lookout for the other turrl and oddly appearing roots.

It seemingly didn’t like his attempt at escape and when he came fairly close to him jumped towards Kent. It impacted the closest tree to him, rebounded, and changed the course towards his arm.

Kent was familiar enough with the attack patterns of turrls to have the perfect counter for the attack, even more so with his skill. Accelerate Metal didn’t start from zero speed when working on a metallic object but the object's initial speed.

He thrust his spare kitchen knife forward and let go with as little angular momentum as possible. His other dagger was ready to jab down on the turrl once in reach.

The knife struck. Impaling the monster in the shoulder, though it seemingly didn’t mind. Squeaking once but barely phased it barred its teeth and hissed, spitting saliva all over the place. Some of it landed on Kent whose mouth had been open due to heavy breathing. He spit out as much as he could, though he knew it wouldn’t be enough. He was on the clock now.

Desperate in an attempt to not fall asleep he staggered backward almost immediately, pushing at the skill to help.

It did, if just barely. The knife in the turrls body was seemingly a good enough anchor for the spell to decelerate and twist the monster's trajectory past Kent. The slowing down and slowly rotating turrl was quite the sight.

He didn’t let the chance at another unharmed turrl distract him too much from staggering back towards the turrl and stabbing it as well.

The first strike pierced the torso all the way through but the turrl was still struggling. Kent dropped the skill when he noticed that the creature was pushed downwards by the force of the impact.

Barely alive anymore he jabbed the creature one last time making sure to receive the notification before he fled back to the entry region.

He collapsed in the entryway, barely able the keep his face out of the water as he fell.

***

Kent woke due to the cold. His legs were drenched and he was shivering all over.

Taking short stock of the situation proved that he had been barely able to get into the cave. His legs were almost looking out of the entry zone though the turrls didn’t seem to care about that for whatever reason.

His legs were shriveled up and cold, and his health was down a large margin. Larger than what he had anticipated.

He retreated further into the cave and inspected the system message. He was level two now and had an extra skill point. He also at some point would have to contemplate the ominous notification he had received. He did check the new notifications as well.

New Notification Log Entries:

You have slain “Somniferous Distributer” Level 13! Experience has been awarded.

You have gained the title Apprentice Mage!

Apprentice Mage – You have slain five creatures of a greater than your own level before reaching level ten with the help of your own magic. You have drawn a sigil on your own body before reaching level ten. Increases magic by 10%. Gain access to the Mage’s Augmentation skill tree.

Hmm, as far as titles go this one seems to give a lot fewer benefits compared to what the others gave. The skill tree name sounds familiar though. Is that the support tree my family uses? The unexpected title gain was motivating. It was free strength at no cost, while the notes when he unlocked his traits had mentioned that it would now be several folds harder to gain further titles, it had been relatively easy to receive, given that most of the requirements were easily met.

The new skill tree proved very interesting in many regards. Two of the skills were familiar as his family members had talked about them beforehand. The sigil skills were odd though. He had never heard of skills of that sort, but they looked interesting.

Mage’s Augmentation (Foundational)

Build upon the base of your magic.

Mana Core (0/10)

Increases the size of your mana pool by 110% (rank). Builds a core within your body.

Magical Wellspring (0/10)

Increases the rate of mana generation by 110% (rank)

Sigil of Observation (0/10)

Increases Senses by 2.5% (rank) of magic

Duration: 5 (rank) min

Cost: 50% of mana pool

Sigil of Concentration (0/10)

Increases Mind by 2.5% (rank) of magic

Duration: 5 (rank) min

Cost: 50% of mana pool

And here I thought I had a lot of skill trees to balance and now another great one is layed into my lap. That mana and regeneration buff is excellent, that’s for sure. But I can’t really give up on the other trees now that I’ve started. Core and Wellspring would be such a boon right about now.

The rest is interesting for sure, but I don’t think I have a need for either of them. My mind stat is fairly low admittedly, but I haven’t had any issues just yet and the cost is pretty insane.